Do atheists 'believe in' anything?

Question

I'm an atheist.

I believe in democracy. I believe in equality. I believe in liberty. I believe in human dignity. I believe that the sanctity of the lives of those already born (including those on death row) supersede the sanctity of the life of a clump of cells. I believe in love. I believe in art. I believe in personal relationships with actual people. I believe in education. I believe in critical thought. I believe in deeply passionate kisses. I believe in a free press.

What do you believe in?

Nijg: I don't 'believe in' evolution, I 'believe that' evolution best describes the facts. Note the difference.

God:

I can understand the belief that all animal life is equal, but I as of yet cannot subscribe to that belief. I believe that the adoption of such a belief takes a discipline and morality far superior to my own. I am selfish and enjoy meat and animal products far too much to give up the human-centrism devised by curent human society.

Darth, don't sell yourself short!

Answer 1

James
This is What I and Many Native Americans Believe IN!!!

1.Each morning upon rising, and each evening before sleeping, give thanks for the life within you and for all life, for the good things that Wakan Tanka ---Creator has given you and for the opportunity to grow a little more each day. Consider your thoughts and actions of the past day and seek for the courage and strength to be a better person. Seek for the things that will benefit others (everyone).
2.Show Respect. Respect means “To feel or show honor or esteem for someone or something; to consider the well being of, or to treat someone or something with deference or courtesy.” Showing respect is a basic law of life.
o-Treat every person from the tiniest child to the oldest elder with respect at all times.
o-Special respect should be given to Elders, Parents, Teachers, and Community Leaders.
o-No person should be made to feel “put down” by you; avoid hurting other hearts as you would avoid a deadly poison.
o-Touch nothing that belongs to someone else (especially Sacred Objects) without permission, or an understanding between you.
o-Respect the privacy of every person, never intrude on a person’s quiet moment or personal space.
o-Never walk between people that are conversing.
o-Never interrupt people who are conversing.
o-Speak in a soft voice, especially when you are in the presence of Elders, strangers or others to whom special respect is due.
o-Do not speak unless invited to do so at gatherings where Elders are present (except to ask what is expected of you, should you be in doubt).
o-Never speak about others in a negative way, whether they are present or not.
o-Treat the earth and all of her aspects as your mother. Show deep respect for the mineral world, the plant world, and the animal world. Do nothing to pollute our Mother, rise up with wisdom to defend her.
o-Show deep respect for the beliefs and religion of others.
o-Listen with courtesy to what others say, even if you feel that what they are saying is worthless. Listen with your heart.
3.Respect the wisdom of the people in council. Once you give an idea to a council meeting it no longer belongs to you. It belongs to the people. Respect demands that you listen intently to the ideas of others in council and that you do not insist that your idea prevail. Indeed you should freely support the ideas of others if they are true and good, even if those ideas are quite different from the ones you have contributed. The clash of ideas brings forth the Spark of Truth. Once a council has decided something in unity, respect demands that no one speak secretly against what has been decided. If the council has made an error, that error will become apparent to everyone in its own time.
4.Be truthful at all times, and under all conditions.
5.Always treat your guests with honor and consideration. Give of your best food, your best blankets, the best part of your house, and your best service to your guests.
6.The hurt of one is the hurt of all, the honor of one is the honor of all.
7.Receive strangers and outsiders with a loving heart and as members of the human family.
8.All the races and tribes in the world are like the different colored flowers of one meadow. All are beautiful. As children of the Wakan Tanka---Creator they must all be respected.
9.To serve others, to be of some use to family, community, nation, and the world is one of the main purposes for which human beings have been created. Do not fill yourself with your own affairs and forget your most important talks. True happiness comes only to those who dedicate their lives to the service of others.
10.Observe moderation and balance in all things.
11.Know those things that lead to your well-being, and those things that lead to your destruction.
12.Listen to and follow the guidance given to your heart. Expect guidance to come in many forms; in prayer, in dreams, in times of quiet solitude, and in the words and deeds of wise Elders and friends.

What Do think???
James???

Answer 2

Do you believe in the sanctity of life for other animals besides humans? Do you believe in dignity for other animals besides humans. You seem like a reasonable person, and I agree with everything you say except for the sanctity part, and I would not discriminate against the other animals.

D2True – Can you prove the first premise of you cute little syllogism? You can’t, therefore your logic is extinct.

I believe that you do have the discipline and morality to give up, or at least cut back on animal products. Read a book called “Animal Liberation,” and you may have a change of heart. If not for the animals, do it for your own health. Study up on what is in the food you eat, and how it got onto your plate. It’s pretty disgusting. Without going on a rant for vegetarianism, I’ll just say that you would be surprised at how delicious and nutritious tofu can be made. If you weren’t told, you would be unable to distinguish it from real meat.

Answer 3

i believe that my senses provide mostly reliable information about nature. in contrast, i don't believe that my emotions and intuitions are necessarily relevant to anything or anyone but me. i believe in the method of science to the extent that it's been historically successful, although i recognise that it can't be rigorously applied to all aspects of life. i believe in all the things you mentioned with the possible exception of equality. i'd qualify that it doesn't mean people are equal, but they ought to be treated as if they were, within reason. i believe that people have the right to believe things that i find silly, but also that they should not expect those beliefs to go unchallenged.

Answer 4

I believe this is one of the reasons I like having you as a contact. We seem to share many of the same beliefs, but you can express them a lot more clearly than I could ever.

Answer 5

I believe the sun will rise tomorrow. I believe in doing no harm. I believe in love. Looks like we believe in a lot of the same things actually. Nice to meet you!

Answer 6

Yes, of course they believe in something! Everyone believes in something regardless of their religion. My best friend is an Atheist and he believes in energy, he's a good person and that's what counts.

I believe in God and he lets me believe in Him without trying to change my views, and we should do the same for Atheists. There's more than one path to God, and we should try to find the things we have in common rather than what is different.

Love, and doing good things, are more important than what religion you worship, or even if you do not worship a religion at all-we have to let people chose their own path.

Answer 7

"The point is surely that the only kind of unremitting negativism is apathy, not attack. Everthing that is attacked has its obverse 'positive' side. If you are against war, you are for peace; if you are against priveledge, you are for equality; if you are against censorship, you are for freedom of speech; if you are against superstition, you are for reason; if you are against humbug, you are for honesty; and if you are against mystical obscurantism, you are for freethought."
Barbara Smoker, former president of the National Secular Society

I believe we are the universe observing itself. We are a star's way of knowing about stars.

I believe that we should strive to see the universe as it is, rather than how we'd like it to be, or how we think it should be. I believe the scientific method is the only tool we have that will enable us to do that.

Answer 8

I don't believe in anything.

I KNOW a lot of things. Because I refuse to think something without a logical reason for doing so, and that isn't "belief." That's the layman's science.

But I know all of the things that you believe.

Answer 9

I believe we are on the same boat.

I believe in humanity and in the circle of life in the macro and micro Universe.

I'm not better or superior than my cat.

Answer 10

as usual, well put, James. : )

Sir D:

wrong. I believe in many things, including my belief that you are a pompous w*nker who arrogantly and erroneously claims to know the inner lives of millions of utter strangers.

Answer 11

Most of the time.