Atheists anyone?

Pre-College Issues High School Life
101

<p>"Man needs something to believe in and to have hope in when all else goes wrong. Man needs to feel that in the end the good are rewarded and the bad are punished."</p>

<p>Religion has its social functions by comforting humans, but they lack tangible evidence to validate God. You are agreeing with me by saying that religion is based on more firmly on emotional necessities than it is on facts.</p>

<p>Reality isn't sugar, spice, and everything nice. Some people do need the Bible to develop morals. However, I said that this going to heaven incentive occasionally fails in reinforcing morals. Terrorists kill innocent people, but they don't give a **** because they are going to heaven with sexy virgins.</p>

102

<p>Anyone here a Humanist by any chance? Both atheists and theists can be a humanist.</p>

<p>Sorry, i'm just trying to bring about a sense of unity here.</p>

103

<p>Deism is not a religion, but a stance on God. Atheism takes a stance on God but it is not a religion.</p>

104

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There is evidence to how evolution, rain, earthquakes, and the cosmos work. No evidence denies a god's existence.

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<p>No, but it strongly implies that there is no god. It shows that the Bible/Quran are wrong in their explanation of how the universe was created and why humans are here on Earth, which strongly suggests that there is no god.</p>

105

<p>"Anyone here a Humanist by any chance? Both atheists and theists can be a humanist."</p>

<p>Secular humanist right here.</p>

106

<p>Well my stance on heaven and hell is Agnostic. I just don't know. Heaven and hell are Biblical beliefs, so i'm on the "no" side but there's the possiblity that it is real. You might change your religious beliefs? To Deism? The Bible teaches a lot of bad things that people overlook, but most of the good Christians I know pick-and-choose the right morals/ethics. So I believe that there is some good potential in organized religion.</p>

107

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Heaven and hell are Biblical beliefs, so i'm on the "no" side but there's the possiblity that it is real.

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Mind elaborating on the "possibility" that it is real?</p>

108

<p>Generalizations are starred</p>

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It annoys me that <strong><em>religion does not encourage people to think for themselves</em></strong>. I saw this tendency clearly when Prop 8 in California was passed. "Private religious beliefs" took away the rights of more than 15,000 couples and made their children bastards.

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<p>Not all religious people supported Prop 8; not all Prop 8 supporters were religious. That law passed because of more than just religion in general.</p>

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The funniest part of it all is that they take pity on atheists. <strong><em>Most of the people</em></strong> who judge me take pride in that they "were raised that way" but I thought for myself and chose atheism.

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A deist believes in God who does not watch over people's every action. (The opposite of personal God present in Christianity, Islam etc)

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<p>Deism isn't the opposite of the God in Christianity.</p>

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<strong><em>(From a distance, I hear "Do you not believe in air just because you can't see it? Atheist fool!)</em></strong>

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One of the stereotypes against atheists is that we are amoral because we lack belief in God. Are people so dumb that they need a book to know that murder is wrong? The incentive of heaven also fails in ensuring that people are just. Terrorists motivated by their religious faith lacked common sense to know that killing innocent people are wrong. However, they were confident that their acts would take them to heaven. Yippee.

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<p>Not everybody uses this argument against Atheism. And not all terrorists are motivated by religious thought. Often they have been persuaded by people that are just evil and out for their own gain.</p>

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I would choose faith in something that may not be true over actual facts any day.

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<p>Not really a generalization, though it does ignore the fact that everything "may not be true," including atheism. Where are the "actual facts" you speak of?</p>

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"Growing up I went to church regularly. I wasn't brainwashed by any means."</li>
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<p>Ha! <strong><em>Is it just me or is this a contradiction?</em></strong>

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<li><p>No generalization here.</p></li>
<li><p>No generalization.</p></li>
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Most of the times it is the parents who choose schools for their children.

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<p>Most people could choose their school if they complained.</p>

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Did it matter that you have never seen one yourself? Did you bother to check the facts?

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<p>Again, what facts?</p>

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<strong><em>But when anything good happens, it is a miracle from God? Praise the Lord.</em></strong>

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<p>And there are all your posts.</p>

109

<p>
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No, but it strongly implies that there is no god. It shows that the Bible/Quran are wrong in their explanation of how the universe was created and why humans are here on Earth, which strongly suggests that there is no god.

