7 Questions For An Atheist

[Halx]

7 Questions For An Atheist
by Andrew Gonsalves www.tfproject.org www.andrewgonsalves.com

What is an Atheist?

An Atheist is someone who doesn't believe in the existence of a god. They do not believe in the existence of a higher power, omniscient being, one true creator, or the supernatural. It seems like nowadays, one has to make a conscious effort to be an Atheist. There are so many things to believe and so much pressure to believe them, that you're almost forced to make a decision. I suppose that is why most Atheists I know are fairly solid about their position on the matter.

So, what are you then?

I am an Atheist, but I don't think that completely defines me. I only believe in what I can sense, and even then I am always questioning. I've never really believed in god. While I've been through church sermons, Sunday school, Jewish traditions and studies, and even going steady with a Mormon, I don't think I've ever felt the presence of anything more than myself. Even when I tried my hardest to believe in the supernatural, or that the spirit of my late honorary grandmother was looking out for me, I could never sense it. I've prayed, I've wished, I've loved and I've hoped, but I've never been convinced of god like the rest of society. I simply have not seen any evidence or felt anything.

What else do you believe?

I believe in the methods of science. I take comfort in science's pledge to seek out the truth, while never forcefully claiming that knowledge IS the truth. I love the method of reworking theories and ideas until a logic defines an occurrence. It brings me much more comfort than faith. I enjoy not knowing the answer because I enjoy the search for it. In contrast, I've always felt like faith is an over-eager attempt to define the world. While many religious people may claim that this great science that I praise is really the craft of God, it still boils down to the origin of it all. Do I know how it all started? Do I know how humans came to be? No, of course not. There is no evidence that rightfully claims that ONE idea is true, including the claim that God did it all. Thus, I continue to look to science to reveal a little more of the puzzle before I claim any more.

The origin of religious claims to knowledge date back before we had the slightest idea of what an atom was and before we discovered the Earth revolves around the Sun. The fact that people still hold on to many of the claims made back then tells me that religion is antiquated. It is nostalgia and an excuse to stop thinking. While many of my very decent religious friends claim to be seeking the truth, they only seek it within the bounds of religious context. Even things like science are attributed to the will of their god, which to me is an assumption that cuts short other avenues of knowledge.

What do you think happens when you die?

You just die. Your conscience fades out and you cease to live. The synapses in your brain stop firing and your body decomposes. Death is sort of scary to me for that reason; to know that I only have one chance at life and when it's over, I'm done. The feeling hasn't driven me to live like a maniac, nor has it motivated me to live without consequence. Instead, I cherish my life and I seek to make the lives of others more pleasant. I feel like the promise of more to come gives too many people the freedom of conscience to do bad things. If those bad things are in the name of their religion, they only see the afterlife in their sights as they tear the lives up of those around them.

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

I have a unique philosophy that I don't think anyone else follows. I'm as unique as my freedom from conformed thought allows me to be. I suppose it's a complicated philosophy to follow, but I'll try to explain it. In much the same way most artists don't gain recognition until they are dead, and in the same way many people seek to be martyrs for a cause, I believe our personal legacy is more powerful than our individual lives. While one may die, their philosophy and passion will live on in the minds of those who knew them. I believe that if I live life in the public service of others, trying to make a difference in the world, even if I do not live to see the fruits of my labor, I can touch someone's heart who will then carry on my ideas.

One could just as well resolve to be forgotten. In that way, they will be remembered by less people and they will be lost in time. It's a decision we all make, usually determined by our mentalities. I think my philosophy creates a funny paradox in that it is impossible to achieve altruism. Even monks who set themselves on fire have an agenda, and they are very well remembered.

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

Let's not call it not believing in anything. I am not a non-believer, I just don't believe what religious people do. To believe is to know, so I believe what I can observe, test and prove. However, as far as morals go, I can't claim to have any. This is another semantic matter where I think morals are a religious institution. I possess decency, kindness and compassion, but I evaluate things on a natural, animalistic basis. I guess you can say I live by the Golden Rule; that you do not do unto others what you would not like done unto you. It's a simple equilibrium that makes sure to keep you in check if you overstep your bounds.

