If you are an Athiest, what good things do you believe?

Question

There seems to be so much bashing back and forth, about athieism and religious people, so I'd like to know how you differ from people who believe in God?
Why do some people seem to automatically "assume" that you might be unmoral? ( I don't)
Why do you feel as you do about a supreme being?
Has "religion" turned you off? If so, in what way.?
How did creation come about, without a higher being?
I'm looking for honest athiest answers...for understanding what it is really about. Thanks!

The answers are very honest and they clarify what it's really about..Thanks for stating your truth...

Answer 1

"Why do some people seem to automatically "assume" that you might be unmoral?"

Well, I think people make that assumption because it makes their religion seem like the better alternative. The preachers don't want people to believe that morality can exist outside of religion -- they'll win converts that way, by convincing people that the only way they can be "good" people is by being religious. But obviously, like you said, the claim doesn't hold up to the facts. There are plenty of immoral Christians and moral atheists, and vice versa.

"Why do you feel as you do about a supreme being?"

Richard Dawkins has an opinion about this that I agree with. He says that if there really were a deity somewhere up above, this would be a VERY different universe because of it. That fact would be so blatantly obvious that there would be no such thing as an atheist. God's influence should be felt and seen everywhere, and not just in vague ways like "just look around you! Just look at the beauty of nature!" but by some totally obvious, undeniable piece of physical evidence. But that kind of evidence doesn't exist -- that's why they tell you to "just have faith." Well, that doesn't convince me.

I'll give you another reason. Given the size of this universe, if a deity really existed, it makes no sense to me why he would care about the affairs of ONE species on ONE planet in ONE solar system in ONE galaxy out of billions of galaxies in an ever-expanding universe. Human beings are so insignificant in the broad scope of things, and religion kind of plants this idea into our heads that, in some cosmic sense, we're actually very important. I disagree with that. I guess it's comforting to think that we're not just a tiny speck in the broad scope of things, but this universe is so indescribably vast that that's the only explanation that makes sense to me.

"Has "religion" turned you off? If so, in what way.?"

I don't like a lot of the lies (or mistruths, whatever you want to call them) that organized religion spreads. The world is NOT 6,000 years old, and when fundamentalist Christian preachers go around telling people that is, just so they can support the Biblical creation story... I'm sorry, that's a lie. Also, I don't like how televangelists go on TV and play with people's emotions, convincing them that God wants them to give that network money. You can make people do a lot of things if you convince them that God wants them to do it, and I think that's totally wrong. Note that those things alone don't turn me away from religion, but they're certainly things that I don't like.

"How did creation come about, without a higher being?"

Right now I believe in the multiverse theory -- the theory that there were an infinite number of Big Bangs and an infinite number of universes. But regardless of whatever happened, I think that that's a mystery that human beings are never really going to be able to solve, and "God did it" just isn't a satisfying explanation for me. Again, in a universe that is thirteen billion years old, what is the likelihood that ONE religion established two thousand years ago in ONE region of ONE planet in ONE solar system in ONE galaxy out of billions of galaxies is correct? That's a very quick assumption to make, and I'm just not comfortable making it.

Answer 2

I don't think I differ much from people who believe in God, the only real difference is that I don't believe there is a God. I don't know why some religious people assume that atheists were immoral. I think probably they can't imagine you can have morals without believing that a superior being set them up. But the difference is really only that I think that morals are made by humanity for humanity, this does not make them less valid. I just consider the existance of a personal God as highly improbable.
Religion has just turned me off a bit, because I had very less contact with religion when I grew up, so I don't have any grudge because of parents who forced me to go to church or something like that, but I have often seen religious people that are not a good example for their religion. On the other hand I also know religious people who are good people, so I can't say in general that religion is something bad.
I am convinced in the theory of evolution, but I must admit that there are many steps in it that we don't understand (yet?), esp. about the very origin of life. But I must say that to me believing in a creator doesn't solve the problem, because this just shifts the question to where does this creator come from?

slippie must be kidding, no one knows exactly how the universe works, not even the greatest scientists. I am amazed and impressed by the universe.

I agree with the first paragraph of what Derek J wrote.

