The Growth of Atheism and What it Means for Our Future

reply to post by Nikola014

Originally posted by Nikola014
Try to imagine a man without faith.

Ok, me.

A man without faith it not concern for the future.

...have you ever read the Bible? Christians are told to take no heed for the future!

How much people in difficult moments, turns to faith? Well I can tell you a lot.

How often do people turn to alcohol in difficult moments? Well, I can tell you a lot.

Because faith gives us one extra strength to fight and it's help us i the difficult moments.That's why i believe if the man lose his faith,he lost his future.

Well, then I guess the same can be said for giving up alcohol.

The point is,faith give us hope for better tomorrow and i strongly believe faith is one of the most important thing in human life.

And I think it's stupid because it's belief without or in contradiction to evidence.

reply to post by Nomadmonkey


*faceplam* How often do I have to say this:

Atheists do not believe
Theists believe.

We don't have faith in a lack of gods, we merely refuse to accept their presence.

reply to post by franklin555

Does an athiest value human life?

Yes. Well, I guess. I'm an atheist and I value it.

And if so, where does this value originate?

Empathy. I can understand what it's like to value my life, so I can value the lives of others.

reply to post by daggyz

Posts like this are exactly why the mods are cracking down on the O&C and CiR forums. Good job proving their point by launching into an anti-evolution tirade in the middle of a thread about atheism.

reply to post by nicolee123nd


Not really any different. The growing atheist population is clearly just as human, with all the hatred and bigotry of the religious. If this wasn't true, then you wouldn't see such heated debates.

I was born into Catholicism, became an atheist, then thought it was dumb and went back into Catholicism, now I'm some sort of Christian. Point is this. When I had no faith, I still thought homosexuality was gross, abortion was wrong and scientifically proven to be murder, Muslims are pretty silly, wars must be fought to end wrong ideologies, and that there is evil in the world. So in actuality, my faith or lack there of had no effect on my view of social issues.

In fact, to go ahead and claim what you said is a profound act of ignorance. I can prove to you, without any faith based basis, that abortion is wrong and murder, that homosexuality makes no sense, and that war happens and must be fight for the good fight. To claim no religion makes abortion ok and homosexuality welcomed is just ignorant on many levels and proves, like all new generational things, that it will become just as divided and undone as the rest of everything.

Originally posted by madnessinmysoul
reply to post by Nikola014

 

Originally posted by Nikola014
Try to imagine a man without faith.

Ok, me.

A man without faith it not concern for the future.

...have you ever read the Bible? Christians are told to take no heed for the future!

How much people in difficult moments, turns to faith? Well I can tell you a lot.

How often do people turn to alcohol in difficult moments? Well, I can tell you a lot.

Because faith gives us one extra strength to fight and it's help us i the difficult moments.That's why i believe if the man lose his faith,he lost his future.

Well, then I guess the same can be said for giving up alcohol.

The point is,faith give us hope for better tomorrow and i strongly believe faith is one of the most important thing in human life.

And I think it's stupid because it's belief without or in contradiction to evidence.

With your post you said everything about yourself.

I'm not going to respond you because this is insulting not just for me but for every single christian man here.

reply to post by madnessinmysoul


All evidence, in the end, is human interpretation and can never be truly proven. Really, in the end, it's all about faith. Might as well have faith in something that has a reward. And yes, I think evolution is true, there's no proof of God nor will there ever be, and that faith makes no sense. Yet I still have it. It's a daily dose of insanity for no other reason than it has a better reward than oblivion.


That's technically faith that you're right. Faith in God, is no different than faith in you being right in that there is no God. There's no proof either way.

It's funny to me how atheists think they have the high ground - that believing in a lack of a God or gods is somehow distinct from other beliefs. It's still a faith in something you can't know with certainty.

Just imagine for a minute that the Christian perspective is true - that there is a loving, personal God that created us. In this scenario, Christians are the bearers of truth, and atheists are the religious nutjobs with invented idealogies and stubborn ignorance. Atheism seems to me like the only faith that refuses to acknowledge that its a faith - which to me seems to make it the most foolish.

There will always be religion because there will always be people who have spontaneous and profound mystical experiences who then start religions based on them. Even if we lost all knowledge of religion it would rise again just as primordial shamanism rose. The spontaneous shamanic initiatory crisis, which is a mystical experience, is more than enough to give rise to religion on its own. If it wasn't, we wouldn't have religion today. We wouldn't have anything.

There will always be atheism too and thats ok with me. It takes all kinds to make the world go round. But it can't eradicate religion just as a whetstone can't eradicate the blade it sharpens. It can make lots of friction though.

reply to post by iterationzero


Well in truth I wasn't try'in to be sneaky. I read that you were going to bed after the edit. I realised there could be a rift, but just left it. That's not to say that I could never be that sneaky, or that I have never been that sneaky.
What the hell if you don't believe me I'll take the credit.

Originally posted by nicolee123nd

Without religion (Christianity in particular), we could have a better society overall. No longer would gays, women, blacks, and anyone else looked down on in some religions be considered lesser citizens. Kids wouldn't be bullied for their beliefs. It's a fact that, if there was no religion, most wars wouldn't have been fought. Some say 90% of wars are started because of religion, some say only 15%, but there is no way to tell really.



There's no debating that America is becoming less and less religious. Do you think this is good or bad? What would you say is up for the future?