I feel like "morals" are a means of control. Many people are uneasy with the idea of letting a man decide his own actions, so they determine for him the things he can and cannot do to make sure he is in compliance and to allow him to be punished when he crosses the line. Furthermore, I believe morals suppress individuality and understanding. When you enter a situation under the imposition of moral guidelines, your behavior is limited. This can be damaging and dooming for the more unique people of this world. Without morals, we would have no bad words and clothing would be strictly optional. I believe that defines real freedom. You have to admit, though, that if the word Fuck wasn't so vilified, many of us would have a hard time emphasizing our points.

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

It's a horrible misattribution to link trust with morals when religion is the greatest killer of men this world has ever seen. Less dramatically, there is a new documentary on the news every week about how another atheist in a country town has been ostracized from their community because they don't believe in the same thing everyone else does. Many religious people feel embarrassed by these reports, claiming they harbor all viewpoints. That doesn't mean they don't see themselves as going to heaven while all others will burn in hell. I have a problem trusting someone who believes they are destined for something higher than I; they in turn should not feel threatened by my spiritual flaccidity.

My actions are not compelled by anything more than survival, compassion and pleasure. These things, in their three-standard-deviations context are no more harmful to others than you humming your favorite tune to yourself. If you cannot trust these plain assertions, the onus is on you. Perhaps that is why so many faithful feel the need to impose their will on others. They feel just in judging not only that which they do not agree with, but also that which does not concern them. The feeling of being important, loved by a great creator is empowering. I feel the same way when my boss confides in me; I use my ego boost to delegate tasks to people who are not under my power, but who are under the power of my boss. The parallel is troubling when you think of god as the boss and you assume everyone else is under his supervision.


I hope I have shed some light on the mind of an atheist. I do not claim to know everyone's mind, as we all have our different motivations and each one of us is as unique as the freedom we operate under, but I feel like I've written a fairly good generalization of what we all feel. Have a good life.

DIGG

[Willravel]

What is an Atheist?An atheist is one who simply does not recognize the existence of theistic characters, namely god.

So, what are you then?
I am a weak atheist. While I recognize an infinitesimal possibility of the existence of god, because one cannot prove a negative, I understand that there is no reasonable or scientific evidence to suggest that there have been, are, or will ever be gods. As such, believing in a god or gods is unreasonable and would be a meaningless philosophy for me.

What else do you believe?
Put plainly, I believe in what I can perceive and deduce.

What do you think happens when you die?
When I die, I will decompose. My consciousness will cease to be. I know this because I've died before.

If there is nothing beyond your lifespan, what is your motivation?
To do good for others and myself in my time.

How can you have morals when you don't believe in anything?
Anyone who gets their morals from a book would be immoral in my mind. Anyone who develops an understanding of morality independent of theistic teachings is responsible for their own morality. I am responsible for my own morality, therefore all the good I do can be attributed to me and me alone, just as any bad I do can be attributed to me and me alone. If I derived my morality from a religious text, I could not be credited with the good I do or blamed for the bad.

If you don't have any morals, how can you be trusted?
I have morals, and I can be trusted when I've earned your trust. If you don't want to trust me, that's your loss.

[abaya]

Originally Posted by willravel

What do you think happens when you die?
When I die, I will decompose. My consciousness will cease to be. I know this because I've died before.

Sorry to interrupt the deep thinking going on, but there has got to be a story here. I'd love to hear it, Will...

[Willravel]

Originally Posted by abaya

Sorry to interrupt the deep thinking going on, but there has got to be a story here. I'd love to hear it, Will...

Coarctation of the aorta repair:
http://www.inova.org/inovapublic.srt...ta_repair.html
My heart stopped for an estimated 40 seconds during the surgery. I lost a lot of blood (due to no mistake of the brilliant surgeon). I'm fine now, but my heart stopped and oxygen stopped going into my left arm and most of my lower body, which lowered blood pressure into my brain. This explains my eccentric personality, I'm sure....

The point being that I was dead for 40 seconds and there were no virgins or golden gate or even a light at the end of a tunnel.

[ngdawg]

What is an Atheist? Someone who rejects the notion that one supreme being rules everything in the universe.
So, what are you then? There is no label that would pin me down. I believe in people. I believe in their energies. I believe in our connection to the universe and each other.
What else do you believe?I believe we know a lot, but it's next to nothing in the context of time, evolution, universe. As a doctor once explained to me, "As much as we know, we don't know even more".
What do you think happens when you die? Same thing that happens to every other living thing. You cease to be.
If there is nothing beyond your lifespan, what is your motivation? Living and not wasting it. Making a difference somewhere, somehow.
How can you have morals when you don't believe in anything? Who said I had any? One doesn't have to believe in some big hand pointing down at one to have 'morals'. Morals are a subjective thought; what is moralistic to me might be hedonism to another and vice versa. It's judgement and that's a nasty habit to get into.
If you don't have any morals, how can you be trusted?Morals and trust have nothing to do with religious belief. The leader of the free world calls himself religious, but who trusts him? Trust me by my actions toward another. One may not trust me at all, another might trust me with their life.
Belief in a supreme entity has nothing to do with that.

