Many people think atheists are rebelling against God. Could someone clarify the subtle points of atheism that make this not quite correct?
2006-12-14 04:01:09 · 7 answers · asked by vehement_chemical 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Throughout the history of belief in God and gods, there have always been people who did not accept said beliefs. These people are often associated with evil by those who associate their God-related beliefs with good. To describe something as a "rebellion" however, the rebels need to believe what they are rebelling against exists.
Atheists do not believe in God at all.
The word is Greek in origin: "atheos" means "godless."
Atheists express their disbelief in a variety of ways.
It is true that some atheists are actively rebelling against the cultural dominance of what they perceive to be human-invented religions. These people do not perceive themselves as rebelling against God (that would require a belief in God!) -- they are rebelling against the church, against religion, against these things in popular culture, and so on.
Disbelief can also be very passive. An atheist might go to church, but privately be certain that there is no God per se. Or an atheist might simply keep his or her beliefs to him or herself. Passive resistance to the idea that there is a God hardly seems like a rebellion, but there will always be people who believe it is one. There is also such a thing as an agnostic, someone who is not sure; there are variations, but an atheist, by definition, is sure.
2006-12-14 04:20:05 · answer #1 · answered by matrolph 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Atheists do not believe in god. Therefore there is nothing to rebel against.
You could say, some atheists rebel against organized religion but that surely doesn't categorize all atheist beliefs. Rebel is a strong word, I know I am just indifferent towards them both...
2006-12-14 12:05:34 · answer #2 · answered by chella_ny2004 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Many people are ignorant to the fact that nothing happens outside of the will of God. This is why Yeshua says: "Are not two sparrows sold for a penny , yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered." This is to say that a atheist is atheist because God so wills it. Why? Because the soul evolves over many lifetimes to completion and often lessons are overlooked so when the soul transmigrates they often become opposite to what they where doing last.
So a atheist could be a atheist because during one of the lives the soul expressed they it could of been Christian and condemned Atheists for not believing in God. And during that life they failed to understand why these particular people become atheist, thus after they pass over and are thrown back into this element they become atheist to understand things from a different perspective. The same can be said about the Atheists blindly condemning Christians without understanding of why they are in the position they are in. Perhaps they will return as a Christian to see things in from a different perspective.
Peace
Aza
2006-12-14 12:16:32 · answer #3 · answered by Aza 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
We cannot rebel against something that does not exist. Rebellion is spite, atheism is not believing.
2006-12-14 12:05:01 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
Are you rebelling against Santa Claus?
...no? why not? oh, because he doesn't exist, right.... Atheism is exactly the same.
2006-12-14 12:07:27 · answer #5 · answered by zmj 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yeah, just like non-trekkies are rebelling against klingons by claiming they're not real.
2006-12-14 12:04:59 · answer #6 · answered by eldad9 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
"The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.'" Notice God doesn't say, 'in his mind'. An atheist knows in his mind that there's a God, but in his heart he denies it.
2006-12-14 12:04:36 · answer #7 · answered by FUNdie 7 · 0⤊ 3⤋