How could atheism exist?

I am a Catholic and I just can't seem to understand how people can still not believe in some form of a god or supreme being. The Big Bang...technically falls into the Creationalism idea because I have a good feeling God works instantaneously. Evolution...I believe only the more ignorant religious people disagree with evolution but others of us admit it exists and only disagrees with our beliefs if we take the entire Bible literally, which most of us should not do. I just think the idea of a Universe spontaneously appearing and then life spontaneously appearing and then everything working out so perfectly and harmoneously up until now is actually more farfetched then the idea of a reason or force behind it. I have also thought that proving the existence of ghosts would subsequently prove the existence of "something out there" because it would be concrete evidence of an afterlife. Out of body experiences and people coming back from the dead happen a lot, also. From what I've heard from someone that works with them, they all witness Heaven and say to get in: 1. Be nice to other people and 2. Acquire knowledge. Miracles happen constantly, too. For example, the girl (whose name I cannot remember) that was born deaf and her parents prayed to some Saint that worked with the deaf in life and she was cured, receiving Communion from the Pope at one point on TV. Coincidence, my ass. Anyway, I can go on and on but I don't want to rant and piss people off. Please, if any of my information is misconstrued, false, or incomplete, let me know because I am only 18 and am basing this on what I have heard and learned in my short time here.

Personally I don't believe in a completely atheist, humans will always have the need to believe in something in order to justify their existence.

That is the way we humans are and is part of our nature.

Not necessarily. You don't need anything to justify God's existence. Apparently he just exists, he has no creator. I can apply the same thinking to humans. We just exist, we have no creator.

They say that humans are born with a "God side of the brain"- i believe this is true.
Since time began humans have been afraid of a higher power, a power to reckon with. Neanderthal men looking at the sky during a storm were scared. Remote tribes were approached by christian missionaries and they already knew of a superior existense. I think we all are born "knowing" there is a higher power. Atheists have their doubts, i'm sure.

Yea, I hear even infants have a concept of God. You know, the thought of God having no beginning and having been around for eternity so far is one of those thoughts that can keep me up allllll night.

Originally posted by slacker2788
I am a Catholic and I just can't seem to understand how people can still not believe in some form of a god or supreme being.

There are many of us who believe in God, that don't understand how people can be atheist. Once you become a believer and witness first hand how God works through miracles, signs and coincidence after coincidence you are a believer for life. How anyone can believe that the universe and all its creatures are just evolution, must have a small mind. I don't mean they lack intelligence but they lack the ability to see clearly that the physical universe is all laid out uniquely and couldn't of just been formed by a big bang alone. Sure evolution was a part of it but there was a mighty hand helping out.

Originally posted by slacker2788
I am a Catholic and I just can't seem to understand how people can still not believe in some form of a god or supreme being.

Hindus are proably equally amazed at people that beleive in only one god...

Every person that has faith in one god or another does not have faith in the other gods. No faith, no 'beleif' in that god. Christians have no faith in all gods save one. Atheists have faith in no god.

Originally posted by Ikku
Not necessarily. You don't need anything to justify God's existence. Apparently he just exists, he has no creator. I can apply the same thinking to humans. We just exist, we have no creator.

This unfortunately has no reason, for if you believe that a god had to have created the heavens, earth and billions of stars and planets, then the next question is; who or what created god? It is not enough to say that s/he came into being from nothing, just as it makes no sense to say from nothing was created the big bang.

In essence then, true atheists resolve their positions through first at least being agnostic and contemplating the God theory, then they either decide on behalf of evolution or nothing at all. Their position is really not difficult to fathom.

On the flipside, I cant understand how theists can claim that their specific God is the one and only true God, when all of their miracles, answered prayers, spirtual gifts and insight occur in many other religions. The God concept is just senseless to some people.

I believe in the idea of god, and I also believe in a being which to us with our current technology and evolutionary limits would seem supernatural and/or godlike; A being that has the capability to create life, such as humans, terraform worlds etc, but this being and the idea of god in my opinion need to be kept distinctly seperate, as the idea of god is a utopian ideal, a utopian world where nothing can ever be tainted, where no wrongs are ever comitted etc etc., it is unachievable, yet, always seems tantalisingly possible.

As a side note, I had a thought the other night regarding the christian god saying he was here "before time existed".

If humans didn't have watches and clocks to tell them what year, day, hour, minut etc it was, they would have no concept of time (try closing all your curtains and never leaving your house for a few weeks...eventually you stop noticing the time), therefore, humans invented time (Or at least, a concept we call time. This enables us to coordinate efforts etc.

Before Adam & Eve were created, time did not exist. As soon as they came into existance, so did time, therefore the "I was here before time began" statement is true (if you interpret it as the christian god talking to humans and referring to the human concept of time). This does not necessarily mean that the christian god ALWAYS existed, it only means he existed before OUR concept of time began.

Originally posted by slacker2788
I am a Catholic and I just can't seem to understand how people can still not believe in some form of a god or supreme being. ...

Because atheists believe in the almighty power of man and can't accept a higher power. This is the true mark of the beast, 666. 6 is man's number and 3 is God's so three sixes is man pretending to be God.

/* Corrected spelling */

[edit on 1/7/2005 by djohnsto77]

I don't think anyone is truly atheist. They say they don't believe in God or anything for that matter. How? Do their brains operate like a computer without proper programming? I think if a person truly did not believe in something they could be considered mentally handicapped. They can believe in nothing all they want, at least nothing is something.

Originally posted by Sanitarium
I don't think anyone is truly atheist. They say they don't believe in God or anything for that matter. How? Do their brains operate like a computer without proper programming? I think if a person truly did not believe in something they could be considered mentally handicapped. They can believe in nothing all they want, at least nothing is something.