[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?

[abaya]

Professor Mayhem, outstanding response. I don't know if I am an atheist yet, but I find myself in agreement with everything you said. I am most likely agnostic, with leftovers from my Christian and Buddhist influences, but atheism appeals to me more and more as I get older.

Great thread... it has been enlightening to read these intelligent, measured responses.

[ProfessorMayhem]

If you ask me, that's the whole point. There are belief structures out there, such as Buddhism, which are inherently atheistic, but atheism isn't what defines them. Holding a position of atheism is just one aspect of what defines a person and their actions. The rest you can figure out for yourself.

It has often been my experience that the more people realize that they don't need bronze age dogma to dictate or legitimize their beliefs, the happier they seem to become.

[Halx]

You can argue 2 points with your answers: the argument for atheism and the argument against religion.

When doing the latter, be careful not to make any hostile assumptions, as this weakens your point. People reserve these questions because of ideas in their mind and the only way to convince them is to persuade them that you are more reasonable than they are.

[ProfessorMayhem]

I can't help but think that people who ask questions like this aren't doing so in the pursuit of rational dialogue. Even with minimal effort and consideration, one should be able to recognize the inherent arrogance and perceived moral high ground that permeates these questions, not to mention their baseless and often contradictory assertions. People who are out to learn something usually don't ask questions like this. People ask questions like this in order to get a thinly-veiled jab in on whoever doesn't share their particular world view.

I simply have no desire to pretend that I respect that.

[flstf]

Originally Posted by willravel

When I die, I will decompose. My consciousness will cease to be. I know this because I've died before.

I have no idea what happens when we die but I believe that the spirit or conscious whatever lives on at least for a while. I know that one can exist outside of the body since it has happened to me on at least several occasions. Of course I was still alive at the time just badly injured. I am guessing that death will bring on another out of the body experience but your report that you experienced nothing refutes this.

Our existence and the universe is so strange that I cannot bring myself to believe in much of anything for sure and usually just consider myself an agnostic. I am hoping that after death we will find some answers but if the consciousness or spirit dies with the body, then we will not be around to be disappointed, I guess.

[roachboy]

meta-question:

what's with all these atheism threads all of a sudden?
it's like atheism has become the center of some collective neurosis that plays out as compulsive repetition...

in particular, this ludicrous equation of belief in some god-character with moralty or ethics is only coherent from within a particular frame of reference and says nothing outside of it---so where is the interest in repeating it as if it posed some interesting problem more generally? i dont get it.

i suspect this has something to do with the collapse of populist conservatism as a political bloc in the states and represents an index of some kind of panic within the fundamentalist protestant ranks about this, as if the collapse of their particular political reach leaves nothing by atheism in its wake, as if these folk actually do what they like to pretend they do, which is to hold a monopoly not only on christianity but on morality in general.

but if this is the case, then in these threads we are being asked to respond to the narcsissm of the fundamentalist/evangelical protestant set as if it was something other than the narcissism of the fundamentalist/evangelical protestant set.

at what point was this sort of question ceded to these folk?
was there some conference call that happened that i was not told about?

[Willravel]

It could be a backlash against the Christian right. The opposite of the Christian right is the atheist left. Fortunately for me, I was an atheist before this Christian right stuff came to my attention.

[ubertuber]

The Dawkins and Hitchens books.

[Willravel]

Originally Posted by ubertuber

The Dawkins and Hitchens books.

I take responsibility for it, too.

[ubertuber]

Yeah, but the NY Times isn't putting your face on the front page for your views. Things are stirred up now because a couple of publishing companies see the opportunity for big $$. They're mounting a mutli-level publicity campaign in pursuit of that goal, including interviews, commercials, and newspaper articles. These discussions keep popping up because we're responding to the stimulus that is being applied in such a calculated way, as described in Mass Media Mind Control.

[roachboy]

huh.
strange business this.

i remember something about this book now--in the end, that functions to make these threads even more bizarre. i guess it's nice to know we are such good little consumers.

thanks for the clarification.

