I’m opening this thread to offer a perspective that differs from the majority on this board. If anyone here has genuine questions about atheism, feel free to ask them here.
I don’t really understand your question
Well, by definition an atheist doesn’t believe in god, but what, if anything, they believe beyond that depends on the individual
I really do not know what you’re trying to say.
Yes, I suppose I’m an atheist. It’s more like I’m not interested in the question of god than anything else.
Do you wish people could see you as a person, with a set of emotions, hopes, dreams, etc… and not as a label? Or are you ok with being labeled?
I’m not religious, but something I do believe is everything on this planet, the trees, the grass, hueman beings, flora and fauna, is at their cores love. So, I don’t see you as an Atheist, I see you as love, as well as I see other hueman beings as love. We are love incarnate. Just curious about what you think.
In my day to day life, I don’t feel like this is a label that comes up very often, if ever. I live a very secular life and everyone else I associate with is similarly unreligious and secular, so it just doesn’t come up. It’s actually quite nice to just not have this dimension in my life. Makes things really easy
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- Do atheists have a creed or a platform of some sort stating what they stand for or against?
- Why do so many atheists believe in Aliens? Do you believe in Aliens?
- I believe atheists can be moral, but if God does not exist, then why does morality even matter?
- Why do so many atheists try to convince believers that there is no God?
- What was your journey to anti-theism? Were you raised in an atheist home? Were you rebelling against your Christian parents? Did you read a lot of the new-atheists in the early 2000’s (which were very popular at that time)? Have you found religion in other things (like political ideologies, scientism, sports, etc.)?
Thanks : )
- No, not as a general rule. Some might. Maybe there’s organizations that do. I guess if you consider satanists to be atheists, which they kind of are to the extent that they treat Satan as a metaphor, then I suppose that’s an example of atheists having a creed.
- I’m not sure why that’s the case or if it is, even. The universe is enormous though, so I guess some people just find it unlikely that we’re alone. I don’t personally believe in them though
- That’s a good question and I don’t think I have a good answer. On the one hand, doing the right thing most of the time is a requirement to live in a society.
- I don’t know anyone like that. I suppose I used to be more of a firebrand when I was younger.
- I was raised Catholic, even went to Catholic School. Around eighth grade I realized I didn’t really believe any of it; I just couldn’t. I definitely had no interest in living my life the way that my teachers were telling me I would need to as a Catholic. These days, though, I like to say I just have no interest in the question of god. Like, does a God exist and if so what is its nature? I don’t feel like answering that question.
Indeed it is. Do you know what is even bigger than the universe? Infinity. God is not only the God of the universe, but also of all that is outside of space & time : )
Am I making a mistake by sending my youngest to Catholic School? Will she turn out to be an atheist?
God is not an it, but rather a Who.
I can’t say for sure. Most of the people I still know of from Catholic school are no longer practicing catholics; at the very least, if they still attend church, they certainly don’t lead/weren’t leading catholic lives. However, one girl went on to be a nun and a boy ended up becoming a priest.
Catholic school left me (and the people I know) with a lot of shame; the faculty was draconian and severe, and the instruction was focused on our inherent flawed nature and how unworthy we are of salvation. It did a lot of lasting damage.
Maybe if I had not gone to Catholic school I’d still be nominally Catholic, but I’d never have turned out to be a full, practicing Catholic.
God is not an it, but rather a Who.
If you’re right; but I don’t believe that you are.
I think this is common of youth in general. It was certainly the case in my own life. When I went off to College, I fell away from God. I still believe in God, but like you, I didn’t really think about Him during that time of my life. I went to government school.
That is great! These individuals clearly did not forget God in their youth. I think Catholic School encourages young people to discern where God is calling them. That is not something that one learns in government school.
This is sad. That has not been our experience at all with our Catholic School my youngest is enrolled. If anything it has given her an unhealthy confidence ; ) My other daughter went to a large government school (300 kids in her grade) and she shrunk down and now lacks confidence. She is a great kid though and has not lost her trust in God.
