# Atheism **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 4, 2013, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheism/649288 "2013-02-04T04:58:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Critical1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Critical1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical1)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheism/649288/101 "2013-02-04T20:40:04Z")
Something from nothing? Replace religious morality? How to tell you are an athiest [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/0iVCxx-GkMg/hqdefault.jpg "Full Length Talk by Daniel Dennett - 'How To Tell You're An Atheist'") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iVCxx-GkMg) Replacing religions? Enjoy ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheism/649288/102 "2013-02-04T20:41:58Z")
No. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheism/649288/103 "2013-02-04T20:46:36Z")
> [@Critical1](#): > > Something from nothing? > > Replace religious morality? > > How to tell you are an athiest > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iVCxx-GkMg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iVCxx-GkMg) > Replacing religions? > > > Enjoy I’m as athey as the next next godless heathen, but I’m not watching that many videos in a row without free beer and popcorn. ---
**Author:** ![RedMud636](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c0e974/32.png) [@RedMud636](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedMud636)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheism/649288/104 "2013-02-04T20:54:10Z")
Atheism is the lack of belief in or denial of the existence of deities. Im an atheist but I dont believe everything “came from nothing” , nor do I believe there is any “god” Christian or otherwise. What does that make me?! ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheism/649288/105 "2013-02-04T20:56:06Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I’m as athey as the next next godless heathen, but I’m not watching that many videos in a row without free beer and popcorn. That’s because you can read the equivalent content in about 20 seconds, or probably a 20:1 ratio of time usage. I understand the world is getting lazier and less literate, but the trend towards watching videos for short bites of information just boggles me. Five minutes watching some self-important doof’s “production company” snazz, title sequence, credits, links to other videos and jazzed-up reading of about fifty words is neither entertaining nor convenient. Unless you can’t read and have nothing better to do with your time. Guess I haven’t been converted to the Church of YouTube. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheism/649288/106 "2013-02-04T21:01:24Z")
> [@RedMud636](#): > > Atheism is the lack of belief in or denial of the existence of deities. Im an atheist but I dont believe everything “came from nothing” , nor do I believe there is any “god” Christian or otherwise. What does that make me?! A doughnut. ---
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheism/649288/107 "2013-02-04T21:07:10Z")
> [@RedMud636](#): > > Atheism is the lack of belief in or denial of the existence of deities. Im an atheist but I dont believe everything “came from nothing” , nor do I believe there is any “god” Christian or otherwise. What does that make me?! An atheist. Further information would be required before any other labels were affixed. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheism/649288/108 "2013-02-04T21:27:59Z")
> [@RedMud636](#): > > Im an atheist but I dont believe everything “came from nothing” , nor do I believe there is any “god” Christian or otherwise. What does that make me?! If a label is needed, it should come from what you do believe - so what do you believe was reponsible for “everything” if not God/god/gods? ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheism/649288/109 "2013-02-04T21:45:53Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > You couldn’t find anything by Richard Dawkins or Christopher Hitchens? > > For what it’s worth, I’m someone who can accept that “life and matter just occurred out of nothing”. +1 ---
**Author:** ![RedMud636](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c0e974/32.png) [@RedMud636](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedMud636)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheism/649288/110 "2013-02-04T21:52:16Z")
Yes indeed, I was attempting to make the point to the OP that any label we come up with can certainly not express completely our beliefs (or lack thereof). Personally, I believe I dont know where “everything” came from and that is quite satisfactory to me. Perhaps upon my death I will learn more. Or perhaps not. In the meantime I will be here like everyone else just wondering, guessing, and deluding myself when it suits. ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheism/649288/111 "2013-02-04T21:57:38Z")
> [@Human\_Action](#): > > …as though science were the religion of the irreligious, or is some kind of counterpart to religion. Perhaps not counterpart but _counterpoint_ to some degree. Scientific explanations have replaced many essentially religious “just-so” stories. Now, whether or not that should be seen as leaving progressively smaller gaps to squish deities into is another matter, but many people have seen it that way. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheism/649288/112 "2013-02-04T22:22:24Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > … absence of evidence is not evidence of absence Sure it is. It’s not proof, but it’s evidence. And if the god you’re talking about claims that he will give you anything you ask for, as Jesus said his god would, then I’d say it’s pretty damn compelling evidence. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheism/649288/113 "2013-02-04T22:22:33Z")
> [@Apollyon](#): > > Scientific explanations have replaced many essentially religious “just-so” stories. Now, whether or not that should be seen as leaving progressively smaller gaps to squish deities into is another matter, but many people have seen it that way. And that’s a great shame. As I pointed out to **pchaos** in another thread, there are several examples of scientists of faith, not just across history but in the present day. More than a misunderstanding of atheism, it’s also a misunderstanding of theism as practiced by millions of people. Worse, it’s an embrace of anti-intellectualism under the guise of religion. ---
