Are you an atheist and why?

Answer 1

Yes, I am, because I need to see something to prove it exists. If I can be shown proof that god exists, then I'll believe it. Not to mention there is no proof that god does exist. The bible is not proof. It was written by man. Man lies. Each religion contradicts itself by not believing in a different god. Christians don't believe in Allah, Muslims don't believe in Jesus. If religions who believe in god contradict each other, how can they even be certain that god exists??

Answer 2

Yes, I have been one pretty much my whole life, though I wasn't raised one. But religion and belief have always seemed very unnatural to me. (And no, it's not a matter of not having found the "right" church.) There are many, many reasons why I'm atheist, too many for here, but here are a few of my main reasons.

First, it's always seemed painfully obvious to me that religions and gods are purely human inventions. Every religion borrows heavily from the ones before it, with the first religions being animistic--no gods per se, but wind spirits, animal spirits, etc. If one looks at the history of religions one can see a plain evolution over time. Many of the xtian holidays have their roots in earlier pagan rituals, and many of the stories in the bible have suspiciously similar counterparts written centuries earlier.

We know the bible was written by men; the fact that it is so full of errors, contradictions, dated cultural references, etc. indicate that there could not have been divine inspiration, unless god really is as stupid, self-contradictory, cruel and barbaric as the barbarians who wrote it were. Ditto for the holy books of other religions.

And quite simply, there is just no room for gods in the world I live in. I am mature enough not to need the threat of hell or the bribe of heaven in order to be a good person; such is the morality of a child who needs a divine whip and carrot. Why can't people be good just for the sake of being good?

Finally, there is science. Science has not explained everything, but it has explained the good majority of the workings of our world, which was one of the main reasons gods were invented--to explain the unknown. What we still don't know about our world is decreasing every day, and the "god of the gaps" is growing ever smaller. Is there any reason to believe that the "god did it" reason for god's existence won't eventually completely go away? We actually DO have very good theories for both the origins of life on Earth, and the creation of the universe (inflationary theory).

The more we study and learn about the universe, the more naturalistic it looks.

Answer 3

To start with, the term 'atheist' means, 'not a theist' which defines the argument around 'god belief' which concedes that god should be the standard...

They (the theists) say that if you cannot disprove something, you must accept it as possible... This is a fallacy - it is up to the claimant to prove his assertions, logic does not require that you disprove a non-existent. On these terms anyone can arbitrarily claim knowledge of a non-existent being - a giant hairy green frog monster etc...

If you feel generous and examine an alleged attribute of their delusional entity, omnipotence for example, you find it logically impossible; it contradicts logic and everything we know about reality. Omnipotence means able to do anything, which falls apart as soon as you think about it - something theists are forbidden to do. I.e. Can god create a rock so heavy that he cannot lift it? A wall so high he cannot climb it? etc.

The primacy of consciousness metaphysics has been the mainstay of mysticism since the dawn of humanity - that the thinker 'wishes' his thoughts had a fundamental power over reality - the ultimate expression of this fallacy is god, the eternal consciousness that created everything by a mere thought... Logic dictates that in reality there can be no such thing as a contradiction;

"Logic is the art of non-contradictory identification. A contradiction cannot exist. An atom is itself, and so is the universe; neither can contradict its own identity; nor can a part contradict the whole. No concept man forms is valid unless he integrates it without contradiction into the total sum of his knowledge. To arrive at a contradiction is to confess an error in one's thinking; to maintain a contradiction is to abdicate one's mind and to evict oneself from the realm of reality...

"If nothing exists, there can be no consciousness: a consciousness with nothing to be conscious of is a contradiction in terms. A consciousness conscious of nothing but itself is a contradiction in terms: before it could identify itself as consciousness, it had to be conscious of something."

And they (the theists) say that you cannot prove that god does not exist - on what terms - by what standard? Under the primacy of consciousness metaphysics, there are no definite terms or standards...

I advocate a rational system of ethics.

Answer 4

I'm not Atheist,i'm Catholic,but I have many Atheist friends and I could see why they would want to be that way.Bottom line,we should respect anyone's choices,even if they may not seem right to us.

Answer 5

No. I am a pagan.

I believe that the universe sprang into existence all by itself, and that (virtually) everything can be explained scientifically.

But I also believe in a spiritual basis to all life, and to all matter, as well.

But I think we have it backwards regarding science and religion. They should not be at war. Science merely describes the process of creation.

That said, I also think we have it backwards regarding man and the deity. We are not separate, but are of one single spirit, each of us divine.

Answer 6

I am an atheist because I don't believe in deities and the word atheist describes this state of disbelief. I don't believe in deities because no argument or evidence presented to me in support of their existence has been convincing.

1. Biology adequately describes life and emotions without appealing to mystical invisible dieties

2. Astronomy adequately describes the formation of stars/planets/universe/etc without appealing to mystical invisible dieties

3. Geology adequately describes the evolution of the Earth, land formations, etc without appealing to mystical invisible dieties

4. Psychology describes the human psyche better than appealing to mystical invisible dieties

5. Appealing to mystical invisible dieties is an appeal to ignorance

6. There's no physical evidence for the existence of mystical invisible dieties

7. A myriad of mystical invisible dieties have been posited by emphatically superstitious societies and have been proven to be products of overly active imaginations (today's religion is tomorrow's myth) and ignorance.

8. Believing in mystical invisible dieties seems to become quite absurd when those who posit the mystical invisible dieties begin explaining why and how they exist in the face of contradictory physical evidence.

9. As scientific knowledge increases, the role of the mystical invisible dieties oddly gets pushed further and further back.

10. Mystical invisible dieties are mystical invisible dieties (ie can never be found by empirical methods)

That should be enough to get you started.

Answer 7

It is not wise to base your fidelity with others on that concept or attitude alone; atheists come in good and bad personality forms.


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Answer 8

Because there's no reason to believe otherwise. Merely having questions which one thinks can't be answered any other way is not proof of anything. And it is certainly no reason to turn your life over to other peoples' beliefs and requirements.

Answer 9

I'm not an atheist; I believe in God Almighty, the creator of heaven and earth. Why am I a theist? For a number of reasons that range from my experience with a transcendent being to my contemplation of a universe that seem to have intrinsic value and design that could only have come from an intelligent designer or creator.

Answer 10

Im not an athiest, I look at the universe and no matter how far you go to it their is a place were you can find know explanation. A higher being can be that explination.

So though I may not make it to church all the time I do and always will believe in a greater force.