A question for Atheists...?

Question

Do you believe that a higher power does not exist, or do you believe that it is impossible for a higher power to exist?

No, the first choice implies an ablity to change your mind, while the second one implies a permanant opinion...

spamandham: Any deity-likke being, a divine spirit, god, ect...

Answer 1

Personally, I just do not believe that there is a higher power.

Since it is impossible to disprove the existence of a higher power, there is always a possibility for one to exist.

However, I believe that that is as likely as faeries or unicorns to exist. (Since faeries, unicorns, and supernatural beings in general, including gods, cannot be disproven, they can be compared to each other at random, pretty much.)

So, while there isn't a way to disprove a god, the likelihood of one existing is so small and insignificant that I feel that there isn't one. (And, even if there was, I doubt it would be a personal god. It would probably be a god deists believe in- one that created the universe but keeps out of the lives of humans. Really, having a personal god is a big egotistical... I mean, it's like saying, "Oh, well, He might've created the universe, but we're so important that He is involved with every single one of us!")

Answer 2

Technically speaking, I am not an atheists (firmly denying the existence of a god) but perhaps an agnostic (not really interested in whether there is a god or not, simply stating that I don't believe there is one; those are VERY rough explanations).
I do not believe in an omnipotent god/force because if there is such a force, then it is evil, allowing all the horrors to happen in the world (zealots, skip the mysterious ways & check out those babies in Africa before you parrot your response). Or maybe the force can't be everywhere at the same time - but then it's not omnipresent. Or maybe it doesn't know about things without prayers - but then it's not omniscient. So a Jewish, Christian or a Muslim god, by having these three properties, is a lie from the start.
But your question is incomplete: many among both atheists and agnostics DO believe there may be a higher force, they just don't think it is a personalized entity of a "god" such as religions use to brainwash people into submission. We try to scientifically discover and learn something about that higher force instead of staying stupid and lazy, claiming that "god is beyond our comprehension so why even bother to learn anything, just read the Bible until you die." Through science, we now know there are no old men floating around the Earth with the book of life in their lap (and why would a god read it, if he wrote it AND knows everything? The whole tale about god is as convincing as the Scientologists' spirits of little green people haunting our intestines or whatever.) And if you doubt that religion produces brainwashed and malicious people, look at the first respoonse written by a religious zealot who has cursed all atheists for starters, but couldn't even write that little correctly.

Answer 3

That a higher power does not exist.

I am an agnostic but I think I can help answer your question. Many atheists find the existence of God inconsistent with their experience. In other words, they see a lack of evidence. And they might argue that if a God did exist, that God would not make the world such a crumby and confusing place. There would be one obvious path. And why doesn't God make an occasional appearance on Leno? Is He really that **** busy?

A scientist or philosopher I could say you can't prove a negative. So one can't know that God does not exist. So atheism is a belief requiring some faith. However, I can also say that God does not necessarily exist. You might want to look at Occam's Razor (the simplest solution is often the right solutions). Despite what you may have heard, a universe without God is simpler than a universe with God.

Answer 4

I'm a life long atheist and continue to be but in the last year or so have come to believe that there is a something beyond our physical world. This is based on the direction humanity is moving and what now seems possible and likely through technology. In the next 25 to 40 years we will be able to enter completely real seeming computer worlds through total sensory immersion. Our body will be sitting in an easy chair but our mind will be in this computer world which will seem 100% real while we are in it - kind of like a perfect computer game that you are part of. Its just a small jump to speculate that we could become part of this world and leave the body to die in the easy chair. How can the mind exist without the brain? The mind is a sum of the neuron connections in the brain and with advanced brain mapping the neuron patterns can be decoded and duplicated in a computer. Such mapping is already being developed, as are computers capable of accepting mapped brains. Its another small jump to think that this has already been done by countless sentient species in the billions of years since our universe came to be. A multitude of consciousness could well be all around us and when we die our consciousness is mapped into this pool - hence an afterlife without a god.

Answer 5

I’m not an atheist, but I used to be. I think my biggest problem was with the concept of God being some personality that ran the universe and was particularly interested in this tiny speck called Earth. Higher power? What does that really mean? Of course there are a lot of powers greater than me. Does that make it God? The idea that God (as in this personality that is interested in humanity) causes an earthquake, which is clearly more powerful than me just doesn’t make sense. Why does God have to be in the mix when it could simply be geological forces in play? Yes there are a lot of “higher” powers than me, but I’m not inclined to call them God.

Answer 6

I hope that isn't a shining example of kirkwoodm's Christianity?!

Mirage, I'm agnostic, so I am still currently on the fence, but I thought I'd drop in because it is a very good question.

For me, I do not believe it is impossible, however the biblical, islamic and hindu gods (amongst other religions I have studied the fundamentals of) do not seem the right answer to me. Perhaps Buddhism has taught me more than other religions with regards to "guidelines to live one's life by", in saying that I still have a long way to go and a lot more philosophising and searching to do...

I look forward to seeing what answers you get to this - again, good question

Answer 7

If we ever find the answer to that question, then obviously because we meet that "higher power" - so it must exist.

My opinion is, that - if it exists - it won't have much resemblance with any of the description of it that were inventend on earth.

So the answer to the question above:
I do not believe, that a higher power - in the sense of religious definitions - exists, but nothing's impossible.

Answer 8

atheists believe that a higher power dont exist,agnostics belive its impossible to know if there is a high power.being atheist or agnostic or anything else that does not use the belief and function of a god or gods just shows that people still feel they have control in their life or the fact that the use of a god or gods is no longer needed if your spirt is strong enough to deal with life knowing that the only thing that you can count on and have faith in is yourself and your fellow man.

Answer 9

Well obviously if you believe a higher power does not exist then you believe that it is impossible for one to exist. Would you really be atheist if you believe that a higher power COULD exist?

Answer 10

I don't believe in a "higher power", i.e. a God, with an inherent right to govern a lower power, i.e. humans. No one is so smart that they have the right to tell another group of people what to do. Besides any true "higher power" would probably not show any real interest in our welfare or who we were sleeping with. They'd probably just be interested in our commercial applications.