Let's face it; doesn't it take just as much faith to believe that God does NOT exist as it takes to believe that it DOES?   Isn't Atheism just another religious form?    They may not be Christians, Muslims, Jews or even Buddhist or what have you, but aren't they in the final analysis Faithful Believers, just the same?     Aren't their arguments for the non-existence of God just as baseless as their religious counterparts’ fairytale-based affirmation of God?   Will the agnostics inherit the world?      Or does any of this really matter a million years from now?
215655
"The answer is that atheists are basically Rednecks (I'm not meaning this to be offensive). Being a Redneck is being in a blissful state of not caring, and I think that Atheists are the same way" \n\nI think you might have this the other way around. Religion is based on blind faith, that goes hand in hand with ignorance. Once you start questioning you realise the absurdity of religion. An atheist is not someone who doesn't care just someone who finds fairy tales a bit hard to swallow and seeks the answer to life's questions instead of just accepting what he's told
366431
"The disbelievers have their leaders"? Who are they? I haven't met them... And I don't think it's in the atheist character to actually accept a leader.\n\nAnyway, I don't agree with you. Nothing is more heterogeneous than atheism. I agree more with some believers than I do with some other unbelievers.
320343
Interesting... I have great respect for deist, if I did not believe in the validity of my own religion I would probably be one, but I did not know that they do not think there is a afterlife. The concept of a Omnipotent Creator with out any kind of afterlife strikes me as illogical
5858
The problem with most people is that they have to see the facts right in front of their face before they will believe anything. Skeptics of course will tell you that no, there is no God. A lot of Religious groups will tell you that you are going to Hell if you don't believe in God. I don't agree with either. I don't waste my time defending what I believe to Skeptics. Let them think what they want. There is no Hell and so many gung ho religious groups want you to believe. The only Hell people will have to go through is their own concsious. I believe that there is a God, but we were sent here to find our own path and then make our way back home. God absolutely does exist, but can be called Light, The Divine, etc. It is up to every individual to find God for themselves.
574366
You could argue that some Athiests are actually practising a sort of anti-religion. They've gone beyond simply not believing in God all the way to believing that there is no God, which in many ways is as much a leap of faith as believing in God is. Religious people have always attempted to convert their fellow man and Athiests are no different, they're all just trying to save each other, either from eternal damnation, or from the living of a life based on a lie.  It's hardly surprising that they're going to start arguing with each other, in many ways they've managed to set themselves up as mortal enemies. \n\nI personally think it's wonderful fun to have these arguments with people,I'd say that having these arguments helps people to understand the issues better, the arguments force people to think in order to defend their position and in doing so, they learn more about what their position actually is. It also forces people to learn more about each other, and understand each other, even if it is only so they can argue more effectively.
456121
God has given to all of us a measure of faith. Atheist chooses to believe there is no God, yet deep inside they knows better. That is one reason they are so concerned about christianity. Again all Atheist will not stay that way and some will be converted. Someday they will  see that a Holy God is nothing to play with.
544686
Whether there is or isn't a god, the fact is you ARE allowed to search for the truth, and so those who object on religious grounds would not be speaking for whatever god may actually exist.\n\nWhich is precisely why some people prefer to be called agnostics, because their objections are to the religious depictions of a god, and the rules that supposedly come from that source, rather than to the existence of some supreme force or being per se.\n\nMost important, in my view, is to object to depictions of a creator god, as again this implies rules exist in nature that are inconsistent with science as we know it.  Mythology is one thing, but a belief that regards that mythology as true because one wants it to be true is not consistent with the type of search for the truth that you are advocating by this question.
