Some of us avoid seeking after God because it will mean that we will not be free to indulge in some of our pleasurable pastimes. This is only true of illegitimate pleasure. There are many legitimate pleasures that God has created for our enjoyment. God is interested in our ultimate pleasure which is to enjoy him forever in heaven. (Psa 16:11). While the consequences of our few sinful pleasures in this life result in eternal punishment in the next life. The bible contrasts the temporal sufferings of this life with the eternal weight of glory in the next life (2 Cor 4:17). Logic would tell us to consider the eternal benefit of our soul rather than just our immediate pleasure.
2007-09-21 05:39:13 · 86 answers · asked by Saved by Grace 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
No, and it is absolute ignorance on your part to suggest as much.
It's the old "You can't be moral if you don't believe in God" yarn. I would argue precisely the contrary. What is your arbiter of morality? Ultimately, it's your desire to get into Heaven. In other words, it's sheer self-interest. It has nothing at all to do with morality per se. And it's hardly "logical." It's a fairy tale that you believe because it addresses your fear of death.
As an atheist, I don't bother myself about whether a given "pleasure" is "sinful" or not, according to some handed-down Bronze Age superstition. For example, I'm gay. According to you (I'm sure), I'll burn in Hell forever because I "chose" a "lifestyle" of "selfish hedonism" - right? WRONG. I refuse to believe that love is a sin. I refuse to believe that God created me just to condemn me for being who I am. I refuse to arbitrate my life by your backwards and ignorant notions of what I should be. I'm not harming you or anybody with what I do. YOU are harming ME, and everybody in the world who loves freedom and truth, with your hostile and manipulative attitude of arrogant self-righteousness.
2007-09-21 05:41:37 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 40⤊ 11⤋
I am a Christian but I can not agree with what you just asked. My question for you is.... Are you a Christian so that you can look down your nose at people? Do you believe that this is a good witness to others who do not believe the same as you??? Do you think that any part of what you asked is going to turn someones life to God????
All you have managed by this is to insult others. We are not to judge anyone. And no, logic would tell us that there is no God, we follow our hearts not our minds. Our minds don't care about the eternal benefit because we simply cannot fathom what that means as humans.
I truly believe that it is Christians who stop seeking after God because they believe that they will have to give up the "illegitamate pleasures" of their pastimes. That or they hide them and act like they are some holy roller and when the truth comes out they give us christians an even worse name. Gods love for us is soooo much bigger than whether we gamble or curse or whatever.... we are all gonna screw up, you know that as well as I do. He knows that even more so.
So stop judging people for what they do or do not believe and learn to love them regardless, you will be suprised what happens.
2007-09-21 23:41:27 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
We Are Atheists Because...
There is no proof of the existence of god.
There is no need of, or use for, a god.
A good god would be useless if it were not powerful.
A powerful god would not deserve worship if he were not good.
There is no all-powerful good god; otherwise there would be no imperfection.
If this is the best world god can make, the stories of Heaven must be lies.
History shows that godism is accompanied by ignorance and superstition.
There has never been such intolerance and persecution as godists have practiced.
Godism had to be fought when humankind made its successive steps toward science, liberty, and reform.
Godism was invented in the earliest days of mankind's ignorance. It is incredible that primitive humans guessed wrongly about everything else, but discovered the truth about the origin of life. Everything about which science has discovered the origin was claimed previously to have been the work of a god. Godism recedes when a new fact is discovered. No new discovery ever supports a theistic explanation of anything.
All revelation proves, on investigation, to be human, and generally fraudulent.
Godism is consistent with crime, cruelty, envy, hatred, malice, and uncharitableness.
Atheism Teaches That...
There is no heavenly father.
Humankind must protect the orphans and foundlings, or they will not be protected.
There is no god to answer prayer.
Man must hear and help man.
There is no hell.
We have no vindictive god or devil to fear or imitate.
There is no atonement or salvation by faith.
We must face the consequences of our acts.
There is no beneficent or malevolent intent in nature.
Life is a struggle against preventable and unpreventable evils. The cooperation of humankind is the only hope of the world.
There is no chance after death to "do our bit."
We must do it now or never.
There is no divine guardian of truth, goodness, beauty, and liberty.
These are attributes of humankind. We must defend them or they will perish from the earth.
2007-09-21 05:48:33 · answer #3 · answered by Bats 2 · 2⤊ 3⤋
Do you really believe in God just so you can have morality spelled out for you, and don't have to make your own judgments about life? If God offers unconditional love, should anyone really be afraid of eternal punishment? How can you justify these two aspects of God?
I am not an atheist. I do, however, see great danger in letting any religious entity make my moral decisions for me.
