Atheists may be correct in not having blind faith in a religious text, but how many have actually..?

Question

followed the advice of a good sage, for example, Lao Tzu, or Sidharta, Socrates,even Jesus' path in Matthews.

if you haven't, what's your reason not to believe their teachings can lead to where they say it does?

isn't that like saying the cake won't rise by only reading the recipe and not trying to bake it?

have you ever wondered what life might be like without a head full of memes?

Answer 1

I was raised christian.

Became a buddhist for about a decade.

I am now atheist, but still live by the teachings of both jesus and buddha.

Answer 2

many who follow said philosophies / religions are looking for guidance and meaning. albeit we are all looking for something and cherish the idea of an after-life, not many have willing acceptance of said ideas. unlike other debates, right and wrong is based on a 'soft' concept of belief and faith. considering the multitude of religions and the diverse nature of the gifts (or punishments) received upon death many see religion as an amalgamation of societal tendencies reflecting the diversity of the world. in other words, there are so many religions, and they are all so different, how is not having one any different from being a christian vs hindu, or catholic vs mormon.

i think your question works under the assumption that all ideas made by religious authorities, or philosophical genuises are not considered seriously by atheists. the difference is that atheists do listen and embody some of the ideas but based on the merit themselves and not on a level of loyalty or because they promise something. that said, atheists pick and choose what they like, which doesn't lead to the popular belief, that they choose only the best / easiest. you would be surprised by the high level of morality some atheists have that would cast shadows on many devout faithful. many atheists see this short life on earth means that ill-will is that much more magnified, that murder, death, and harm tragically ruins the already short lives we already have.

Answer 3

I read about many amazing people and follow their advice or the paths they blazed. I'm not limited to 'spiritual' leaders. Richard Feynman comes to mind immediately. Very spiritual and very smart.

Also, Charles Mingus, Frank Zappa, Charles Darwin, and my scuba instructor Craig Gillespie have inspired my path in life. Why be limited to religious figures? Plato is good as well, though and I do love the story of Siddhartha.

Answer 4

Sometimes. I think part of it though is: those men were wise in their times. The epiphanies of Jesus, Socrates, or Chipmunk may have been groundbreaking at the time, but their wisdom today is called, common sense.

That's why I look to a modern prophet: the squirrel.

Answer 5

I think without memes we'd be blithering idiots. All this stuff (like language) builds on each other.

Sure, we all follow good advice. That's evolutionary tho! We listen to the village elders and thats how we survive.

Answer 6

Hitler shunned alcohol and tobacco. The source of the advice and the quality of the advice do not necessarily correlate. Your analogy only applies if you are going to spend your whole life baking one cake.

Answer 7

First of all, why can't a person make the decision about how to live on his/her own? I mean, if you can trust yourself enough to decide who to follow, can't you trust yourself enough to figure it out on your own?

With that said, none of those sages were particularly good at moral reasoning, partially because they were based on faulty assumptions.

In my case, I learned that Ayn Rand had described a moral path that she laid out after delineating a system of metaphysics and epistemology, building ways of acting on these strong foundations.. After months of examing, re-examining, and attacking the positions from every point imaginable, I realized that it stood up to scrutiny, but that it was incomplete. Several Objectivists who were summarily thrown out of the Ayn Rand Institute for not following the dogma as presented by her "intellectual heir" (that I would say has done nothing but use her name and estate to compensate for his inability to make a career for himself) completed it.

Answer 8

The people you name may well be good sages, and I might enjoy reading them, but I'm happy where I am. I'm not looking for a mystic.

Answer 9

I follow the philosophy of Jennifer Juniper-and I make it up as I go along. I'm not really a follower or a joiner.

Answer 10

Many have followed some of the philosophies of such men. PHILOSOPHIES are different from organised religion.

Buddha was a genius.