Or are you just unable to bear the thought of being wrong about how, logically, and sophisticated your way of thinking is? That maybe if you checked into it long enough you might find the truth that all that time you were wrong. I can see how it might be embarrassing though.
2007-10-17 12:35:50 · 27 answers · asked by poetic_lettuce 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
LC, do you not believe in your lack of belief?
2007-10-17 12:42:28 · update #1
LC, ZC........
2007-10-17 12:42:51 · update #2
Socrates, that would make it all the more embaressing....
2007-10-17 12:43:21 · update #3
epicurious, did you say something of any value? Oh yeah, you didn't.
2007-10-17 12:44:26 · update #4
Joshua, atheism is a belief of a lack of belief of any religion, therefore you belief in your lack of belief, otherwise you wouldn't even know you were an atheist........
2007-10-17 12:45:23 · update #5
Earl, Monica, and Justin, so what is it that you believe in?
2007-10-17 12:47:18 · update #6
atheist: those are not beliefs, those are things you know. You know education exists because hopefully you went to school
2007-10-17 12:48:56 · update #7
Print, what wisdom do you speak of, under what evidence can you give me to allow me any rational persuasion to believe you have wisdom, considering you've said nothing of value?
2007-10-17 12:51:16 · update #8
corrosion, you have belief in a lack of belief, so therefore you have beliefs.
2007-10-17 12:52:29 · update #9
shawn, if you have no problem with being wrong, than it will be no problem for you to admit that, needing proof for something to believe in it, is not rational thinking. What if the Steelers were beating the Bangles 56-0 with 30 seconds to go in the 4th quarter, would you still need proof the Steelers will win before rationally putting your faith into the option of the Steelers winning? So thinking you need proof in order to believe, is flawed thinking.
2007-10-17 12:55:31 · update #10
I believe in many things, education, compassion, empathy, and respect. I just don't believe in god. I was raised in a Baptist church and spent more than half my life searching for god. I found nothing, so I became an atheist.
EDIT
Okay, I believe that education, compassion, empathy, and respect ARE IMPORTANT.
And since I am a public school teacher, I am sure that many in my community do not share my belief about the importance of these VALUES.
Education is something people do because it is important to them. You can't "know" education.
2007-10-17 12:40:31 · answer #1 · answered by atheist 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
You're making it way more complicated than it should be. 'ZC,' the first answerer, made a perfectly valid point. Atheism is just a LACK OF BELIEF in any gods. Nothing more. In fact, that statement is the only thing that separates us from theists.
We don't "believe in our lack of belief" or "believe in nothing." That is just twisting words around to make us look foolish and simple-minded, which is not what we are. I think you're confusing the word "belief" with "faith," which mean totally different things and are used in different contexts. Besides, does it really matter to you? I think you pretty much get it, don't you? You're just nit-picking at every little fault in our answers.
I can't speak for all atheists here, but most of us generally don't believe in anything SUPERNATURAL, which includes gods, witches, talking snakes, demons, angels, and other supernatural biblical and mythological characters.
And BTW, I have looked into my beliefs for a long time. Atheism wasn't just an impulsive decision I made because I was mad, or something bad happened to me. But because I found the idea of god to be silly and ridiculous.
2007-10-17 12:57:44 · answer #2 · answered by Uliju 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
um, no. We dont believe in nothing. We dont believe that there is a "god" or supernatural being of any kind. For alot of us its a determination we've come to after thinking logically, and thats what makes sense to us.
Checked into what long enough? Alot of people were raised in a religion and later in life became atheist. How does it make us wrong when there is no right answer? Besides with religion there's so many options, so whats wrong with chosing "none of the above"?
2007-10-17 12:41:56 · answer #3 · answered by Kara C 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I LACK BELIEF in gods and the supernatural. That's it.
I've been told by my soon-to-be ex-husband that I have a compulsive need to be right... but in this case, it's not my ego that makes me right, it's the fact that the god concept is contradictory, nonsensical and logically impossible that makes atheism a valid position.
How much time do you think I've spent thinking about this? My atheism wasn't a snap decision and I've continued my open, critical thinking since I became an atheist 8 years ago.
I get the feeling that you're trying to be snide to us. Why?
*edit* What do you mean "believe in my lack of faith"? Do you mean to imply that I'm AWARE of my lack of faith? Or that it I trust in the truth of my conclusion? Honestly, I don't know what you meant. Please explain.
2007-10-17 12:38:07 · answer #4 · answered by ZER0 C00L ••AM••VT•• 7 · 4⤊ 0⤋
I certainly believe in *something*, but it's not a god.
Edit: I believe (because it's fairly easy to show it) that there is a physical world around me. I believe I am not merely creating the world in my mind because the combinatorial explosion necessary for simulating reality makes the whole "brain-in-a-vat" thing pretty implausible to me.
I lack belief in a specific thing (gods), but there is a lot more to the universe than the ridiculous anthropocentric ideas of religions.
2007-10-17 12:39:51 · answer #5 · answered by Minh 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
No, I believe in a lot of things; but god is not one of them. I have no problem with being wrong, I just require proof. The difference between an atheist and a believer is the very FACT that we don't mind being wrong. For a believer however, the idea of being wrong is unthinkable.
2007-10-17 12:41:38 · answer #6 · answered by Shawn B 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
I believe in many things; a god just isn't one of them.
As for checking into it, I grew up attending church and bible school. I became an atheist in my early 20s. If someone showed me absolute proof in the existence of a god, I would not be embarrassed to change my mind. I'm not holding my breath, though.
2007-10-17 12:59:58 · answer #7 · answered by OPad 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
we don't believe in "nothing".
we simply believe that god does not exist.
i wasn't always an atheist--- science just made so much more sense to me and seemed right. i'm not unable to bear the thought that i could be wrong about anything- in fact i'm not sure i'm not. i just think that atheism is the right choice, rather than relegion. i wouldn't be embarrassed if someone proved me wrong on anything, including this.
2007-10-17 12:50:45 · answer #8 · answered by cast.no.shadow 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Look at the word, "atheist." It merely means one who does not believe in divine beings.
This does not mean that an atheist believes in nothing. No one believes in nothing. It would be impossible to function on a daily basis without some set of assumptions upon which to base choices.
Here's a question for you: If it is possible for atheists to be wrong, isn't it equally possible for theists to be wrong?
2007-10-17 12:40:34 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
Atheism is the lack of belief in any deity. It's not a religion, and there are no further criteria than that. It's not that we know gods don't exist, it's that we don't believe that they do.
2007-10-17 12:39:34 · answer #10 · answered by Joshua C 2 · 3⤊ 0⤋