God of the Gaps
Of course I disagree. There is much that is unknown, but I submit that assuming that that makes it unknowable is foolish. When you look at the tiny sliver of time we have been observing the universe it would be fatuous to assume that our current level of ignorance will continue. Why, I learn something new every day. It’s just a matter of stringing together enough days.
Disagree strongly. I certainly did not come to an atheist position out of “hiding my fears”. Not in the slightest.
As has been said, atheism is the lack of belief in a god or gods. Period. I came to this position due to a complete and total lack of evidence, as well as the quite unbelievable (and frequently silly) nature of theist beliefs.
ETA: Just take what Crown Prince of Irony said, and pretend that I wrote it. I think it is frequently religions that help people create a bulwark against the fear that there is “nothing else out there”, and we are just destined to return to the earth, just like any other animal.
“Religion” and “science” are not antonyms. Until you understand that fundamental point, you’re going to be confused.
I don’t believe in God, nor do I believe that “someday we will fathom our existence in every possible detail, leaving no question unanswered, complete masters of our existence and our future.” That sort of optimism is rarely found outside the faithful.
Disagree. it is a pretty big universe, way too big for us to know all the answers. And we sure won’t in my lifetime.
I don’t know that my view of the universe was any different back when I used to believe in God. I stopped believing when a study of the Bible and its history made it clear that what I was taught in Hebrew School was baloney - and it is even more so today. As for any other gods, I see no need of that hypothesis. The godless universe makes a lot more sense than one with a god in it.
Do you know what Hallelujah means?
Ok, but that is simply your belief about the universe, given our current scientific understanding of it and your belief about what the purpose of Religion is?
I fnd the notion that this meaningless world for no purpose creates living self-conscious beings ad nauseum, and we are led to believe there must be many more earth type planets out there, at least in this universe, to be remarkable and inconsistent with everything else we assume to be scientifically true and rational.
By definition the rules that govern matter and energy in this Universe are inevitable given the starting conditions. Self-concsiously aware beings must also be inevitable, given the starting conditions. Self-consciously aware, religious beings, are one of the products of the underlyng laws of this Universe. Why would you say it is delusional?
Atheists can’t handle religion! Son, we live in a world that has mysteries. And those mysteries have to be explained by men with turned-around collars. Who’s gonna do it? You? You, Lt. Weinberg? I have a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom. You weep for Santiago and you curse the Jesuits. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know: that Santiago’s beliefs, while tragic, probably saved lives. And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves beliefs…You don’t want the truth. Because deep down, in places you don’t talk about at parties, you want me spouting incomprehensible gibberish. You need me spouting incomprehensible gibberish.
You mean as opposed to the idea that one day when we die a magical omnipotent being will tell us all the stuff we didn’t understand while we were alive?
Brilliant.
Do you know what a joke is?
Wrong.
Atheism is the belief that there is no God; it is the affirmative position that no God exists.
A “lack of belief in a god or gods” describes agnosticism
If I had to pick one reason I’m an atheist, I’d say it’s because of the idea of a god who made people in his own image. The longer I thought about that idea, the more obvious it was that it was just something people made up. There are a lot of other reasons, but I’m not uncomfortable with the idea that the universe is infite or that the world won’t end with some kind of final judgment, and I don’t believe that eventually we’ll be able to explain all human interactions in terms of math or physics.
Is there anything more cowardly than giving up and saying “God did it”? I certainly don’t think so.
You appear to be confused and fighting with yourself. When you decide what you’re arguing, please repost.
Hey, you forgot to mention the part about how the faithless who lack faith are actually even FAITHIER than the faithful who HAVE faith! Like you do (unconvincingly) in every other thread where atheism is mentioned.
Sorry but this is wrong.
A lack of belief = atheism. Hence, the prefix “a” via “a” + “theist.” In other words, “Not a theist.”
Agnosticism is a claim about knowledge and what is knowable. Most atheists are agnostic atheists but don’t bother mentioning the “agnostic” part. To be agnostic about God means you don’t think God is knowable. Hence, “a” + “gnostic.”
In other words, it’s like saying “I don’t think we can ever know one way or the other whether or not God exists, but I don’t believe he does.”
Self-consciously aware beings are certainly not inevitable. We may never have evolved on this planet if an asteroid hadn’t taken out the dinosaurs, and the dinosaurs were around for a few hundred million years without leaving any evidence that they were self-aware.
It seems likely that on some planets, there will be other self-aware species since there are a lot of planets and if it could happen here, it could happen elsewhere. But, inevitable?
Anyway, back to the OP, I’m not hiding from anything with my lack of religion. I was brought up with no religion (my parents aren’t religious), and, Voila!, I have no religion. I don’t even know what I could do to get some.
ETA: Man, this thread is moving fast. I’m posting what I wrote, and I hope it isn’t redundant.
Seriously?
Don’t we have this discussion every week?
Atheism is an answer to a question of belief.
Agnosticism is an answer to a question about knowledge.
They are not mutually exclusive.
If someone asks: Do you believe in God?
It’s either a yes or a no. Saying ‘I don’t know’ doesn’t answer that question.
One could be an agnostic atheist or an agnostic theist (fideist).
Check out this:
(De-emphasis mine)
The affirmative position is usually called “strong atheism”, but a simple lack of belief is still atheism. A-theism, without theism. A-gnostic, without knowledge.
I’m an atheist because my mom didn’t indoctrinate me strong enough and I don’t shy away from uncomfortable ideas.
Theism is the most cowardly possible position. It solves fear of death, lack of meaning and loneliness in one swoop. And all you have to do, is never face the logical questions about reality head on.
Atheism is harder because you have to face the fact that you’re never seeing your loved ones again after death. That the people you care about are gone forever when their brains stop. That you’ll be gone forever when your brain stops. That you’re just a bag of chemicals that through luck has gotten a sliver of a tik of the cosmic clock to experience reality though consciousness. If you want meaning, you have to make it.
That’s a rough reality to face, which is why theism is the easy choice. You just pretend your problems don’t exist.