# What difference would it make if Atheist ruled the world? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 2, 2013, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-difference-would-it-make-if-atheist-ruled-the-world/670188 "2013-10-02T15:48:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2013, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-difference-would-it-make-if-atheist-ruled-the-world/670188/161 "2013-10-02T23:31:22Z")
> [@Mickiel](#): > > Now this is an excellent point; many Atheist are for the removal of religion, which makes it fair enough then to ask them what will they replace religion with? Okay some are not for the removal of religion, but for the removal of all the negative things they view religion causes. But if Atheism does not " Do anything at all", then what sense would it make to allow Atheism to rule the world? OMG, it’s Ted Cruz. Talks 21 hours against a bill, then votes for it. Have a cite for the assertion that “many” atheists want to remove religion? Two posts by people are not a cite. I think most atheists have no problem at all with people gathering to worship the Cargo, or the IPU, or the FSM, or maybe even Jesus. That doesn’t hurt anyone but the suckers who do it, and not even that much. I do object to religious leaders saying that they think God considers Sunday a day of rest, so that you Mr. Jewish storekeeper or Ms. Atheist Storekeeper are not allowed to be open then. I’m even okay with them teaching religion in private schools - I’m not okay with teaching lies about science there. Any kid who graduates from any school should be educated to a certain standard. ---
**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:** [October 2, 2013, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-difference-would-it-make-if-atheist-ruled-the-world/670188/162 "2013-10-02T23:34:17Z")
> [@](#): > > So are you suggesting there are Theist who are evil because they are Theist? Some? Yes. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2013, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-difference-would-it-make-if-atheist-ruled-the-world/670188/163 "2013-10-02T23:34:31Z")
> [@Mickiel](#): > > Well I have read that Atheism does not " Do Anything", and has " Nothing in it", so I am wondering what that kind of philosophy would do if it ruled the world? It is not a philosophy. It is the lack of belief in any gods. Period. BTW, do you have any theories about dinosaurs? ---
**Author:** ![Mickiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/0ea827/32.png) [@Mickiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mickiel)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2013, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-difference-would-it-make-if-atheist-ruled-the-world/670188/164 "2013-10-02T23:37:01Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > You’ve been here before, right? I think its a legit question; when one group constantly critisizes another, then that group is saying they could do a better job. Or when a way of life is being put down by a group, they are suggesting that their group is a better way of life. Okay, if its better, then show how and why its better. Show the difference it will make in 5 years; 10 years; 50 years of Atheism would change what in this world? Atheism is a philosophy that does not do anything and has nothing in it, so what will 50 years of that do to a world? ---
**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:** [October 2, 2013, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-difference-would-it-make-if-atheist-ruled-the-world/670188/165 "2013-10-02T23:42:52Z")
> [@Capt\_Kirk](#): > > Ok I’ll bite. > > I am now President Captain Kirk of the US. What would I do WTR to Theists/Theism Phaser God from orbit. That’s Kirk’s style. 😃 > [@Mickiel](#): > > You are suggesting that religion is evil; I don’t agree with that, but it has evil in it. Are you suggesting that Atheism has no evil in it? Atheism doesn’t have anything in it, good or bad; it’s simply the absence of a single belief; the belief in gods. > [@Mickiel](#): > > If Atheism is better than religion, then explain how? Explain what Atheism could do for the world that religion has not. I already did: nothing. And _doing nothing_ is better than what religion does to the world. ---
**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:** [October 2, 2013, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-difference-would-it-make-if-atheist-ruled-the-world/670188/166 "2013-10-02T23:43:09Z")
> [@Mickiel](#): > > I think its a legit question; when one group constantly critisizes another, then that group is saying they could do a better job. Does not compute. I can criticize a bad piano performance. It doesn’t mean I can do a better job myself. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2013, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-difference-would-it-make-if-atheist-ruled-the-world/670188/167 "2013-10-02T23:48:21Z")
> [@Mickiel](#): > > I can agree with this, but your suggestion that Atheist would not stamp out religion, I don’t believe that. Hey, remember when **Mickiel** said he was asking questions about what atheists wanted? ---