I think our Parents have more to do with whether we take our Faith seriously or not. How well do your Parents know and live their Faith? Do both your Mom and your Dad live a life in Christ Jesus or does only one? This matters a lot. Studies have shown that when only one Parent goes to Church and the other does not, the chances of your children valuing the gift of Faith is very slim.
This is what we mean by “we were made in the image and likeness of God.” We were gifted certain traits: the ability to love, create, and the ability to rationalize. These are attributes that an “it” would not have nor could share with created persons. Just something to think about.
My parents both went to church when we were younger and were very involved in the community. My mom was a lector and on the women’s council (even served as president for a year), and my dad was a eucharistic minister. They even kept taking us to church after they got divorced. When I turned 18, they decided that since I was a legal adult they couldn’t make me go. Then they stopped caring and attending as well.
I’ve always been puzzled as to why an Atheist, a human being, a mammal/primate with extremely limited knowledge, on a speck of a planet that’s practically immeasurable in relation to the Universe would take a declarative and definite stance that God does not exist. In contrast to the magnitude of our limited knowledge, it seems to come from ignorance to me. Agnosticism? Oh most definitely, yes. But outright Atheism?
It seems just as absurd to me that you take the definitive stance that god does exist, given the complete absence of evidence.
Clarification necessary: I’m very solidly an Agnostic. I have no way of knowing whether God exists or not. Similarly, I have no way of knowing if there are planets like earth that exist in the farthest reaches of the Universe. I’m open to the idea, but I literally don’t know. Since I don’t know, “believing” there are such planets, infinitely remote from earth, actually believing that with conviction isn’t something I’m authentically capable of. I’m open to the idea, but forcing or pretending belief isn’t genuine.
Ah, okay. I didn’t realize there were so many other non-Catholics here. Apologies for the assumption.
No worries. In relation to your thread topic about asking an Atheist questions, I wonder why you as an Atheist and not being able to know if God exists, would believe definitively, that God doesn’t exist?
I accept your statement that there is no proof, but that in and of itself doesn’t preclude the possibility that God exists. It could simply mean that humans may not be able to see or understand such proofs of God’s existence.
This is very sad. I’m sorry that their Marriage did not work. I am even more saddened that they too have fallen away from the Faith.
Our Parents had a rule that as long as we were living under their roof, we needed to got to Church on Sunday. It did not matter where we went, but we needed to go. Of us five siblings, I am the only one who is still Christian. My Sister will sometime go to Church with my Parents on rare occasions, but none of my Brothers go to Church. One is an atheist, another is now in the “woke” cult, and the other is indifferent.
Going to Church when we don’t feel like it is when we should attend most. And often what we will discover is that when we do go, we are glad we did. Showing up is the hardest part sometimes. There is a saying that the more you miss Church, the less you will miss Church. And i think there is some truth to this.
But, it doesn’t change how much God loves you. I often think about my Grandma (my favorite person in my life, next to God). Some of my cousins stopped going and visiting with my Grandma later in her life and this always bothered me. She didn’t love these grandchildren any less, but often wondered why they stopped visiting, calling, and/or e-mailing. Maybe they were focused more on themselves or rarely thought about her. But, she never stopped thinking about them. I think the same is true about God.
We do have evidence. Jesus Christ came to earth and changed the world! We have Apostolic Succession going all the way back to Christ, who lived, died, and rose from the dead! You can make the claim that the Apostles made everything up. But, who would die for something that they made up? You can say that Jesus was a lunatic or a liar (as C.S. Lewis considers in his book, Mere Christianity).
I am naturally a skeptic, but when it comes to God, it makes less sense to believe God does not exist. Why, because then nothing would matter. You can say that killing someone is wrong, but how could it be if nothing matters? You can say that rape or slavery is bad, but how can it be if nothing matters? I have heard the new-atheist argument that the fact of existence gives meaning, but they cannot articulate the meaning for why we exist. And this goes back to, if there is no meaning for why we exist, then why does anything matter? If there is not purpose, then there is no real value. How would you answer this dilemma?