Thank you for asking this question in such a respectful way.

Answer 3

>There seems to be so much bashing back and forth, about >athieism and religious people, so I'd like to know how you differ >from people who believe in God?

As a somewhat atheist, my difference is I have my morals and ethics dictated from my heart and my own thoughts as influenced by my upbringing and my environment. I try to build a good balanced set of ethics, sometimes in spite of influences. They are not emotionally imposed upon me by religious doctrine or the thought that someone up there is watching my every move.

>Why do some people seem to automatically "assume" that you >might be unmoral? ( I don't)

Believers can often be a little (or a lot) judgemental about people who do not believe as they do, so they may assume immorality as a natural extension of not believing in their religion. This answer doesn't go for all either, just some.

>Why do you feel as you do about a supreme being?
I don't need such a crutch to explain existence, the universe or to lean on for some kind of higher responsibility. If I can't be responsible on my own two feet in relation to society, then my responsibility imposed by thoughts of a higher being would be very worthless and false. A higher being is totally unproven.

>Has "religion" turned you off? If so, in what way.?
Dogma, narrow paths, often very narrow views, extreme fundemental interpretations, wars, and not enough good to outwiegh the harm belief in religion appears to have caused throughout history.

>How did creation come about, without a higher being?
We don't know. We just have theories or myths. I prefer theories founded on the best knowledge we have right now. Just because we do not know, does not give anyone the excuse to start creating unprovable and unknowable myth explanations, and then call them facts and make others live by them. Or fight for them.

>I'm looking for honest athiest answers...for understanding what >it is really about. Thanks!

I try to be honest. I believe there could possibly be a greater spirit to things-BUT I know this is A)Just a feeling B)Unprovable wishful thinking and C)A comforting thought, but not scientific provable reality. Hence it's not something I would wish to impose on others or even debate about. It's a nice invisible friend belief, not something that I can rationally argue about :-).

Answer 4

I'd like to know how you differ from people who believe in God?
We don't believe in god. That's the big difference. Other than that, we're all individuals, so you can't generalize.

Why do some people seem to automatically "assume" that you might be unmoral? ( I don't)
Because their bible tells them that anyone who isn't with them, is with their devil. Therefore, we MUST be without a moral compass.

Why do you feel as you do about a supreme being?
There's no evidence to support that there is a supreme being. I don't believe in Santa Clause either, sadly...

Has "religion" turned you off? If so, in what way.?
Very much so. Organized Religion has nothing to do with spirituality and everything to do with control, power, and money. They refer to their follows as "The Flock" so it should come as no surprise that they are being fleeced. I, for one, am not a sheep and will not be told what to think.

They lobby governments to enforce their beliefs on other innocent people who have nothing to do with their faith. The most recent examples are same sex marriages-which harm no one, and stem cell research- which could save millions.

The major religions are Patriarchal, and therefore all very unfair in their treated of women. This is even written into their holy books.

Religious Intolerance. I won't be part of any religion that insists it's their way or hell. And I would never try to trick others into believing this too.

I could rant on an on, but I think you get my point.

How did creation come about, without a higher being?
I don't know. No one does.

Answer 5

The Sun shines on the world. Problems are not all fixable but we can still try to find solutions for them, and many of them can be solved. The world is a beautiful place if we don't mess it up more and do a bit of maintenance. In many ways the world is better than it ever has been.

