so am i a bad atheist??

Question

yeah so im an atheist but i was a christian all my life but then last year i figured out that there was no real reason to believe because god does not exist...yada yada yada...anyways now i have christians like my friends and my mom and my family who keep grilling me on all these issues!!! like prove evolution and if god didn't create us where did life begin...see the thing is i dont have all the answers and i dont think i should have to have all the answers bc im only 14 and how can you expect me to kno everything???

atheists is it ok that i dont have all the answers or is that bad bc it makes the christians think they won the argument???

Answer 1

No one has all the answers, so don't worry. I'll bet if you turned the tables and started grilling them, you'd find they really don't have any more answers than you do, just a lot of faith.

And there really is no argument. There are some who can believe with out evidence, and there are those of us who would like to actually see something concrete before committing to the idea.

Answer 2

There is no such thing as a "bad atheist". One can be a good person or a bad person, but us atheists don't have any rules that we must live by. We are not an organized religion. What most of us do have in common though is that we think people should always keep searching for answers and keep learning rather than accept something as the ultimate truth. That being said, of course there is nothing wrong with you not having all the answers. Heck, nobody has all the answers. You are young, you will keep learning and searching for answers and that's the way it should be. You will come across know-it-all types who try to make you feel low in order to feel superior themselves, but just stay strong, ignore them and do what you feel is right. Follow whatever path YOU feel like comes closest to the truth.

Answer 3

Tell them to read a book!

Ask them if it's so clear that they are right, why are most people in the world not the same religion as they are. 2.2 billion people out of 6.8 billion are so-called Christian, but even those 2.2 billion can't agree! 1 billion are Catholic, and the pope recently said that non-Catholics will never gain salvation. Born agains don't believe that Catholocism is valid. Then you have the Pentecostals, the Jehova's Witnesses, Mormons, mainlie Protestants, Orthodox, etc...

No matter what anyone believes, he or she is in the overwhelming minority of people on Earth. If your family's brand of Christianity were so 'true', how come most people in the world don't agree with your Christian family members?

Evolution, on the other hand, doesn't require any religious belief or belief in a God. There are Christians, Muslims, atheists, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists who all agree on the fact of evolution.

Answer 4

It's OK that you don't have all of the answers just yet. I'm 20, and even I don't have all of the answers. It's a process. It's also an agree-to-disagree issue; some feelings will get hurt while some will have an tolerant mind.

It's really up to you if you want to do some more research about how you came to the conclusion of being an Atheist, evolution v. creationism, other faiths and religions, etc.

Answer 5

Christians are going to think they won the argument no matter what.
It's OK if you don't know all the answers. If YOU'RE interested in finding out the answers to those things, then go ahead and read up on it. Don't feel like you need to know 100% of all things simply because people are challenging you. All being an atheist means is that you do not believe in the existence of a deity. It doesn't mean you're obligated to automatically have all the answers. Next time someone challenges you, simply say "I don't know...but just because I don't know something, doesn't mean I'm going to be lazy and just assume some magical invisible super-being did it. That's how cave-men answered their own questions. There's answers out there somewhere, and someday I WILL know. You can stick with the idea that a magical invisible super-being did it if that's what satisfies you"

Answer 6

The fact that you, personally, don't (yet) know much about all this stuff certainly doesn't mean that what they say is correct.

If you enjoy the arguing, then you might want to start reading up on the science.

Also, check out some TV and stuff on the web about it.

PBS often has stuff on these issues -- you can go to their website and do some searches and such.

Then you can people you know can watch things together.

Also, they have more on their web site to read and old clips to watch.

http://www.pbs.org

Here's an web site put up by U.C. Berkeley:

http://evolution.berkeley.edu/

Here's a web site for a UK science magazine (some things the page links to you can't read without subscribing to the magazine, but there's lots of stuff there that's completely free):

http://www.newscientist.com/channel/life/evolution

And there are books that go into great detail.

It's really interesting in its own right, and worth learning about, even if you don't use any of what you learn to "convert" people around you (which you're unlikely to do).

BTW it's a myth that people have to choose between believing in god and accepting science.

Most people who believe in god also accept the scientific explanations of things -- they believe in god, they don't believe that the Bible or other creation stories are scientifically true.

Of course it doesn't make you a "bad atheist" that you don't have a 30 year-old's understanding of science.

How could you?

Most atheists don't understand evolution very well either (as I see on this site all the time), as there are a lot of mistaken notions that have been floating around about it for a long time.

If you DON'T want to argue about it with all these people, that's your right.

Just don't discuss it.

You have no obligation to.

Just think what you think.

But do learn more. It's really interesting; endlessly interesting.

Even awe-inspiring.

BTW, being the atheist child of believers will be a LOT easier when you're grown up and on your own.

You won't be living with people who are trying to change your beliefs.

I recently wrote a blog entry on evolution v. god, if you're interested. (Click my avatar to go to my Profile, then click to go to my 360, then my blog, and look for the one that responds to a "God" argument.)

Leave a comment telling me whether what I said made any sense to you (if you can; if you aren't in 360, you might not be able to).

Answer 7

You are not a bad Atheist. Winning the argument isn't what's important if you're and Atheist, right? What is important is the truth. Just because they are older and they can win an argument doesn't make them right.

If they ask "If god didn't create us where did life begin?"
Remember this, if god created us, where did he begin? Did another god create him? and where did that god come from? And if they say "god is outside of time" then you can simply say "that doesn't answer the question, that's just a cop out"

I know you're only 14 so books like "The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins might be a little meaty for you, but if you want to be able to answer questions like this, then it's best to read it.

The answer is learn learn learn...and you will.

Answer 8

It isn't about winning an argument. It's about what you really believe to be true. You have the right to believe whatever you want about God and religion--and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. As a 14 year old, you are still living in your parents house and will have to abide by the rules of the household and your parents. But NO ONE can own your soul or dictate your beliefs. Those are yours and cannot be taken from your mind and heart. Someday you will be an adult and can openly believe what you want. Until then, explore, reflect, think----Blessings!

Answer 9

It shouldn't matter what people think of your religion. If you really hate being cornered by everyone about it though, I'd try these two things:1) Make a joke about it. Tell your mom you now belive in the Invisible Pink Unicorn(www.invisiblepinkunicorn.com)or:2)do some research on evolution ect. Knowledge is power!

Answer 10

hey its ok calm down. In a christian's mind they are special and right and always win an argument. You shouldn't even try to argue, that's not what its about anyways. You should be exerting your effort into finding out other solutions to events that have only been explained by god. Remember though, an atheist should always be open minded. Always understand what you are being told but it is your decision to believe it. As for trying to convince a christian otherwise? psh, don't even waste your time, you can have all the evidence in the world and as long as they have that little book, that's all they think they need.

Answer 11

To me, life is about finding the answer. we are here to learn. I don't know if i am an atheist or not, but i right now, i don't belong in any religious activity. I live, and I learn to figure out what life means. If I ended up believe that god is exist cause I can proove it, then so be it. If not, don't push me. So, if anyone asked me that questions, I answered, I didn't know, I'd live to find it out.