Is there such a person as an atheist?

Question

Seriously. In the absolute sense, it is doubtful if there is such a person as an atheist, for even though one denies the traditionally taught concept of Deity, yet he probably worships at some other shrine as, for instance, the shrine of false intellectuality.

Answer 1

This answer is long, but worth reading, and hard for agnostics to refute. (I used the word "agnostic" because atheists don't exist)

"I will ask you two questions: First, do you know the combined weight of all the sand on all the beaches of Hawaii? I think I can safely assume that you don't. This brings us to the second question: Do you know how many hairs are on the back of a fully grown male Tibetan yak? Probably not. I think, therefore, that it is reasonable for me to conclude that there are some things you don't know. It is important to ask these questions because there are some people who think they know everything.

Let's say that you know an incredible one percent of all the knowledge in the universe. To know 100 percent, you would have to know everything. There wouldn't be a rock in the universe that you would not be intimately familiar with, or a grain of sand that you would not be aware of. You would know everything that has happened in history, from that which is common knowledge to the minor details of the secret love life of Napoleon's great-grandmother's black cat's fleas. You would know every hair of every head, and every thought of every heart. All history would be laid out before you, because you would be omniscient (all-knowing).

Bear in mind that one of the greatest scientists who ever lived, Thomas Edison, said, "We do not know a millionth of one percent about anything." Let me repeat: Let's say that you have an incredible one percent of all the knowledge in the universe. Would it be possible, in the ninety-nine percent of the knowledge that you haven't yet come across, that there might be ample evidence to prove the existence of God? If you are reasonable, you will be forced to admit that it is possible. Somewhere, in the knowledge you haven't yet discovered, there could be enough evidence to prove that God does exist.

Let's look at the same thought from another angle. If I were to make an absolute statement such as, "There is no gold in China," what is needed for that statement to be proven true? I need absolute or total knowledge. I need to have information that there is no gold in any rock, in any river, in the ground, in any store, in any ring, or in any mouth (gold filling) in China. If there is one speck of gold in China, then my statement is false and I have no basis for it. I need absolute knowledge before I can make an absolute statement. Conversely, for me to say, "There is gold in China," I don't need to have all knowledge. I just need to have seen a speck of gold in the country, and the statement is then true.

To say categorically, "There is no God," is to make an absolute statement. For the statement to be true, I must know for certain that there is no God in the entire universe. No human being has all knowledge. Therefore, none of us is able to truthfully make this assertion.

If you insist upon disbelief in God, what you must say is, "Having the limited knowledge I have at present, I believe that there is no God." Owing to a lack of knowledge on your part, you don't know if God exists. So, in the strict sense of the word, you cannot be an atheist. The only true qualifier for the title is the One who has absolute knowledge, and why on earth would God want to deny His own existence?

The professing atheist is what is commonly known as an "agnostic"--one who claims he "doesn't know" if God exists. It is interesting to note that the Latin equivalent for the Greek word is "ignoramus." The Bible tells us that this ignorance is "willful" (Psalm 10:4). It's not that a person can't find God, but that he won't. It has been rightly said that the "atheist" can't find God for the same reason a thief can't find a policeman. He knows that if he admits that there is a God, he is admitting that he is ultimately responsible to Him. This is not a pleasant thought for some."


Excerpt from Ray Comfort's book, "God Doesn't Believe In Atheiests"

Answer 2

The purpose of Atheism is that they don't believe in a higher power. There is not magnificent being up in the clouds watching over you...and they are comfortable with it. Not everyone has to have a replacement for what ever theology you believe in. Some are comfortable just not even playing that game...and you should respect that. Is there such a thing as a good christian anymore? They only go to church, and claim to be good..but does anyone really follow the golden rule?

Answer 3

Just how silly can you get ? Shrine of false intellectuality ???Who and were was that one dreamed up ? Don't you guys ever give up ?
Why is it that you can't understand that some people don't believe in fairy tales. Making people out of mud, three people in one, dead people coming back to life, conception by a ghost, and so many other superstitious beliefs.
I worship at no shrines. I worship no Gods. I do no worshiping at all. Some people need their fairy tales, I don't.

Answer 4

Just because you cannot personally imagine anyone that does not worship any deity does not mean that such a person doesn't exist. You don't have to give up your box to look outside of it. Take a peek.

Answer 5

Nope, sorry to burst your bubble but there are atheists. Atheists are that type of person who actually can think for themselves and know right from wrong, and do not need religion to tell them that or the writings of people 6,000 years ago when they thought the earth was flat etc. If it was not for atheists, society would have have evolved to this point. Religious monkeys want to keep society back in the dark ages, where the church rules everything and everyone walks around with an erection and not knowing what to do about it. Welcome to reality, it is lovely to see the church start to squirm.

Answer 6

Oh great. Create your own meaningless definition of what an Atheist is. What would you like us to call ourselves instead?

I don't think there are any gods, or anything supernatural for that matter. Because a 'god' would exist outside nature (having created it), it's by definition impossible to disprove him/her/it. So I know I can't disprove god completely. Whatever. There's no god, but if you can prove otherwise I'll look at it. And I call myself an Atheist (non-theist).

I'm not sure what you mean by false intellectuality but it sounds like you think science is a religion. Well in that case it's certainly a religion that has to prove itself to its worshippers, over and over again. Which means it's not really a religion.

Answer 7

As far as I have ever seen, the only "false intellectuality" is religion. Not theology, since that is the study, and occasional discounting, of faith and gods in general. Religion offers false knowledge, dealing with non-existent deities. Science, medicine, law, and the arts are the truest intellectual pursuits. Religion is the road to ignorance, not intellect.

Answer 8

Seriously, yes there are many many such people like myself who worship nothing and do not believe in the existance of a god of any kind

Answer 9

Religion=Worshipping a deity, not intelligence. Seriously why are religious people always trying to catagorize atheism into a religion. It's not. In that case, I believe the Dallas Cowboys will win the superbowl next year, does that make them a religion?

Answer 10

I'm sure you felt very clever writing that.

So you accuse atheists of the opposites of intellectuality?

We are not bookish, brainy, cultivated, cultured, enlightened, knowledgeable, learned, lettered, literate, refined, savvy, scholarly, scienctific or studious.

But because you accepted an unverifiable deity mythology simply because someone told you so, you're all of the above plus a member of MENSA?

Hmmmm.

I think that's probably not the case.

Answer 11

Denial is one of the first signs of addiction. It sounds like you are so addicted to your ideas that you cannot see they are causing you a problem, and you are no longer able to see reality as it exists.

Yes, there are such people as atheists. And if you define thinking as worship, then you've just defined the word "worship" out of existence.