Do atheists have role-models?

Question

Stalin or Mao?

Hey 'The Truth' ,Get your facts right! When people like Mao,Pol Pot,etc killed people that was a war on goodness.

Answer 1

Yes my father is my role model, he has good morals and is a good citizen unlike so many people on earth.

Answer 2

Wow. Plato was pretty cool from what I've heard. My ex really looked up to Ayn Rand. I haven't chosen a specific person but I come across people I admire all the time... Right now, Sarah McLaghlan has my attention. She's incredibly smart and comes off as a down-to-earth person.
Your question is insulting and shows severe lack of knowledge if you think Stalin or Mao are 'role models'. Just b/c they're not Christian definitely does not pigeon hole them with others beliefs.

Answer 3

Yes and Stalin and Mao have nothing to do with it.

My mother is my role model. She was a strong woman capable of withstanding anything put in her way.

Why did you mention Stalin and Mao, who are both two of the worst men in history (up there with Hitler)? Baiting and trolling, were you?

Not too intelligent because that gives reason to report you for it.

Answer 4

Because Marx described the church of his time as a social tool for controlling people. Whether or not he actually meant this in a spiritual matter is irrelevant for atheists because it doesn't suit their agenda. Marx criticized the church for its social role, it was not a theological issue to him. If the church indeed was strictly a spiritual realm for society then A) It would not have been part of the social status quo (which it was with wealthy priests and such) B) therefore would not have been part of Marx's critiques. Marx's criticism was that religion was the opiate of the masses: in other words, religion was like anaesthetic for repeatedly stabbing wounds onto the working class by the rich. It is very similar to Juvenal's famous "bread and circuses" statement to describe the Romans' treatment of its citizens. Marx was saying that religion was used to distract and justify the plight of the poor workers, specifically so they cannot smarten up and realize the illusion. Atheists then use this rhetoric in similar level. The difference is that Atheists assume that religion in itself is an illusion, whereas Marx was claiming it was deliberately used by one social group onto another. Similar but not the same.

Answer 5

Ahh, a somewhat provocative question.

Yes atheists have role-models.

It's the nihilists that don't.

People of integrity should be admired regardless of philosophical belief.

Similarly brutal murders and tyrants can be despised regardless of creed.

The atheists Stalin and Mao are no more my role-models than their religious contemporaries Hitler and Emperor Showa.

Answer 6

Well I am agnostic but yes I do have role models... Authors like Jack London and JRR Tolkien, as well as people I have known in my life like Oma an 80+ year old German woman who suffered through hitler and war and came to Canada to escape all that and raise her family. That woman has been through worse things than I can even imagine but she is wise and kind and good and was very much a role model to me in my life. Also my own Grandma, my friends parents, all the dogs I have known... just because I dont believe in god doesnt mean I am not a good person, and it does not mean that some of my role models did not believe in god.. Oma believes in Gott but she never looked down on those who did not, and she never tried to force her beliefs on others. She lives her life as a good person regardless of her personal belief in Gott. Saying that everyone who doesnt believe in god is a bad person with bad role models is stereotyping, and furthermore implies religious bigotry.

Answer 7

I'm sorry if I cause you any offense, but what a moronic question.

That's like asking a Christian if their role model is Hitler. Or Saddam Hussein for Muslims.

As everybody everywhere knows, NOBODY has started wars or committed genocide in the name of atheism.

Answer 8

Our role models are decent people who are kind and loving... unlike YOUR role models (i.e. Joshua the mass murderer, Jacob the thief and liar, and of course YHVH the maniacal bloodthirsty deity...) Stalin and Mao were evil in SPITE of the fact that they were atheists - not BECAUSE of it!!!

Answer 9

That's asinine. Atheists can have anyone as a role model that they want, and that person need not be an atheist or exemplify atheism. I imagine many of them admire Nietzsche, Jean-Paul Sartre, etc. from an existential philosophy point of view.

Answer 10

Well there not idiots!

Why chose these people? I like a lot of people but I don't really have role models! Do you or do you just need to look up at people because you are so small!

Answer 11

yes but they just believe in what they can see,so it would be a loved one or someone who has made a profound impact on their life. i think that statement is bit unfair if id put a q.s on here (not saying people dont) about god being aload of bull then loads of people would complian and go off there nut.every one is entitled to believe in what they want and everyone has there own reasons for believeing or not it's called free will.