2007-08-04 05:57:46 · 19 answers · asked by bagel lover 3 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
It's a belief some people believe. Just like some people believe there is a god. What's the difference?
2007-08-04 06:00:57 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 3⤋
Atheists do not believe in the existence of God... and they are right! The existence of God has always remained disputed. Some scriptures believe in the existence of God Almighty... others proclaim Cosmos to be without a beginning! If the Cosmos is beginningless... doubting the existence of God... the Creator is not wrong!
The belief of atheists that there is no god stems from this fact! The doctrine of Maya (veil of ignorance) promulgated by Adi Shankaracharya confirms this fact! According to the doctrine of Maya... the entire Cosmos is an illusion as the Cosmos does not seem to have boundary! If it does... then what beyond!
The doctrine of Maya in Hinduism is an accepted fact! No enlightened person has ever refuted this fact! Hinduism believes that Cosmos is beginningless and also there exists God Almighty... the Creator! Even though both the systems of thought are contradictory... viewed from enlightened point of view... both doctrines are correct in themselves!
Even if atheists do not believe in the existence of God... they do believe in the existence of a higher power... something that governs and controls the system! Whether we call it a higher power... or God Almighty... or a source of energy having infinite powers... all mean the same! The path may be different... the goal of all is the same!
Belief or no belief... all atheists exist! Does this refute the claim of believers... those who do not believe in God shall die! Neither those who believe have a higher a status in life! God Almighty does not differentiate based on the thinking of one! Belief or denial in the existence of God is simply a matter of personal belief!
The prime reason why God Almighty gave human beings the power of discrimination... a will... a consciousness that rules supreme! Every human being is absolutely free to enact ones karma. None can interfere in the working of other! The form of human being... the highest manifest stage in the cosmic life cycle... every living entity has ability to take ones decisions absolutely independent of others! More on God - http://www.godrealized.com/god.html
2007-08-08 11:09:35 · answer #2 · answered by godrealized 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
There is no one, singular reason, but many. There are rational & logical reasons, empirical reasons, moral & ethical reasons, a love of knowledge & fear of ignorance, and several other reasons.
For starters, look closely at the above answers that were written by non-atheists. See the smug arrogance? The stereotyping of atheists? The inherent meanness? The baseless assumptions made about atheists? Some xtians would say that such people are the exception, but many atheists would agree that such rude, demeaning, arrogant, willfully ignorant treatment is really the norm. Why would atheists want to be a part of such a belief system, that preaches "love thy neighbor--but only if they believe as you do"?
Also, just whose god(s) are we supposed to believe in? Xtians want us to believe in their god, Jews in their god, Muslims in Allah, Hindus in their gods, etc. etc. etc. Being a theist involves TWO beliefs: 1. that a god or gods exist; and 2. that "MY god is the real one." Both beliefs are nothing more than unsupported articles of faith.
Atheists will probably all agree that there is zero evidence for the existence of ANY gods, let alone the god of any specific religion. Considering all the logical, rational & intellectual blunders inherent in religions, atheists consider it more than a good bet that theists are wrong on the existence of gods, too. All the evidence to date, points more strongly to the simple fact that religions were the creations of men, and evolved from simple animistic beliefs to the more complex rituals and fables of today's religions.
If there is one redeeming quality of religions, it's that they teach some people to be moral when they otherwise wouldn't be. Atheists, however, have no need of such teachings. It's certainly not that we don't believe in being good, contrary to what a lot of theists would like to believe. Rather, we believe in being good just for the sake of being good, without any need of the stick-and-carrot of heaven & hell. When a person needs threats (hell) or bribes (heaven) to be good, such is the morality of a child.
There are quite a few other reasons why atheists don't believe in gods, but for space considerations I'll leave you with a few links. The first link below is to a question similar to yours; check out the other answers, including mine. The other links are some food for thought which I hope you'll give some serious consideration to. Good luck, and don't be afraid to question!
2007-08-04 15:15:43 · answer #3 · answered by R[̲̅ə̲̅٨̲̅٥̲̅٦̲̅]ution 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Have some respect. It's a belief. Why do christians believe there is a god? Athiests claim there is no god because there is no scientific proof to suggest there is one, fair enough if you ask me
2007-08-04 13:12:55 · answer #4 · answered by ludo 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
The scientific Renaissance of the last 500 years or so has slowly and surely closed many minds to "faith" and "belief" as a reliable source for meaning and driving purpose in this world. Science so precisely divides the whole of the cosmos into smaller and smaller, and thereby easier and easier to understand chunks that it becomes easy to see how scientific inquiry, or "logic," becomes the most reliable source for understanding one's immediate and general circumstances. The claim that there is no god is really a substitution of cause and effect for endless cause. The main difference becomes understanding the world by breaking it down as opposed to understanding through putting it all together.
2007-08-04 13:13:24 · answer #5 · answered by Justin R 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Because of their belief system.
Different people will believe something when the parameters of their logic is satisfied. Those who believe in god- well, the holy books are enough to satisfy their parameters of logical reasoning.
Who is right and who is wrong?
Are they both moral men?
Is the moral man better than a god believer or a non believer.
Or do the god believers simply lump non god believers into the devil bins (and vice versa) painted as such by their prejudices.
I think that we should learn their reasons by asking them and we should also study our reasons why we believe the way we do, When satisfied, we should agree to live and let live.
2007-08-04 13:19:48 · answer #6 · answered by QuiteNewHere 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because general existence statements cannot be disproven the athiests have the weakest argument as to the non-existance of God.
The agnostics are the 'fence sitters' who say maybe there is and maybe there ain't. At least agnostics keep an open mind.
The theists absolutely state that there is a God and have wonderful arguments to prove their claim.
So the atheists truly believe, for mechanistic definitions of human behaviour, that there is no God.
2007-08-04 13:03:44 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
It's hard for some of us to believe in things that have no proof.
How do you believe in the existence to God or miracles, when you've never seen anything to make you believe that they are real?
Why should someone believe things just because they are written in the Bible. What makes the Bible any more credible than say, The Lord of the Rings? Or any other book?
2007-08-04 13:03:56 · answer #8 · answered by Andrew F 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
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.
2007-08-05 06:49:27 · answer #9 · answered by Its not me Its u 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm an Atheist, an I wont believe in anything that cannot be proven by fact to be real or true...
2007-08-04 13:01:28 · answer #10 · answered by AZTECAMAN 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