We’re all born Atheist.?

Question

Does that strengthen or weaken the argument since …

we are also born ignorant, illiterate, selfish, nearly blind, unable to speak or comprehend language, ‘handicapped’ and we poop on ourselves?

Does the fact that we are all born illiterate validate the belief that illiterate people are more rational about literature than the literate?

Jammy - Suppose that depends on your idea of G-d. Thank you for providing further evidence that Atheists know little or nothing about any other religion than those of the Judeo Variety.

Senses Fail - I am under no obligation to respect the opinions of madmen, atheists or fools.

I also do not respect people who have no respect for me. And No, I'm NOT a Christian. Thank you again for proving the above.

DEPRESSED aka thumbs…- Only if you can't let go of the Christian idea of G-d does that even remotely make sense. Thank you again for proving the above.

Big Super - Since a large amount of religion is based off of literature (especially the only one's atheists know anythng about), I stand by my comparison.

Scott B - You should try comprehending the question I asked rather than projecting what you want it to say onto it.

But in answer to you question, no. My point is more like atheism is about as intelligent as pooping on yourself. Atheism is akin to being blind, crippled or illiterate. Nothing more.

Printninja - can you give me empirical evidence to support that claim?

Printninja- The page you referenced is hardly empirical evidence. The very first sentence even says; "These are children who have supposedly been raised by animals."

Hello? Supposedly is NOT empirical FACT. Try again.

PrintNinja - By the way the site you suggested says clearly the evidence is virtually non-existent. Where’s your rationality now?

Print Ninja - So I'm supposed to assume that the fallacious site you gave me was to guide me to good resources? Why didn't you provide a link to a credible site to begin with Whay have you still not done so? Now you really look foolish trying to defend your irrational and non-factually based position with more lies.

Print Ninja - Let's say for the sake of argument that you are right about Feral children (even without supporting evidence).

If you chose to continue through life comparing your Atheistic religion to the intellect of an infant and the education level and sophistication of "feral children," you will find no argument from me. I fully support you on this and agree that Atheism is on par with infant mentality and ignorance.

Answer 1

The idea that we are born atheists is highly faulty. I can only assume it comes from people who have no children.

Children have an innate sense of the supernatural. After all, they've just come from God. Children perceive ghosts and angels more readily than adults.

We adults are quick to write it off as "imagination."

Well. If we are born atheists, then where did these kids get the ideas from?

Last week I answered a question on prayer to someone who was looking to respond to her 6 year old. I had the great experience of taking a small child to mass with me for her first time in church.

Here's a kid who is usually a chatterbox. Yet, she's sitting in church amazed at it. She turns to me and says - These people need to stop talking. God doesn't like it.

Answer 2

It simply proves that we are not born with knowledge of "god" in our hearts, as many religious people claim.

This phrase is used to make Christians understand that they are wrong when they say that Jesus' "message" reaches everyone on earth, and they either deny it or accept it.

Jesus' message only reaches Judeo-Christian cultures, and those cultures that they seek to infiltrate via missionaries. But there are countless people in this world who live their entire lives never hearing or caring about anyone named Jesus, and instead continue with their natural atheist existence, or worship whatever snake, cat, bird, or whatever other kind of wildlife they decide is a god.

Everyone is born an atheist. But we have a natural curiosity about the workings of the universe, and we want to understand it. Religions are simply the early theories as to how the universe works. But once one does the research, it is easy to see why the religious theories have been proven false.

And until something better comes along... yes, I will maintain my natural state as an atheist.

Answer 3

No, it simply means that we learn what we are taught.

We are born blank slates. We have no instinctual or inherent belief in a god or god(s.) Left untouched, a child would no more grow up to think god was a white robed, gray bearded old man, than a 50 foot winged serpent, or a giant talking bear. If you took an ignorant child and taught them that the sun was a giant light bulb, and that the universe was made by a bunch of golden gorillas that danced on clouds with purple parasols, that is what they would believe.

EDIT: Numerous studies of feral children more than support my claim. There are dozens of books available:
http://www.feralchildren.com/en/children.php?tp=0
Besides, the fact that different cultures profess beliefs in different gods is a clear indication that the gods we believe in are taught to us, otherwise people would rebel when they are not taught the "one true god."

EDIT: To max marie - if children have an "innate" (as you claim) sense of the supernatural, then why don't feral children that have been rescued and taught to speak ever discuss their belief in god? You are projecting your own observations of children raised in social environments who have contact with other humans. If you examine the studies done on feral (isolated) children, you will see quite clearly that the only innate senses humans have are hunger, fear and sex, like all animals.

