Ask An Atheist Anything

reply to post by ptmckiou


Yea it used to be called Limbo!

I'm not a religious person. I'm a spiritual person. Religions are man made to control people and use power over people

Most of my "proof" stems from the study of quantum physics. There are several books on the subject and even the documentary, "What the Bleep do We Know" was based on the research being done in the quantum physic realm.

[edit on 14-7-2010 by ptmckiou]

Originally posted by SaulGoodman

Originally posted by Namaste1001

I used to think I was an atheist until I realised giving my self a label meant I had to conform to the belief of there being no God/deity. I can't prove there isn't therefor it was just a belief. I'm comfortable admitting that I just don't know.

[edit on 14-7-2010 by Namaste1001]

So you decided to give yourself another label, that of an agnostic? Granted, there's more wiggle room in it, but it's still a label and it's still technically a belief.

I did'nt say I was agnostic you did. I don't have beliefs. Atheists make claims without backing them which is just as illogical as any religeous belief.

I dont believe in religion, but i do believe we are not alone in the universe. I dont know what to call myself. Im just myself!

Why do people kill each other?

I'd also like to know why no one sees the damage technology is doing to humanity. Of course that was not framed as a question.

Originally posted by reesie45
I dont believe in religion, but i do believe we are not alone in the universe. I dont know what to call myself. Im just myself!

That's a good way to BE.

reply to post by cLOUDDEAD

Why do you spend so much time talking about something you don't believe in? I don't believe Pokemon are real, but my life doesn't revolve around me not believing in Pokemon.

If the question was open to all atheists....Probably because human beings don't normally shape societies, fight wars, blow themselves up, stone people to death etc over belief in Pokemon. [Although a post apocalyptic society that did would make an amusing story]. They have done and continue to do all of these things because of belief in a god and their interpretation of his will as passed down by prophets.

One day we will kill our belief in deities or our belief in them will kill us. At our rate of progression in technology we are running out of time to do the former.

The strident atheist are the ones who think its not too late. I tend to think it probably is.

reply to post by Hail2theChippewa


Haha. You just quoted a Greek Philosopher (check out my signature :up.

I have to agree. Philosophy class is what really kicked it off for me. It also didn't help that my Grandfather is a 32* Scottish Mason of the Esoteric branch, an archeologist, and religious connoisseur. In fact, I had already disbanded myself from Christianity just before an Intro to World religions class. There were A LOT of upset students in that class learning about the history and origins of their cults. I was lucky enough to have separated myself before an onslaught of that nature.

But yes, a deep rooted study in philosophy with a healthy dose of ancient religious studies can very well put one on the fast track to Atheism. It also, be it for better or worse, put me on a more spiritual track. Not so much afterlife, but more, trying to stay in tune with everything in the here and now. That's what's truly important.

Lack of belief in deities is not a belief.

True enough. But atheism is the belief in the proposition that no god exists. Assent to that does require belief.

It's not your burden to prove there isn't deities. Anyone can make any theoretical argument that they cannot prove and you cannot falsify. It doesn't mean their theoretical argument carries any weight.

True enough. But then if you take a different position, and you can't back up your claim any better than the first person did, then where is the injustice in treating both of you the same?

Years ago, when embarking on my journey of self study regarding natural medicine, my husband and I also went down the rabbit hole of religion. Whoah...what a ride that was coming from a Southern Baptist family. lol

Since then, we still have spiritual beliefs but no longer ascribe to any religion.

What I have found though, through many conversations with atheists, is that quite a large number of them were formerly Catholic. To continue this observation in my own experience, were you Catholic before coming to your current beliefs?

My other observation is that most (and I say most...not all) atheists I've encountered are unfathomably arrogant. It has seemed to me that they feel...superior? (I guess that's as good a term as any) because they do not believe in a higher force in the universe. Even though I make it a point to never judge regarding religious preference, the atheists in my circle are confrontational and superior...like they feel they must be a little smarter than the rest of us.

I have not seen that here...but if you keep a circle of friends around you that share your beliefs, have you seen this among them? Or is it just my luck to find the snobby atheists? rofl

Here is a great quote regarding everything in the universe is made of energy.
For further details look up string theory in quantum physics.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Everything is energy!
This is the beginning and this is the end.

Every child in modern civilisation learns the concept of atoms from their parents even before kindergarden. The theory is far spreaded and is commonly accepted.
So, out of what is an atom in the easyest structure?
One proton(+) and one neutron build up the core wich is surrounded by one electron, attracted by one electron(-). They are in continous, neverending movement around their counterparts, because of their opposite charging and other, for us unimportant, forces .
So, out of what is a proton (or electron, or neutron is irrelevant for understanding this)?
Quantum physics tell us they where made out of different parts, called „quarks“. In the last years this also became public knowlege. I dont want to lose much words about it.
So, out of what is a quark? I don´t want to get too deep into the matter, but if you divide up all parts into the smallest possible, what do you have left? Eh?
Yeah right, energy! Pure energy, vibrating in frequency! This is what is called the string theory. Not proven, yet, but has the most followers and is more and more accepted by sientists and on its way to be proven by LHC at CERN.
Everything is energy. Even the smallest peace in space, until up to the universe itself is made out of the very same fundamental, vibrating energy. And that this energyparticles are inextricably linked and reached a higher state, is out of question. Rays, waves, matter, planets, stars and the wonder of life, which includes your body and your soul, are proof enough.

