When atheists say that 2/3rd of the worlds population is wrong and unintelligent are they not even considering

Question

the possibility that they may be the ones that are missing somthing ?

Answer 1

They should consider this, but I don't think they do.

Answer 2

For someone to honestly say "The worlds population is wrong and unintelligent because they are religious or believe in some sort of higher power" or something similar, they would have to be fairly concieted.

There is not enough proof either way, therefore both sides of that type of argument are valid enough to stand as an idea or belief.

Just because someone has an idea or belief doesn't mean it is correct or incorrect. The problem occurs when others try to impose their ideas and beliefs because they believe they are more "right" than anyone else. Stating a belief is fine, but forcing it is not.

I don't believe they are missing anything, as it has been proven incases that mass knowledge is incorrect. But their statement, though rightfully put, is still on the conceited side.

Answer 3

Well, I've never said 2/3rd of the population is unintelligent. I do think they are wrong however, as they no doubt think that I am wrong.

Someone recently asked this question http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AqymefX0uTHKwEcfStLWYYvd7BR.;_ylv=3?qid=20070919205821AAzy15o ;it becomes clear that majority does not necessarily mean correct. Could I be missing something? Sure. Do I think I am? No. Am I concerned? Not in the slightest.

btw, while the majority of the world may believe in a higher power or have some form of belief, Christians only make up about 1/3. http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html

Answer 4

I have never said that everyone who believes in a God/Gods/Goddess are unintelligent. Never once. I believe rather i know that there are some very intelligent People who are Religious. You do not have to be stupid to fall for these things. The World can look to be a very bleak place and a lot of People feel very alone. A God is a good answer to them. It means that they are not alone and that no matter how bad their Life is that as long as they believe in this God it is all worthwhile. A lot of People who are quite intelligent have also been raised up in very Religious Communities and Families and have never questioned their belief. Or looked for proof or ideas on anything else. Even though we now live in a World that is full of Technology and Science our roots (not very long ago either) are quite superstitious. Humans as curious highly intelligent Creatures had to find some way to quantify their existence, without Science and or the ability to learn the truth. So it is no big suprise that many Religions and Gods sprang up, nor is it a huge suprise that many still choose to believe in them.

Answer 5

I think about it and always consider well what I read and hear from those who I think are sincere believers. I however, believe that all religions were invented by man and their God(s) are imaginary. Entire countries and populations have believed in God(s) and established their governments. cultures and lifestyles around one religion. Today, we look at those people as being backward and foolish for having believed in such ridiculous myths. But during their day, it made sense and they had every reason to believe as they did. They knew it was the right way and the only way because their ancestors, their parents, friends and neighbors also believed that way. They sincerely and earnestly believed in their "faith" and "knowlege" of their God to take them to the hereafter when they died to be with their loved ones. Were they wrong and unintelligent? I think not. It is what they learned from the people they loved, just as many believers do today. Some of us just march to a different drummer and see things differently.
I quote from something I read recently:

"The "God" and the "Jesus" that Christians worship today are actually amalgams formed out of ancient pagan gods. The idea of a "virgin birth", "burial in a rock tomb", "resurrection after 3 days" and "eating of body and drinking of blood" had nothing to do with Jesus. All of the rituals in Christianity are completely man-made. Christianity is a snow ball that rolled over a dozen pagan religions. As the snowball grew, it freely attached pagan rituals in order to be more palatable to converts. You can find accounts like these in popular literature"

After reading extensively about Horus and Mithra, it does seem this quote has merit. There are numerous writings from religious scholars that believe this as well.

Answer 6

Sweetie,

I hold two degrees in religious studies, including a Masters of Divinity. I attended a church school from 2nd - 5th grade and dutifully went to religious ed classes weekly through the whole of my childhood.

I was actively involved in the student leadership and organizing religious services during university.

Do you really want to say that I haven't considered the possibilities?

Answer 7

Does a christian look at a druid, and think that maybe he is missing something?

The only time that I felt like I was missing something, was when I was on my spiritual quest (something I spent years on). I couldn't figure out how it was that I couldn't find the same fulfillment that the adherents did. I couldn't figure out how (some) of the adherents of different faiths could believe stories, that flew directly in the face of proven facts. Finally, I came to realize that what I was missing was life, itself. By devoting myself to trying to find the 'right' path, I was ignoring the one life that I had.

Just because something is popular, doesn't mean that it's right. Candle in the Wind is the highest selling song of all time...that doesn't make it a good song.

Besides, didn't your mother ask you "If everyone else jumped off a cliff, would you?"

Answer 8

Show me ... any reference AT ALL that states that atheists en masse see 2/3rd of the world's population as wrong and unintelligent.

It might stand you in good stead NOT to let your mind wonder 'cos it seems a tad small to venture out on its own.

Answer 9

Ummm ... what atheists are those? I know a few atheists and have never heard any of them put down the rest of the world like saying they are wrong and unintelligent. But now that you come to mention it - oh, forget it.

How many Gods fo you believe exist? Maybe you are an atheist too if you don't believe in Thor, Athena, Osiris, Dionysus, Aphrodite, Attis, etc. etc.

If it's okay for you to be atheistic about all those Gods, why get your knickers in a knot about people who are atheists about one more than you?

Answer 10

Just because the majority thinks something is right doesn't make it so. It just shows that there are more believers than disbelievers.

But, frankly, I don't think 2/3 of the planet is any one religion or sect of religions (ie: Abrahamic religions). It's more like half the world is Christian/Islamic/Jewish. The other half consists of all other religions and non-religious.

So it's 50/50.. +/- a few percentage points..

Answer 11

Well, more like 4/5 actually.

I don't say unintelligent, but I do say wrong.

Yet this is so circular... do the 1.5 billion Christians who call the 1.5 billion Muslims wrong consider that?

Do the Muslims consider it when they call the Hindus wrong? Do the Hindus consider it when they call the Sikhs wrong? And so on and so forth... Belief in anything necessarily requires disbelief in whatever opposes that. What you're suggesting is that we just believe in nothing at all just in case there's a possibility that we might be missing something...