EDIT: The website was meant to direct you to further sources of more well researched data, not provide actual empirical evidence. If you want EMPIRICAL evidence of real feral children then I'm afraid you will have to give up your normal life and start hunting for feral children. On the other hand, If you want to LEARN about the cases of which there is some relevant data, then get the names of the books off this website, buy them AND READ THEM. You can't learn ANYTHING if you just dismiss it all without a second thought.

FYI - it is not necessary for children to be raised by animals to be atheistic. They need only be isolated from adult social contact during the crucial formative years (2-5), and there are NUMEROUS documented examples of children who have been confined and/or isolated at this age who do not possess religious beliefs as adults. If you SEEK the facts, you will find them, and what you find may be a bit disconcerting. The fact is, your god would not exist without humans to teach other humans about it.

EDIT: Okay, now you're just being a stubborn. The website is NOT fallacious. The site provides links to additional, CREDIBLE sources. If you scroll down on the left, you will see links labeled
References
* News articles
* Journal articles
* Reference books

Take a look! There are DOZENS of articles in HIGHLY RESPECTED medical journals, encyclopedias, and prestigious magazines & papers around the world which are peer acknowledged and reviewed by leading scientists, and doctors. There are even links to television documentaries and films. All these people, scientists, doctors and researches are wrong?

I realize it will take EFFORT to read and research this topic, but how else can you expect to argue the topic, or expect to be taken seriously, if you don't? For the record, I am a former Christian. I have read the bible cover-to-cover three times at three different points in life. I was raised by a Catholic theologian who taught catechism. I have a degree in psychology. I am well versed in Buddhism, the Shinto religion, Greek & Roman mythology, and am casually acquainted with Hinduism, Judaism and some types of Paganism.

We both know the real problem here. The more legitimate references I provide, the more you will feel threated (because you know perfectly well that religious, supernatural nonsense never holds up under critical scrutiny) and the more outrageous and implausible your attempts to discredit me, and defend you irrational position, will become.

FERAL CHILDREN EXIST. THEY HAVE BEEN STUDIED BY SCIENCE, AND THESE STUDIES HAVE BEEN DOCUMENTED. These (admittedly rare) children who were either isolated from human social contact as toddlers, or at a young enough age to have forgotten what socialization (including religion) taught them, when re-taught to communicate, neither express an innate knowledge of a god, a desire to be with a god, a need to know who or what the god concept is, or a fear of the abstract concepts of eternal torment, denial of afterlife, or separation from their creator.

These individuals are splendid examples of the RAW, HUMAN PSYCHE in it's most basic form, on display, without contamination or compromise from religious indoctrination, and they HAVE NO SENSE OF ANY GOD. Without people to teach children about a god, A GOD DOES NOT EXIST.

To get back to the root of your question, the fact that we are born atheistic validates one thing. Atheism is the natural human state, and theism is a learned behavior

Any child who is not indoctrinated with religion at an early age, and who is educated in a way that encourages critical thinking, would as an adult, be far more rational about religion than a person who was raised to "believe" in god by an older adult mind. I'd wager that most people with this type of background would find the entire concept of gods and religions both superfluous and ridiculous.

(PS - the fact that I don't agree with you doesn't mean I disrespect you as a person. I just think your argument is made weak without sufficient knowledge of the subject, but hey, difference of opinion is what makes the world go 'round.")

Answer 4

Great question. I think the "argument" here is more focused on those that wonder how anyone can be atheist, as though belief in God is the most natural occurrence. What we're saying is actually, belief in God is learned.

Answer 5

Wow come on. I assume you're Christian and instead of hating the Aithiests and critising them you should try to respect their beliefs and spread love not hatred. I'm Christian too but none of that is true except for the fact we are born like that but that doesn't describe an athiest.

Answer 6

It does neither. We're all born with very little in the way of actual knowledge or beliefs, and acquire them later. That goes for good/correct as well as bad/incorrect knowledge/beliefs.

Answer 7

Imagine how peaceful the world would be if we all stayed Atheist. If we didn't have ignorant, selfish beliefs shoved down our throats from an early innocent age.

Answer 8

So your arguement is that because we poop ourselves we have to believe in god?

Most I say it so absurdly because your argument is also absurd stating that people who are illiterate know more about reading.

I can't say I know more about faith because I lack faith. I rely on evidence and rational thought, which is the antithesis of faith.

Answer 9

we are mostly born also from a woman

what society we are born in raises/lowers you chances of religion as a hope, or religion as tradition, or choice to ignore it all together and live life simply and just be with others with respect to thier life

Answer 10

Different - literature is something that you can observe, something that everyone can reference the same material off of. You cannot do that with religion. Religion is highly personal, literature can be highly personal, but more often is not.