What do athiests believe?

Question

I'm not trying to put anybody down, and I guess others have asked this - but I'm asking it from a totally (looking for honest answers viewpoint). Is there an athiest creed or do different athiests have different views? (I think Judiasm has different beliefs w/in itself). Again, I'm not judging or trying to judge - I'm just curious. All honest answers appreciated!!!

I might add - is athiesm "organized"? or is it not? Hope my question makes sense!

I agree - I am getting some awesome answers - but I am the resident Yahoo Pollyanna - LOL. I do think we can discuss things w/o acting like jerks. LOL. I appreciate all the responses!!!

Answer 1

Atheists just don't believe in Gods of any kind. I mean each person probably has different opinions of many different topics but basically, Atheists just don't believe in any Gods/Goddesses. Ect

Answer 2

Atheism means to me that a person doesn't believe there is a God, or central power or creator of the Universe.

Some people try to push it to mean that there's no afterlife, or powers that we don't understand. I go by the first and say that I don't believe there is a God, or central power that created the Universe.

My belief is that while this frees us from Heaven and Hell, it obligates us all to make the world a better place through our actions. I think that Heaven and Hell are goads to push people to do what I'm self motivated to do.

Every Atheist I know built their own creed, and in every case I know that creed is at least as good as the best religions.

I feel like I was enlightened and became an Atheist when I decided to read the Bible from cover to cover. I read it and was shocked and read it again marking pages and going over passages that stuck out.

I would never even try to convert someone to Atheism or criticize religion. It's just my own belief that they're all false.

Answer 3

Atheists come in two main flavors: Weak Atheists who don’t have a belief in a god, and Strong (or Positive) Atheists who believe there are definitely no gods. It’s a little more subtle than the split for Agnostics. Atheists sometimes recognize a third group as well, Apatheists (apathetic Atheists), who don’t believe in god but don’t really care about the whole issue.

Beyond these classifications, Atheists (and sometimes Agnostics and Deists) have several significant subsets of beliefs and outlooks on life. A Humanist is one who believes in the positive power of Humanity to do good in the world. A Rationalist believes in the use of reason to solve problems. A Naturalist (or Materialist) rejects all supernatural claims for the actions of the universe. The Nihilist minority believes that all life is pointless, and that none of it will matter after we are dead. Objectivists, followers of the philosophy of author Ayn Rand, state that truth is objective and not subject to the desires of man, reason is the only way to perceive the world, and each person should act in their own self-interest without infringing on the rights of others.

Answer 4

Ok- wrong, wrong and wrong. An atheist, simply put, is someone who claims to "know" the unknown. When it comes to answering the question of whether or not an uncreated God exists, it is a mystery to all - nobody knows. The Christian, Jew, Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist alike have "faith," they simply "believe" that an uncreated God exists, but they do not know.

It is the most glaring of oxy-morons for an atheist or anyone else to say that "an atheist does not 'believe' in God..." It is impossible for anyone to "not believe" in something they claim "already does not exist." The atheist claims to "know" that an uncreated God does not exist - and if there's one thing we all know when discussing this topic, it is that nobody knows. The question of whether or not God exists is a mystery - nobody can say they "know" either way. Truth is, most who claim to be "atheist" are actually "agnostic" - that is, an individual who chooses not to look, not to believe, to say, "There may be Something out there, I don't know, but I choose not to wonder nor contemplate..." This statement of the agnostic is a far cry from stating the atheist mantra that "There is no God..." Again, anyone who might say they "know" about that which is forever a mystery, should be chalked up simply as a person with a massive ego who cannot admit "they don't know" when it comes to the mysteries of life.

Answer 5

There is no actual code or anything in particular atheists "believe." It all varies really.

Keep in mind that buddhists are actually atheists, as are Taoist... There are a number of philosophies.

However, in general atheists are marked by a skeptical and rational viewpoint of the world, and are generally more dictated by logic and more capable of understanding logic and critical thinking. That is why atheism attracts certain mindsets, and why 97% of the scientific elite are atheists... If atheists (in general) share a common vision, it's an unwillingness to believe in something without some kind of proof or evidence, especially if that something verges on absurd, ridiculous, or violent.