Now in answer to your other questions. "Why do People assume..." You must be talking about how the Fundamentalists think. Their preachers seem very frightened of the atheists. That is only to be expected. Their livelyhood depends upon people being superstitious and ignorant enough to support them preying in the name of a Sky God. Find me one person actually healed, helped, cured or saved from death or disease by prayer. Now look at the effects of modern medicine developed by heretical, and mostly atheist scientists. The same in other fields of study. The religious establishment is in danger of losing their Jobs and are willing to say almost anything to discredit those who don't believe in them.
I see no reason to believe in an invisible man in the sky that does nothing. God solves no problems, provides no answers and gives no solutions to major questions. Asking questions and finding answers to them has given us many good things like medicine, electronics, sanitation and disease control. Religion has done the opposite.
Religion, especially fundamentalism(in all religions) uses cult type methods of controll. They demand that people see the world as negative, hopeless, evil, unsolvable and then present themselves as the only solution. Sorry, but it just is not a true view of the world and certainly not a true view of religion. The fundamentalists are frightening people because they have been scared witless. When people believe that they have all the answers they are closed to further learning. When people are terrified they will commit atrocities.
"How did creation come about, without a higher being?"
Well I guess 'creation' assumes a 'creator'.
You have already set up a cyclical argument. I am not even sure if there was anything created. As we learn more a big bang type event seems the most likely. The predictions that theory makes about what we should find instead of what other theories say we should find are being found to be true. So it is the most true theory we have so far. In ten years we might find out something that says it is wrong but it will have broiught us far enough to find that out. And that is very much farther indeed than the Adam and Eve and talking snake hypothesis was ever capable of.

this is a nice short piece about scientific thought:
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/sci_cult/truth.html

This is a very simple but informative site about evolution:
http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/home.php

This is about the origins of the bible:
http://www.bidstrup.com/bible.htm

This is a page of links related to thinking skills. I believe thinking is the most important thing you do and skills in thinking are critical:
http://www.austhink.org/critical/pages/fallacies.html

Answer 6

ok, the biggest difference is I do not believe in God. I believe people should take their moral compass from their personal conscience and the situations around them at the time rather than from dogma or positions that may not be valid today or show a bias against others. This does not make me immoral, i follows many morals laid out by my country's laws and my personal beliefs, and I think they have come about because of my perspective of the world.

I do not beleive in a supreme being, or any one force that controls the universe. Any supreme being that relies on faith and obedience i do not beleive in. I may accept the possibility of spirits or energies beyond the physical plane that may have some influence or can affect things in subtle ways, but only if they can be proved by science or will be one day. Anything that to exist must deny being able to be proved one day even when our knowledge of the universe increased and our scientific prowess increases i do not beleive in.

The only ways religions have really turned me off is in their intolerance of others of differing beliefs or lifestyles, and i cannot bring myself to hate someone or their practices merely because a person or book tells me to. Besides this i have not been turned off but I have never felt a spiritual conenction to anything or never felt that a religion has satisfied or contributed to my spiritual needs.

I believe creation is a continuing system, that the Universe before it's present state had some other state that reached the end o it's cycle, and compressed to a primal state before re-expanding in a new state. The universe is governed by fundamental laws that come about from the nature of it's most basic components.

Please remember Atheists because they don't havea unifying group can diversify greatly in their personal beleifs and decisions and it is very difficlt to group us all together. Thanks for providing a space for some insight into Atheism.

Answer 7

I believe that there's no god, that's my belief. Ok, ok, fine.

I differ from believers because I don't rely on some invisible being to pray to. It doesn't work.
I thought everyone was equal, why should there be a supreme being, no one should order anyone around. It's our life, we do whatever we want with it. To those people who go to church, they're wasting their life. It's never too late to stop. Lemme explain, people go to church for at least an hour. Then they come home. What was the point of it. Did you pray to god? Yes, did it work? No. Did he talk to you? No. Did he help you? No. It's all in your head.

Yes, religion has turned me off. How? It's all bull (no offense, just stating an opinion), look at what's happened to the world just because of religion. It's sad, and "god" won't even help to stop it.

Creation didn't come about, because we weren't created. Creation is crap, and so is evolution. I can't answer how we're here since you can't either, if you say that "god" created us, you have no proof. I have no proof either if I answer this so what's the point when nobody knows?

Answer 8

Hmm...interesting questions, and phrased in a very non-judgemental way. Thank you.

The automatic assumption that we're amoral comes when people draw the entirety of their moral code from a scriptural basis. Therefore it's elementary logic to some of those people that without the scriptural basis, we don't have the moral backbone they do. This is of course erroneous. Many atheists follow a privately-derived moral code of doing no harm, having a positive impact on the world and on the people within it, simply by following their own internal compass.

