A question for atheists!?

Question

I am an atheist and I wanted to ask other atheists if they sometimes felt this way. I am wondering if there are events in your life that make you question the non-existence of a supreme being? I have had a bout of very good fortune lately (the most notable of which was making it 1000 miles round trip with a fuel pump that was on the verge of setting my car on fire; and it simply died two miles from my home) - so sometimes it feels like I'm being "watched over." I don't think it's "god" or anything like that, but sometimes I wonder if the forces of the universe are moving in my favor.

Answer 1

I don't know if I am an atheist or not. I do not believe in a personified God like a super powerful "intelligence."

But i do give thanks when fortunate things happen, so who do I think I am thanking?? Doesn't make sense to me either, but I suppose that I believe in a spiritual essence which is not really what most people mean when they say God, but which is God to me.

When wonderful things happen, and you notice, and you feel fortunate (like someone watching over you) I think that is a great feeling and that it is nice to recognize that things have happened that you yourself cannot take credit for.

If the forces of the universe are moving in your favor then you are probably living a good life in which you notice and nurture those moments. They seem real if you watch for them and notice them. Some people don't.

It's funny, I once had a fuel pump experience something like yours. It kept failing on a trip out west when the kids were small, but every time we were in a nice area a short walk from help, and this was out in Wyoming around Yellowstone where we could have been miles from anywhere. (We kept getting it fixed and finally the 4th mechanic to reinstall it did it properly, there was nothing wrong with the pump, but it needed two clamps or else the hose would work itself loose little by little every time it pressurized.)

Answer 2

Objective Reality is a mixture of predictability and non-predictability. Another way of saying this is that the chances of your car barely making it to you house was pretty low...but there was a chance. If someone was REALLY watching over you, they would've given you the opportunity to replace that fuel pump and get you ALL the way home.

If you put yourself in the same position for the next 10 trips, 8 times out of 10 your car would've caught fire (or whatever the percentages would be). People's cars catch fire all the time from their inattention to maintenance etc, while others don't catch fire.

The cause/effect relationship is complex, perhaps you ran out of gas, perhaps the hose leak was just small enough not to ignite below a certain engine temperature, etc, etc.,

To think there is a supernatural explanation is reverting to CAVE MAN logic.

Answer 3

I never feel this way.

There are no forces in the universe that are interested in you. Fuel pumps don't set cars on fire. They are internal and the fuel can't get out and catch on fire. And why didn't your mystical power of the universe get you all the way home, or save all those people on 9-11 or in the tsunami...or is it just you that the universe considers worth watching over?

What you want to consider is, why do you have a desire to fantasize that some mystical force is watching out for you?

Answer 4

Technically, being an atheist does not require that you reject all ideas that there might be "higher purposes" or mysterious organizing principles of some sort at work in the universe. A theist posits a "God" – a more or less person-like divine being who created the universe and somehow determines some ultimate meaning or purpose for everything. An atheist rejects this way of explaining things, but this does not mean that the universe as a whole couldn't still have some purpose or meaning. Atheism also does not rule out the possibility that you are "being watched" or protected (or cursed) in some way by forces that are beyond our current ability to understand.

M-theory (the lasted evolution of the theory formerly known as "string") posits 11 spatial dimensions (more or less), and there is currently no way to rule out the possibility that some of these dimensions might harbor intelligent beings. Nor does it entirely rule out the possibility that some of these beings might somehow be able to interact with us in some way. Please note there is absolutely no evidence that such beings actually exist, and even if they do, we currently have no theoretical framework for saying that they could interact with us – all of these ideas are just wild speculation. But my point is simply that there is no scientific evidence to prevent an atheist from making certain intuitive leaps – having "gut instincts" suggesting that there may be forces or beings involved in our lives beyond the ordinary forces and beings we know in our daily lives. A lot of people might think you are a bit of a fruit loop for thinking this way, but such ideas would make you no less of an atheist. And it is possible that more fully understanding these other dimensions or types of intelligent being might somehow provide insights into what we commonly think of as meaning or purpose in our lives.

Isaac Asimov was an atheist, but he wrote a lot of science fiction stories that touched on possible forms of "higher beings" or "cosmic meanings" etc. Once again my point is that being an atheist does not (and certainly should not) squelch your imagination, nor does it force you to deny your spiritual intuitions. It is perfectly possible to be a deeply spiritual atheist.

Technically, I am an atheist because I don't really believe in the usual God/creator imagery. Nevertheless I do sometimes personify the universe (or what I think of as the "One Mind" or "Being Itself") in terms of Goddess imagery, and I will sometime pray to "the Goddess" for guidance, etc. Why would an atheist do this? Because I believe that "Being Itself" is fundamentally "alive" in some profound way, and I believe that my own consciousness is in some way "one" with this Being (which is not a "God" in the traditional theistic sense, but simply my personified way of thinking about Existence Itself).

Answer 5

When you pick up a spider and carry him outside and release the spider (instead of slapping it with a shoe)...does the spider know that you are watching over him?

I mean, you are obviously the most supreme being in this great big universe, and you've concluded that there is no creature or being can be higher or more advance than you, because, well you just know this.

Walk outside at night - look at the stars and then close your eyes and wonder where did this all come from...

Answer 6

There is a reson for everything and all the actions can be reasoned, given sufficient time and thought and research.

I dare say, it is in our most weaker times times that we feel that we need somebdy to watch upon us or some supreem power is watching upon us.

All yur misfortunes and fortunes are just happenings of yur own deeds.

Answer 7

Forces of the Universe/God same thing.

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Answer 8

Are you sure you are not agnostic? Maybe you are a weak agnostic and don't know it yet! lol

Weak agnosticism (also called mild agnosticism, soft agnosticism, open agnosticism, empirical agnosticism, temporal agnosticism)—the view that the existence or nonexistence of God or gods is currently unknown but is not necessarily unknowable, therefore one will withhold judgment until/if more evidence is available. A weak agnostic would say "I don't know, but maybe you do."

Answer 9

Why not God ... don't be atheist just for the hell of it or to be different ..

you think it's universe forces ?! come on how come you believe that and not believe in god ?!

I'm really not very religious guy ..

but from your question seems like the only is you had been watched over .. !

Answer 10

The thing is: if it's God that's responsible for your good luck, than why are other people not so lucky? In other words: believing in God doesn't solve the question of: 'why me?' - especially since you do not believe in God (it can't be that God's just grateful for your faith).