I disagree with the fact wars are fought because of religion.
Possibly a small % of conflicts were strictly about beliefs.
But wars are generally fought over resources.
And religion affiliation is used to assemble and rally troops.

That said, we cannot give up on some religion because they can be used
as a basic tool for survival. When they are linked to understanding the land and the resources
that we get from the land. They are instructions on how to live.

reply to post by nicolee123nd

YES!! this is what the world needs to advance...i think either religious people can join us..or fall to the side..back in the day if a scientist disproved the thoughts of the church, they were killed..can you imagine how much more advanced we could be if the thinkers of that time period were not killed...Im sure we woulkd be much more advanced.

As for the religion causing wars.. i can see that for sure..I remember when I was like 10 or 11..i was watching a show that was pretty much survivor for kids aged 7- 13ish I think...these kids got to pick between an 18 hole mini golf course, or a bunch of bibles...to my shock..they picked the bibles...and literally by the end of the day, all of the kids got together with people of the same religions; then they started to protest that their religion was better than another persons and so on..it very interesting to see how badly they were brainwashed by religion. Even in Gaza...all of that is about religion to...and its reallyreally bad over there.

Originally posted by nicolee123nd
Some people may see the growth in nonreligious people as a bad thing, weather it's for the sake of their religion or that they just don't like atheists. But I see this as a good thing. I'm an atheist, and I'm gonna admit, I think religion is holding us back from advancing, scientifically and spiritually.

An atheist population can become more scientifically advanced, mostly because religious activists won't get in the way. For example, the only reason evolution is a theory and not a law is because there are too many creationists in the equation. Face it, there's too much evidence and nothing to disprove evolution. Aside from evolution, there would be so much more scientific opportunities for the future, such as stem cell research, better birth control, origins of life on earth, searching for life on other planets, origins of the universe, and so much more. All because the Bible isn't stopping us anymore.

Without religion (Christianity in particular), we could have a better society overall. No longer would gays, women, blacks, and anyone else looked down on in some religions be considered lesser citizens. Kids wouldn't be bullied for their beliefs. It's a fact that, if there was no religion, most wars wouldn't have been fought. Some say 90% of wars are started because of religion, some say only 15%, but there is no way to tell really.



There's no debating that America is becoming less and less religious. Do you think this is good or bad? What would you say is up for the future?

Here's a thought, and I wonder if anyone has brought this up. I've read that just as many people are still "religious" or Spiritual (man's laws) but less are going to or registered at a place of worship (Church, etc.) Know what I mean?

Also, I know it's only your personal opinion, I consider myself Christian, I'm a woman and I don't look down on Gays, Blacks other women, etc. Children will be made fun of or bullied for the silliest things, not just religion! Heh! (For example, when I was in 5th grade and new to the school I was going to I was introduced to the class as a boy because my haircut was SUPER short and, um, I wasn't "developed" yet and for that, I was made fun of HORRIBLY.) Actually I never knew where anyone I knew was made fun of for their religion...in school, but I know it does happen. (And teasing of any kind really sucks, and is NOT ok, EVER.)

I just don't think that religion, "especially" Christianity, makes the world a worse place. There have been plenty of dictators and not-so-nice people that were atheist or agnostic who have done not so nice things, you know? I think religion is just a vehicle, like say a gun, that can be used for good or bad. It's the people who do these things that are to blame. (good) or bad. On that note, I would like to point out that if it were not for my parish, my family would have gone the winter with out heating in our house. All things must be taken with a grain of salt and through consideration.

Thank you for your post and provoking good discussion, and allowing me the chance to respectfully disagree with you!

Originally posted by 15FORreal
reply to post by nicolee123nd

 

YES!! this is what the world needs to advance...i think either religious people can join us..or fall to the side...

Hey, why can't religion and science get along?

My fiance and I both agree that science fits in just fine with religion. After all, why not? I mean, I, being christian, have no problem with science and advancements in it. It's a tool that God gave us, and as the saying goes, God helps those who help themselves...!

reply to post by madnessinmysoul


can you plz tell me why every none atheist is blasting us atheists saying we dont value human life and we dont
value anything?...cbecause I know if i said any of this to a religious person id be blasted with hate?!?!

reply to post by SiKFury


They only have religions over there because thet litterally have nothing but family and bombs..other than china..but china is communistic...they basically get told what religion to have in all those places you just named..if they had freedom to pick what they wanted there would not be some many religious people

reply to post by Nikola014


Are you serious???...everytime madnessinmysoul or me for that matter says something that makes sense..you guys gettt allll mad and take it like a personal attack..its not..its just facts..you guys can have facts to..and when you show them to me im not gunna say anything but read over them and then state what I think

reply to post by Sundowner


They could easily join us if they wanted...but I really doubt that they will want this...as far as I know and have seen..anything that goes against them is shut down and is called a lie or something else...i would gladly have science and religion team up..it would probablly get more done than just science...but at the moment..they are just stopping us from advancing

reply to post by madnessinmysoul


I just love how they are getting mad at you for making sense lol..I just dont understand why they are taking everything u say like a personal attack

Originally posted by 15FORreal
reply to post by madnessinmysoul

 

can you plz tell me why every none atheist is blasting us atheists saying we dont value human life and we dont
value anything?...cbecause I know if i said any of this to a religious person id be blasted with hate?!?!

I'm really sorry you've had these experiences! Ugh!

I love to talk to people of different backgrounds/spiritual faiths and I most certainly do not blast them with hate. Whoever has done that to you need to chillax and take a deep breath.