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<p>It merely suggests that the Old Testament (and other analogous texts) is in many ways inaccurate. Those aren't the only basis for the belief in God.</p>

110

<p>I meant the possibility that there is a place where God will damn me to if I've been an immoral prick and a place where I could bask beside God on a sandy beach all day if I've been a good person</p>

111

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Those aren't the only basis for the belief in God.

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What other basis is there?</p>

112

<p>Other than the story of genesis? How would you explain the creation of the universe without God? There are plenty of other bases.</p>

113

<p>AeroEngineer- math is not some inscrutable force behind the universe. Math is very basic assumpitons of logic (1 + 1 = 2) that have been built upon and built upon. All math can be derived from a 1st grade math book with sufficient intelligence and concept building. (Atleast in my opinion). One doesn't need an interpreter for math to have meaning, whether or not someone wrote it down pi would always equal 3.14 etc....All the result of derivations of simpler math to more complex. Or that is atleast how I have come to view math .</p>

<p>Oh and about the universe being too complex for there not to be a God. I think science's explanations for the begining of the universe and its subsequent formation are a lot less of a leap than to say an omnipotent being (who came from god knows where) created it.</p>

114

<p>Bible does not equal religion.
Religion does not equal baseless thinking.
God does not necessarily equal some dude on a throne. It's a concept that is just usually illustrated as a human.
Dumb religious people don't disprove religion, just like dumb atheists don't disprove atheism.</p>

<p>Personally, I'm perhaps on the more Deist side of things. I don't think God is the mechanism for everything; the world and rules he created are. <em>I think</em> evolution and physics and math and patterns...all those prove, rather than disprove, a being. <em>IMO</em> God is those patterns as well as the reason they all exist. Reason, I guess, is my basis for belief in God. I wouldn't even necessarily call it belief, just an acknowledgment of what already exists: the universe. You can call it physics; I'll call it God. That doesn't make me a Bible beater or uneducated. </p>

<p>I do, however, completely understand the agnostic side of things. We don't know. Atheism, on the other hand, requires a faith just as strong as religion. </p>

<p>I guess I just think that since there's creation, it's not so crazy to think there's a creator, a reason, a mechanism.</p>

115

<p>Agreed!!!!!!</p>

116

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How would you explain the creation of the universe without God? There are plenty of other bases.

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<p>Oh I don't know... by using logic, physics, math, and common sense???? There is more evidence for the big bang theory than there is for god. Yes, we still don't know what happened before the big bang, but we probably will someday in the future seeing as how we've gotten this far. I can almost guarantee you in about 100-200 years, since mankind becomes more intelligent as it advances, there will be very few religious people left in the world and the long, horrible nightmare of religious belief would have ended.</p>

117

<p>^That's the mistake plenty of people make--religious people don't necessarily (necessarily being necessary to account for the religious people who don't believe what I believe) only think God is an explanation for what doesn't exist. He is, IMO, what DOES exist, what IS. He (or she, or it, or whatever) is not just something to magically explain all mysteries. It's not like what happened before the Big Bang would disprove God.</p>

118

<p>Hey glassesarechic, wanna go out sometime? I think I just started to like you after reading your two posts</p>

119

<p>Here is a list of all of the religions whose bad outweighs the good. In alphabetical order</p>

<p>Ahmadiyya
Animism
Asatru
Arianism
Astrology
Atenism
Bahai
Buddhism
Burkhanism
Bwiti
Cao Dai
Chinese Mythology
Christianity
Confucianism
Covenant, The
Daoism
Discordianism
Druze
Falun Gong
Gnosticism
Hinduism
Islam
Jainism
Japanese Mythology
Judaism
Luciferianism
Odinism
Paganism
Pana Wave
Parmalim
Pastafarianism
Peyotism
Prince Philip Movement
Rastafarianism
Raelism
Reiki
Scientology
Shamanism
Shinreikyo
Shintoism
Sikhi
Spiritualism
Subud
Taoism
Tenrikyo
Voodoo
Wicca
Wotanism
Zoroastrianism</p>

120

<p>Notice all of those are human created religions, like all religions. Most are created by a manipulative group of people trying to take advantage of a tough situation, so they can obtain power, wealth, and control.</p>