Atheistic curiosity....?

Question

Atheists sometimes call themselves free thinkers, but how can you be a free thinker if you have closed your mind to other possibilities?

You cannot disprove the existence of god, so atheism is EXACTLY as irrational as theism.

Or do some of you use the term atheist for its phobic value and are actually toothfairy agnostics.

explanation of toothfairy agnostic: There is no way to prove or disprove the existence of the toothfairy but we all can agree on the unlikelyhood of its existence.....the UNLIKELYHOOD.

Your thoughts?

Answer 1

I do not close myself to other possibilities. I like to learn about other faiths and philosophies and have gained many things of value from studying them.

I can not disprove the existence of a god. However if you are speaking of the God depicted in the Old Testament, His existence or non-existence would make no difference to me.
I could never worship a deity who is said to be omnipotent and omniscient and is shown through His violent, vengeful and jealous actions to be anything but.

Answer 2

I am an atheist, and I consider myself a free thinker. I don't close my mind to all possibilities. What I close my mind to is the fact that this God that people are so free to worship will not prove his existence where science and reason have contradicted everything Christians are taught.

Being rational is the very reason I became an atheist. It is completely rational. There are no gaps. People throughout history have destroyed each other. It can't be attributed to some supernatural, sadistic, cruel being.

I consider free thinking to be the acceptance of all theories and the ability to determine which theory to believe in. I choose not to believe in the theory of God because the scientific method cannot be applied. I am free to think that way, and I'm not in prison of eternal bliss or eternal hell.

Answer 3

How have I closed my mind? If someone showed me irrefutable proof of the existence of a god, I would change my mind. However, since no one has been able to do this, I remain an atheist. Nor does the fact that one cannot prove non-existence make atheism irrational; it simply means that with the lack of proof, one chooses not to believe. On the other hand, theists believe in the existence of a supernatural being, one that created everything in the universe, without a single shred of evidence this being exists.

Answer 4

You've really set up a "straw man" here. No atheist I know says that they are unable to be convinced that there is a God, but rather only that they have never been presented sufficient evidence.

Atheism is simply the LACK OF BELIEF IN ANY GOD. It is exactly the same as the tooth fairy.

Richard Dawkins, the most prominent atheist of this time, even says that he would willingly take on theism were the evidence supporting of it. However, the evidence for the existence of God is, as far as I have ever encountered, either absent or negative. Of course it's impossible to categorically say the existence of God is impossible, but its so unlikely as to make it as absurd as the tooth fairy. And anything with a likelihood that low can be treated in common parlance as mythological.

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

Answer 5

I would fall into the "tooth fairy agnostic" category.
Because I don't currently believe in something does not mean I am closed to the possibility of it being so. I do not believe in aliens, although there is a high statistical probability that they exist. I am open to the possibility, but if pressed to answer about their existence, I would say they don't because there isn't evidence saying they do. That is what I consider being open-minded, and I can probably guess most atheists feel the same.

Answer 6

Ummm... okay! But since when do atheists have to disprove the existance of God to simply not believe in Him(or Her)? In case you weren't aware of this, un-belief simply accepts things which have been supported by science, while refusing to accept at face value things which have never been supported by anything other than presupposition--but always with an open mind towards things which might be true--all it takes is peer reviewed scientific evidence!

(Global dimming is one such example in which science has changed the minds of scientists--climate scientists were unconvinced of global dimming until the pan evaporation rate was presented as evidence to it's existance--now it is becoming a widely accepted argument in the causes of climate change! However, global dimming was only proposed about twenty years ago--and has already had strong evidence offerred in support of it--God has been presupposed to exist for thousands of years and his believers easily have enough cash on hand to support centuries of research into the nature of his existance--so why the lack of any evidence to this day...hmmmmm?)

I really wouldn't consider you much of an agnostic, however--you really sound like someone who is morally incensed at atheists for being so audacious as to say that we do not believe in something that others accept at face value--that would sound more like a dissenting religionist to me!

Answer 7

I can't disprove the existence of the Easter Bunny or Santa Claus, but that doesn't mean I have a closed mind for not believing.

It means I've looked at the evidence and made a rational judgment. Show me compelling evidence for santa claus and I will reconsider. Until then, my mind is open, I'm just not stupid or gullible.

Answer 8

yes the unlikelyhood. does that mean you're agnostic about toothfairy?

Really?

You honestly believe that even though there's no evidence for it there just might be a toothfairy out there?

Answer 9

Perhaps if you considered the source of these books. A pre-literate bunch of nomadic goat herders can hardly be considered experts on the Mind of God. The only thing they REALLY had going for them was a stubborn determination to prove that there was only ONE GOD, not a plethora of pantheons as their neighbors accepted.

That their concept of God, that their experiences in the world gave them the idea that He was vengeful, small-minded and cruel was merely an extension of their own failings. No one with the intelligence of a cat accepts this concept as accurate any more. We intelligent Jews and Christians grew up some. Time for atheists to do the same, doncha think!?

Then too, there is the illogicality of demanding proof of anything before you say you'll believe. Proving the existence of e-t's before you accept their existence? Then never doing anything to find that proof? Logic?

You don't really want proof, you want understanding of the thing. And God is beyond your understanding so you want nothing to do with Him. You want to understand because you know that you cannot control something unless you have an understanding of it. Give up then, atheists. You may yet come to a full understanding of God. You may even come to faith in Him. But control? Not nohow, not noway. Might as well give up now and leave the believers alone. Control just ain't in the cards.

Control is what you want because control removes fear. If you can control it you needn't fear it. God is feared by you. Mostly because of all the wrong and idiotic things other people say about Him. Consider that they are wrong. Consider that He is NOT as they have portrayed Him. Consider that Jesus told us to call Him, "Abba", a wonderful Aramaic word still in use by modern Arabic speakers, although mostly by those under 12. Abba means Daddy. Think of the connotations of THAT! Not stern unapproachable, demanding "Father". But Daddy. YOUR Daddy. Who loves you no matter what. Where's the fear in that? And so, wherefore any need to control. Or to fully understand.

Relax, accept, love and be loved and come on home.

Answer 10

My mind is not closed to other possibilites.
If someday, there came some incredible proof of any god's existence, I would believe.
Until then, the majority of evidence points toward science, and evolution.
Until then, I am an atheist.