Atheists are narrowminded?

Question

Do you think denying a God is a little bit on the ignorant side? Reason is GREAAAT but why rely on reason alone? Reason alone did not give some people the passion to succeed. In fact, without Christianity, i believe western europe would still be in the dark ages so.... Why do so many atheists pride themselves in being so?

What we see is not all there is to it -Plato

i am an agnostic who can't make up her mind... (u won't see me sitting in church) but u can't deny the usefulness of religion sometimes... their values and although lacking sometimes in common sense, it isn't all that bad. However, empty promises plague my mind.

how could history have been altered without the deep influence of religion? even worldwide come on it isn't like religion was a fluke. it meant something in history. i had a role in preserving the roman empire and unifying the populace. it did plenty of good for the world but now that we really cannot do much about religion, our truth lies in modern technology....what? just abandon religion?

*it had a role in....

thumbs up to everyone...but i still cannot deny what jumpstarted the universe, and i respect the people who are faithful about God and also people who are atheists, but having religion is just believing something's there...some people feel God in their soul and they use it to liberate their soul. religions's an ancient institution that i see slowly deteriorating and i can't blame anybody because a i guess better way of thinking has evolved based on fact...yet how sad to think after we die there's no afterlife or that if we did something wrong there's nobody to forgive us for our sins... how do we know if God really just testing us? still thinking its a little narrowminded for both parties basing on blind justification, i must admit i feel that we are not solely placed on earth to live life selfishly. especially hearing about spiritual activity and paranormal phenomenon.

Answer 1

I think that atheists are just as ignorant and narrow-minded as Christians. They are one in the same. Let me pose a question to you both:

Atheists: If you believe in science and logic over faith, do you understand how science works? If you do, then you will understand that saying GOD doesn't exist because "there is no evidence" is garbage. Lack of evidence cannot disprove a hypothesis, only contradictory evidence can do that. Saying that GOD doesn't exist because you have no evidence is like saying that 10,000 years ago, that the planet Neptune didn't exist because we didn't have any evidence of that either.

Christians: If GOD is all powerful and all knowing, it stands to reason that, as human beings, we are not all knowing and are limited by our ability to comprehend a glory such as GOD. Having said that, how can you be so sure that GOD exists? How can you be sure of ANYTHING at all? Are you GOD in that you have the authority to say what does and does not exist for sure? If GOD exists, only GOD knows for sure. To say otherwise is to put yourself as an equal of GOD, and you should know where that path leads.

Edit: To the asker - agnosticism is the only rational answer. You can still choose to live by the principles a particular faith or even the will of GOD espouses, but at the same time, to be a truly intelligent and rational human being, you should also be fully prepared to accept the possibility that everything you know may be wrong.

It's rather disheartening, I know, especially if you are looking for this life to provide some kind of answer or even the promise of an answer. But I would humbly suggest that not only may life not have either, but that it doesn't need to for you to find fulfillment and to be content with your own existence. =) The only reason why a "purpose" or "meaning" of life is so crucial to so many people is because they make it so that it has to be.

Answer 2

Ok people, let's stop stereotyping.

SOME atheists are narrowminded. So are some Christians. So are some Muslims. So are some agnostics. So are some.... of everyone.

It depends on the individual person. There are atheists who are closed minded and just plain hateful to those who believe in any god at all. Other atheists, have their personal beliefs but are also respectful of other people's rights to their own beliefs as well. And the same is true for every other religion under the sun. It is a huge mistake to assume that just because a person has certain relgious beliefs, that makes them "narrowminded" or "ignorant" or "uneducated" or anything like that. There are some VERY educated and intelligent and open minded individuals on every side of the religious debate.

Why don't we just respect each other enough to regocnize that we're never gonna all agree about this stuff anyway? Open, respectful conversations are the best bet that all of us will grow. I would love to see people stop stereotyping each other and just respect each other's individual religious freedom.

Answer 3

It is a narrowminded view to put ANY religious group in a box like that.

I think you would benefit from studying this stuff a little more closely. It's not a good idea to start shouting from the rooftops on an issue like this unless you really and truly are very, very educated in it... which you clearly are not.

Reason alone, actually, DID give people the passion to succeed... it's called the Enlightenment. It's an entire period of history. Perhaps you could start by studying that.

I think you would do well to study the major works of influential philosophers on both sides of the fence. Try Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Descartes, Kant, Kierkegaard... then maybe Voltaire... and then try John Stuart Mill, Rousseau, Karl Marx, Neitzsche... And just see what you think.

Answer 4

what you just said is that without "christianity" europe would still be in the dark ages, not without "god" you ust learn to separate the belief from the idol of the belief. belief can be powerful, but just because a lot of ppl beilieve something doens't make it true! WE atheists are not in the dark ages because the idea of atheism didn't come about until AFTer the dark ages. however, the practice of it existed long before the practice of any religion.

