Are you a real, true, died in the wool atheist? I am wondering...?

Question

You claim to "KNOW" that there is no God. You mockingly compare people of faith with children who believe in Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy. You speak of a "skydaddy". You have even invented your Flying Spaghetti Monster (who is very cute) in order to compare yourselves with believers.
But, how can you claim to KNOW? OK, you cling to science, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. There is nothing wrong with logic and reason, as you continue to tell us.
But science has only just scratched the surface. Science admits that we don't even know all there is to know about this one planet. We don't know what this solar system may or may not contain, let alone the universe. We certainly don't know what may lie beyond.
Seriously, if you can't KNOW that there is no Creator, how can you logically call yourself an atheist? How are you one bit "better" or "smarter" than those who claim that they do KNOW God?
I'm braced for your mocking, but I would appreciate some serious answers.

(That is, if you have any.)
I'm aware that you will tell me that Christians and others cannot KNOW either, but I would tell you that comparing what is physical, which is all that science can discover, to what is spiritual is like comparing apples and oranges.
Mock if you will...you only tell me with that that you don't know, and you are insecure in your atheism. But if you have a real answer, I'd like to hear it...

Answer 1

Trying perfect logic on those who claim to be logical is, strangely enough, illogical.

Seriously though...when you do this again, please be kind and pass around the tylenol. Too many poor atheists are going have terrible hangovers trying to reconcile this.

Answer 2

I'm an atheist that was raised in a catholic family. I just always had a hard time believing and when i was old enough to do some research into religion, I found that not only was there no evidence for god, but that belief in one myth was the same as belief in any other. i simply can not believe. It's not about being able to DIS-prove god, it is just that I do not believe in god. I do think that the burden of proof should be on those that believe, and that the natural state should be disbelief until proven true. Until there is some incontrovertible evidence, I will continue not to believe, and I would bet anything that evidence will not be found - although I will allow that we don't know everything there is to know about the universe, and there may be a very minuscule chance of there being some kind of god, however improbable, unlikely, and absurd that would be.
If you believe, fine, good for you. I understand that our society looks favorably on belief and is suspicious of disbelief. If society in general felt differently, I wonder how many "believers" would change their tune.

Answer 3

Well, it's super hard to decide. I strongly believe there is a God, but sometimes do get a bit skeptical. Overall though, it's based on what you believe. I see it this way. There are so many facts in the Bible that back up things that we can see today. (The various languages, The ground we walk on, etc..) Some people, mostly scientist, hate to believe any of it because it sounds so ludicrous. (Which, it really does in my opinion.) That's when they start to really dig into the subject and conduct researches about it. Stuff they find out is sometimes proven true, but other times, they are just looking for a somewhat reasonable Solution, and tend to veer away from the actual answer. It's an on-going debate. I believe that after I die, I will either go to heaven, or I will go to hell. (Heaven would be nice though. :3) Anybody who chooses to believe otherwise, are people I'm going to feel sorry for. My advice, attend a Church Of Christ, and listen to some of the stuff the preacher says. He certainly knows a lot more than me. It may change your whole view on some things. Hope I helped. -Kyle P.s: If you watch shows like, "I survived," or, "Beyond and back," some people who were total skeptics about God have an experience like no other. It usually changes their whole view on life and converts them to Christianity. It's hard to know if these people are telling the truth, even for me, But I can't know for sure until I, "almost die," now can I.

Answer 4

I DON'T BELIEVE there is a God. I don't KNOW that there isn't one.

Atleast get your first sentence of your argument right.
Nice attempt though.

The thing is science has done a pretty good job disproving a lot of the myths in the Holy Books so I'm almost completely certain that there isn't a god that was created by people to lazily explain how thunder works, how the wind works or how life came to be.

Now I think most atheists, even Dawkins said so, think there's a slight tiny minuscule possibility that a god created the universe, not the god people have imagined but an actual god that doesn't sadistically flood the world for no reason. That's because atheists aren't closeminded and don't claim to be absolutely certain there isn't a god like most theists are absolutely certain that there is.