[abaya]

Eh, for my part, has little to do with the books/media... but I was an evangelical for a good while, and have walked increasingly further away from the fold on my own, and married an agnostic-atheist as well. I don't know what all that has to do with "the time" or media itself, but it's possible that I am unaware of that influence in my life. I always considered a rather personal journey.

My thinking has morphed significantly away from "the right" over time and growth, and I have found myself on the left at this point... simply because it makes the most sense to me (something I used to say about Christianity, actually). Not so much a political backlash, perhaps, but a personal one that is still in process.

Overall, though, I would say that the last straw for my belief has been the last 4 years of pursuing my advanced degree in anthropology. I don't know how evangelical anthropologists make it through their secular programs and are still able to make sense of the world according to their belief, to be honest.

[SecretMethod70]

lots and lots of denial

[ubertuber]

Abaya -

I'm not saying the current publicity thrust is causing you to think in certain ways. I just think that it is a large part of why we're having so many prominent threads on atheism these days. That advertising pressure has more than one outlet.

[Halx]

I had this article halfway written out for a while.. I bought the Hitchens book to get inspired to finish it. I'm almost halfway through it and I gotta say that it's quite good.

[Ourcrazymodern?]

1) An atheist believes they're without, within.
2) I'm a living, thinking being.
3) I believe my universe loves me.
4) Cessation of being.
5) To last as long as possible.
6) By thinking about the nature of being.
7) Trust comes from knowing one another's motivations, and believing them.

[ironpham]

What is an Atheist?
As everyone else has said: one who does not believe in God, supernatural forces, a higher power, or whatever else you want to call it.

So, what are you then?
I am an atheist. I want to believe in a higher power because, to be honest, such a thing would give me great comfort. However, I can't force myself to believe in such a presence when all I ever see is sadness. I've never felt the presence of a God, so how can I believe in him/her?

What else do you believe?
I believe in anything I've experienced.

What do you think happens when you die?
It's already been stated many times.

If there is nothing beyond your lifespan, what is your motivation?
My motivation is the same as any other normal person's motivation: be happy, make my friends and family happy, and have lots of sex.

How can you have morals when you don't believe in anything?
Even if I did believe in God, it wouldn't be his guidelines and morals that I would follow. If it were, all I would have to do is repent before I do right? I follow the morals set forth by the laws of whatever country I may be living in. If it keeps me out of prison, then I will probably do it.

If you don't have any morals, how can you be trusted?
I have morals. But, then again, how can you trust me?

[Ourcrazymodern?]

Originally Posted by SecretMethod70

lots and lots of denial

and quite effective individual packaging.

[pan6467]

I have always been of the belief you truly do not die..... you relive your life again and again and live through all life changing decisions while playing out a different scenario. Basically, in this life I dropped out of Hiram during my second semester.... next life, I am the same person just I graduate from Hiram.... or I don't get kicked out of the play, or I choose not to gamble.

In other words what I have learned in this life transfers over to the next and the choices.

This is why some people seem to "catch all the breaks" or "have streaks of great luck" or never seem to have problems or advance better than others.... etc etc. They have reached points where they have lived that lifetime enough to have made the "right choices" to get there. We all have a destiny to fulfill, it just may take us a few go rounds to reach that destiny.

I also believe the same people (friends, co-workers, etc) are in each life, just maybe in differing forms (it is your "reality" and thus people in it are reflected by your vision of them). I believe we attract the same people good and bad because that is all our essence, soul, spirit, whatever, knows. I think that there are only 2 limitations in our realities, that is one and the other is we consciously lose the vast majority of our previous lives, however, some memories come back because they have been replayed so many times (deja vu).

Once you have lived out every possibility or reached the apex, your essence is moved to another level.

I know sounds out there but look who wrote all this.

However, through all this I do believe in God, it is quite possible that to him my reality, your reality all our realities are simply a computer game, movie, bbok etc to him and we are the major characters and he is trying to figure out the perfect scene for us.

I just cannot believe in true death and nothingness..... however, it is the only thing our conscience cannot grasp.... total true nothingness. There has to be a reason why.

[World's King]

What is an Atheist?
I've always found that people that call themselves and Atheist don't really have a clue what it actually means to be one. Most of them call themselves Atheist because they assume it's the reverse of being religious (or believing in God). Which is odd cause for the most part Atheism is anti-Religion Religion.