**Author:** ![huck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@huck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/huck)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheism/649288/114 "2013-02-04T23:27:48Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > And that’s a great shame. > > As I pointed out to **pchaos** in another thread, there are several examples of scientists of faith, not just across history but in the present day. > > More than a misunderstanding of atheism, it’s also a misunderstanding of theism as practiced by millions of people. Worse, it’s an embrace of anti-intellectualism under the guise of religion. I’ve read recently that the stats are still about 50% of scientists affiliated with a traditional religion, a bit less than 30% consider themselves believers in God. I’m not a scientist but my work brings me into contact with quite a few of doctors and scientists in other disciplines, and my daughter is a geologist. These numbers seem to fit with my experience. On the other hand, the most strenuous arguments on the other thread were coming from posters who did not actually know what a fallacy is, and think “inadmissible” means evidence they don’t believe… ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheism/649288/115 "2013-02-04T23:38:58Z")
> [@Human\_Action](#): > > What, exactly, would characterize “extreme” atheism? Denying the existence of gods while racing an avalanche on a snowboard. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheism/649288/116 "2013-02-05T00:02:44Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > Denying the existence of gods while racing an avalanche on a snowboard. Shouting “All Gods are Bastards” while wearing copper armor on a hilltop during a thunderstorm. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheism/649288/117 "2013-02-05T00:07:59Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > Shouting “All Gods are Bastards” while wearing copper armor on a hilltop during a thunderstorm. Raising gods as meat animals. "Oh, Clarissa, your cooking is simply _divine!"_ “More than you know.” ---
**Author:** ![doubleminus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5daacb/32.png) [@doubleminus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doubleminus)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheism/649288/118 "2013-02-05T00:59:06Z")
If you could forgive me for joining in so late in the thread, I have the diametrically opposite question, that is how people imagine a Deity. I really can’t imagine it in any way. Look, my 2 parents and 4 grandparents were, I think, atheists. I mean, the issue of a deity existing was never considered as any explanation or argument. No one of them (I did not know 3 grandparents, but by stories) felt the need to define him/herself. I cannot remember myself thinking of any all-powerful entity at any time. Well, I grew up in a communist country until I was 14, so maybe that was easier. Then I emigrated to a country in which this issue was quite controversial - so the need to define yourself arose. Now look, I’ve read about believers of all kinds and colours. I’ve read Dostoevsky including the Karamazov Brothers. I can understand God as a methaphore. I know one shouldn’t offend someones’ believes. I know all kinds of things “in theory” about religion. But to tell you the truth, when I talk to a person whose belief is important, I feel like the quite famous person with Asperger I remember explaining the condition on TV - needing to intellectualize every human response or behavior. I just don’t get it ! Please help ! ---
**Author:** ![koufax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7ea924/32.png) [@koufax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koufax)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheism/649288/119 "2013-02-05T01:00:49Z")
> [@Human\_Action](#): > > Right, which is science, not ethics. In keeping with **Marley** ’s moderator note, I’ll refrain from broader discussion of ethics. > > On the subject of atheism, I think it’s key that you understand what it is: the lack of belief in gods. That’s it. You’re associating it with science, as though science were the religion of the irreligious, or is some kind of counterpart to religion. That’s simply not true. OP here. When you write that atheism is the lack of belief in “gods”, does this mean a complete lack of belief in some “force” or “power” that caused matter to come into existence? Forget “gods”, forget “religion” Do you atheists believe that matter just happened completely on it’s own out of nothing? (and for that matter (no pun intended) is “nothing” “something”? Damn, I’m confused. ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheism/649288/120 "2013-02-05T01:14:45Z")
> [@koufax](#): > > OP here. When you write that atheism is the lack of belief in “gods”, does this mean a complete lack of belief in some “force” or “power” that caused matter to come into existence? No. I haven’t met an atheist yet that doesn’t believe that forces and power exists. Whether any particular atheist believes that a force or power was the cause of matter to come into existence is irrelevant. If you’re going to re-define a God or god to be “a force or power” then it would have been nice if you replied to your own thread earlier. It would also be nice if you participate in it and respond to the many posts you’ve received. > [@](#): > > Do you atheists believe that matter just happened completely on it’s own out of nothing? (and for that matter (no pun intended) is “nothing” “something”? > > Damn, I’m confused. Have you been reading this thread? If so, I don’t see why you’d still be confused. All that an atheist necessarily has in common with another is that they don’t believe in the existence of any gods (as commonly defined). What atheists believe regarding on how matter came into existence or if it always existed can vary tremendously. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheism/649288.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheism/649288.md?page=7)