It's seems to me that Christians take great pride in the fact that God gave us free-will, but then don't actually use that free-will for themselves, but rather look to appease the Divine will, and in doing so, they sacrifice their own interests and goals.
I do not see my "earthly pleasures" as sinful. I do not consider myself to be "denying God". Rather, I seek the truth, regardless of whether that truth is reassuring.
While logic would indeed tell us to pursue eternal benefits over immediate pleasure, logic doesn't actually tell us there will be any eternal reward for our actions.
2007-09-21 06:08:06 · answer #4 · answered by benjamin QMM 5 · 3⤊ 1⤋
Do you believe in Thor, Hera, Buddha, Athena, Lakshmi, Durga Mata, Re, and Chiuta? I'm guessing you don't. There are hundreds maybe even thousands of Gods and Goddesses in the world. How are you so sure that your God is the right one? How do you know there is only one God who created all the universe? You might have some kind of evidence, that the rest of us don't know about. You might even be certain that your God is the right one. If you are you aren't the only one. I'm sure all the Africans, ancient Greeks, Ancient Roman, Pagans, and Buddhists were all certain their God/Goddesses are/were the right ones too. Atheists don't know who to believe. That is why they deny the existence of any Gods.
2007-09-21 06:21:44 · answer #5 · answered by Laughing all the way 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Having true free will is only ONE of the benefits of atheism.
A man who is set free, is nothing but a freed man... a dog - dragging a piece of chain behind him.
You cannot possibly understand what that means, in your current delusion, but to answer your question more succinctly, I was a Christian for over ten years. The more I learned about my religion, the less I was able to embrace it as a universal truth.
What do you do when the figurehead of your religion turns out to have never even existed at all? or when The Book of your religion - the very Letter from God turns out to be a political compilation, selected from thousands of "lost" books to fulfill various political goals?
I deny God because he is not there. All there is is the universe - I know that much - anything more is guesswork and will stray from valid discovery.
2007-09-21 05:48:07 · answer #6 · answered by John Galt 2 · 3⤊ 1⤋
No, I don't deny God for that reason. It is easy for someone to say we don't believe in God to pursue hedonistic pleasures for someone who does not take the time to know us. In reality, I am just like you. I try to do good things for people, raise my kids well, take care of my home. I'm even a PTA mom who volunteers and raises funds for charities. I doubt you would think that, right?
I do not believe in God because there is no evidence of God, much as there is no evidence of Santa. Truth is what I seek, and I don't need to be scolded by a "higher power" to know why I should do the right thing.
2007-09-21 06:08:14 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
many people who follow God indulge in activities you described above. Just following God, doesn't make someone better.
Improve your self first. Stop worrying about what others are doing. Save your soul if this matter is important to you. Why does it bother you? Are you completely sin free? Do you think you follow every thing in the Bible? Would God pardon you for following some things in the bible and ignoring others?
2007-09-21 05:46:52 · answer #8 · answered by soniakidman 4 · 3⤊ 1⤋
I seek no pleasures that the pope wouldn't approve of . That doesn't mean that I should believe in the superstitious impossible .
If logic tells us to consider our "soul" ( whatever that is ), wouldn't it be logical to think that the billion people who worship Vishnu may be right ?
The bible is only one of many "holy" books . How can an intelligent person say , " What I believe is right , everyone else is wrong " ?
2007-09-21 05:53:55 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
Do you deny Allah so that you won't have to pray 5 times a day and stop drinking alcohol?
Do you deny Thor so that it will be OK if you die like a coward in your bed instead of dying in battle like a true warrior?
Do you deny Osiris so that you won't have to learn the proper ways to pass through the land of the dead?
Do you deny Vishnu so that you can eat beef?
Do you deny Buddhism so that you won't have to meditate?
Did you decide to believe in Jesus so that you can avoid using proper logic and instead just pretend to validate your preconceived illogical notions with faulty reasoning?
As for "seeking after God", I DO seek after God, I've just already done all the seeking I could in the direction of your particular god and discovered he wasn't there. So, now I'll go seek somewhere else. Apparently people like you don't bother to "seek after God" because they're satisfied by pretending they've found a god where none is.
2007-09-21 05:52:45 · answer #10 · answered by Azure Z 6 · 5⤊ 1⤋
I was brought up as a Christian but luckily I wasn't brain washed, my parents love me therefore allowed me to grow and use my own mind. That's when I discovered it's all a profit making scheme. that's why I deny a God. Just look at the lunacy in America, that's enough to scare anyone into being an Atheist. I could give loads of examples of the hypocrisy of religion but then I may get maimed or murdered (love thy neighbour etc etc) or even worse than that - preached at by a brain washed fool.
2007-09-21 05:53:42 · answer #11 · answered by spyderblade 2 · 3⤊ 1⤋