If the believers make this mistake, why do the atheists do it?

Question

Ive seen atheists pointing fingers at believers in the following way: you all dont understand science and hence you dismiss it as a form of supernatural.

Basically what theyre saying is: youre all ignorant, hence you submit so easily to religion.

Fair enough, there are many believers who casually dismiss things as supernatural since they have no further knowledge, but theyre an equal number of people who dont either.

When I previously asked a question about whether atheists understand the whole concept of Creator in the heart of the believer, most of the atheists said they didnt.

So, if some believers dismiss things as supernatural because theyre ignorant, why do atheists dismiss God because they dont understand it?

Isnt this all, simply, a sign of ignorance?

Answer 1

I completely understand the concept of god, as many atheists do. I was raised Catholic and it had a hold of me for far too long.

I don't just dismiss your god; I dismiss ALL gods. You are an atheist too, when it comes to every other god that has ever been claimed to have existed: Zeus, Ra, Amon, Apollo, Mithras, Baal, Thor.... and hundreds more that you don't believe in. We just go one god further!

So, with your reasoning, aren't you ignorant for not "understanding" all those other gods that you dismiss?

Answer 2

The concept of a "god" is not understandable . Real stupidity is believing in the impossible , the unprovable , stories written two thousand years ago by people of questionable knowledge or background . People who lived at a time when every tiny aspect of life was governed by omens , signs , superstitions .
Most Atheists were raised by religious parents , and fully understand the teachings of the parent's church . Those who wondered - - how can this be ? What does the preacher mean by a three-in-one god ? What evidence is there, at all, that there's any such thing as a soul ? If there is a heaven , how does this tiny sub-microscopic soul get there ? How can this thing be inflated to a full sized person again ? If a mother dies in childbirth at eighteen , but the baby lives to ninty , isn't that somewhat awkward in heaven ?
I'm waiting for some clear , understandable , believable explanations . All we ever get is the same old worn-out - - - on god in three persons . Just what the heck are "persons" ?
The preamble does not say , " We the persons of the US ". We do not have a Government ," of the persons , but the persons, for the persons ". Who's hiding what ?

Answer 3

The thing is, with science, we have intuitive methods for determining the tautology of something. We have rules as to how things can go from being theories to being laws. Certain criteria must be met. Religion doesn't have this constraint, all the materials and knowledge somewhat magically 'appeared' and was. Let's say, hypothetically, that one of the authors of the bible (old testament) just wrote what he wrote for the sake of it. Claimed it was inspired by God because others did, and well, in those days if you did that your work tended to sell better. Their are no methods to prove his words were inspired by God. When a priest, or the Pope, says 'this is God's will' is it? Or is that person's? Or is it that person's attempt to interpret God's will? Religion has a lot of ambiguity in its understandings, and anyone trying to think through it logically will often be told "don't worry about that, God takes care of it, just follow the rules and you'll be fine".

To dismiss understanding either science or religion on the basis you don't know it is fine, if you pretend to know a thing or two about the one you don't like, then that's ignorant. I was raised Roman Catholic so I am quite familiar with the teachings, and I must say as an agnostic I do enjoy studying spirituality.

Answer 4

I've met very few atheists who don't have a VERY DEEP understanding of how believers think.

I know I do. I used to be one of them. The fact is, believers, over and over again, right here on YA, display an incredible level of ignorance regarding the science that disproves their religion.

And that is undeniable. All one can do is simply correct them. If they would actually say something that is accurate regarding science, and then refute it, that would be different.

But the only thing I've EVER seen a believer do is create some sort of scientific "fact" that is absolutely NOT a fact, and then refute it.

What none of them realize, of course, is these false "facts" that they create are FAR closer to their own beliefs, than anything that an atheist might believe.

Answer 5

No it is a sign of your ignorance!!! What do you not understand about the definition of an atheist?

An atheist simply does not believe in a god - any god - not just yours!!!

Therefore how can you expect someone who does not believe something in your religion which has a God?

All the other religions accept science and tolerate non believers. Indeed it is written into the Muslim faith.

Christians who refuse to accept evolution in any way are in fact surely indicating that they believe their God was to inept and ignorant to have used it as his tool of creation.

