Are atheists more sure of their beliefs than faithful monotheists?

Question

To say that there is absolutely no God, you must be pretty certain of your beliefs. Most of the faithful believe, but not 100 percent of the time. That's why they call it faith. But to say you know there is no God, that's quite dogmatic, isn't it?

What do you think?

Answer 1

What beliefs? HA HA HA! You crack me up. Do yourself a favor and educate yourself.

Answer 2

From the observation that the universe is expanding, it's pretty obvious that it was smaller in the past. If you extrapolate back far enough (13.798 ± 0.037 billion years), you get a universe that is tiny, extremely energetic, and expanding very rapidly. This expansion is often called "the big bang". We don't know what the universe was like before that. It may have always existed, or it may have come into existence at some point. We don't have enough evidence to be sure. What I don't do is jump to the conclusion that since we don't know how something happened, it must have been caused by a mythical figure invented by desert nomads a few thousand years ago. That *would* be absurd. I could as easily claim that the universe was sneezed out the nose of the Great Green Arkleseizure, or that it was created by the Flying Spaghetti Monster extending a noodly appendage. A claim without evidence to back it up is pure speculation, and has no merit. As for the dinosaurs, we have ample evidence that a large number of species, including all non-avian dinosaurs, were exterminated approximately 65 million years ago by the impact of a large meteorite. Besides the relative abundance of iridium at the K-Pg boundary, and the complete absence of many types of fossils above it, we actually know where the meteorite hit. It's the Chicxulub crater at the tip of the Yucatan peninsula. You appear to think that the willingness of scientists to refine their knowledge in the face of new evidence is a weakness, when it is actually the scientific method's greatest strength. Religion has no such error-correction mechanism, and thus no reality check. It is not concerned with whether the claims it makes are actually true, but instead requires its followers to accept them on faith.

Answer 3

It's only dogmatic if you claim to be 100% positive without any proof at all. I am of the belief that there is no god beacuse there is no strong (or even weak) evidence to suggest so. But if I am wrong, which I may be, I am 100% positive that the gods described in the holy books of the world are not real. I know this not because of dogma someone told me, but because these books say illogical, immoral and most importantly self-contradictory things about those gods. A being that is said to be moral cannot behave in the brutal was that Gods are said to; requiring human and animal sacrafice, punishing trivial sins with death, condemning all humanity because of the curiousity of two ancient individuals. This is not the way a moral being acts. therfore, either the being does not exist, or the being does exist and the book is wrong, in which case there is no reason to believe in the being in the first place. if that is the case, we can never know the answer.

Answer 4

I think we are. Faithful monotheists believe based on faith, which is basically wishful thinking. Atheists base their beliefs on evidence.

There is a lot of evidence that all religions are man-made. There is evidence in the history of religions, and evidence in human nature to make up superstitions, like religion. There is no real evidence that any gods exist.

However, atheists don't claim that we know anything absolutely. We tend to recognize that our knowledge is inherently limited. Most atheists don't even make a positive claim in the belief that there are no gods. Most just lack believe in any gods. A lack of a belief is not the same as a belief.

It's only dogmatic if it is believed without supporting evidence or in the face of opposing evidence. Atheists have evidence on their side. It is also not dogmatic to lack a belief in the existence of something for which there is no reason to believe.

Answer 5

I not only believe in God, I know God and I know 100% for sure that God is real and I believe 100% of the time. My faith never lacks, and neither does my knowledge in God. My knowledge in God grows more each day and so does my faith.

Answer 6

Sorry, I kinda have proof. So it's not a belief or faith at all.

Granted, I'll yield the proof allows the possibility of deism -- but deism is consequentially exactly the same as atheism, so Ockham's Razor dispenses with the unnecessary a priori agent... a principle, not an absolute, but close enough since theism is provably false.

Answer 7

Technically, true atheists don't say "I absolutely know there is no god," because the scientific method doesn't deal in absolutes. It deals in theories.

True atheists say "The vast majority of evidence is against there being a god, so I function as if there is no god."

There's always that .00001% chance that future evidence may actually show a god. But that evidence has not been shown.

Answer 8

Atheists lack belief in any gods.

Are you sure Russell's teapot doesn't exist?

Russell's teapot, sometimes called the Celestial Teapot, was an analogy first coined by the philosopher Bertrand Russell, intended to refute the idea that the burden of proof lies upon the sceptic to disprove unfalsifiable claims of religions. In an article entitled "Is There a God?", commissioned (but never published) by Illustrated magazine in 1952, Russell said the following:
“ If I were to suggest that between the Earth and Mars there is a china teapot revolving about the sun in an elliptical orbit, nobody would be able to disprove my assertion provided I were careful to add that the teapot is too small to be revealed even by our most powerful telescopes. But if I were to go on to say that, since my assertion cannot be disproved, it is an intolerable presumption on the part of human reason to doubt it, I should rightly be thought to be talking nonsense. If, however, the existence of such a teapot were affirmed in ancient books, taught as the sacred truth every Sunday, and instilled into the minds of children at school, hesitation to believe in its existence would become a mark of eccentricity and entitle the doubter to the attentions of the psychiatrist in an enlightened age or of the Inquisitor in an earlier time. ”

In his book A Devil's Chaplain, Richard Dawkins developed the teapot theme a little further:
“ The reason organized religion merits outright hostility is that, unlike belief in Russell's teapot, religion is powerful, influential, tax-exempt and systematically passed on to children too young to defend themselves. Children are not compelled to spend their formative years memorizing loony books about teapots. Government-subsidized schools don't exclude children whose parents prefer the wrong shape of teapot. Teapot-believers don't stone teapot-unbelievers, teapot-apostates, teapot-heretics and teapot-blasphemers to death. Mothers don't warn their sons off marrying teapot-shiksas whose parents believe in three teapots rather than one. People who put the milk in first don't kneecap those who put the tea in first.

Answer 9

I am as sure of my belief that there is no god, as I am sure there are no fairies in my garden. Show me proof and I will ammend my beliefs, until then it appears so absurd and in contradiction to the natural world that I shall not waste time entertaining every absurdity that people believe. I think it is the fairy tale for grown ups.

I think you then must agree you are VERY DOGMATIC if you believe there are no fairies in your garden and no monsters under your bed.

Remember you ARE AN ATHEIST - to thousands, we go one more, only ONE more!

Answer 10

1. That's not what atheism means. You fail to make the distinction between "I don't believe in X" and "I believe in not X."

2. You're generalizing. Every individual person is different. Not all atheists are the same.

Answer 11

How could anyone really give a definite answer to this question. Noone reads minds. (Except God in my opinion but since atheists don't believe in God...)