Am I a moron for wanting to know more about Atheists and their lifestyle?

Question

I was called a moron tonight by one of my answerers in another "Atheism"-related question, and although I am not offended, I am concerned. Which leaves me with another question I would like to ask.

*sigh* the only reason I said lifestyle was because I thought you would be offended if I called it a religion.

Thomas L... that was going to be one of my questions. But, I've reached my limit on questions unfortunately. It's been educational (and frustrating to an extent). Thank you everyone.

Answer 1

Nope. Not a moron. Knowledge is the beginning of wisdom. You cannot be wise about a thing until you know about a thing - you cannot, for example, use nuclear power wisely if you have no idea what it even is or how to regulate a nuclear reaction.

However, without seeing the question, let me caution you that Atheists in the USA live under a beseiged mentality. Christianity has been written into state and federal law and no matter where we turn, even in the most liberal of areas, there is some fundamentalist ready and willing to condemn us and shove their Bibles down our throats. It's not entirely inappropriate for us to have such a mentality.

Where this is relevant to you is this -- if you wish to know about atheists and their lifestyles, be certain you do not do so in the context of Christianity. For example, "We christians have our morals in the Bible, where do you atheists get yours? Do you have any even," would be the entirely wrong way to ask that question. "Atheists, on what do you build your moral code, and would you describe your personal code in brief," however, would likely get a much better response. It is not judgemental, it does not presume that you have one way and we have another, it just asks about our way and shows willing to dig deeper than just the surface.

We tend to respect people who show willing to go the extra mile to truly understand and learn.

Answer 2

I believe you're definitely not a moron because the desire to learn is something some people don't possess and it takes strength of character to be willing to ask while others are content to be ignorant. I also would like to add that atheists really don't have a different lifestyle, however it could be interesting to learn about the various reasons that leads some people to become atheists.

Answer 3

I did not read your other question. Atheist have the same lifestyle as everyone else except that they get to sleep in on Sunday morning. Do you think that they are engaged in hedonistic practices or something? Atheist are just as moral as Christians, and sometimes more so. Just because someone doesn't believe in a God doesn't make them evil or bad people. I say this to you as a Christan who use to be an Atheist. In many ways I was a better and more loving person before I became a Christian. Sad as that sounds. Jesus taught us to Love everyone and judge no one, and yet we do not listen very well.

Answer 4

No, but I'm not sure what would be to know... I mean, our lives (at least any decent person) is no different then anyone else. Just think of any other person's life beside the religious part, and there ya go.

Edit: "Atheism" is not a religion or a lifestyle. It's just a label, not even made up by us.

Answer 5

I've been called stupid and moronic on a daily basis here. And I majored in religion, spent a year in seminary and have the equivalent of two masters degrees. Go figure.

People are self-righteous at times.

EDIT:
I think you've done a very human thing, but perhaps without consciously doing so.

People tend to notice negative comments more than positive or neutral ones. Therefore, negative comments become magnified far more in our consciousness. If you looked objectively at the answer to this question and your last one about atheists and Satan, you would perhaps notice that most answers are emotionally neutral or positive. Only one or two actually are worded to inflame passion.

If you want, you can let those who strike matches set your shoes on fire. Or you can ignore them (a thumbs down means you don't even have to look at the answer) and pay attention to those whose information you would like to use.

Best of luck. If you want to email me, do so through my 360 page. Apparently Yahoo! Answers isn't sending me my message board email. And if you want to know why I don't believe in God, click on the two links in my Y!A profile.

Answer 6

No. I am a Christian, but I constantly read about atheism. Right next to me is Without Creed, Without God: The Origins of Unbelief in America by James C. Turner. I was an philosophy & religion major and I still read about atheism as much as my own faith.

Answer 7

It depends a lot on how the question is asked. And, perhaps some atheists (myself included) are a little quick to pull the trigger whenever we suspect that an ignorant fundamentalist Christian might be lurking behind the question (and they frequently are). Here is my answer to this question:

"If atheism is not a religion then what is it?"

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Your question represents the fundamental misunderstanding of most theists and, particularly, conservative Christians (because their brains are the most simplistic in all of humankind).

Your question suggests you assume that belief/disbelief in a supreme being is so big and so important that much (if not most) of your world view (and/or political/social philosophies, etc) is dependent on that one core belief.

That assumption is incorrect. In general (and I know that I am overlooking what some consider to be important differences in definition), atheist simply means ‘not a theist’. That’s it. And, it is not tied to what the person believes about politics, abortion, taxes, crime, alcohol and drug use, pornography, or anything else.

For Atheists, being a non-theist is independent of how they feel about anything else in life. This is, apparently, a difficult concept for many theists to grasp.

It is impossible for conservative Christians to understand it at all because all of their beliefs are so tightly wound and bound together that a change in any one, but especially the ‘God' one, has an earthquake like effect on all the others.

Atheism is not a philosophy or a belief system. It is, simply, not believing in a supreme being. And, hard as it might be for you theists to accept – it is really no big deal. With or without god, life goes on just the same (except your Sundays [or Saturdays, whatever] are free).

_________________________

Godknown -

If you do, indeed, take the Thomas L position seriously and ask the question, you should be prepared to get flamed - and rightfully so.

His position is more than ludicrous and incorrect, it is a blatant distortion (a 'talking-point', if you will) of reality. It is a lie, and if he is too stupid to realize it, I assure you that the person(s) who originally generated it know that it is a lie.

Those in control of generating conservative Christian propaganda believe that it is accepatable to lie because they are so certain that theirs is the one-and-only truth that matters.

Answer 8

The fact that you want to know something proves that you are not a moron. A moron will not have any capabiltiy to want to know something and arrive at the knowledge. If you have the desire to know and ask intelligently than you are not a moron, regardless of what others may say.

Answer 9

There is no atheist lifestyle. I'm not calling you a moron. But the notion that there is an atheist lifestyle is moronic. Who told you such a lifestyle exists?

EDIT

OK, but I think you are better of calling it a view or maybe a philosophy rather than a lifestyle or a religion.

Answer 10

Lifestyle? We got a lifestyle? No body told me that we got a lifestyle. Does that mean I gotta go out and buy a whole new wardrobe?