I'm curious. If you do not believe in religion, then what do you believe in? How does it work?
2006-12-11 16:30:37 · 19 answers · asked by Da Mick 5 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
I'll make it easy for you: Atheism is the ABSENCE of belief. There is no belief system. Many people confuse atheists with agnostics. Agnostics believe that because neither god nor the absence of a god can be proven, it is impossible to know. But atheism means literally "no (a-) god/religion (-theism)."
2006-12-11 16:38:09 · answer #1 · answered by raiyneofgailin 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
An atheist is just somebody who does not believe in any god. It's such a loaded term in the US, almost to being equal to "bad". It's a hard concept to understand if you've been brought up with religion all your life. Most people don't ever stop to question anything, just blindly believe what they are told and that's what the atheists have a problem with.
To help clarify,
Atheism is as much a belief/religion as healthy is a disease.
:)
2006-12-11 16:44:29 · answer #2 · answered by Emily E 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ummm....we don't really..Atheists do not believe that any god exists. There's nothing I have to take "on faith".
Lots of different people have different philosophies about how to live their lives. But that might be a far cry from a religious belief system.
Actually, there are some "religions" that do not have a god (I think Buddhism, maybe, can't remember off-hand.) but a lot of my atheist friends don't care for that either.
I believe that there is a great potential for humanity, but we have not really realized that yet.
2006-12-11 16:38:18 · answer #3 · answered by joannaserah 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The idea, as I see it, is that I am here and this is my journey. I have only my wits as an asset, so I better be smart and logical. If it is intangible, it is useless to me - I am only going to deal with what is in front of me or is provable. Self reliance is what you have and the understanding of people as you go through life. You learn that it is easier to tell the truth than lie. That you get more flies with honey than with vinegar and if you do something illegal, you go to jail. You love your family because they are your family. You are faithful to your spouse because you want them to be faithful to you. The Golden Rule figures pretty prominently.
It's really the same life style minus any god or magic, with similar morals arrived at by different reasoning. When they are in trouble they rely upon friends, experts, family, etc. and themselves to make their life happy and they succeed very very well often times. The goal in life is to be the best human you can be - and maybe the best human in history - but all of existence is here on earth.
Peace!
2006-12-11 16:46:21 · answer #4 · answered by carole 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I do not believe in God. I believe in the human spirit, life, love, liberty and the right to believe or not believe in a god.
I treasure each and every morning, the diversity of man, and all the contributions of people who forget the many differences we have and who participate in our common striving for a good and moral life.
That is it in a nut shell.
2006-12-11 16:44:45 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't even think of it as "a belief" it is more a feeling. I don't feel the presence of God,and I don't know what to believe in.I have no idea why we are here,or, why it is a great place for some and a nightmare for others
2006-12-11 16:42:07 · answer #6 · answered by Dee 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Atheists don't believe in a god or gods. That's the only generalisation you can make about them. As for what they do believe in, basically atheists can believe in anything that isn't a god, but most choose not to believe in anything supernatural, like fairies, the easter bunny, psychic powers, et cetera.
2006-12-11 16:42:06 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Personally I don't believe in anything. I don't think that people need to believe in a bigger power out there to live their lives and be good people. I think we're here because we're here and because we evolved into the people we ended up being. Once we're dead, that's it. Some people have a hard time with the concept of really being gone once you're dead, and I think that's one thing people don't like about athiesm. They like to know they're always going to be around whether it's in heaven or hell or as a spirit or whatever.
2006-12-11 16:33:53 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
I believe in myself and other human beings. I believe im responsible for my own actions, and things that happen in my life. I don't believe in any gods.
2006-12-11 16:38:36 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
It's a bit like saying:
Somebody explain the non-football-fan mindset.
If you aren't a fan of any football team, what are you a fan of? How does it work?
2006-12-11 19:12:25 · answer #10 · answered by eldad9 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