564937
Atheism, in its broadest sense, is the absence of theism (the belief in the existence of deities). This encompasses both people who assert that there are no gods, and those who make no claim about whether gods exist or not. Narrower definitions of atheism, however, typically only label people who affirmatively assert the nonexistence of gods as atheists, classifying other nonbelievers as agnostics or simply non-theists.\n\nMany people who self-identify as atheists do tend to share common skeptical concerns regarding the evidence (or lack of evidence) of the world's many deities and creation stories as well as questioning the goodness and morality of religions that have brought us such things as holy wars and inquisitions. Yet while some adhere to philosophies such as humanism, naturalism and materialism, there is no single ideology that all atheists share, nor does atheism have any institutionalized rituals or behaviors. Indeed, atheism is inspired by many rationales, encompassing personal, scientific, social, philosophical, and historical reasoning.\n\nStill other atheists argue that they are firmly against faith in general, as opposed to religion specifically.\n\nAlthough atheism is commonly equated with irreligion in Western culture, some religious beliefs (such as some forms of Buddhism), though not often so identified by the adherents, have been described as atheistic.
159058
Or you could doubt Gods existence all of the time. I am always surprised at how little people know about their own religions. They ask for no facts, no accountability, and never question what they are told. I think they fear that their belief won't hold up and they will find out that they have wasted all of this time on nothing. I say if you are going to believe in God then at least know why. Don't be afraid to ask the hard questions, and don't let them get away with answers that don't make sense. Also, don't let them make you feel bad asking. If you are asking, and they don't have a good answer, maybe something is wrong.
369729
Atheist versus agnostic?\n\nFrom the American Heritage Dictionary:\n\nAgnos·tic - One who believes that there can be no proof of the existence of God but does not deny the possibility that God exists.\n\nAtheism 1.a. Disbelief in or denial of the existence of God or gods. b. The doctrine that there is no God or gods. 2. Godlessness; immorality.\n\nIn other words,\nthe agnostic doubts that God exists but leaves the finding of God open as a possibility ("gnosis" knowing, seeing; "a" not)\n\nThe atheist denies that God exists ("a" not; "theo" God).\n\nThis raises the question, "How could we prove God?" \n\nGod has no image, says the Bible. That is, with scientific means as practiced nowadays in a materialistic way, we will not be able to prove God!\n\nHowever, advanced logic may lead us to realize that their must a God, Creator of all things and in all things, as the Bible states.\n\nGood question. Thanks.\nCordially, India.Magica
135544
I've been on the other side where I thought that people who didn't believe in god must feel lost.  (I was raised to think they are evil.)  So, I can kinda understand why some religious individuals think that non-believers feel some sort of void or are immoral.  However, I also view that stance as an immature belief.  It doesn't take a lot of looking around to realize that agnostics and atheists are very content with their worldviews and live ethical lives.
263375
Aha, So you have discovered one of the roots of existential angst! Existentialists believe that a perfect form for every idea exists in the universe, whether it has been put into words or not. This is a difficult argument to make because its basis is that if the idea exists, then the thing the idea represents exists, a huge leap.\n  Simply stating a disbelief in a philosophical construct does not validate the existence of the construct. One may argue for the validity or invalidity of the construct based on empirical evidence in support of one's position, however the conceptualiziton of an idea does not thereby bring it into reality. In order for your hypothesis to be valid we would have to accept that something exists because we had the idea for it to exist. To show that this is false one need only point to the Empire state building which, as an idea, did not exist in reality until bricks and mortar were set. If the idea were the reality, then every criminal act ever concieved in ones mind and not acted upon would make one guilty of the concieved act.\n   Comitting oneself to an Atheistic viewpoint is a comittment to a belief which is not possible to prove or disprove beyond redoubt, it is therefore an act of Faith in ones position. Atheists DENY the existence of a  supreme being. If on the other hand, one chooses to neither accept or reject the existence of a supreme being, one is considered an Agnostic. An Agnostic is one who neither believes nor disbelieves, they simply do not make a choice. Belief in God is a choice just as disbelief is a choice, that is the basis for free will.