**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:** [October 2, 2013, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-difference-would-it-make-if-atheist-ruled-the-world/670188/168 "2013-10-02T23:57:39Z")
> [@Mickiel](#): > > I think its a legit question; when one group constantly critisizes another, then that group is saying they could do a better job. Or when a way of life is being put down by a group, they are suggesting that their group is a better way of life. Okay, if its better, then show how and why its better. Show the difference it will make in 5 years; 10 years; 50 years of Atheism would change what in this world? Atheism is a philosophy that does not do anything and has nothing in it, so what will 50 years of that do to a world? It’s not a philosophy. Secular humanism is; maybe read up on it or ask questions about how its adherents believe it would improve the world. Repeat: atheism is not a belief system, but atheists do hold various belief systems. Secular humanism is a popular one. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-difference-would-it-make-if-atheist-ruled-the-world/670188/169 "2013-10-03T00:01:43Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > You’ve been here before, right? I no longer have any doubt > [@Marley23](#): > > Hey, remember when **Mickiel** said he was asking questions about what atheists wanted? If only we were organized - maybe we need to get a symbol and a building were we can all meet and not believe in ‘gods’ together. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-difference-would-it-make-if-atheist-ruled-the-world/670188/170 "2013-10-03T00:02:57Z")
> [@Mickiel](#): > > Atheism is a philosophy that does not do anything and has nothing in it, so what will 50 years of that do to a world? Let’s see, k? Cause y’all haven’t impressed me none. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-difference-would-it-make-if-atheist-ruled-the-world/670188/171 "2013-10-03T00:13:12Z")
> [@Mickiel](#): > > I think its a legit question; when one group constantly critisizes another, then that group is saying they could do a better job. Or when a way of life is being put down by a group, they are suggesting that their group is a better way of life. Okay, if its better, then show how and why its better. Show the difference it will make in 5 years; 10 years; 50 years of Atheism would change what in this world? Atheism is a philosophy that does not do anything and has nothing in it, so what will 50 years of that do to a world? This seems to be along the lines of a common fallacy, which goes that God exists because people who go to church live longer. Atheism as an argument is about belief in God. That people who go to church give more to charity (if they do) has no bearing on the question. If the Baker Street Irregulars do lots of nice service projects, it does not mean that Holmes was a real person. How many times to we have to tell you this? ---
**Author:** ![Mickiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/0ea827/32.png) [@Mickiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mickiel)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-difference-would-it-make-if-atheist-ruled-the-world/670188/172 "2013-10-03T00:19:18Z")
In Geology the science is the process by which one mineral replaces another in a crystaline form; if there is a type of geology in Atheism, I am asking what it would do to replace religion, which it seeks to remove or control. Religion has a space it occupys in human consciousness, what does Atheism offer to fill that space ? Well one has suggested, " It does not need to be filled, just leave it be." Let nothing replace it. And again this seems to me to be an offshoot of the doctrine of " Nothing." Doing nothing is better than doing something. Or even move that further and claim that the universe came from the " Nothing." Humans were born and exist because of " The Nothing." A new scale this nothing; truly amazing in my view, this pathology of nothing. Nothing plus nothing now equals something. And if this reasoning is to be the norm, then what future for humanity can come from nothing? ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-difference-would-it-make-if-atheist-ruled-the-world/670188/173 "2013-10-03T00:23:15Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > . . . “Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest.” - Diderot . . . I wouldn’t put it into practice, but I must say that I do love that quote. > [@Capt\_Kirk](#): > > . . . I am now President Captain Kirk of the US. What would I do WTR to Theists/Theism > > 1. Use the “Bully Pulpit” to remind Christians, Jews and Muslims they are arguing about the same God and put in some serious hours towards peace in the Middle East. > > 2. Federal Dollars will not be sent to schools that teach Creation “Science”, Young Earth Theory and the like. . . . > > 3. Use what power I can to get rid of “Blue Laws”. . . . > > 4. Going to work hard to keep Abortion “Safe, Legal and Rare”. . . . > > 5. National Health Insurance, not out of ideology because it is cheaper and more effective and the right thing to do. . . . Well, you’ve got my vote! > [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > . . . I can criticize a bad piano performance. It doesn’t mean I can do a better job myself. Exactly! I can criticize the “unintelligent design” of the human body, but there’s no way I could design a working mammalian life-form from scratch. My feet and back hurt; the body is far from perfect. But, no, I’m not so insane as to imagine I could build a better one. (“The heart is just a pump, the veins are only tubes…” “What’s this bag of marshmallows?” “Put that pancreas down!”) ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-difference-would-it-make-if-atheist-ruled-the-world/670188/174 "2013-10-03T00:26:21Z")
