If Atheists have more faith?

Question

If Atheists have more faith, then it should take more to change their beliefs than it would for Believer [sic].

So, Atheist or Believer, what would it take to change your mind?

(Note: the failure to use the plural of 'Believer' was intentional to counterbalance the folks who can't remember the plural of 'Atheist' has a second 's'.)

Answer 1

I've encountered different types of Atheists:
the one with no faith required -- as there is
no need for the hypothesis of a god existing,
the other is rather hype, willing to spend 24/7
with trying to disprove the existence of a god,
that takes a good faith - lol - (and ir-ri-tates!)
- we call them "evangelical atheists". :)

Answer 2

The atheist has less faith.

They have faith that there is no God.

Believers have faith that there is a God.

It is far easier to disbelieve than to believe. To disbelieve is easy, anyone can do it. To believe is to trust in the unseen. It stands to reason if it is far easier to be an atheist, i.e. have less faith, then the same would hold true for changing their belief system. The weaker the faith, the easier to change the mind of the person. Therefore the atheist will change before the believer does and in a quicker amount of time.

It would take just the right miracle(proof).

Answer 3

What it would take to change my mind would be for god to make its presence known in a very clear and obvious, provable and observable way. I want "miracles" that absolutely have no other explanation, like the regrowing of amputated limbs or bringing a dead person (and I mean, dead for days, starting to rot) back to life. But it would take more than sophisticated magic tricks, which is what these things would boil down to. Maybe if my dead relatives came back from the afterlife and told me they'd seen heaven. Or hell. Please note: I do not say that I need to actually see a god; I want hard, provable evidence of its existence.
As for the believers, with the overwhelming scientific evidence we already have, with the simple common sense that all cultures have had mythologies and that's what their religions are--if that doens't change their minds, nothing will.

Answer 4

I would not change my mind about my belief in God. By the way...what qualifies as empirical proof of His existence? Would you know Him if you saw Him? Would you have to feel the holes where the nails were? Would He have to take you on a guided tour of Heaven? Would you believe any of these or would you find a way to explain it all away?

Answer 5

Atheists have no faith. They simply lack adequate evidence to believe in a supernatural entity controlling the universe, so they form the logical conclusion that there is no god. No faith involved or in any way required.

EDIT: If my dead relatives appeared before me and said they'd been to Hell, I would assume I had gone insane.

Answer 6

Faith is a religious, illogical ideal that has nothing whatsoever to do with atheism. Atheism is based on reason, logic and evidence. No blind faith at all. What it would take to change my mind is simple...evidence.

"There seems to be something profoundly deceptive and misleading about lumping together as acts of faith such things as belief in the Virgin birth and belief in the existence of an external world or in the principle of contradiction. Such a view trivializes religious faith by putting all non-empirical claims in the same category as religious faith. In fact, religious faith should be put in the same category as belief in superstitions, fairy tales, and delusions of all varieties."

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AD

Answer 7

if i ever saw god or an angel i would have to either assume it was god, or it is just a delusion in my mind. i would choose the delusion option as the more likely answer. even if jesus hovered into the room right now, i wouldnt believe. i would think i was just going crazy. our brains are weak and susceptible to screwing up. thats why my mind will never change

Answer 8

This would do it for me.. If a certain religious text was the ONLY book on Earth that was memorized from the very first reading. That would definitely prove the book is holy, and is of God. Or even if several religious texts worked that way, implying God is not restricted to one religion or something.

Answer 9

I really have no faith in deities. However, if someone, ANYONE, could come up with empirical, tangible proof of their god(ess)(es)(s) then I would believe in them, maybe not worship, but at least believe they exist. Big claims means big proof for us to believe....

Answer 10

Your thesis is specious. If you're defining "faith" as believe in a god, then atheists have no amount of faith.

That being said, I'd need proof.