What does atheism have to offer?

Question

I'm pretty new to Y! Answers, and this Religion & Spirituality section caught my eye pretty quick. Now, ever since I've been reading the questions and answers made by atheists, I've literally been driven *away* from atheism. I've questioned my faith before, but wouldn't I rather find peace than be a jerk like these guys?

This is all I could figure out that atheism might offer:
-Truth- as ignorant of a claim as any other religion
-Contentment- well, I'm content with my current faith
-No more wasted time on prayer, sacrifice, church, etc.- maybe I dont think it was a waste and I'm actually quite happy with this
-Only logical explanation- Logical? Science + Faith = you can't add apples and oranges, sorry. If people believe God created science, then how can you measure God through science?

Do any atheists, who aren't jerks, have anything to add that might change my mind? As for the ones who are jerks, thanks for confirming that atheism is a step away from peace.

Not buying anything?

I bought Christianity, but I don't by atheism. I still believe Christianity to be the only true explanation since the only good answer so far is that it's the only rational choice... I already said that science + faith = doesn't work out

Let me clarify, I'm not looking for "benefits" or anything like that. I guess I was just expecting answers more along the lines of what atheism means to you and why you have chosen it. ie. I already mentioned that it might provide you with a sense of truth, contentment, freedom, logic, etc. But most of you guys have already given me really good answers like I was hoping for.

And I apologize for any stereotypes, there are a few people like that answering this question, but there seems to be more "nice" atheists than not.

Answer 1

Atheism is no different than any other religion in the sense that it is just another group of people claiming to know the truth about our existence.

Here's how I see it....
I accept that I do not know, therefore I do not make assumptions, and I do not adhere to blind faith.


If there is a god, he doesn't want us to know the facts about why we are here...that would just ruin the surprise, and probably spoil the lessons of life which are centered around the notion that we have free will. We aren't supposed to get it...we aren't supposed to know the truth. Therefore how could he be so petty to judge someone without faith, when they are only using their free will to discern for themselves what they choose to believe.

If there is not a god, then the entire universe is just one big extremely lucky accident, and there is no good or bad...just the notions relative to your perception. There will be no god to judge you in the end.

Answer 2

I'm still not sure how I got here, I don't know if I'll be staying but I don't want to go back to where I was before either.

It depends on the day but right now I identify most with the atheists. Some days I'm agnostic, some days I'm sill deist, but I am no longer Christian. There are a few atheist jerks but in my experience there are a lot more hateful Christian fundies here. They kind, loving, and compassionate Christians are here, just harder to find (lucky I've been here long enough to get to know a few)

In the end you need to find the path that is best for you. What makes you a better person. So long as you don't shove it down the throats of others and claim it to be the only way to live, very few here will have a problem with it.

Good luck.

Answer 3

Contentment? Happiness? I do not think these are reasons to believe in something. You should seek out truth, not what makes you feel better.

I don't believe God created science since I don't believe in God, therefore I'm not attempting to measure God through science. Science is a legitimate human endeavor that is helping us every day. There is no logic/rationality to religion because 1.) most importantly, there is no proof, let alone EVIDENCE, that Gods/gods exist (and don't try to pull the "look around and see what was created" nonsense - that only convinces other believers), and 2.) the Bible has contradictions.

The only thing I would consider to be sufficient evidence for myself is if I had a real experience with something I somehow knew could not be explained. I don't know how something can't be explained eventually, so I don't know if I could ever really believe. However, I do still maintain uncertainty about this matter.

This mentality frees me from narrow-mindedness and opens me to new perspectives as well as allows the mind to think more logically. I don't choose this because it makes me happy - believe me, I wish there were a God who would make everything better in the end. There's just no proof...

Answer 4

Well, if you're content in your own faith, then why become atheist? It's kinda hard to just decide that you don't believe in God anymore, it's more of a process and obviously one you have no desire of undergoing.

One of the main reasons you'll see atheists being jerks here is because of the nature of the questions posed by Christians and members of other religions, as well as because well... I'm guessing only really fervent atheists would come to a religious forum. This isn't exactly the best sampling for the true atheist population.

Atheism isn't anything organized - everyone has their own thoughts and opinions and that's the point. Just because you don't see peace in the people doesn't mean there isn't peace to be found in not believing a god exists. There is no atheist creed, no set of beliefs or disbeliefs (except for one very overarching one, which is simply lacking a belief in a god or gods), no set of rules, no initiation, none of that. Atheism is what you make of it, so if you lack a belief in a higher power, join the club. You don't have to conform to the attitudes of other people who coincidentally lack the same belief.

Answer 5

I suppose I'm not a jerk, but posts like these are a bit, shall we say, shallow?

First, no one is forcing you to be an Atheist or to believe what we think, but by trying to say what we believe is in wrong or illogical doesn't make any sense nor does it help the situation. For example, if you feel content in your faith, good for you, no one is going to come knocking at your door with a 'How To Be An Atheist' pamphlet or anything, but a majority of religions do that to Atheists.

Besides, why would we want to change your mind? You seem happy enough to judge Atheism based off of the few answers in Yahoo!. If you believe that all Atheists are jerks because of a few people, then it just shows the lack of understanding or acceptance you and your religion claim to have. I'm not trying to bash your ideals, but if you truly accepted the teachings of your faith, you would be calling us Atheists for example. I know I don't call Christians, Muslims, etc jerks because of their faith, most of my friends and family are religious but we get along.

And science, if you choose to see it as something God generated or human generated, is used to explain the world around us, how old the Earth is, why we are the way we are, etc etc. You can choose to believe what science shows, or you can rely on a text that's over two thousand years old written by primitives who believed the world was flat. It's your call.