Answer 5

Let me try to explain it this way...On the one hand, every reason I've heard/read in the case for Christianity can be refuted. On the other hand, there only is the 'you can't prove a negative' argument, which is very flimsy as a reason to. How can you be sure there isn't a myriad of gods and goddesses watching things happen and doing what they can? People of all faiths claim Buddha, God, Allah, whatever Hindu god/goddess did some miraculous work for them that saved their life...or whatever. The Egyptians had no doubt about their pantheon for 3,000 years! But, plenty of perfectly nice, devout Jews died in the Holocaust. And not quickly. Hitler seemed to make sure they died a slow, tortured death. I can't believe any deity would allow that to happen and the Christian God supposedly created everything...that would include Satan, the Holocaust, Inquisition (and, can you really believe something all powerful would allow something like that to happen using 'His' name?)
I really can't say there are no gods/goddesses but, assuming there are, I really doubt they're as powerful as religions claim.
IE-There's the 'free will/tough love' argument but please, wouldn't an all knowing creator know when too much is too much?

Answer 6

You have misdefined atheism. You're convoluting several things together but pretty much failed to talk about atheism anywhere in your post. The word defines itself. The prefix 'a' simply means not or without.

Someone who is an atheist by the definition of the word (I refuse to even talk about what is a true or real atheist) doesn't claim to know there is no god they are simply without belief themselves. If it helps you can think of atheism as being a neutral state. They are neither theist or anti-theist.

Your argument however is a very typical one that theists are using which is to take the atheists own argument then begin by misdefining atheists as taking the reverse stance from theists and repeating the same argument back.

Sadly all this does is make the theists themselves look hypocritical and desperate because they have had to first lie then point out that their own belief is irrational.

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It's funny but in another post someone asked "why are you here?" (at YA not in the metaphysical sense) and I had to admit that my main reason seems to be that on a daily basis I end up explaining the meaning of the prefix 'a' at least 3-4 times.

Answer 7

Science produces certainty, not proof, since it uses inductive and not deductive logic. Inductively, if no evidence is produced supporting a positive claim, the claim is considered falsified. For instance, since there is no evidence of any unicorns, we say we know (scientifically) that unicorns do not exist. Now, there is a minuscule chance that a deity exists, but it produces no measurable effect. So, we are left with two choices; 1) no god(s), or 2) some form of god(s) that is irrelevant, since it/they produces no effect. I'll let you decide.

Answer 8

I do not believe that there is a god, as different from 'knowing' that there is no god.
I do not claim to be smarter than people who claim to know there is a god, just different.
I will admit that I am wrong if I am presented with evidence that stands up to scrutiny. Until then I am an atheist.

Answer 9

I base my beliefs on evidence and what the most plausible, simple, and best explanation is. In the real world we can generally support our beliefs with experience and evidence. In theology it seems to be constructed to avoid having to pass any criteria in order to be truth. Prayer can be answered, then they credit God, not answered, then its not meant to be. The construction of holy texts leave lots of room for tampering and misinterpretation. They contain many explanations and stories that fly in the face of the reality we experience and have evidence for. We have many good natural explanations for the world, where we don't know is just that, what we don't know is not evidence of God. I don't KNOW for a fact that there isin't a planet made out of cotton candy in the universe somewhere where rivers of sparkling grape juice flow. I don't believe that there is though.

Answer 10

Me saying I know there is no god is the same as you knowing there is. I have never claimed to be better or smarter. I am far from knowing all there is, as is everyone else. And unlike religion, science doesn't make up answers where it doesn't have one. And given substantial proof I would gladly change my opinion and admit I was wrong.

Answer 11

Maybe you are thinking of anti-theists. Atheists just don't believe in deities, this has nothing to do with knowledge of NO gods etc, they just lack the faith and belief based upon existing evidence or on disinterest etc. Anti-thiests, on the other hand, are actively against the idea of deities.

Do you rag on asexuals in the same fashion? Open your other eye, and you may see...