If someone told you there was an invisible pink dragon or fairy living in their garage, you would want some kind of evidence or proof before you believed it. That's how atheism thinks. It's a logical assumption to expect something's not there unless it's demonstrated (this is the foundation of the "assumed innocent until proven guilty" concept that our courts run on).

And many atheists have read the bible and other holy books, and they aren't blinded by faith and recognize the undeniable amount of times the book contradicts itself, history, science, and even observable reality. An intelligent person is not going to read the bible cover to cover and consider it anything more than fiction unless they've been brought up to believe it and want to believe it.


Also, atheists aren't really organized, and certainly not on the scale of theists... There are a couple of groups and organizations such as American Atheists, the Rational Response Squad, and smaller local groups, but generally atheists are too independent minded to be involved with such things... it's often described as "trying to organize atheists is like trying to herd cats."

Answer 6

I think it is pretty safe to say that every atheist pretty much believes something different. The only common belief that we all share is a lack of belief in god(s)/deities. Atheism is in no way an organized religion or belief system. We have no churches or creed.

Many, if not most, atheists do not believe in an afterlife or anything supernatural whatsoever. I personally would refer to myself as a spiritual atheist. I do not believe in any personal god or creator god and I definitely do not believe in the God of the Bible. I believe in the supernatural but I believe that it has yet to be explained and that possibly humans are incapable of understand the supernatural. I believe that humans may have 'souls' in a sense but not in the way that most organized religions view a soul. I have more of a tendency to believe in nature and physics than god. I believe 'god' is the name that we as a society assign to that which is yet to be explained.

I do not believe in organized religion. I believe religion was invented by man as a coping mechanism to deal with the fear of the unknown and unexplained. I believe religious doctrine and dogma has no place in a spiritual life. I am not saying that religion is necessarily 'all bad' because many religious groups have done good things for humanity. However I think society is much, much better of as being secular.

But, as I started of by saying, we are all different and all have different beliefs. The only thing that ties us together is the lable that we are, in fact, 'atheists' meaning that we do not believe in god(s). Many of us share other common beliefs such as evolution, stem cell research, etc. and we are often refered to as 'liberals' but this is not always the case.

Answer 7

I consider atheism simply not having beliefs of creation / or afterlife in any way. There are some organizations, like the Minnesota Athiest, and others. Most Atheist do not belong to any group. The atheist groups I do know of are very kind and out to help humanity and make the world a better place.

Answer 8

Atheism is simply the belief that there are NO dieties. Some atheist groups are organized. The Humanists have a world organization as well as national, state, and local chapters.

Basically Humanists believe a moral and ethical life can be led without supernatural influence, that all mankind's problems can be solved with thoughtful action.

Here is a link to an international Humanist organization website
http://www.iheu.org/

Answer 9

Atheism is simply the lack of belief in a god. Some dictionaries also define it as the belief that no god exists, but I would see that as inaccurate. There is no united philosophy or code of behavior that goes along with atheism. People choose what they want to believe and follow.

Often atheists are not a part of a group or organization. There are many groups that cater to atheists, but I do not know them by name.

Also, there are more emerging atheists, agnostics, and non-theists in the bookstore these days, including: Sam Harris, Michael Shermer, Richard Dawkins, and Carl Sagan. Many of these folks are scientists with an interesting perspective on others' search for deities.

There is no particular creed to go along with atheism, though there are movements associated with a high number of atheists, including skepticism and secular humanism, though they are by no means exclusive. Atheism was also associated with communist movements of the twentieth century, though I am an atheist and strongly opposed to tyrannical government, socialism, and laws against religious freedom.

Answer 10

John w looks suspiciously like jesus.....



no i we have no creed or system of becoming an atheist.... that would constitute a belief system that a mass of peolpe believed ,hence being an organized religion and defeating the purpose of being an athiest

Answer 11

On the whole Atheists are not organized.

Although there are some groups like secular humanists who are starting to mobilize.

However as an Atheist, most of us are free to choose our own path. The only prerequisite is the belief that God doesn't and cannot exist.