What makes you atheist? Help a youngster. [YOU RESPOND]
Offline ----------------- Original Message -----------------
From: Addis Fuhadsei Dhierfw
Date: Feb 21, 2007 10:08 PM
hi my name is Addis, Ive been raised all my life with religion. But now im almost 18 and i realize that i was jus born into a religion without knowing why. I decided that for a lil bit i was gonna rid myself of any religion and do some soul searching to figure out who i am and what i believe. Today all i really see with religion is an excuse for people to senselessly kill eachother. Religion has changed a lot over the decades, i doubt heaven and hell many times. But there r times when i still wonder can religion be right. So im reading and researching all the trains of thought to see where i belong, islam, judaism, christianity, buddhism, atheism, everything. Its easy to research all of those cuz they have holy books, bible, qu'ran, etc. Atheism is much harder. So my question to u is. What makes u atheist? why do u believe in it? it is supposed to be based off of logic and i consider myself a fairly logical person. So can i get any help over in regards to atheism?
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The only thing you need to be an atheist is to not believe in any god or gods. That's it!
Hi Addis.
Soul searching? How many souls do you need? Just kidding.
Hopefully atheism.
Atheists don't have any books that are contradictory like the Bible and the Koran. Atheism is not a religion at all.
First, why do you think most people are atheists to gods like Zeus? That's because they don't believe they exist, it's that simple. I'm an atheist because I don't believe any god exists and I don't believe in the god of the Bible and Koran the same way I don't believe that Zeus and Jupiter exist. That's what makes me an atheist.
But when you say, "why do you believe in it?", what's the "it" that you're referring to? Atheism is not a religion and I don't believe in any gods.
Hope that helps.
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My response probably won't be the best but i'll address somethings.
you ask why we "believe" in atheism. Its not a belief its a non belief. speaking for my self the reason i have for my non belief is because of there being no evidence in support of any theistic type god.
Yes it is based off logic. For instance, it is logical to have a non belief in somethings existence until given ample evidence for that things existence and from what i have learned evidence given by theists is very lacking logically. So since there is no evidence to me for that god the only logical position that one can conclude is to not have a belief in god until someone does provide me with the evidence.
Personally, its great to look into all the religion, at least for me. Then, you can have the chance knowing what those religions think of god ie what properties their god has how many gods it has etc, then you can move one to debunking their ideas of god.Although, i must admit to a love for debate with theists for some self-loathing purpose which you may not like, such as my girlfriend who does not see any need to study religion and such.
So its entirely up to you what you believe but IMHO if you truly are as logical as you think you are atheism is the probably the only conclusion (note to todangst or others who might be reading this i realize open theists might be another conclusion that is the other logical conclusion but for this argument i'm neglacting them) is atheism.
Sorry if i repeated my self alot its early and i didn't get as much sleep as earlier.
It sounds like you are headed in the right direction. Keep researching and keep an open mind and I think you find the answers you need. The main thing that has already been adressed is atheism is just a lack of belief in a god. There is not doctrines, no holy books, no rules to follow... just lack of belief. Many of the people on this board came to their atheism through logical and critical thought and it sounds like you are already doing that.
To the OP:
I am an atheist because, simply put, common sense tells me to be. Each of the big 3 religions derive their foundations from manuscripts that A)little if anything is known of their authors, B) contradict themselves hundreds of times, C) contain assertions, laws, and stories that are ridiculous, simply false, or are strangely identical to the laws, assertions and stories found in the writings of earlier religions, and D) each claim to be the word of god.
So, common sense tells me that none of these books could truly be the word of any "higher being."
If you remove those texts from the equation, what other basis is there? None. You can try and argue from a philosophical standpoint that, even going all the way back to the big bang, there had to be something to get the whole ball of wax started, but there is simply no evidence to support it. There is also no evidence to support the idea that, if there were a terminus? terminator? from which all things came, that there would be any reason to believe that it is burdened will all of the human traits that theists attribute to it.
Hope that helps.
"The powerful have always created false images of the weak."
Why an I an Atheist?
I've never actually answered that question. I've been asked, but I've never been able to answer before the lecture or the insults started.
I am an Atheist because I see no other option. I only have five senses with which to experience life, [seven if you ask a neurologists
] and god has never produced a response from any of them.
I've been told I have to have faith, but the rational part of my brain won't let me.
I've been told god is above my comprehension. That's always sounded like a cop-out to me.
I don't know if I've answered your question the way you wanted. I'm not an eloquent writer, and sometimes I can't get my thoughts out the way I'd like, but I think you get my point.
Good luck, and I hope you find what you're looking for.
~Chris~
I know it's been said before, but people don't believe in atheism. Atheism is a lack of belief. That's all it is.
I came to my atheism by comparing the different gods. Each claims to be the most powerful, but I have found none of them to be any more powerful than random chance.
Prayers are not answered any more consistently than chance. Theists claim that their god speaks to them. I have found that to be nothing more than my own thoughts. They say god comes to them in dreams or that a loved one appeared to them. They claim to have seen an angel or god when in traumatic situations. All of this is simply an intense desire to see such things.
Have you ever wondered why people tell you that they are praying for you? It's because it only works if you (the one prayed for) make it work.
Gods are the invention of man to explain the unexplainable and to provide comfort to ancient man. All it is, is a (security) blanky for adults.
We must favor verifiable evidence over private feeling. Otherwise we leave ourselves vulnerable to those who would obscure the truth.
~ Richard Dawkins