People, who know eternal joy and bliss awaits them, but dont want it....wait...no...that makes no sense. Help me out here people.
2007-09-26 12:28:15 · 28 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Atheists are people who have decided on an emotional level that God does not exist, therefore, there must be an emotional explanation for the decision.
The emotional explanation will probably be different in every person.
Since God can neither be proved nor disproved Agnosticism is the only scientifically plausible choice. Any other choice is emotional.
Reasoning by Isaac Asimov. Post by me.
2007-09-26 12:34:07 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 4⤋
Atheists dont' believe in heavens or hell. They can't "know" eternal joy and bliss awaits them if they do not believe. What I believe is based on faith... nothing I can prove. No one should expect atheists to embrace a faith based religion. If they are in error, they err on the side of logic and reason.
I get why they don't believe. It's some pretty far out stuff to accept on faith. Either you have faith or you don't. I just hope they live good lives and love one another. I won't preach to them. They're probably just good folk like me. I'm am no better or worse. Do not assume that everyone should believe the same as you do. It's condescending and makes us look foolish.
2007-09-28 16:28:18 · answer #2 · answered by unbridled optimism 2 · 3⤊ 0⤋
As great as eternal bliss and joy sounds I can't force myself to believe in it as there's absolutely no reason to whatsover other than as a vain effort to try to comfort myself.
So for this reason I want to make the most of this life, to experience every single bit of it unflinchingly.
Honesty, courage and individuality are some things which explain the existence of atheists.
2007-09-26 19:50:11 · answer #3 · answered by Partisan Cheese 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
People who've heard stories about eternal joy and bliss awaiting them if they indulge some other person's power trip, but don't buy it.
2007-09-26 19:32:38 · answer #4 · answered by Citizen Justin 7 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Every single god since mankind began was a creation of man, I see no evidence that yours is any different.
Why can't life be beautiful and awe inspiring with out magical intervention. Fantasy gets many people through life, I choose reality.
I don't believe that eternal joy and bliss awaits after death, I believe that human's fear of death prompted creation of a heaven. I also appreciate the fact that life is short, it's brevity causes me to value my time here.
My feelings are this people, who live only for rewards in a afterlife fail to see the amazing gift that life truly is. You can not view life in the here and now with the reverence that I do. You are convinced that something greater is promised when your life is over. I think that your way is a very sad and defeatest way to live.
You recieve heaven for what.... spending your life to improve the lives of all you touch? .... making sure that you leave the planet at least no worse than you found it? .... living to learn the natural mysteries that universe contains?
No ....you are certain of eternal paradise because you have accepted Jesus Christ as you personal Lord and Savior. Salvation is a very selfish pursuit that benefits no one but you.
If there is a supernatural creator who places this kind of selfishness above doing right for it's own sake, I would very happily refuse to accept it.
This can not make sense to you because your values are not yours, but part of a religon that discourages individual thought and decison making.
My belief is that we all have great gifts to contribute to life, we can not and should not be expected to behave as sheep. How could that honor a creator of such beauty and contrasts?
How can you look at the vastness of the universe and the diversity of life on this planet and believe in a narrow minded God that rewards and punishes eternally based on one belief system?
Atheists are authentic and realists. I am a Pantheist and consider myself the same. There may have been a time when mankind needed to believe in Gods, but I think that time has come and gone.
When we choose superstion and fear as a lifestyle, we lose the abilty to think rationally, this harms mankind. We have very real challenges before us on this planet that need to be adressed. Who's going to deal with them? Certainly not the people who have their heads in the clouds living only for their heaven. It will be those of us who see clearly and know that life is here and now.
Those of us who choose fantasy do so at our own peril. We are all in this together, but your belief separates you from the only force that we all know to be real, that is the life force that lives in each and every one of us. If there is any God in this universe it is that. It connects us on a molecular level and acknowledges that all life is sacred and precious.
2007-09-26 19:35:07 · answer #5 · answered by Equinoxical ™ 5 · 6⤊ 0⤋
Oh, I suppose the progression of knowledge that has allowed people the latitude and will to think that there is no god.
I think that atheism wouldn't be nearly as large a social phenomenon if life were still as hard as it was around the time Jesus was supposed to live.
And of course scientific advancements have played their part... but I think, mostly, it has to do with an increasing standard of living that makes it more bearable to conceive of one's own life as a pure accident... a brief flickering candle in the wind, or whatnot.
2007-09-26 19:57:02 · answer #6 · answered by Daniel 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
The best argument for my existence is, "I think therefore I am." I'm not 100% sure about anyone else's existence. :p
The best explanation for why I am an atheist is that I have a willingness to let my mind lead my heart as much as possible.
2007-09-26 19:33:29 · answer #7 · answered by Snark 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
They don't believe in that eternal bliss and joy because they don't see a reason to believe in it.
2007-09-26 19:31:09 · answer #8 · answered by I'm Still Here 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
The best explanation for the existence of atheists... which also accounts for their small numbers... is that only a small percentage of the population... probably less than 10%... is capable of critical thinking. That leaves them relatively unafflicted by the gullibility, irrationality, willful ignorance, self-delusion, intellectual dishonesty, hypocrisy and drooling stupidity that pesters the minds of the remaining 90%.
You have one thing to be grateful for, though... based on the numbers, you are 'normal'.
.
2007-09-26 19:36:29 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 1⤋
Their existance is explained by the fact that a great many human beings have the ability and desire to engage in intelligent thought.
2007-09-26 19:34:19 · answer #10 · answered by Milepost 6 · 3⤊ 0⤋
I see it as a kind of social evolution. As humanity begins to take responsibility for its own fate by figuring the world out, it no longer has a need for comforting fairy tales. Humanity is slowly beginning to grow up.
2007-09-26 19:33:41 · answer #11 · answered by skepsis 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