It's impossible to be an Atheist (Christian, America, pray, myth)

[PoppySead]

Oh OP, you got me! I confess, I just got off the teley with God, I secretly ask for things just like you then claim publicly to be a non believer. Darn secrets out.....

[kab0906]

This OP says what I think a lot of theists think - that atheists are closeted theists that just don't want to admit it. That we are stubbornly in denial of what we know is true and are just faking our way through life.

The irony is that a lot of atheists think the same of theists - that deep down their reason tells them there cannot be a god but stubbornly deny it and go on believing.

lol

[PoppySead]

Originally Posted by kab0906

This OP says what I think a lot of theists think - that atheists are closeted theists that just don't want to admit it. That we are stubbornly in denial of what we know is true and are just faking our way through life.

The irony is that a lot of atheists think the same of theists - that deep down their reason tells them there cannot be a god but stubbornly deny it and go on believing.

lol

Why on earth would an atheist fake it in a Christian dominant country. lol Seems a retarded choice, but you never know.

[LEROYJENKINS!]

Originally Posted by manderly6

Nice user name. I wonder how many people understand what it is.

Very few, most people think that is actually my name.

[0marvin0]

Originally Posted by Ceece

I don't know where this "deep down" is supposed to be.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PzzLXnQBpE

[Northsouth]

Originally Posted by NoCapo

You clearly don't understand Atheism or atheists. I am an agnostic athiest, that is I recognize that it is logically not possible for me to prove there is not God of any sort. Thus agnostic. However the lack of evidence and logical contradictions inherent in many god-concepts are insufficient for me to hold a belief that a god exists in any meaningful way, therefor I am an atheist. I do not rule out the possibility of a divine being, but with no empirical evidence for its existence I cannot believe that one must exist.

We also do not know that faeries do not exist. We don't even know 99% of space, but we can say there are no faeries out there? Regardless of that, we do not expect anyone to base their lives around the expectations of these hypothetical fae, make laws around their wishes, or compel others to do what the Seelie Court has decreed. Instead we sadly share our heads when we read that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, whose best known works showcased the power of reasoning, spent years looking for faeries and ghosts in his garden. Why is a god any different? For us non-theists, there really isn't one...

So... Yes, Virginia, there are atheists.

-NoCapo

Good post, would rep you but I can't. I am also an agnostic atheist, and trying to explain that is....well....challenging when you're trying to make a believing person understand. That's why I mostly just say I'm an atheist, it's just easier.

But with the term "atheist" comes automatic disdain and fear from the Christians or other religious people, I know because I used to be a Christian. But that is what is taught to the religious, to fear and ignore anything that goes against their beliefs. Therefore, we are severely misunderstood. We're not evil, just people who don't believe like they do. But that's evil to some, ergo terrorism.

[rifleman]

Originally Posted by skilldeadly

Everyone, deep down, believes there is SOMETHING. Why not Agnostic? To believe that something COULD be out there. It's pretty cocky and arrogant to say 100% that there is NOTHING out there.

We don't even know 99% of space, but we can say there is nothing out there? No God? No driving force? No chance that something (whether you call it God or being or something else) controls the world?

In fact, yes: quite easily asserted, and its all so well point-formed right on the first page, to wit: (Also, the following are all inarguable!) While there's a "chance" of some-thing, it's also been shown to be totally lacking in ANY evidence):

Originally Posted by NoCapo

√ I recognize that it is logically not possible for me to prove there is not God of any sort. Thus agnostic.

√ However the lack of evidence and logical contradictions inherent in many god-concepts are insufficient for me to hold a belief that a god exists in any meaningful way, therefor I am an atheist.

√ I do not rule out the possibility of a divine being, but with no empirical evidence for its existence I cannot believe that one must exist.

√ We also do not know that faeries do not exist.

So... Yes, Virginia, there are atheists.

-NoCapo

Originally Posted by RogersParkGuy

√ No, deep down, everyone does not believe there is something out there. We really don't.

√ That may be difficult for you to grasp if you were steeped in religion from earliest infancy, but it is true. I no more believe, deep down, that there is a God than I believe, deep down, there is a tooth fairy.

√ But the arrogance is on the part of the religious, not on the part of atheists.

√ No atheist I know claims to know, for an absolute fact, that there is no God.

√ We just find it extremely unlikely. There is simply no evidence for it, and much evidence to the contrary.

√ The religious, on the other hand, claim to know, for a fact, and with no evidence, that God is real. Now that's arrogance!

Originally Posted by Unsettomati

√ Rocks, for instance. I'm absolutely convinced they exist. Birds, ditto. And lots of other things. Things for which there is ample evidence.

