Why do Atheists frequent this section of Yahoo answers? This is not mean as an attack or to be rude?

Question

I don't want to be rude!!! but I want to know if it's to convert people into thinking like them, to argue, or are they seeking spiritual answers themselves?

Answer 1

That's a fair question. Personally, I am curious to find out why religious people believe what they do. I'm not here to put anybody down or abuse them for their beliefs - but I would love to find out why theists believe in something which is so unbelievable to me.

I have no intention to convert theists to atheism. Each to his own, after all. No, Im not looking for a spiritual answer - I'm a scientist and an athiest, and quite happy as I am.

I see no reason why athiests and theists can't debate their beliefs in R&S, so long as both sides are respectfull.

Answer 2

I have seen this question so many times, I now have a saved copy of the answer I give on my computer. Please read it, and I think you will then understand why I, an atheist, am in this forum!

Religion has a big influence on my life in the real world. I live in a city where there is a diverse range of cultures and beliefs which has a massive impact on me.
In some areas I am greeted with curses or being spat at because one extremist group thinks I dress like a whore (which I don't).
In other areas of the city, people of another religion whisper and point because they don't like the man I'm with.
A few blocks away a girl stabbed her father and sister to death during a psychotic episode - she had schizophrenia and her Scientologist parents refused to allow her to take her medication.
I was raised in a cult, and that has left me with mental and emotional scars.
We have riots in this city over religion.
Not a single day goes by without some religion having an impact on my life. It is unavoidable. Rather ironic considering I am an atheist.
I come to R&S because I want to understand these religions, express my beliefs so others can understand them and warn people about the dangers of various cults.
It would be nice, if by walking away from my computer, I could avoid all the problems I mentioned earlier. But it doesn't work that way, so I meet it head on
Atheists can indeed be spiritual if they wish. Spirituality is not intrinsically linked to religion. The only must when it comes to being an atheist is that you don't believe in God/s...everything else is up to you. I am spiritual, I have spiritual beliefs which govern my day to day life. I believe that there are massive portions of our Universe that may not be able to be understood or explained purely through science. For me, spirituality encompasses my morals (yes atheists CAN have morals!), my relationships with others and life and all its mysteriousness in general.
So, sorry to anyone who takes offense to my being here, but this is a public forum and I have as much right as any Christian, Muslim, Jew, Pagan etc to be here.

Answer 3

*drink*

Once again, the category refers to the topic of the question, NOT the inclination of the answerer. Even questions that people address to a specific group can be answered by anyone. In that case, however, I consider it fair to start with "Well, I'm not a Christian, but . . ." or whatever.

I don't have any particular interest in converting people to be like me (Heaven forbid!), but I do speak out against the concept of blind faith. Faith is basically defined as belief in the absence of evidence or even in the face of evidence to the contrary. We would not accept such a standard in our financial advisers or our doctors or any other field of endeavor. It does not seem rational to me to accept it in our philosophy or spirituality.

Also, please note that it is "Religion & Spirituality," not merely "Religion." Or do you believe that there is no spirituality without religion? Or no religion or spirituality without belief in God? Then how do you explain Buddhists, Taoists, and the like? The concept of God is not a part of their religion. They believe, as do I, in something much more abstract and esoteric.

P.S. Has anyone told you about the drinking game? Whenever we answer a question which has been asked over and over again, such as this one or Pascal's Wager, we take a drink. Don't worry, mine is either iced tea or water.

Answer 4

No I am not here to convert people into thinking like us and I am not seeking answers or to argue. I am just sick and tired of all the crap that is said about athiests! Big deal we dont believe in what you do! Get over it!

Answer 5

I am not an Atheist.
I am an Agnostic.

I think I have a fair share of knowledge in religions that's why I come to religion's section.
I find it pretty weird that 'practicing Christians' doesn't even know their own religion.
I sometimes read the Bible, so I can have credibility in answering questions that christians give. I also love finding loop holes. xD
Better know what you're against than fighting blindly. No?

Answer 6

AGAIN I'll answer this........I personally come here because religion fascinates me. I want to know why you believe what you do.I don't wish to convert anyone I respect other peoples beliefs and wish others could respect mine.I just still don't understand why theists are so certain of what they believe in when there are facts to prove otherwise.....not for everything of course but there are some things that can be proved and yet they still refuse to accept it if it does not say so in the bible.So I am here out of curiousity.

Answer 7

On the contrary. We're trying to give said answers. We believe there is a natural explanation for everything. We're afraid of religious fundamentalism. So we're kindly trying to have the voice of reason heard. Look at the middle-east as an example of what can happen when religion, politics, and social standards mix. It's a scary place, full of violence and destruction.
We want people to avoid answers like "God says I'm right, so I'm so right that no matter what I do to those who are wrong, it is justified."
Some of us might have a bit of a messianic complex, in that we want to save you from blind belief and false hope, as well.

Answer 8

Because many questions are directed to us or about us (like this one).

Your three possible reasons are all correct, at least some of the time.

Yes, some atheists would like more people to think like us, especially given some of the alternatives.

Yes, many of us love a good argument.

Yes, finding meaning and transcendence (spirituality) is something many if not most humans seek. Challenging defunct models of transcendence-seeking is often an important part of this.

I suspect the same is true of many Christians and followers of other religions.

Enough about me. Why are YOU here?

Answer 9

Takes a huge gulp of nice frozen Italian Ice ahhh the wonderful brain freeze better than reading this stuff over and over only to see the best answer go to someone who agrees with the original poster. That too has been done many times over, it would be better if you did a search to find the answers.

Answer 10

Once again, and for the 10th time, there is no Atheist category, so we use this category as it's our religion and spirituality in our sense of the word..

Please stop asking that question, it's been asked 3 times today already.