So, what are you then?
Being different then everyone else... just like everyone else...

What else do you believe?
Common sense. I know that in the world we live in, common sense seems to have gone the way of the Dodo bird and Disco but one can hope.

What do you think happens when you die?
I don't get the question. Oh... the whole Heaven and Hell thing. The idea floating up to Heaven and being greeted at the gate by all my dead friends and family members... well... it kinds of freaks me out. I'll just stick to being burned and kept in a pint glass on the mantel.

If there is nothing beyond your lifespan, what is your motivation?
My motivation is knowing that I'm not one of those people that must actually have motivation. Or at least brag about my motivation. I get up every day and live my life the way I want. I'm not gonna sit and dwell on what's gonna happen tomorrow, a month from now, two years from now... when I die. I'm gonna live in the moment. Like right now. It's 1:30 in the morning and I'm still awake drinking a beer and watching TV. Does that matter? Fuck no.

How can you have morals when you don't believe in anything?
I'm sorry. I didn't hear what you said. I was busy not caring. Thanks.

If you don't have any morals, how can you be trusted?
I don't trust anyone. I don't expect anyone to trust me. I've lied. I've cheated. I've stolen. I've hurt people. And I'm gonna do all that again.


Fuck it.

[tecoyah]

Religion, on the whole is fading out of existance in the eyes of humankind, this is what we are watching. It may very well take hundreds of years for technology to kill God, but it is inevitable as far as I can see. As more and more people come to understand the natural, and scientific reality we live in,God simply falls into the category of Myth, and will soon be a part of human infantile history.

I for one welcome our new reality based overlords.

[kelkel]

What is an Atheist?
An Athiest is someone who doesn't believe in a higher power or life after death.

So, what are you then?
I'm an Athiest but haven't always been one. Around the age of 12 or 13 some harsh realities in life hit me pretty hard, from which I concluded that either no god existed or that if he/she did he/she hated every single one of us. There after as I grew and expanded my knowledge I decided that the most logical answer was that there was no god, no afterlife.

What else do you believe?

I believe in science, I believe in the search for truth.

What do you think happens when you die?
Lights out, ta-tas. The world will keep spinning after I die and I will eventually be forgotten and i'm ok with that.

If there is nothing beyond your lifespan, what is your motivation?
I think it is a stroke of luck that we are here, so i've very much of a "make the most of it or bugger off" attitude. Just because there is no post-life consequence to my actions that doesn't discourage me from making the most of a gift i've been given. If anything it gives me more reason to celebrate my existance.

How can you have morals when you don't believe in anything?
This is like saying if your parents aren't watching you automatically feel that it's ok to kick your sister in the teeth.
While I do not believe that someone is going to kick my arse after I die I still believe in order the and consideration of others. I treat people as I would like to be treated and luckily for me this pans out pretty well.

If you don't have any morals, how can you be trusted?
I can't. But at least i'm up front about it.

I don't believe that religion will fade out at all. People cling to it, because it is hope.

Humans are messed up, frightenned children generally. Hope is comfort. Religion is hope.

[Val_1]

What is an Atheist?
An Atheist is someone who doesn't believe in theism.

So, what are you then?
I'm an Atheist. I'm not one because I have a grudge against any religion. I'm not one because I'm unlearned about religion. I'm one because I genuinely feel that it is the correct answer. I accept that I may be wrong. It would be very interesting if I was. But, accepting that I may be wrong does not mean I have any real doubts about my belief. It's just bad science to not accept that any theory may be wrong. Though, it would take real measurable evidence to disprove. I feel I've always been an atheist, but my conviction grows stronger the more I learn.

What else do you believe?
Things that can be researched via the scientific method.

What do you think happens when you die?
For me, decomposition. My consciousness will cease. For the world - for the sake of others I hope it keeps turning.

If there is nothing beyond your lifespan, what is your motivation?
I don't need to wait for some other world to motivate me. I have a pretty good life here on Earth, and I want to keep it that way. I want to make the best of my life while I'm here, realizing that happiness lies in more than just short sighted greed and the desire for personal gain. A certain amount of altruism and compassion for other living things goes a long way towards feeling good.

How can you have morals when you don't believe in anything?
I believe in things. Just not religion. Morals do not stem from religion. I add to evidence all the immoral religious individuals (and there are a lot of them).

If you don't have any morals, how can you be trusted?
I feel that I can be trusted. If you don't want to trust me, that's your choice.