Does anyone think atheists knowingly or otherwise use intellectual objections to faith as a smokescreen..?

Question

for the fact that they just don't WANT to believe? Because of what it would mean for their lifestyles and the restrictions it would place on their behaviour. I once debated with an atheist and even though it took about 2-3 hours to break down the intellectual barriers, she was eventually backed into a corner where she admitted that even if God was standing right in front of her and she could touch him and talk to him etc, she still wouldn't accept him. I see so many atheists parrotting the same easily answerable objections and I wondered if this was perhaps true of a majority.

Answer 1

i am a christian but only became one in adulthood. as an atheist I thought christians were unintelligent people who couldnt think for themselves and needed serious emotional support to cope with life. as an atheist i didn't drink smoke or anything either, i was very clean living. I did in fact have an experience that made it impossible for me not to beleive in God, quite a dramatic encounter in fact and I can tell you when i realised there was a god i got down on my knees so fast you wouldn't believe it. I couldnt deny it. I think if someone saw God standing in front of them they would not be able to deny it. trust me. the mind may not know but the spirit does!

Answer 2

If lifestyle alteration was truly the case with the vast majority of atheists then the same thing could be said of Christians who do whatever they want while hiding behind their "salvation"

It has been my observation that the majority of Christians commit adultery, lie, steal, break every commandment in the book, and do it all in the name of "Jesus" their salvation. The same Jesus who they say died so that they can live their life of sin and be forgiven.

With that said, what kind of lifestyle alterations does it really take to be a Christian now days?

Religion is so corrupt, I think that atheists believe they way they do because they lack knowledge. Their are so many bad things in the world and they can't figure out why they happen. Having a relationship with Yahweh (God) is very complex, it is a lifetime commitment.

It is my opinion (and only MY opinion) that [most] Christians and all the other thousands of different "Godly" religions are not any better off than atheists.

Answer 3

You have hit on something interesting here. I think atheists find it difficult to believe that there can be anything greater than themselves. That is why many left wing academics/intellectuals are atheists. They place too much faith in science and the power of reason, which is man made after all. Everything can be explained by man and the scientific method? Maybe, they just think too much and feel too little.

In the discussion you had, she may be able to see this person standing there, but she simply wouldn't accept him/it as God. It is as though science and religion can't co-exist, it has to be one or the other for them. Why do they assume, just because we have self awareness and can question things, that our questions are sensible and that we have the potential to understand all things?

Indeed, we often hear the question asked, "what is the meaning of life"? This tends to exemplify the way that us humans think. It brings us back to the point, 'is it a sensible question'? Why does life have to be explained in other terms, why can't it simply be its own explanation?

Professor Dworkin, for me, and I don't care how intelligent he believes he is, represents the arrogance of science: An utter refusal to accept that anything can exist which science can't reach and objectively quantify and explain. How do you deal with people like this? They know, by definition, that you can't prove them wrong, because, 'proof' is a word that belongs to science. Even if we could explain the universe, we sure as hell couldn't replicate it. All of our science is about manipulating what is already here.

Your last sentence contains the dilemma for believers, because atheists have a need to reduce the debate to scientific terms, ie. prove that there is a God. If you could prove it, God would be subordinated by science.

They can't explain emotions, which are stronger than the intellect, so faith is completely beyond their reach.

Answer 4

Science IS truth. Athiests deride religion, not faith. I have faith that my car will start this morning because it's a reliable car, not because I think it's got some all-powerful superbeing under the hood. There is also a difference between blind faith in an all-mighty power that has never been seen, felt, or heard, and faith in scientific principles and practices that have been proven.

Answer 5

Oh yes, those pesky intellectuals, eh? Going around being all clever, the swines.

Look - belief is not a choice. I could swear blind to you that I believe in god, but that'd be a lie. The ability to believe in things without evidence is simple unavailable to me.

As I just answered in another question, then if there was a god, and it was standing a few feet in front of me, then I'd have to take the opportunity to ask why they made such a monumental balls-up of the whole thing.

Answer 6

I'm athiest and I would believe in god if HE WAS STANDING RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME!

I might not want to undertake religious customs even if god were real, but that's not to say I wouldn't go through the motions if it meant being accepted into heaven rather than burning in eternal hellfire with Little Nicky!

2-3 hours to break down the intellectual barriers... Please! Don't tell me she thinks the earth is round too!

Answer 7

No, of course I don't want to believe. Why would I want to believe in something you can't prove exists? Sure, if god was standing in front of me and found someway to PROVE he was god, I might believe. But I still wouldn't worship him.

Fact is, you haven't provided any proof of a god yet. And I don't know what 'restrictions' you're talking about, since statistics show that the religious are far more likely to end up in prison than atheists.

Answer 8

It is foolish if your imaginary God was in front if me I wouldn't admit it either. That is the problem with you stupid Christians You all have your fantasy God standing right in front of you and you expect every one to admit it. Well we just don't accept your fantasy. You didn't break anyone down you little twerp. You couldn't confront an Atheist for one hour. You are so tightly wrapped in your cocoon of ignorance afraid your Hobgoblin boogie man Satan will jump out and bite your butt if you dare to think. If you had to stand up to anyone for more than a minute you would go running to your mommy you little butt hole. Don't mess with the Big Bang.

Answer 9

Rubbish. You're the kind of Christian who uses the smokescreen of rhetoric to disguise the fact that you accept the credibility of atheism. You would last two minutes in a debate with a real atheist before you cracked. I don't want to be smug but I've never lost a debate with a theist and I've never had the slightest difficulty in defending my lack of belief on logical grounds.

Answer 10

A few comments here.

1. If I were to start believing in a god (let's assume you could convince me of that), who's to say it would be your god? I can choose from 10,000's of different gods.

2. I don't believe in the concept of a god.

3. If I were to believe, you are right at one thing: I don't even wanna believe in the biblical God. I think it's a monster.
If I would believe in Him, it would indeed mean I have to change my lifestyle. I would have to start hating my gay friends, I would have to start bombing abortion clinics, I would all of sudden have to tell that 80 year old very, very ill grandfather that euthanasia is wrong, I would all of a sudden be against legalized weed and prostitution.

Yet, I am straight, have never had an abortion, never smoked pot or visited a prostitute. But I love humanity and basic human rights too much to convert to your biblical God.