Questions For Athiests?

Question

These Questions are asked out of curiosity - I'm not trying to offend anyone for future reference.

Questions for Athiests

1. How do you think the Universe came into being?

2. When did you start to doubt or follow certain beliefs/religons?

3. What do you think will happen to you spiritually/physically/emotionally when you die?

4. Do you fear death?

5. What do you think of people who follow certain religons? (Christianity, Islam, Jeudism, ect.)

6. Do you enjoy questioning religons?

7. Has anyone ever tried to convert you?

8. Stupidist thing someone's ever asked or tried to do to you?

Thank you for all your answers. I got more answers then I expected.

I'll leave it up for those few voters in the corner to decide who deserves the best answer. Considering I can't bring myself to decide whom should win the 'title'.

Once again, thank you EVERYBODY for your time.

Answer 1

1. The current scientific theory is that this particular universe seems to have emerged from a singularity of energy/matter in a process known colloquially as "The Big Bang." Of course, as science advances, theories will be modified or adopted if they do a better job of explaining the observations made.

2. I was raised a Methodist minister's son, and I followed those beliefs until about age 25. By that time I came to know people who were not religious and people who were, and in truth their morals were no different from one another. Questioning led me to realize that all religions are simply anxiety quenchers.

3. We die. Our bodies become bags of biochemical goo. Then we rot, or are cremated. Our chemicals return to the earth and the universe.

4. Not any more. I don't want to die, but before I existed, I didn't have any feelings about not being around, so it's reasonable to expect that I won't have any after I return to non-existence.

5. They all are believing mythology.

6. I prefer to think that I enjoy getting people to question the certainty of their own religion. If they have doubts, perhaps they'll be a bit less dogmatic.

7. Only as recently as today.

8. Tell me that I'm an atheist because I want to keep sinning.

^v^ ^v^ ^v^ ^v^ ^v^ ^v^ ^v^ ^v^

Answer 2

1. How do you think the Universe came into being?

not some creation from an invisable man

2. When did you start to doubt or follow certain beliefs/religons?
when I stopped believing in santa, tooth fairy, easter bunny...

3. What do you think will happen to you spiritually/physically/emotion... when you die?

simple, when I die I get put into a wooden box then put into the ground just like the miilions of others

4. Do you fear death?
not fear as such, but I am not looking forward to it

5. What do you think of people who follow certain religons? (Christianity, Islam, Jeudism, ect.)
good for them

6. Do you enjoy questioning religons?
to a certain degree it can be fun.

7. Has anyone ever tried to convert you?

convert to what? a belief in fairytails?

8. Stupidist thing someone's ever asked or tried to do to you?
Q's 1-7 above!

Answer 3

1. How do you think the Universe came into being?
big bang

2. When did you start to doubt or follow certain beliefs/religons?
I was a christian for a long time. But its been about 2 yrs i've realized thats not for me.

3. What do you think will happen to you spiritually/physically/emotion... when you die?
i'm dead? nothing happens.

4. Do you fear death? No, everyone has to go someday..

5. What do you think of people who follow certain religons? (Christianity, Islam, Jeudism, ect.) I respect their beliefs if i get respect in return.

6. Do you enjoy questioning religons? Not really

7. Has anyone ever tried to convert you? Yes

8. Stupidist thing someone's ever asked or tried to do to you? My friend tried making me pray?

Answer 4

Agnostic -- Hope you don't mind if I answer

1. How do you think the Universe came into being?

I believe that since matter can not be created or destroyed, that all that is, has always existed, and is just constantly changing forms. I don't know the EXACT mechanism that created this particular form of the universe, but I am not going to fill gaps in my knowledge with "God did it". If theists have no problem with the idea that God has always existed, then there really should be no problem with the idea that matter has always exsisted.

2. When did you start to doubt or follow certain beliefs/religons?

When the nuns started telling my about "mystery' of the trinity, (God is one person and three persons at the same time) , when I heard the story of Abraham about to kill his son because God told him too, when people started telling my Jews were going to hell because they don't believe in Jesus, those sorts of things. I think I was about 13 or 14, when I finally admitted to myself that religion didn't make sense.

3. What do you think will happen to you spiritually/physically/emotion... when you die?

My body will go back to the earth and be re-cycled.

4. Do you fear death?

I fear the pain that may accompany death.

