Ask An Atheist Anything

Originally posted by traditionaldrummer

Originally posted by FearNoEvil
Do any of Jesus teachings (according to the Bible) contradict your personal morals?

Some, although I must admit that Jesus had some amazingly advanced moral concepts for the era.

Not to forget that most of what Jesus preached about ethics only mirror Rabbi Hillel the Elder´s sayings, which preceded him by quite some time.

I do believe we were born to face the only true and inevitable race towards death

That sounds like a purpose before you are born. I am to or because I need to, or I came into this world to. Is there such thing in atheism?

reply to post by PrimateMarco

Originally posted by PrimateMarco

Originally posted by traditionaldrummer

Originally posted by FearNoEvil
Do any of Jesus teachings (according to the Bible) contradict your personal morals?

Some, although I must admit that Jesus had some amazingly advanced moral concepts for the era.

Not to forget that most of what Jesus preached about ethics only mirror Rabbi Hillel the Elder´s sayings, which preceded him by quite some time.

IMO this does not negate the teachings of Jesus. There were many prophets prior to Jesus that understood the ways of God.

Peace

Originally posted by traditionaldrummer

Originally posted by ptmckiou
I guess I have a hard time understanding the logic to many atheists in stating that they believe once you die...that's it, it's the end, and they usually make their justifications based on their belief in science, when science supports the opposite.

Science does not support the opposite and nothing about termination of life violates any known physics. Batteries also "die" in a sense.

Since all matter in the universe is made from energy (like matter clumps together to form matter) and we too are matter, and physics 101 tells you that energy cannot be created or destroyed, but only change molecular structure....

I believe your science is a bit off here. You may wish to revisit your premise.

Im sorry bout your response looks rather dim in comparison to his question. You know...you can simply state "I DONT KNOW HOW TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION", instead of blabbering on saying check your premise.

Originally posted by OutKast Searcher
reply to post by hippomchippo

 

By asking ridiculous questions that are meant to ridicule.
Do you want a cookie? Seriously?
Grow up...

Well it was a ridiculous request...to ask an atheist a question like that is some sort of unique honor bestowed on us.

So I asked ridiculous questions...and some serious ones. And he responded in a humorous and serious way. Only one that seems to have a problem with it is you.

Sorry, I'm a little sick of the OP seemingly being attacked for trying to have theists understand atheism a little better.

Originally posted by FearNoEvil
reply to post by PrimateMarco

 

Originally posted by PrimateMarco

Originally posted by traditionaldrummer

Originally posted by FearNoEvil
Do any of Jesus teachings (according to the Bible) contradict your personal morals?

Some, although I must admit that Jesus had some amazingly advanced moral concepts for the era.

Not to forget that most of what Jesus preached about ethics only mirror Rabbi Hillel the Elder´s sayings, which preceded him by quite some time.

IMO this does not negate the teachings of Jesus. There were many prophets prior to Jesus that understood the ways of God.

Peace

I am not negating any teachings, but merely giving credit where it is due.

And I´m not saying the Jesus was a plagiarist, since he never left any written records himself. Blame it on the apostles for this apparent forgetfulness regarding their Jewish philosophycal ancestry.

And BTW Rabbi Hillel was no prophet in the strictest sense of the word, he was more of a scholar.

Originally posted by Romantic_Rebel
Atheist don't simply ignore just a God or other deity. We simply don't believe in any religious figure because we believe they're false.

With respect, Romantic_Rebel, I have a little bit of trouble with this statement. I don't know, I guess it's kind of tricky because if your belief about a god is that it's false, I guess you're kinda saying you don't have evidence. But to imply that an atheist makes a value judgement on something by proclaiming it false, almost hints at the idea that it exists in order to make a judgement about it - to declare it false.

And my atheism doesn't make value judgements on other people's deities. Not because I don't have opinions of them (almost universally bad), but because there's no point, except for argument.

In my view, good little atheists don't have opinions on deities. They have opinions on the evidence of deities ... which is that there is none. Of course, atheists that reject another person's god may be atheists, but it's not their atheism that is rejecting the other person's god ... it's something else entirely.

[edit on Jul 14, 2010 by Hadrian]

[edit on Jul 14, 2010 by Hadrian]

For the rest of my natural life and a possible supernatural life, I will never understand why people, in general, feel the need to justify their religious and/or spiritual beliefs to everyone else.

Most of the time it really seems they are actually seeking re-enforcement, acceptance and self-justification.

If you want to be an atheist, go ahead. If you want to be a Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, Krishna, etc. go ahead. What another believes has absolutely no impact on my life, in any way, because I do not permit it to. And, due to that fact, I have no need to understand why someone else has established their belief system or what they view as evidence of their beliefs. Conversely, I don't feel the need to win an argument about mine, so I don't explain them.

However, I have been known to jump into threads to defend others' right to have their beliefs.

[edit on 14-7-2010 by WTFover]

[edit on Jul 14, 2010 by Hadrian]

reply to post by pepsi78


It is the only thing that will truly happen, whether we want it to or not, the second we take our first breath, we are destined to breathe our last. No arguments to thwart it, no religions to save you from it, not fact based anyway.
everyone of us alive or living will ultimately die, then worm food!LOL

I sincerely don´t get the connection between former Catholicism and later becoming an atheist, though that is exactly my own case.

Would you care to elaborate your thought?

It was mere curiosity because most atheists I have encountered online, through friends & other wise "real life" situations usually say, "Well I was raised Catholic..." So I wondered if this particular atheist formerly practiced Catholicism.

