Why are there atheists?

Question

Based on your personal experience, do you think the following reasons explain why there are atheists?

1. Atheists argue that since the world is such a mess, there could not be a God who cares, which (to them) is no different than no God at all.

2. Other atheists say that it would be too much of a coincidence if the religion they were born into were the one correct one, and since they can't know which is the one correct one, they will just ignore the whole thing.

3. Atheists have so much arrogance and hubris that they have a difficult time acknowledging any authority higher than themselves.

4. Still others are comfortable not having to bother to go to church every week and don't want to stay away from the temptations of the world.

Please indicate which of the above are true or false based on your experience with atheists.

Answer 1

1-4. False.

I am an Atheist because religion, or the concept of a deity or superior being, simply makes no sense to me, and I do not believe anything without tangible proof. Give me proof, I will believe.

Answer 2

1. False: Atheists often have a more positive view of human nature than Christians.
Example: Christians believe we are all sinners in need of control, Atheists believe that we are capable of being reasonable and good natured, once we throw off the shackles of superstition.

2. True and False: Atheists believe that no religion can possibly be the (correct) one, as there is no evidence for any religion and a lot for the non-existance of God.

3. False: The majority of Atheists are law abiding citizens and have respect for higher authority. We just don't respect a higher authority that is made up!

4. True and False: We like not having to do that, but we don't do it because we're lazy, we do it because it's pointless.

Answer 3

None of the above, really.

1. The world is sometimes a mess, but most atheists are smart enough to appreciate that religion is not the ONLY cause of the dysfunction. ;-) The world is also beautiful and wondrous, and completely natural. There is no reason to suppose a supernatural agent to account for any of it.

2. Non starter for an atheist. Each and every religious "one truth" is as much a fraud as every other. There is no "right one" and so ignoring them is the best rational approach.

3. Well, I suppose many of us are a bit on the arrogant side sometimes. We do tend to be better informed, have studied more, and tend to understand scientific principles and logical fallacies much better than believers. But that comes from a degree of self-discipline in our thinking. Forgive us for being smarter!
3-corrollary: We challenge ALL authority, even the "divine" ones. We are skeptical of ALL belief, even our own. We tend to hold all "truth" as provisional, based on TESTABLE evidence. Civic authority, especially the Constitution we generally esteem, but even there, ALL is provisional.

4. Silly. Temptation is part of everyone's life, whether you are a believer or not.

I give you credit for at least making an attempt to understand, and parse your thinking into some "reasons," however modest they may be. So, since you seem reasonable, let me offer this reason:

5. Atheists tend to appreciate that they are (or at least can be) rational agents in charge of their own lives and capable of making moral choices on their own. Atheists approach the world as a knowable place, not a place that contains "mysterious-only" answers. When evidence challenges the atheist, he or she embraces new knowledge with an appreciation that only by challenging ourselves do we mature. By doing that enough we shed childish beliefs and become full adults, capable of appreciating the real world for what it is (and isn't).

Answer 4

1. There are other reasons for not believing in God than the world being in a mess.
There is probability. As long as the odds are for the spontaneous development of simple life, the odds for a perfect being (qualified as chemist, physicist, botanist, anatomist and moralist(?) extraordinaire) creating everything is even more remote.

2. It isn't just the factor of coincidence. It's also because almost every religious people you meet will say that they know their religion is right because they feel it in their heart. The Christians feel it in their heart. So do the Muslims. So do the Jews, Hindus etc. Everyone "Knows" they have the correct answer. There is no reason to believe any one of them over another.

3. No... I'm happy to acknowledge people in authority over me; my boss, my various on-the-job coaches. I'm also happy to listen to doctor's orders if I need to. I often defer to higher authority and wisdom if I have reason to believe they do in fact know better than me.

4. As for the last one, yes. That is perfectly true. I work all week and most Saturdays I have training. Sunday is the ONE day I can always sleep in. And I really really really love sex.

Answer 5

Based on my experience both as an atheist and as the friend of many atheists, I have never met a single person for whom any of those four reasons is even remotely accurate. Number 4 is largely true, but it's because we're atheists that we're comfortable not going to church, not the other way around so it's not an explanation for why there are atheists.

Answer 6

1) The only "atheists" I've heard say that are ones who are just angry at the world, and typically angry with some deity or other. Other than that, it's an atheist who has done his/her research, just trying to show the idiocy of it all to religious folk.

2) Not coincidence, just silly. Really, we have an equal chance as anyone else.

3) I'm definitely not full of myself, and I haven't met any arrogant atheists. So, there goes that one.

4) Never heard of any atheist like that either.

Every atheist I've ever met, in person and online, became atheist through their own research and intellect. No anger, hubris, laziness, or ignorance applied.

Answer 7

Your question and "reasons" exhibit a mind numbing arrogance that you believe you have the slightest clue as to what atheism is. I say this and I am not even an atheist. Let me give you a leg up. There would no need to claim atheism if there were not religions. It exists because religions exists. Atheist wouldn't give a care about what they were or what you were if they were not constantly challenged by those who fancy themselves "true believers". Better to ask your self, "why are you Christian?" Do you have any idea what that is about? It certainly is not about what you are doing with this question.

Answer 8

Considering the fact that I'm a law-abiding citizen I have no problem acknowledging an authority higher than myself; however that authority is proved real which is a huge difference.

I've ~never~ believed in the christian deity even when I was being raised in the religion. As time went on and I explored other faiths I found I didn't believe in their deities either.

I disagree with your statements.

Answer 9

1. The reason we don't believe in a God has nothing to do with the world being a "mess"

2. True. Religion has nothing to back it up.

3. I'm arrogant. So what? Keep the insults coming; sticks and stones.

4. Why would I want to go to church if I didn't believe in God? You make it sound like you think of it as a chore yourself. May I suggest questioning your faith?

Answer 10

1 1/2 out of 4.

Your first two categories give reasons to entertain the possibility that there might not be a god, but don't amount to proof.

But those options hardly exhaust the valid reasons to be an atheist.

Answer 11

This is rather a gross generalization. Perhaps the best explanation of why there are Atheists is that they thought the situation over logically and came to a different conclusion than Theists. Your arguments are more of the "Christians are Christians because their parents were", or "Christians believe because they are afraid" sort and fail to really take into consideration any of the real arguments...