√ As for your favorite deity, well, I have no more problems rejecting that idea than I do the idea of leprechauns. Or of Last Thursdayism. Or the the Matrix.

√ Affirmative assertions require evidence. I merely reject affirmative assertions lacking in supportive evidence.

Originally Posted by Old Gringo

√ Some folks seem to have a deep-seated need for supernatural stuff. They have a multitude of religions to choose from offering a wide selection of deities. Works out nicely for them.

Originally Posted by Mircea

There's nothing out there....I guaran-damn-tee you 100%.

There is a driving force; it's called Physics.

Assume for a moment I'm wrong, and the Agnostic view prevails. What of it?

It has no bearing on my life. It will not alter Past Events, has no bearing on Present Events, and won't do anything in the Future. My life, and the life of every living thing in this Universe remains unchanged. I still die, and that's the end of it, since there is no After-Life.

My dogs and my goat are more responsive to my needs than any Agnostic-thing ever would be.

There ain't nothing out there, and all this obsessing over it would really be amusing, if it wasn't so sad.
Mircea

Can't say it any better! Have a great Friday folks!

[kab0906]

Originally Posted by PoppySead

Why on earth would an atheist fake it in a Christian dominant country. lol Seems a retarded choice, but you never know.

The OP thinks that we just 'have to believe', deep deep down. They cannot accept the idea that really deep down, no we don't. They think we must be in denial and faking our atheism - perhaps as rebellion or shock value or just stupidity - I don't know.

How many times have you encountered a theist and have them look around and say something like 'All this had to come from somewhere'? They think their own eyes prove god and show that we are in denial.

[rifleman]

Originally Posted by Ceece

I don't know where this "deep down" is supposed to be.

Think of it as like the feeling some of us get [right or left side, but furshur "deep down inside"!] when it's time to pass yet another big'ol' kidney stone! [I for one, being punished by a loving God, have produced at least 200 of the cute little pieces of organic jewelry! The 1 cm ([yes, no lie!] was offered with true love by me, only after it was gold-plated mind you...] to my baffled wifey. The associated agony and persistent yowling I'd produced overnight told her this one was significant to me, and unlike God, undeniable!

Originally Posted by skilldeadly

I think it's impossible to be termed an atheist. Everyone, deep down, believes there is SOMETHING. Why not Agnostic? To believe that something COULD be out there. It's pretty cocky and arrogant to say 100% that there is NOTHING out there. We don't even know 99% of space, but we can say there is nothing out there? No God? No driving force? No chance that something (whether you call it God or being or something else) controls the world?

So.. OK... perhaps atheism is merely a personal and even final choice to some degree. But for me, as a career scientist, and after the millennias worth of always improving test processes, myriad multiple tests and re-tests ad nauseum, have confirmed beyond a reasonable doubt that there is no Abrahamic God. You know; the one and only Big White Guy performing miracles in the skies just for our entertainment and proofing? That debunking has pretty much confirmed for me and millions of other skeptics that Virginia, there is no God, nor a Santa. Nor Unicorns.

So... do you still hold open, on an hypothetical basis mind you, the slim but nonetheless "possible" option of any of those non-God options, Ceece?

If you want to go on believing in the pico-nano-particle of possibility, that is your decision. For me though, I have other far more productive things to waste my now fast-dwindling time resources on, and so.. it's a "door slammed shut!" sitch.

Originally Posted by kab0906

This OP says what I think a lot of theists think - that atheists are closeted theists that just don't want to admit it. That we are stubbornly in denial of what we know is true and are just faking our way through life.

The irony is that a lot of atheists think the same of theists - that deep down their reason tells them there cannot be a god but stubbornly deny it and go on believing.

lol

Oh my, now you are adding in your invalid but cherished assumption(s) that yup, we determined & thinking atheists didn't come to our careful and defensible conclusion(s) after a lot of comparison thinking and skeptical faith window shopping and discussion with those offering their so-called but v. weak "Evidence & Proofs" for their god (as in: a few poorly translated lines in your beloved Genesis.. Ho-Hum!)

With that process of logical elimination, coupled with my ongoing professional education and career [that part initially took me over 10 years...], what other possible determination could I or anyone else with an open mind conclude, pray tell?

So sorry: we are allowed to hold to our own stern but well-supported decisions. There is no remnant wrangling in our minds, so please... don't then go blurting to your desperate buddies that indeed we atheists are, deep down still holdin'-out-for God types. Unless He shows up with a better act, He's a spiritual dread duck!

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_stNIiCGoJz...-dead_duck.jpg

[kab0906]

Umm... I'm on your side rifleman - perhaps you should re-read.