5. What do you think of people who follow certain religons? (Christianity, Islam, Jeudism, ect.)

I respect everyone's right to peacefully & voluntarily practice their faith, and expect the same in return. (the right to be agnostic)

6. Do you enjoy questioning religons?

I enjoy learning about other cultures, including their religions, and questioning is an important part of learning.

7. Has anyone ever tried to convert you?

Yes, lots of times.

8. Stupidist thing someone's ever asked or tried to do to you?

A scientologist trying to talk me into spending tons of money to learn about Scientology, and told me I should sell my expensive camera to pay for it.

Answer 5

Not a complete atheist but I'll take a shot at it.

#1 not enough evidence to determine exactly what created the universe. RIght now the big bang theory is the best explanation that is out there. However, this just explain things that happen after the bang. What happened before the bang is still unknown.

#2 when a lot of the things did not make sense based on the evidence and through history of belief system that where proven wrong. For example when it was determined without a doubt that the earth was not flat. Also, other doubts that some religions have on other religions. If you prove that one religion has faults then you have to question what other faults are there and does my religion has faults in it.

#3 I have no idea. Maybe there is aheaven or maybe I just turn off the same way a tv turns off when is unplugged from the power outlet. More than likely is the later which does seem kind of empty.

#4 yes, it is a natural human instinct to fear death. It is part of our survival mechanism. I think it is adnormal to not fear death because it goes against our natural programing. I guess you can reprogram yourself not to fear it but I think deep inside everybody does. I think you stop fearing death when you accept the limits of your own humanity. For example when you already lived 100 years and you start feeling like your end is near. I think that at that point you accept that death is part of the natural process so you accept that your time has come.

#5 I see no problem with that. I think religion plays an important part in humanity. It is just like eating, breathing and sex. It is a human need. Humans crave some sort of spirituality and religion tries to cover this area. I do hate people that want to control others people life through religion. For example, people that do not allow other people to wear certain clothing or jewlery because their religion say so. I think that kind of stuff is baseless. I also think that if you want to beleive that then is ok but is not ok to forced other people to live that way without any other reason than somebodys whims. I do not like that some people will blind themselves to the truth of things because they think it may or may not go againt religion or that they should not question things.

#6 I like philosophy and learning things in general. Questioning is part of that process. Questioning is part of humanity. We question things in order to discover and understand how things work. It is the same for a carpenter, a mechanic or a computer geek. What I don't see is why should religion have an exception to the questioning process. If something is true you can test it and question it all you want and in the end the answer is still the same. I think religious people should embrace questioning. If what they claim is true then testing and questioning can only reinforce their belief.

#7 all the time. No one has been able to though and many many have tried. The thing is that the conversion process is faulty. I aready have a belief system and the way they go about it is wrong. #1 is that they begging their act from the point of view that what ever you are doing is wrong. Your life is wrong and that you are not happy. The problem is that I am happy and things are going well for me. I mean I go through problems and issues like other people but in a general whole I'm doing pretty well in my view. The converted point of view is that everybody is lost drug addicts with no moral values. I have strong moral values, and have never used drugs or do many of the atrosities that humans do. Just by being myself I have proved that their stance is wrong because I know I'm not the exception there are many like me. The next thing is that they do not offer something that attracts me. Is like any other product. You have to offer the custome something they want or need (or think they need). They do not offer much that I already don't have so why bother joining. Then there is the issue of who has the right religion or whos way is right. If you ask a christian then it will tell you than only through christ can you be saved. But, the muslim think that Mohamed is the true prophet. Then there are the budist etc etc. Even withing Christianity there are many different subdivisions and belief as to what makes a person save. Long story short, you can make the best tasting stake there is but if I'm not hungry I'm not eating it plain as that. Also, to go as far as saying that only through this one stake can you be save begs the question what about the other stake houses in town?

#8 Oh so you want to know about my life story eh. We just don't have enought time for that.

Answer 6

1) I would say the Big Bang, but I don't really understand the mechanics - particle physics isn't my idea of a good time. So I'm not completely sure.

2) I was never very religious (neither was my family), and in my 'tweens' I read some Douglas Adams and learned some science. I learned about agnosticism and decided that was a good fit. As my perspective on current events broadened I decided to go full-blown atheist.

3)Your body rots, and your elements eventually are returned to the natural cycles.

4) No. I hope that I can do something with my life, and my intellectual creations - whether they be inventions, art, music, etc. - live on beyond my body.