Do you not believe in God/Jesus because you searched for Him and read His word and never found Him or because you never cared to search for Him and you don't really care one way or the other?

When (if) you stand at the judgement seat before Jesus, just before you are sent to hell for eternity, and He says "Why didn't you believe in Me" what will you say?

And are you practicing what you will say at that day?

One does not have to believe in a religion to believe in God. Yes, all and I mean ALL religions are corrupt and filled with lies, but that doesn't mean that there is nothing out there!?

Why do some atheists talk/focus on God/religion more than most religious people do???

Would you like a cookie for being an atheist?

Is there proudness in your non-belief?

Is this a competition on who is right and who is wrong?

Why do some atheists look down on other atheists for not "unbelieving" to the extreme?

I believe there's something out there.. The universe is such a perfect design to be from just nothing,so to speak?..
Just not my truth that's it in god/ gods/goddess the way history as taught through the ages??Of course that said i know that just cause something isn't my truth doesn't make it the Truth

[edit on 14-7-2010 by Nixes]

Originally posted by OutKast Searcher
Why do some atheists talk/focus on God/religion more than most religious people do???

Would you like a cookie for being an atheist?

Is there proudness in your non-belief?

Is this a competition on who is right and who is wrong?

Why do some atheists look down on other atheists for not "unbelieving" to the extreme?

Wow you seem really angry.
He's an atheist, calm down, you don't need to attack him for talking about it.
And hell, he's been alot more polite than many of the people in this thread.

Originally posted by ptmckiou
Here is a great quote regarding everything in the universe is made of energy.
For further details look up string theory in quantum physics.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Everything is energy!
This is the beginning and this is the end.

Every child in modern civilisation learns the concept of atoms from their parents even before kindergarden. The theory is far spreaded and is commonly accepted.
So, out of what is an atom in the easyest structure?
One proton(+) and one neutron build up the core wich is surrounded by one electron, attracted by one electron(-). They are in continous, neverending movement around their counterparts, because of their opposite charging and other, for us unimportant, forces .
So, out of what is a proton (or electron, or neutron is irrelevant for understanding this)?
Quantum physics tell us they where made out of different parts, called „quarks“. In the last years this also became public knowlege. I dont want to lose much words about it.
So, out of what is a quark? I don´t want to get too deep into the matter, but if you divide up all parts into the smallest possible, what do you have left? Eh?
Yeah right, energy! Pure energy, vibrating in frequency! This is what is called the string theory. Not proven, yet, but has the most followers and is more and more accepted by sientists and on its way to be proven by LHC at CERN.
Everything is energy. Even the smallest peace in space, until up to the universe itself is made out of the very same fundamental, vibrating energy. And that this energyparticles are inextricably linked and reached a higher state, is out of question. Rays, waves, matter, planets, stars and the wonder of life, which includes your body and your soul, are proof enough.

Sounds like what the bleep do we know.
You do know the footage of most scientists in that movie were heavily edited to try to make it sound semi religious?
www.yelp.com...
Here's a nice link for you to review.

Here is another one
or two

reply to post by ptmckiou

Since our thoughts form reality

Since when? Our thoughts might, sometimes, be reflections of reality but they are not reality themselves. If thoughts did form reality wouldn't we have found a firmament in the sky when we tried to reach the moon? And what of unicorns, people do plenty of thinking about them, shall they burst into existence as well? Or perhaps they will only exist after I die if I'm thinking about them at the moment of death

This, it seems to me, is just another form of Pascal's wager, another warning from the superstitious that we ought to be careful what we wish for. Do you honestly think atheists want there to be no after-life? Atheism is not about what is desired or ideal it is about what can be shown to true. Gods, and the afterlife, have no evidence supporting them and yet the theists continue to make claims about them both being real.

When we die all brain function stops, body functions stop creating energy and all the other energy that remains dissipates into the dead matter around it - there is no evidence to suggest a continuation of consciousness after death. This is hardly ideal and very few want it to be true but we do not reject a truth merely because it is uncomfortable or frightening. You can choose to believe in an after-life to comfort yourself and shield yourself from reality but in the end that is just a placebo effect illusion meant to take the pressure of your own mortality from your mind. To believe such just because of superstition, religious teaching unsupported by evidence, or for personal psychological comfort is fine but it still doesn't line up with what we know of reality.

I really have only one question to ask. Have you examined every possible possibility before you chose the belief system of Atheism?

I mean, you have to admit to the fact that being an atheist is relative to what you believe to be true. Its all based on a relativism and therefore inconclusive.

Philosophically speaking, it would make batter sense for you to hold no stance (not even atheism) as a final and lasting choice versus something that is relative.