The simple thing here is that Christianity is a minority in the world when you consider all the other belief systems, yet it is the one single religion refusing to allow non believers free thought, human rights and religious freedom.

Your question surely demonstrates that Christians like yourself are not just ignorant and intolerant of of non believers others rights and beliefs but are also seeking to dictate your belief to others!!

Answer 6

As salaamu 'alaikym, my friend.

Insha'Allah, I believe it is a case of the "pot calling the kettle black" or so to speak.

Insha'Allah, the issue may also be one of personal view or the personal interpretation of viewed reality.

Insha'Allah, as a Muslim, I view all life in terms of the Glory of Allah, Subhanna wa Ta'ala, as far as my limited human understanding can grasp the same. From sunrise to sunset, and throughout the night, with each breath, each heart beat and every thought, the Glory and Power of Allah, Subhanna wa Ta'ala, is evident to me. None of what I see contradicts the science I have studied and have some limited understanding of. In fact, it re-inforces the same to my way of thinking.

However, someone who does not hold such a faith filled view of reality might well view all that I do, experience similar physical and mental awareness as I do and come to a radically different conclusion.

In physics, one is taught and often reminded that the viewer changes what is viewed simply by the viewing of the same. That is, we often see what we see because, in fact, we are looking for it.

Insha'Allah, is it then "ignorance" or simply view point? Either way, we should be well able to live together in peace and harmony as we all work towards the mutual benefit of everyone and everything.

Insha'Allah, I enjoyed your post.

Ma'a salaam.

Answer 7

Atheists, such as myself, dismiss God becuase of an extensive knowledge of religious history. If you are Christian, did you know that the entire foundation of your reiligion was built upon Babolynian, Sumerian, and Greek mythological stories? Did you know that about 4000 to 3000 years ago, Judiasm was a polytheistic religion that believed Yahweh had a wife Ashera?

Yet, now, the religion has evolved to include a mythical "messiah" that has died for my original sin. Or perhaps we should get into how ridiculous the story of genesis is in reguards to what we KNOW about the earth's past and life on earth.

I dismiss God in the form that most religious people do. They believe there is a guy in the sky that turns earth's events becuase of the small rather insificant deeds of a rather dangerous species (namely homo sapiens sapiens).

If Judeo-Islam-Christianity is so accurate, then how come no reference has ever been made to Homo Neanderthalis? How come no reference was made then to Homo Erectus or Homo Habilis? These are undoubetly rather important players in our evolutionary processes... Neanderthalis important because at one point in time we lived amoungst them. Why no reference to any of these?

I could write an entire book on how utterly ridiculous blind belief is (and trust me, many books have been written).. but I'm not going to. I disagree fundamentally with blind faith.. particularly when it blinds you to the truth. I've had my fair share of religious people try to prove to me that evolution is fake... their God exists... all upon completely factless bases.

Therefore, such claims to virtually every advance in evolutionary biological sciences come are torn apart by the ignorant. These religious people use blind faith as their basis to rip apart the truth. This what I disagree with... this is ignorance at its most dangerous form.

Answer 8

Nope. Your suppositions are interesting; belief in the supernatural as factual, that lack of belief equals ignorance, but they are faulty.

Do you also believe in aliens? If not, isn't that just ignorance on your part? What about fairies? Have you dismissed those too? Or are you suggesting the only "real" supernatural events stem directly from your version of god?

Answer 9

One thing I've learned from hanging out in this forum over the past few weeks is that Atheists and Fundamentalists deserve each other.
In fact, I'd go so far as to say that most Atheists are closet fundys without the balls to make a leap of faith.
Atheists remind me of gay bashing preachers. The more they fight, the more you realize their fighting themselves.
Having said that, I believe the fundys do the creator a serious injustice when they insist that their "take" on god is the only valid one.


God has nothing to do with religion ot religious history.
God is beyond the stories we tell ourselves.
Beyond Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Buddhist, etc...

Answer 10

I don't dismiss gods because I don't understand them, I dismiss them because I see no evidence of their existence, it's as simple as that.

Also, how the hell do you expect us to somehow know what your personal experiences are? There's a big difference between being ignorant of something due to your religious bias against it and being ignorant due to the lack of information put forward.