Did I make my self sound like a jerk here? I probably did, but your only going to get jerk replies if you, in turn, are not civil towards people of other beliefs. By calling us 'jerks' you will only in grain into your being that Atheism is wrong, rather then opening your mind to it and accepting people of all different beliefs.

I'm not trying to convert you, rather the opposite, but these sort of posts sure as hell (pardon the pun) reaffirm my beliefs that people from monotheistic religions can't get along, let alone see eye to eye with those who don't have religious life.

Answer 6

Wow, you're really stereotyping a lot of atheists out there. There are justas many atheist jerks as there are who are christian, muslim, jewish, etc. And another thing, atheism doesn't "offer" you anything. Well, except the freedom from fearing hell and whatnot. Oh, and "a step away from peace"? Ever heard of the Crusades? Holocaust? Millions of people have been persecuted because one church beleived something they didn't. Hypocrite.

In my beleifs (in case you haven't figured this out yet, I'm atheist), religion was created essentially to make people behave. What better way to keep people from sinning than threaten them with a fiery hell? Whoever came up with that higher power idea was a genius.

The world needs people like you, god-fearing people who follow all the rules in hopes of reaching a non-existent heaven. Imagine what catastrohes would happen if everyone suddenly lost their purpose for being good, moral citizens. WE are the gods of our planet; it's just safer that we don't know it. I choose not to have faith in any "god," I choose to have faith people.

And if I am wrong, and I do go to hell and you go to heaven; I'll be okay. Living an afterlife where everything went the way I wanted it to (perfectly)? Ugh. I probably turn out like a 2nd Paris Hilton. No thank you, I'd be bored to tears in heaven anyway.

Answer 7

I'm sorry you've run into some people who are sounding a bit defensive. It possibly arises out of being told repeatedly we are going to hell, so since some folks (not me) think the best defense is to become offensive, they've followed that tactic to an extreme.

However, there are several reasons to consider whether your faith in your deity is meeting your needs:

1. Does your deity offer you love without threats, or are threats central to the faith? Most western deities are prone to threatening non-believers with either hell or temporal punishments. This is hardly the path to peace, especially if the infractions are not well defined.

2. Evidence provides a way to feel you've selected a truthful frame of thought. Belief in demon possession, curses, etc., quickly falls away when the reasonable search for evidence is undertaken. James Randi and the James Randi Educational Foundation have tried for decades to have someone prove any evidence at all of supernatural events (from water dowsers, to mind readers, to spoon benders, to fortune tellers, to communicators with the dead), and no one has ever been able to show any evidence of either effectiveness or accuracy.

3. Wonder at the universe unmitigated by a deity. When I speak of how fantastic it is to see galaxies billions of light years away, thereby looking back billions of years into the past, Believers often retort, "Yes. Isn't God amazing."
I am always taken aback. The universe on its own is amazing, and by inserting God into it, they are robbing their own eyes and brains of the shear magnitude of what we are seeing. There is the chance that we are the very first generation of any creature in this vast universe ever to see and understand what we're seeing. That, to me, is more fantastic than any God that I've ever heard of.

4. The search for inner peace is not provided well by religion, either. It is difficult no matter what path you follow. Religious women, it has been shown in some research, are more likely to take antidepressant medications than non-religious women living in the same area (Utah).

5. Demythologizing the world. Religions necessitate discussions about where they gain their authority. Therefore they tell stories that suggest there is something external where their deity intervened in history, and even if that intervention was for some reason time-limited, it is supposed to confer authority upon the faith. These stories have been told for thousands of years with the sole purpose of keeping believers faithful and setting up an "us v. them" dualism between believers and non-believers. By removing the myths, the greater unity of all human beings, and indeed all flora and fauna, becomes apparent and is supported by both science and experience.
The mythology of Christianity describes a God that cannot stand sin, and so must have a sacrifice to allow that same God to tolerate having human beings near him again. This is the most absurd and anti-human story ever told, and I am surprised when anyone finds it so compelling.

Those are a few of the ideas that atheism possesses uniquely. Perhaps you can consider those ideas as beneficial and worth considering as you work through these issues.

- {♂♂} - {♂♀} - {♀♀} -

Answer 8

I'm personally neither an atheist or a person with any specific religious affiliations but I think atheism offers something that people who simply don't understand religious concepts can turn to. Or perhaps they find religion to be corrupt (which sometimes members of certain religions can be). I also think it's rather hard to believe that a single being or any beings created everything which is probably a view that most atheists take. However, if you're happy with your current situation then that's good for you. I think everyone floats their own way and no one else should really care or bother them about it!

Answer 9

Personally, I think you are looking at Atheism the wrong way. You are seeing it as though it were it's own philosophy. Atheism is simply put the lack of belief in a deity. Now that's not to say that Atheists don't have philosophy. There are Buddhist Atheists and I myself am a secular humanist (which I feel has a lot to offer in the way of acceptance and spreading peace).

The important point I'm trying to make is that all Atheists are different. I'm sorry you are put off, but Atheists aren't trying to proselytize (at least most of them aren't).

I think you should do what makes you happy, but try not to generalize in the process. I don't look for spirituality in my Atheism (no one does), I have other philosophies to do that...

I simply don't believe there is a god - it's pure and simple. Plus, Christians can be just as big of jerks as Atheists can be on this site. I think you see what you want to see...

Answer 10

Don't blame your moving "away" from atheism on the fact that some of us are jerks. There are millions of jerk christians out there at no one is blaming them for their loss of faith. There is a huge difference between questioning your faith and becoming an atheist. Atheism is not just another "faith" that you choose to believe in. We are atheists because we have to be. I don't think that atheism is a step away from peace. It is more peaceful then stressing out about a vengeful god is going to send me to hell. But believe what you want and I hope you find this peace you are looking for.