ProfessorMayhem

What is an Atheist?

I like to keep it simple.

Philosophically speaking, atheism is defined as nothing more than the absence of belief in the personified existence of god[s] or supernatural entities. If you hold this position, I suppose you could call yourself an atheist.

People have a tendency to categorize atheists as one cohesive group, but I think this is a mistake. Atheism isn't a world view, and an active disbelief in the personified existence of god[s] doesn't denote any structured belief or dogma beyond what the definition entails. There is no central atheist tenet or canon, and I think the existence of such an organized belief structure would be counter-intuitive to the idea itself.

So, what are you then?

Kingdom: Animalia, Phylum: Chordata, Class: Mammalia, Order: Primates, Family: Hominidae, Genus: Homo, Species: H. sapiens, Subspecies: H. s. sapiens.

Same as everyone else.

What else do you believe?

Lots of things. However, if you're looking for some sort of central creed that I tend to default on, it could be summed up as:

I believe that empirical evidence is infinitely more reliable than anecdotal evidence.

I believe that reason gets to the truth a hell of a lot faster than faith.

I believe that it is human nature to jump to conclusions with insufficient evidence, and therefore skepticism is essential as a preliminary stance.

I believe that without strictly adhering to evidence, reason, and skepticism, it's virtually impossible to arrive at a concise knowledge of anything substantial.

What do you think happens when you die?

Your body gets buried, cremated, tossed in a ditch, weighted down with cinder blocks and thrown in the river, donated to medical science, loaded on a rocket and shot into space, etc.

Hopefully, you managed to positively influence enough people while your neurons were still firing to make a meaningful impression.

One way or another, your ass is getting recycled back into the cosmos.

If there is nothing beyond your lifespan, what is your motivation?

Empty sketchpads, love, spanish oaks, the ocean, travel, fish tanks, cold Coronas, Jeeps, clifftop paths, books, music, learning...I could go on.

If this person finds the entire scope of what we experience here on this planet to be insufficient as a reason to love life, then he truly must lead a dismal existence. Either that or he's simply lost sight of what really matters.

How can you have morals when you don't believe in anything?

Why do people constantly equate atheism with nihilism?

Moreover, by implicitly stating that you would be unable to discern the moral implications of your actions without dictation from supernatural beings, you are effectively stating that you yourself have no sense of morality. What theism describes isn't morality, it's "mite makes right" with a sense of cultural entitlement.

People need to learn to mull these things over before asking such questions.

If you don't have any morals, how can you be trusted?

How can this question even be taken seriously? A better question would be to ask how the subjective morality of the supernatural being supposedly dictating this person's moral behavior can be trusted.

The general well-being of my fellow humans and the functionality of society as a whole combined with an inherent sense of altruism and mutual reciprocity is all the reason I need.

I have a sound reasons to justify my moral behavior, the person asking this question obviously has nothing more than an appeal to magic.

Who here is untrustworthy?