Isn't atheism the default position?

Question

I mean, when we're born, all we have is our intellect...

Why, depending on where we're born and raised (i.e., if you're Christian, you probably were born in America, or some Christian influenced place - same for Islam, Buddhism, etc.) - Are people so compelled to believe the particular story that everyone else around them believes?

The Jesus story, the Buddhist story, the Mohammad story, .....whatever....

Why not simply continue to go with what we are equipped with at birth? CURIOSITY!

Why do we need stories and saviors? Are we really so insecure? Why not rest in the salvation of merely existing, like I learned to do after leaving Christianity (After over ten adult years of Sincere Service)??

What is so hard about living?

Answer 1

yes

Is god real?

theist = God is real, in spite of lacking evidence(or because of lacking evidence)

atheist = no evidence, no god,

agnostic = I refuse to answer that. you can't make me.

Answer 2

That relies upon on the way you outline "convert". a baby whose mom and father pound faith into his impressionable little head from the time he can walk is a sufferer of brainwashing, not a convert from atheism to a non secular ideology. How about you employ somewhat effortless experience the following and assume that after we are saying "not oftentimes everyone converts from atheism to turning out to be a believer" that we are pertaining to adults who're able to creating the decision.

Answer 3

We are VERY insecure with the world we live in. For whatever reason we can't grasp the concept that we weren't "put" on this world by some holy spirit. We were born in it and we will die it. We don't have souls.
The actually creation of the earth is this amazing thing that i don't think enough people know about. I also think that people feel that god gives them a purpose to live which is for him. I live for myself and that is more satisfying then any religion could do for me.

Answer 4

Atheism is an assertion of belief in a universal negative. The Atheist says that nowhere in the universe is there anything that is a god or "God". That would be like saying that nowhere in the universe is there any intelligent life outside of Earth. One may find it unlikely or implausible, but no scientifically-minded person could say empirically, "There is no God." They could say that they do not believe in the God of Israel, but to have a universal negative based on the grounds of not enough data is not the "default position".

On the contrary, humans the world over develop ideas of a Great Spirit or some other deity. Religion is universal in human culture. Thirst for knowledge of God is part of the human psyche. Take the "atheists" who spend so much time on the Religion and Spirituality section on Yahoo! Answers for example. They hunger so much to talk about God and learn about religion, but they are unable to reconcile their limited scientific knowledge with their limited knowledge of spiritual matters. They mask this frustration with crass remarks and closed-minded generalizations, but their persistence betrays the longing felt in the core of every human soul.

Self-reliance is not what humans were "wired" for. We all need relationships and community, rituals and stories, some level of organization and authority structure, and so on. It is supreme ignorance and arrogance to assume that a man is an island.

It is quite easy for you to ask "what is so hard about living", sitting in front of a computer, with food in your belly, more food in the refrigerator, clean water to drink, a roof over your head, a bed to sleep in, and no war raging on the other side of your locked front door. Those without these comforts usually don't question the existence of God; they feel his redeeming presence and rely on his Mercy and Grace. In the West, we have built a society that discourages reliance on God and has attempted to exalt humans, but we find that we are fat, depressed, anxious, etc. We are not exalted; we have indeed fallen.

Answer 5

Intellect, no, knowledge, yes. Big difference, to start off with.

Wisdom is universal but as you grow, people/yourself feed you with anything from music lessons to propaganda to religion to candy tasting good.

Buddhism IS curiosity, for the record. The asking of "why" should never stop, yet, many tend to stop after asking "is there a god." That question is pretty irrelevant.

Also, Buddhism is HOW to live - there is no belief in Buddhism, it is all tested and ready to be disproven, will you take the charge?

Answer 6

Kind of. I don't think a 1 day old baby has much intellect, but I see what your're saying.

The only way you could pull it off would be to have two athiest parents, and hopefully a few athiest uncles and aunts hanging around to offset the influence you would receive at school.

Answer 7

I think it is, we dont know anything of gods until we are told about them, we cannot perceive them in nature without read/spoken language given to us, some say agnostic is the default, but i dont think so due to the fact that the entire idea of god would not exist if it werent for the fact that we invented it and passed it along to our children.

edit (let me rethink)

are we born unsure of the spagetti monsters existence or doubting it? we are born without knowledge of it all together, period. so therefore we can only pick a stance on a subject after we are exposed, there is no default stance. after exposure you may fit into three categories 1. beleive, 2. unsure, or 3. do not beleive

Answer 8

If you're right, then the default position would be Agnositicism. Atheism is just as subject to belief as any religion and therefore does not reflect curiosity.

Answer 9

Of course, Lack of belief is always the default. It requires a reason to believe something.

Answer 10

What is so hard about living? It's just what it is. Not the same for any of us.

Isn't atheism the default position? Probably. Certainly the most primitive humans were atheists before they came to notice things around them.

Answer 11

living? This Christian with all her doubts is still enjoying life, love reading about philosophy, hume, kant, descartes, sartre, neitzche, love playing guitar, going fishing with the kids etc.....

I'm living all right