What is an atheist?

Question

is anyone here an atheist?
How do you become an atheist?
What do atheists think will happen in the afterlife?
Do they even believe that there is even an after life?

Answer 1

A "true" atheist believes that humans are simply here. No god, no heaven, no religion.

Most on here that claim to be atheists are actually anti-theists who believe that they must destroy religion.

A true atheist could careless what anyone else believes.

Answer 2

Atheists don't believe in a "supreme being - god thingie", resurrection, an afterlife, heaven, hell, or anything the bible and other religious texts say about any of it.

We are far too critical with fully functional, well developed brains, superior reasoning skills and logic to fall for the whole thing.

How do you become one? By using your noodle and realizing the whole thing is simply fairytales. Have you ever heard of any well documented occasion where anyone has actually seen a god in person? All that's there are stories written by old men thousands of years ago who knew nothing of the world around them and interpreted natural events to be some sort of "hand of god" mysticism.

What do we think about an afterlife? There is no afterlife. When your body and brain stop functioning, you are simply dead - just like every other living thing that stops living.

No, we don't believe in an afterlife. It's ridiculous.

Answer 3

You'll probably get lots of differing responses: not even all Atheists get this right.

Atheism = a + theism = without + belief in gods or deities

An Atheist is simply anyone who does not have a belief in gods or deities. Here's another way to look at it: imagine a room that has everyone in the world in it. You ask each person if they believe in a deity or a god of any sort. If they say yes, they go outside. If they don't, they stay inside. Once you've asked everybody in the room (and assuming everyone told you the truth), the room would only have Atheists.

Atheists have different opinions and beliefs about lots of other things, so it's not impossible for an Atheist to believe in some sort of afterlife, they just don't believe in gods or deities.

Answer 4

Atheism is a philosophical view. It is a position that either affirms the nonexistence of gods or rejects theism. Atheism, when defined broadly, is the absence of belief in deities, also called nontheism. Although atheism is equated with irreligion, some religious philosophies, such as secular theology and some varieties of Theravada Buddhism, also lack belief in a personal god.

Many self-described atheists are skeptical of all supernatural beings and cite a lack of evidence for the existence of deities. Others argue for atheism on philosophical, social or historical grounds. Although many atheists turn toward secular philosophies such as humanism and naturalism, there is no one ideology or set of behaviors to which all atheists adhere.

The term atheism originated as a derogatory epithet applied to any person or belief in conflict with established religion. With the spread of free thought, scientific skepticism, and criticism of religion, the term began to gather a more specific meaning and became less pejorative.

Personally, I am still confused over the issue of religion and God. I do not want to delude myself into worshipping some imaginary magic man in the skies but also can not acknowledge that the entire universe was an accident, made by a series of random events.

I don't think anybody can ever know if there is an afterlife. All we humans can do is make up theories about it, such as reincarnation, heaven/hell, etc.

Answer 5

An atheist is a person who does not believe in a deity.

I am an atheist.

One becomes an atheist by not believing in a deity.

Most atheists do not believe in an afterlife. Those who do seem to favor concepts of reincarnation.

Answer 6

Short answer: An atheist does not believe in deities.

Long answer: there are, as I see it, multiple types of atheists. I don't really know what their names are. From a modern standpoint, most atheists (who refer to themselves as such) don't believe in gods/goddesses or the afterlife. Many deny the existence of the supernatural or cosmic and all other spiritual ideas.

From a more scholarly standpoint, it is possible to be an atheist but also be spiritual and religious. A lot of Westerners wrestle with this idea, as G-d and religion are synonymous to us. (This makes sense, since the most widespread religions in our culture are Abrahamic.) In Eastern religions, with the exception of Hinduism, gods are not really important. There are plenty of people who don't believe in a god or gods who consider themselves members of various religions.

A minority of Taoists believe in gods (these gods, by the way, were not a part of the original belief system). Buddhists generally don't believe in a god. (No, Buddha is not a god nor did he ever claim to be.) Confucians don't always believe in gods, though there are Confucian gods. Then there are people who don't believe in a God but are nonetheless spiritual and believe in the existence of a soul.

I can't answer any of the questions for anyone. It's very personal for everyone.

Answer 7

I'm an Atheist!To become one,you must drop all beliefs in God,and Devils!An afterlife,I guess,you could if you want to!

Answer 8

I'm an atheist, lucky for me a really nice acid trip showed me the truth. From that point on it all seemed like commonsense and i couldn't believe most of the crap i believed my whole life. And i personally don't believe in an afterlife, when your dead physically you decompose and mentally you don't exist. In my opinion anyway.

Answer 9

I am an Atheist!

I became one when I couldn't buy into any other belief

I think the after life is the life my loved ones will live once Im gone

There is an after life for the loved ones left behind

Answer 10

I am an Atheist, after thinking logical and following common sence I deducted that gods are just imaginary, this link is a good explanation; http://godisimaginary.com/
There is no after life, it is a nice thought but nobody ever came back to tell us about, many nice theories no zero proof in any way shape or form. After life is just like gods imagination nothing more nothing less.
Be good be nice.