What makes an atheist believe what they believe??

Question

i'm a Christian...and i look on here and see alllll these atheists sayin "christians suck" and i'm just wondering....where are y'all coming from? i mean, i know what's happened in my life, and what i believe WILL NOT change, but i just wanna try to understand where y'all are coming from.

Answer 1

I don't believe. I lack belief.

By the way, I can't recall saying "Christians suck".... ever.

Answer 2

I would never make a blanket statement that Christians suck. Some Christians are less than my favorite people but you run into obnoxious people in all religions and even amongst the nonreligious. I mostly see people on here taking issue with some aspects of the religion of Christianity which is different from saying they are trashing all Christians. Why we believe what we believe is unique to each individual. For me I was Christian but the theology seemed more and more flawed to me the more I studied it. I am interested to discuss this.

I accept others feel differently though. I only really have a problem when people are not accepting that we don't all see it the same way. Some atheists may bash Christians because of bad experiences they have had with them. The other day this guy posted a rather insulting question towards atheists. The question he had asked before that question was related to his stay in a homeless shelter. I volunteer every week for a shelter, it was pretty disconcerting to hear someone (or someone like someone) you have spent hours of your life helping then turn around and bash you for not believing what they do. Beliefs really don't define whether someone is a decent person or not. There are believers who are a@#holes and nonbelievers who are wonderful people. It is wrong to judge and hurt each other but both sides do it. There is an important distinction between discussing and criticizing beliefs and trashing a person for being who they are.

Answer 3

Just like the minority of Christians that are obnoxious, there are obnoxious atheists. The difference there is that the christian has sinned and the atheist hasn't.

Atheist don't believe.

Personally, I find way too many holes in the Bible especially when a significant event occurs like the flood, or the star of Bethlehem and there is no verifiable proof outside the bible that it happened. The exodus, should have made an impact on Egyptian society, but at best there are references to to a small number of people who *might* have been the original Hebrews, but even stretching conjecture to the limits it doesn't even come close to the Exodus.

Answer 4

I think you have it all wrong...

We dont BELEIVE anything. Its the lack of beleifs that we hold. What makes us come to the conclusion that Gods are not real is logic and reason and understanding.

I do not beleive Christians, as people, "suck". I beleive that your religion has some great flaws, which serve to cloud your vision and your judgement. And, I can demonstrate this: You said in your posting that "what I beleive WILL NOT change." So, are you admitting that, in the face of incontrovertable proof and evidence of X, you would REFUSE to beleive in X because X is against your faith? Thats very dangerous ground you are treading upon... As an atheist, if I were given incontrovertible proof and evidence of God's existence, I would happily admit my mistake and I would change what I beleive, because it is proven true.

Thats where I am coming from. I dont hate you. I dont think you suck. But I think that ignoring evidence and facts because they conflict with religion is simply not a logical thing to do. Remember that the Church took 300 years to finally admit their mistake in jailing Galileo for claiming that the earth revolved around the sun, and not the other way around. This is a fact that you and I take for granted nowadays...500 years ago, your faith WOULD NOT CHANGE. Thank goodnesss it finally has in at least this regard...

Answer 5

Atheists in general do not have a belief. There are many definitions of atheists. Some have an active disbelief in god(s). While others hold no belief in any such thing, often mistakenly called agnosticism. Others still hold that the concept of a god to be nonsense and meaningless. So the question of "Is there a god?" has about as much meaning as "What does red taste like?"

Answer 6

Wait until you ask a question your fellow Christians don't like. You'll see exactly what we mean. The people I personally (and the rest of the more mature atheists) say things like that to are the same people who would cut down a fellow Christian for interpreting one verse from the bible in a way they don't like.

You could say that we're actually picking on some of the jerks who hang out on this site... and I pick on atheists who act like that too..

Answer 7

It's just like any other category on Yanswers! You'll have your haters out to cause an argument and stir the pot. Personally, I'm not a religious person, but I respect the beliefs of others as long as they don't force them onto me. There are just as many atheist haters on here as there are religious haters. Just don't assume all atheists are the same.

Answer 8

its quite simple: an atheist is a person who based on reason, logic, and experience, does not see any evidence whatsoever to support the notion of an all knowing, all seeing, all powerful supernatural deity that created the universe and is intimately involved with that creation. until such time as this deity presents itself, we just say we dont know how or why the universe exists...and neither do any of the worlds religions. the difference being, religions insist they do.

Answer 9

Mostly a simple process of analysis and reaching my own conclusions. I have not been remotely convinced of any arguments for the existence, or even strong possibility, of any deities. I took to religious behavior as a little kid out of fear of divine punishment, but have since then adapted based on what I have personally gathered.

Answer 10

I can honestly say I have never used them "christians suck".As for the reasons I don't believe in a god or gods,it's quite simple really.
There is not one single shred of evidence to back up the claim that a god or gods exist.

Answer 11

let us see. This is what I do not like about religion and christianity in particular:

- the many atrocities done in the name of god(s). Inquisition. Stoning. Northern Ireland. Conquistadors. Genocides in the Bible (whole tribes wiped out).
- the many gods. Zeus, Christian God, Allah, Odin, Zoltar, there are thouands. And you think your by-product of the jewish faith is the correct one?
- The many factual inaccuracies in the bible (does the moon emit light? springs to mind but there are countless others)
- the bigotry (see also Homosexuality)
- the attempts to corrupt science (i.e. creationism)
- the attempts to undo the seperation of church and state in many countries, not just the US. Theocracies suck.