I have not seen many people from...say...the Baptist or Methodist community turning toward atheism. This was just my observation & experience in my own life, so I sort of developed a personal theory that most atheists were formerly Catholic. Whether it's true or not, well I haven't met enough atheists to do a controlled experiment. So far, it's unscientific research. lol

Again I fail to see a connection here.

Though you tried to sound non-commital by adding the "most, not all" clause, your remarks made me wonder whether you have suffered in the hands of obnoxious debaters.

Unlike you, I won´t try to sound so politically correct, no sugar-coating, so please bear with me..

There was no connection specifically. This was strictly my personal experience with atheists I have had personal contact with. And I meant what I said...the majority I have met feel they are intellectually superior to everyone who does not agree with them. There are a few that I've met that were congenial. Several in fact that are were on my myspace account when I had one...if someone said, "Pray for me/someone I love.." etc they would say back things like, "Why? It's useless. You're only praying to make yourself feel better & it's stupid." Or by asking a simple question such as what the OP has offered here, I have been attacked viciously. So you are right...only it wasn't obnoxious debaters, it was defensive aggressors. lol

As I said, I don't judge no matter whether some one is one religion or believes in nothing at all. But I don't agree with belittling others because they believe differently than you do.

Did I sound like a preacher? Good grief, I'm sorry. Not my intention.

I by no means think that atheists are immoral, degenerates (lol), or anything else negative.

reply to post by WTFover


i do it because other people who did it to me helped me find the light of truth for myself. so i do it with the lofty idea that i might provide a release for the fear i think some people have about freeing themselves from what some people believe is an unnecessary prison. most inquisitive people already have it in their head, but it can be very helpful to encounter other people who have read prior thinkers' or who have been troubled by certain questions or thoughts.

the core of religion is fear ... mostly fear of what will happen to you for eternity if you don't believe. once you're able to escape this, the rest is easy.

reply to post by hippomchippo

Sorry, I'm a little sick of the OP seemingly being attacked for trying to have theists understand atheism a little better.

There is nothing to understand in a non-belief. Atheists don't believe in God...that's it...nothing to understand besides an individuals personal opinion.

Unless you are an atheist that claims they can PROVE God does not exist...then there is simply nothing to try to understand.

Originally posted by Hadrian
the core of religion is fear ... mostly fear of what will happen to you for eternity if you don't believe. once you're able to escape this, the rest is easy.

I completely disagree. Though I am no theological scholar, I believe only the Abrahamic religions have any emphasis on "fear", and relatively few, these days, preach the hellfire and brimstone of the past. I know many Christians who put no emphasis on fear, but instead celebrate a "peace and joy" they claim to possess from their beliefs and "faith".

[edit on 14-7-2010 by WTFover]

reply to post by WTFover


of course! that's why we have believers, non-believers and the world between them.

Originally posted by OutKast Searcher
reply to post by hippomchippo

 

Sorry, I'm a little sick of the OP seemingly being attacked for trying to have theists understand atheism a little better.

There is nothing to understand in a non-belief. Atheists don't believe in God...that's it...nothing to understand besides an individuals personal opinion.

Unless you are an atheist that claims they can PROVE God does not exist...then there is simply nothing to try to understand.

your post negates your point. obviously, you could benefit from knowledge of atheism because you do not understand it!

Originally posted by OutKast Searcher
reply to post by hippomchippo

 

Sorry, I'm a little sick of the OP seemingly being attacked for trying to have theists understand atheism a little better.

There is nothing to understand in a non-belief. Atheists don't believe in God...that's it...nothing to understand besides an individuals personal opinion.

Unless you are an atheist that claims they can PROVE God does not exist...then there is simply nothing to try to understand.

Then why have people been asking him a large amount of questions they had about atheists?
Hmm..

reply to post by jenmckin


You bring a valid and very important point of conclusion's for Atheism to the proverbial table. Most people that return to Atheism in their midlife are revolted to or from another sect of religion. I believe we are all born Atheists, for we haven't been deterred with proclamation's of resurrection or biblical belief systems and texts.
Conditioning is teh key word here, if we were never to question such thing's as religion, would we as a human being ever know the differences of it's absence?
Thought of this myself a few times since becoming Atheist, still perplexing to the point it I consider it an unprovable and unarguable enigma.
Great point though.

Originally posted by traditionaldrummer
Ask An Atheist Anything

Feel free to ask anything.

ooh, this game looks fun!


i got 2 questions:

1- What is your favorite verse in the bible?

2 - Which holy book is your favorite?







thanks,
et

[edit on 14-7-2010 by Esoteric Teacher]

Originally posted by Lurch

Originally posted by JohnPhoenix

Originally posted by traditionaldrummer

Feel free to ask anything. Thanks for your time and have a great day.

Answer this:

1) DNA is not merely a molecule with a pattern; it is a code, a language, and an information storage mechanism.
2) All codes are created by a conscious mind; there is no natural process known to science that creates coded information.
3) Therefore DNA was designed by a mind.

If you can provide an empirical example of a code or language that occurs naturally, you've toppled my proof. All you need is one.

Just because "science" doesn't know how something works yet does not mean "God did it". That's a huge, and illogical, leap to make.

1) I did not claim "god did it"
2) this has nothing to do with science knowing how something works or not. I am asking for " empirical example of a code or language that occurs naturally" based on points 1 and 2.
3) I did not ask you to answer the question. This challenge was for the OP who requested questions be asked. But since you are so eager, I will accept this "empirical example of a code or language that occurs naturally" from you if you can provide it.

4) I would still like the OP to take a crack at it.