5) I respect that it makes them, quite often, very kind, forgiving, and compassionate people. However, I have no respect for ignorance in any form.

6). Yes!

7) Yes!

8) Too many to count. Though I'm always amused when people insinuate that atheists really believe in God, even though by definition they don't - in fact, that's the ONLY describing characteristic of atheism.

Answer 7

I grew up Christian.

1. The Big Bang Theory is based on fact. As to the event that caused it, I don't know. Just because science cannot address the question, does not mean a god caused it.

2. As I grew older, my knowledge of science, history and the Bible expanded. There is no evidence that a deity exists or has intervened in world events, and for that matter, in my own life.

3. I'm not sure about this. But my uncertainty has never been resolved by religion.

4. Not really.

5. We all need values to live by. We all must believe in something. I don't deride religious people, but I am very offended at how many of them think we are immoral and bad because we reject the existence of god.

6. Yes.

7. I've had someone try to reconvert me, but I'm so certain about my atheist conviction, that they could not cause me to doubt it.

8. About atheism? If I have ever read the Bible? The Bible helped talk me out of believing.
.

Answer 8

1. Some kind of "big-bang", cause yet to be determined, if ever possible, but string theory offers a lot of solutions.
2. I'm a natural born atheist.
3. The "soul" is not like an organ, or a part in the brain. It's the total of someone in the bio-chemical and electrical sense, and what makes one different from another (a persons character). When my body dies, my soul dies, but my legacy might live on for a while.
4. I fear dying. I hope it doesn't hurt.
5. The beliefs in especially the Abrahamic religions, are very indoctrinating, and when interpreted as litterely, they can pose a serious threat to the worlds inhabitants. When people follow their religion as a moral guide for themselves, there's no problem, but I don't like them threatening their children with hell and stuff like that.
6. I'm curious about how the minds of the religious people work.
7. Yes, but the more they try, the more ridiculous it gets, and the stronger atheist I become.
8. Trying to convert me.

Answer 9

1. I don't know

2. Teenager, when I started to think critically

3. I don't know

4. No. Life ends all the time in the natural world.

5. Live and let live.

6 Yes. These are very good question and you seem sincere in wondering about peoples beliefs. It is very rare to have a meaningful religious debate without everyone going nuts because people on either side feel disrespected or misunderstood. And it is meaningless to have a debate with people who agree with you...

7 A friend brought me to a Billy Grahm even and another friend brought me to a bible study group many years ago. I'm still friends with them even though I did not convert.

I believe in the scientic process even though it does not answer all questions. But at least it recognizes its limitations, its uncertainties and margin of error in an objective way. Also, I don't reject God completely - I cannot disprove.

I'm just a normal guy of average intelligence who truely wonders about life and meaning without any agenda in mind and I think that no matter how faithful any religious person is, they must have SOME questions that their religon can't answer, if they are honest with themselves.

Answer 10

1.) The Universe was created when the Big Bang occurred.

2.) My parents worked very hard to keep me as ignorant as possible for as long as possible. By the time I was nine, I'd figured out Santa Claus was a total lie and immediately understood God was just Santa Claus for grown-ups. I was never able to forgive my parents for all the lies they "crammed down my throat" when I was a kid.

3.) When I die I will cease to exist and my dead body will decompose like any other dead thing.

4.) I do not fear death. I'm old enough to have watched many people die and I appreciate that when my time comes, I will feel resigned to the inevitable.

5.) I think religious people have confused their subjective experience with reality and are fundamentally insane. The greater their commitment to "religion," the greater their insanity. The physical realm is the only reality. Subjective experience is unreal and is an illusion created by our minds.

6.) I enjoy trying to understand how humanity got so confused by contrived imaginary realities that it lost sight of the truth -- only the physical realm is actually real.

7.) I have been relentlessly subjected to the conversion attempts of dozens of well-meaning deluded Christians throughout my life. At this late stage of my development, few things make me as angry as another do-gooder proselytizing me.

8.) The stupidest thing I ever was told is that men and women are equal. I went through puberty at the height of Feminism and really bought into their message. I had to learn the hard way that if you treat a woman as you would a man, she'll only hate you for it. Men and women are not equivalent -- they are complementary halves of a greater whole, the human species. Men and women have seperate and distinct instinctive behaviors and neither is truly happy when treated as a member of their opposite sex. Women imagine they understand men, but don't. Men have no such delusions -- they don't understand women, period.