Atheists are just people - and this is a public forum. People of ALL beliefs and lack of can go anywhere they want on the internet. The "Religion and Spirituality" section of yahoo answers is part of the internet, and all are welcome to be here.
And, anyway, why would anyone who's NOT atheist claim to be one? How could ALL who claim to be atheists on R & S not be atheists? Did they all get together to do this for as long as R & S has been up? To mess with other theists' minds? Is it impossible for any "real" atheist to be at R & S?
2007-10-14 20:10:54 · 16 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
"if u don't believe in anything"
Who said that atheists don't believe in anything? We just don't believe in gods. Atheism is the absence of religion, so it's ABOUT religion. That, and atheists can be spiritual. If we discuss religion in the cats section, they'd throw us out.
2007-10-14 20:18:54 · update #1
sur4dude03, most atheists are atheist-agnostics. It's the default state. Not destructive or negative in any way... just an intellectually honest position. Non-belief does not necessarily equal anti-belief.
2007-10-14 20:25:09 · update #2
wordman, we're all born atheists. Animals are atheists. Theism is taught.
2007-10-14 20:41:16 · update #3
My sister was griping to me about this very subject the other day. "Aren't you wasting your time in a place like that, talking about something you don't believe in? You're dedicating your life to something you think doesn't exist! Why can't you just leave it alone?"
*sigh*
I explained to her that I might "leave it alone" if the religiously faithful could leave me alone. She rolled her eyes as if to say "you're not THAT harrassed by believers" so I told her that I don't mean that Christians scream at me daily, nose to nose, about my NEED for Christ. I'm not "left alone" in that the irrational faith of believers influences how they vote and legislate, which in turn effects how I'm allowed to live my life.
It's just not good for a society that strives to be healthy and productive, fair and free to allow its governing body to enact laws which require everyone to obey the dictates and standards of a particular religious faith. Irrationality isn't good for the world period. I want theists to get into a "habit of reasonableness" instead of a "habit of faith". Convincing them to abandon their irrationalities would be good for all of us, myself included.
2007-10-14 20:39:46 · answer #1 · answered by ZER0 C00L ••AM••VT•• 7 · 4⤊ 1⤋
So why discuss religion on the R & S section at all. If religion is not something you hold to or believe in, why post religious matters. You may be right. Maybe they would throw you out of the cat section. Why? because you aren't talking about cats. Since Atheist's have stated many times that Atheistism isn't a religion, why come to a religion sight and discuss it? Isn't there an old saying that goes "If you can't say anything good, then don't say anything at all"? How or why, discuess something you don't feel exists? Yeah, it's a free country and no one has, or is, stopping you from coming to this section. But to come here to degrade religion seems a little odd. That cats section you spoke of- If you went to such a section and just displayed your hatred for cats, degraded them, and made fun of them, wouldn't that sort of displease or irritate those on such a section? Wouldn't they wonder why you visited such a section? But, as we said, It's a free country. I'm not going to try to stop anyone vrom visiting this sight. I might well wonder why they are here, but I won't try to stop them.
2007-10-14 20:35:37 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
The problem arises when people wrongly interpret a lack of supernatural beliefs to mean the person in question doesn't believe in anything. That's a nice way to pigeonhole folks you disagree with: "Oh, he's an atheist. He doesn't believe in anything."
Hogwash.
I believe in the Constitution.
I believe in the rule of law.
I believe everyone is entitled to their private beliefs, no matter how screwy, provided they don't try to have their god-stories taught in my public schools as scientific facts, or have their biblical fairy tales made into laws. Beyond that, I don't care what anyone believes.
I believe I'll have another cup of coffee.
2007-10-14 20:33:12 · answer #3 · answered by link955 7 · 4⤊ 1⤋
Nope. I'm a fake atheist on this forum. I'm here denouncing religion because I'm secretly so religious that I..wow, I cannot even follow this line of illogic with something more illogical. That's pretty bad.
Every atheist here is likely a real atheist. There's no such thing as a pseudo-atheist, unless it's a parody atheist.
2007-10-14 20:22:45 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 1⤋
This is my problem with atheism - NOT agnosticism:
Atheism at heart seeks to remove all religious standpoint from the modern world. It is the most pervasive and destructive idea I have ever run across. It is the anti-belief. Even agnostics, in their rejection of organized religion, have faith in something beyond themselves - "something" celestial or infinite. That a "belief" exists only to denounce and nullify all other existing beliefs is indicative of a crumbling state of human compassion. Because if atheists are right, and there is nothing but black silence and nothingness waiting for each of us at the end of our own timeline, then why stop someone from believing otherwise? Do they fear people will fail to figure it out? No. It is simply that in the end, atheism is a state of uselessness, reaching out desperately from within its unbelieving world, trying to become something less unbelievable.
EDIT: Point taken about the non-belief not equal to anti-belief. I guess I'm mostly referring to vociferous extremists - of which Christians exist as well!
2007-10-14 20:21:42 · answer #5 · answered by sur4dude03 2 · 2⤊ 6⤋
You are most welcome here. Who else would we preach to otherwise?
But don't come up with atheism is the "default state". It's only a recent (maybe a couple of centuries) phenomenon. Most of the people before the development of science were devout, religious people. Now, science is the god of atheism!
Edit: You are free to equate yourself with animals. I don't believe we have evolved from animals.
2007-10-14 20:37:28 · answer #6 · answered by Andy Roberts 5 · 1⤊ 3⤋
As to your initial question, I have no idea. I don't agree though.
As for the rest, now you've got me all paranoid. Not actually atheists? Messing with our heads? *Looks around suspiciously*
2007-10-14 20:16:49 · answer #7 · answered by The_Cricket: Thinking Pink! 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
It's all because many 'religious' people in R&S are still in a state of denial, unable to, or dare not face the truth.
2007-10-14 20:15:50 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 1⤋
but it's kinda true though. if u don't believe in anything why ARE u in this forum? you don't believe in anything so what is the reason to look at what people who do believe in something are talking about when it comes to religion and spirituality? everyone knows this is a public forum and anyone is free to enter.
2007-10-14 20:16:24 · answer #9 · answered by complicated 5 · 1⤊ 4⤋
If you ignore the troll, it will go away.
I'm here because I see questions addressed to me frequently.
2007-10-14 20:15:38 · answer #10 · answered by H.u.S 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