REason is what our entire world is based on. reason i sour common;y accepted method of discovering anything. The scientific method, invented during the great awakening in europe, is how we now do everything, why should we base everything else off of only reason, but then try to find something more for onle religion. It is entirely clear that Man created go, not the other way around. we needed something to help us through times like the "dark ages" but we are silly and can't give up our ideas once we've believed them for so long.

Answer 5

Personally I think blanket assertions are the best indication of a narrow-minded point of view. To say that "[all] Atheists are narrowminded" is a pretty bigoted or prejudicial remark. I personally do not "deny" God nor do I disrespect those who believe, I simply refuse to Lie or to make a false claim saying that I believe something when I do not. I can't pretend and say I don't need evidence - it's not about reason so much as an absence of "faith". To me Faith just seems to be claiming something is true when I do not know whether it's true or false. I prefer to say anything which is neither provably true nor false is merely unknown. I personally doubt that the existence of any god will ever be proven true, and being honest with myself I admit my doubts and call myself an Atheist. For you to judge me as ignorant - for merely holding a point of view which you do not share seems to me inapropriate. It is also further evidence that you are acting in way that is ironically narrowminded - too bad you aren't a Christian, then you could pluck the two by four out of your own eye, before you go after the splinter in mine.

Answer 6

"i believe western europe would still be in the dark ages"

The dark ages were called the Dark Ages because of the lack of written records, and lack of Roman culture.

Before Constantine converted the Empire to Christianity the Roman Empire had already passed its peak. Rome was civilized for several hundred years before Christianity arrived in the Roman Empire, but only a few decades after.

After Christianity came along none of that really seemed to matter any more. It didn't save people's souls so it wasn't important. What really mattered was painting the saints in a way that the people could tell which one was which and deciding just exactly how many angels could dance on the head of a pin.

This world didn't matter, only the Kingdom of God mattered.

The concept of civilization had dribbled away. No republic, no democracy, no civic sense, being civilized was just doing what was deemed to be godly.

This was the start of the period of human history known as the Dark Ages. Civilization spluttered to a halt.

If you are discussing being open-minded, maybe you would do well to study history.

The great libraries of Alexandria were not burned by atheists...

Answer 7

Hilarious! You do realize that -before- Christianity in Medieval Europe we had philosophers all over the place, and learning was everywhere. After Christianity took root, Philosophers who disagreed with the church were burned at the stake. Hilarious.

edit: Every small action had a role in building the world we have today. Religion's absence may have made it better, or worse. I think that if religion had been replaced by philosophy, the world would be much much better today. But no, I don't think that we should completely abandon all religious thought. I just think we should give it the same rights and respect we give any idea. Not superior rights for a supposedly divine idea, and we should safeguard against the use of religion as a weapon or political vehicle.

Answer 8

On the contrary. We have opened up to the religious dogmas and realize how uncivilized they are. The passion of reason is a driving force, [not being told what to believe] but the challenge of actually learning is the tenacious drive in the mind of an atheist. If you continue to read your bible in the belief that it is the word of a g_d then YOU force yourself back into the dark ages of mankind, where you become ignorant of all that life offers - with the belief that you are unworthy and have to be saved by some being that takes away your respect and the responsibility of your actions, with the thought of everlasting happiness worshiping for an eternity something that is so far above you that you can hardly fathom it.

Answer 9

Christianity is the major reason western Europe was in the dark ages. The Romans had indoor plumbing by the second century CE, and then it all vanished. It is Reason that got them out. Besides, not believing in a Christian deity does not necessarily make one an Atheist. It just means that person is intellectually clear about the Bible

Answer 10

Ouch- this can be a rough one. Last summer season while I used to be at a cookout, the subject of the Election got here up (of direction)... The offending remark used to be "what? You're gonna vote for the n---er?" My reaction used to be "wow" adopted via a bloodless shoulder for the leisure of the day (I hadn't visible this uncle in practically a 12 months on the time). I've located its by no means sufficient to comfortably voice disapproval over feedback like the ones, however to comply with by way of and close the man or woman out for a whilst- allow them to recognise you do not even desire to accomplice with persons of that mentality. The difficult facet is while you are the "unusual one out." In this trouble, I most often go away (loved ones amassing or no)- if the movements and spoken phrases of a organization of persons are that appalling. The primary factor to bear in mind is to go away the trouble and make it recognized WHY you're leaving the trouble. If offending events desire to make an hindrance of it, then that is their loss- but when they do not know why you are leaving they would simply disregard it as digestive problems...