On the question of a supreme being, I have nothing against it as a theory, but neither do I have a need for it to exist to "make sense" of the universe. Bottom line is that I think there are more logical explanations for the universe's creation, but I'm not pig-headed enough to think I know anything for certain, so if there turns out to be a god, I guess it'll be interesting to talk to.

Ultimately, I feel a little uncomfortable in a universe where the answer to the ultimate scientific questions of creation comes down to "Because God Said So". So I'll always be looking for answers that fit more within a rational, rather than a faith-based, model - but that too is only "rational" as I define it; I could be wrong, but I believe the emphasis is on those who think I am to prove as much.

Religion...I wouldn't say it's turned me off as such. I know people of many faiths who work tirelessly to improve their world, and the lives of those within it. I think the idea of an ultimate power of good is a tremendously motivating one, even if the "god" that embodies it doesn't really exist. So no, there are good people doing great things because they believe in that power. I think, as human beings, religious interpretation is open to everyone, and in some unfortunate cases, any written-down doctrine can be used to make the lives of people less happy, less fulfilled and less empowered. In some cases I think this has happened - whether it be Muslim extremists killing for their interpretation of faith, or pro-life campaigners killing abortion doctors for theirs. I believe if we start out with an idea of universal love, we should be able fairly easily to determine whether an action has a positive or a negative effect, but often, the more tangled and reinterpreted a doctrine is, the harder it becomes to untangle the thread of love.

How did creation come about...well that's a toughy, and again, I don't pretend to have a definitive answer. The higher being theory though seems to me to be the ultimate in safety net answers. If we can't find a better explanation, then there's always "God did it" to fall back on - that removes all the rules of physics as we know them, all the rules of time and space, because by its very nature, any god would have the building blocks of the universe to play with. I think this answer though absolutely does not challenge us to think. It's neat and vague at the same time, inasmuch as whatever problems we encounter, "God changed things" to get around them.

If we take the god answer out of the equation, it all becomes a giant jigsaw puzzle, and challenges us to find out exactly what happened, and how, and when. Simply because I have a stubborn kernel of faith in the power of human beings, I will always be looking for those answers, and cannot, without objective proof, give up that search and fall back on the god option.

Thanks again for the non-judgemental question.

Answer 9

I think most people who believe in god or in religion in general are somehow forced to or made to believe its the only way to "heaven" or anything good and just. I from personal experience found religion to be just another manipulating factor in my life, something that makes you feel bad if you don't do it, as in giving you a guilt trip if your not a follower of x religion. When i was younger i went to bible school a few times with a friend... thought nothing of it, but when i got older i watched my friend go to church on sundays and every monday after school, he was miserable. Now he only goes every once in a while and that was because he was getting married. I also noticed the church kindly asking for donations every 10 minutes during the few rare times i went as a kid and hear that from others, for a place thats completely free as far as i know (feel free to prove me wrong) its kind of odd to be asking for help paying for something when i pay for it now (as in taxes) and don't go to church. As for the unmoral part.. its always been that way since religion was made, if you did'nt believe in x religion you were a heathen, barbarian or any other "stupid" group of people. As for creation.. i have 2 theories.. one being the scientific one.. big bang.. and humans just happened to be a by product of it, if somethings were different even by maybe a slight degree we might not exsist and something else might.. or nothing, as for my second is that a higher being does exsist, just not one thats defined by any current religion. I tend to believe i'm my own god, i can make my own decisions and follow my own moral and ethical code, we as humans have made ourselves be every bit a god as we want, we can change the earth, we can kill others or save them from death, i'd say thats more powerful then any god has proven themselves to be up to this point.

Answer 10

I Believe in taking care of those who were born less fortunate then myself. I believe that everyone should get the best education possible regardless of where you live. I think that life is precious and we need to do what ever we can to make sure that life isn't lost carelessly. I don't believe that war should be fought unless it is absolutely necessary and is the absolute last alternative. I also think that the richer you are the more obligated you should be to "share" the wealth....I don't mean you have to give all your money away but instead of buying 3 or 4 luxury cars you should give something back to poorer areas.
Religion in my opinion is bad for the development of the human race. It is holding us back from developing intelligently. Eventually I think it will fade away, Just not in my lifetime.