You're avatar is truly ironic.


So what makes you conclude they are mentally handicapped? Are you a psychiartrist?
I am an athiest [if you hadn't noticed by now] and I believe in LIFE.. I am, believe it or not, actually very spirtual but that is expressed with my connection with all living things [including the planet and cosmos].
I find it puzzeling that people can't understand why I'd put that at the top of the list instead of 'god'.. which is meant to be a life of sorts anyway.

[edit on 7-1-2005 by riley]

LOL yeah ironic iconic, and suppose there is one or more Gods why shouldn't it be Allah ???, he got a holy scriptures, just like the bible and also whole lot of followers that refer to these holy scriptures as "proof".

Obviously at least one of these Holy Scriptures must be a fake, say that out loud on a marketsquare in Saoudi Arabia or at the Baptiist Church of Phelps and find your head in a basket....


[edit on 7-1-2005 by Countermeasures]

Atheist is biggest believer as believing in no existence of god. Many of them are in fact antireligionists.
God's non existancy never has been proved, either.
I don't know what god is?
Creator, administrator, moderator, almighty, somewhat mighty, all seeing???

I have also thought that proving the existence of ghosts would subsequently prove the existence of "something out there" because it would be concrete evidence of an afterlife. Out of body experiences and people coming back from the dead happen a lot, also. From what I've heard from someone that works with them, they all witness Heaven

First off, ghosts wouldn't fit into the Christian idea (or many other faiths) of life after death. Various sects hold a few different ideas, but in essence, you're looking at one of three places, Heaven, Hell, or Pergatory. If you wanted to stretch it, you could claim ghosts to be in Pergatory, but there is no scriptural basis for it. Personally, I believe in ghosts, but I can't see trying to explain them in Christian mythology.

As for OBEs, they've been had by more than just Christians. And, each person having them has reported a "Heaven" that is in accordance with their beliefs. Therefore, it seems more logical that the afterlife is more like a dream state in which each's experience is shaped by their beliefs...

I can understand Atheists. I myself, have my own ideas on things, but the basic idea most Atheists likely have is this. None of the religions seems to be "right". And, if one was "right", then all the others must then be "wrong". The idea of a God (any god), is an insult to their intelligence (or at least is viewed as such), and they feel that the human spirit is the only true "divine" entity in the universe. The idea of a single sentient being sitting down to decide the various varieties of grasshoppers for example, seems absolutely absurd to an atheist. And yet, this being, who has all this time on his hands, can't seem to find it in his heart to avoid such things as the recent tsunami? The "worship" of such a being is actually repulsive to the atheist for such reasons....for if such an entity existed, it would certainly not be worthy of such praise?

Remember, that all scripture (regardless of faith) is pretty much the by-product of ancient thinking, from a time when man used to think thunder was the anger of many gods, instead of a natural process rooted in science. Creation, as they see it, is just another natural process, that simply hasn't been explained by science yet (and may never be), and yet still, even if it involves a little metaphysical for the explanation, it's preferrable to the idea of an absentee father figure/boogeyman from early man's fears....

Think of it this way too, if the Christians are right, then more than half of the Earth's population are doomed.... Just think of the number of people in China for example. How many do you think are Christians? I'm betting it's pretty damn small, hehe...and that's half the world's population right there pretty much! So, would a deity worthy of worship and praise condemn so many to a Hell just for not believing in him? According to your scripture, yes, he absolutely would.

And you can ask how Atheists believe what they believe? No...I'm more surprised that you aren't asking how Christians can believe what they believe, as they feel that over half of humanity isn't fit to join their company as they are.

First off, i don't believe in God as such. So, i'm an atheist/agnostic. I do believe in being born into a new life after ones death, somewhere in the universe. Maybe as a microbe or a higher life form.

My opinion is that religion is based on human insecurity.

Sanc'.

Hindus are proably equally amazed at people that beleive in only one god...

Every person that has faith in one god or another does not have faith in the other gods. No faith, no 'beleif' in that god. Christians have no faith in all gods save one. Atheists have faith in no god.

Wrong. Hindu's do believe in one supreme and formless god, who they call the ultimate reality. The other gods are called "devas" which means demi-gods.

[edit on 7-1-2005 by Indigo_Child]

Originally posted by Indigo_Child

Hindus are proably equally amazed at people that beleive in only one god...

Every person that has faith in one god or another does not have faith in the other gods. No faith, no 'beleif' in that god. Christians have no faith in all gods save one. Atheists have faith in no god.

Wrong. Hindu's do believe in one supreme and formless god, who they call the ultimate reality. The other gods are called "devas" which means demi-gods.

[edit on 7-1-2005 by Indigo_Child]

From what I understand from my Hindu friends, Hindus do believe in one God, the other named gods such as Vishnu, Sheba, etc. are just different facets of this quintessential God's personality.

From what I understand from my Hindu friends, Hindus do believe in one God, the other named gods such as Vishnu, Sheba, etc. are just different facets of this quintessential God's personality.

Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are the Hindu holy trinity. They denote: creation, life/sustenance and dissolution. The other myraid of gods are demi-gods that reside in the heavens and that use technology(yantras) and fly in vimanas(flying palaces) and are of humanoid form.

I understand that the demi-gods of Hinduism are actually extraterrestrial life. If you look at it literally: men-gods from the stars that use technology. What you will find interesting; all the demi-gods, including mortals, worshipped the same holy trinity. The idea that Hinduism is polytheistic is a misconception.

[edit on 7-1-2005 by Indigo_Child]