> [@Mickiel](#): > > In Geology the science is the process by which one mineral replaces another in a crystaline form; if there is a type of geology in Atheism, I am asking what it would do to replace religion, **which it seeks to remove or control**. Religion has a space it occupys in human consciousness, what does Atheism offer to fill that space ? Well one has suggested, " It does not need to be filled, just leave it be." Let nothing replace it. > > And again this seems to me to be an offshoot of the doctrine of " Nothing." Doing nothing is better than doing something. Or even move that further and claim that the universe came from the " Nothing." Humans were born and exist because of " The Nothing." > > A new scale this nothing; truly amazing in my view, this pathology of nothing. Nothing plus nothing now equals something. And if this reasoning is to be the norm, then what future for humanity can come from nothing? your premise (bolded) is wrong, your science is wrong, your conclusion is wrong - your entire analogy shows that you litereally do not understand the subject. typical. Come back when you can explain, in simple terms - what an ‘atheist’ is and why you so fervently believe that they have ‘nothing’. ---
**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:** [October 3, 2013, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-difference-would-it-make-if-atheist-ruled-the-world/670188/175 "2013-10-03T00:30:20Z")
> [@Mickiel](#): > > In Geology the science is the process by which one mineral replaces another in a crystaline form; if there is a type of geology in Atheism, I am asking what it would do to replace religion, which it seeks to remove or control. Religion has a space it occupys in human consciousness, what does Atheism offer to fill that space ? Well one has suggested, " It does not need to be filled, just leave it be." Let nothing replace it. What part of “does not believe in god/gods/goddesses” are you having a problem with?? No philosophy. No doctrine. No replacing one bullshit with another bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![Mickiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/0ea827/32.png) [@Mickiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mickiel)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-difference-would-it-make-if-atheist-ruled-the-world/670188/176 "2013-10-03T00:33:17Z")
> [@simster](#): > > your premise (bolded) is wrong, your science is wrong, your conclusion is wrong - your entire analogy shows that you litereally do not understand the subject. > > typical. > > Come back when you can explain, in simple terms - what an ‘atheist’ is and why you so fervently believe that they have ‘nothing’. I did not say they have nothing, your constituants brought up the term nothing. They suggested doing nothing is better THAN: well, better than what? As compared to what? I have NEVER stated that I believe Atheist have nothing, please show me saying that; you claim I did, I challange you to prove I said that. ---
**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:** [October 3, 2013, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-difference-would-it-make-if-atheist-ruled-the-world/670188/177 "2013-10-03T00:34:24Z")
> [@Mickiel](#): > > In Geology the science is the process by which one mineral replaces another in a crystaline form; if there is a type of geology in Atheism, I am asking what it would do to replace religion, which it seeks to remove or control. Religion has a space it occupys in human consciousness, what does Atheism offer to fill that space ? That’s like asking someone _“That tumor has a space it occupies your gut; what are you going to replace it with?”_ Religion is an extremely bad thing in my opinion, a corruption upon humanity; and I see no reason that we have to replace it with _anything at all._ ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-difference-would-it-make-if-atheist-ruled-the-world/670188/178 "2013-10-03T00:37:46Z")
> [@Mickiel](#): > > I did not say they have nothing, your constituants brought up the term nothing. They suggested doing nothing is better THAN: well, better than what? As compared to what? I have NEVER stated that I believe Atheist have nothing, please show me saying that; you claim I did, I challange you to prove I said that. You make this too easy - bolding mine - > [@Mickiel](#): > > I think its a legit question; when one group constantly critisizes another, then that group is saying they could do a better job. Or when a way of life is being put down by a group, they are suggesting that their group is a better way of life. Okay, if its better, then show how and why its better. Show the difference it will make in 5 years; 10 years; 50 years of Atheism would change what in this world? **Atheism is a philosophy that does not do anything and has nothing in it, so what will 50 years of that do to a world?** > [@Mickiel](#): > > Well I have read that Atheism does not " Do Anything", and has " Nothing in it", so I am wondering what that kind of philosophy would do if it ruled the world? ---
**Author:** ![Mickiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/0ea827/32.png) [@Mickiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mickiel)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-difference-would-it-make-if-atheist-ruled-the-world/670188/179 "2013-10-03T00:38:04Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > That’s like asking someone _“That tumor has a space it occupies your gut; what are you going to replace it with?”_ Religion is an extremely bad thing in my opinion, a corruption upon humanity; and I see no reason that we have to replace it with _anything at all._ Okay then again, this concept of " Nothing." Remove the infection, which has been dominant, and don;'t replace it, just let things go according to " Nothing." No medicine? No treatment options? No plans? Just nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-difference-would-it-make-if-atheist-ruled-the-world/670188/180 "2013-10-03T00:39:55Z")
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