526415
I agree completely: This quote sums it up for me:\n‘Nature, you say, is totally inexplicable without a God. That is to say, to explain what you understand very little, you have need of a cause which you understand not at all’  Holbach.\n\nThat's the reason I'm an athiest. And please guys, don't pray for me. Let the "rapture" get me ...
179685
I'm agnostic, myself. But if God does exist, it doesn't seem like there's much he won't allow to happen. Whether or not he favors the idea would probably be a better question. And to answer that one...I don't know. I can't know. And neither can anyone else here, regardless of what they may tell you.\n\nn4mwd: You seem pretty arrogant, for someone who has no idea what he's talking about. How does spelling God incorrectly...no, not even spelling it incorrectly, just not capitalizing it, equate to not believing in God? That is complete and utter nonsense. And I have no idea whether or not the soul exists, or what it is, but identical twins are not clones.
373819
You are right, you are confused about atheists, you also have a very funny idea about what belief entails... \n\nAtheists have belief in evidenced things with proof, however blind faith of the religious kind requires no proof or evidence that is why it is called faith, if there was evidence for God it wouldn't require faith to believe in God. \n\nOne of the problems with blind faith is that you can believe almost anything through it, God, The Celestial Teapot, The Flying Spaghetti Monster, Vanilla Flavoured Fairies or anything that cannot be proved or disproved, this invalidates blind faith as a tool of knowledge.\n\nThe onus is always on the person or organisation making a claim to provide proof or evidence for it. When there is no way to test the truth of the claim because of a lack of proof or evidence it is called unfalsifiable.\n\nI have no beliefs about God I simply do not share the theists belief in the existence of God/Gods, I have no reason to think that a God exists and it is not hypocritical for me as an atheist to say so. Hope this explains it a bit better for you.
472956
There is no proof that God does not exist.\nThink about it:  if God does not exist, then there cannot be any proof of His non-existence.  You can never prove that something does NOT exist.\n\nSo, what does that make a person who believes that God does not exist (aka atheist)?  Someone who believes something based on no evidence.  And what do we call a belief based on no evidence?  Faith.\n\nAtheism is just another religion, with all the texts, all the dogma, and all the faith necessary for any other mainstream religion.
471108
Dear Atheist for Christians Banned:\n\nI find in our Category, here, that the great wealth of ideas and what has been learned is seldom shared. Rather, we shout small bytes at each other when, at least I, would prefer to get deeper into experiences and the lessons contained therein. Exploration about God is appropriate for the Religion/Spirituality Forum. Are we offering each other something of depth and richness to contemplate?  What is available to us - from each other?\n\nYes, I have read many articles on Evolution.  I like to dabble in Physics just enough to "stay up" with the latest information.\n\nAtheism has demanded, recently, that God be proven. They seem to feel that Christians are duped!  Yet, Atheism leads to our not acknowledging there is anything beyond or more than physical matter and human Intellect. Nothing more. No other concepts integrated .  Just Intellect examining a world of physical matter.\n\nScience, however,  has decided God can not be disproved or thrown away, after all. Physics has found itself smack up against Him and is desperate to prove Him. (String theories (all 5) or M-Theory). But I tell you, God will never be a mathematical formula.  It takes the soul or spirit-mind within,  to bring forth its Knowledge of its Creator (which it shares with the divine Presence).  Only soul/spirit can direct the Scientist to proper understanding of the Order of Creation. Science is, after all, inspiration ; inspired first - to learn of it's world and our Self. But, then, at best, you have still a cold calculation from Science - about the Created and it's Creator - with no experience of His divine nature; the ecstasy, the unlimited-ness, the Unopposed force of the Creative Being, of Who we are a part. \n\nThe Intellect is of logic and reasoning. It deduces and judges. God is Knowledge and Knowing. \n\nWe should be open to thoughts that behind the Intellect lies our soul or Spirit: The Seat of all Knowledge. Until we understand soul/spirit - we can not know our Self. \n\nIntellect is a mental exercise. It changes, shifts, and alters its thought processes.  But, Knowledge is unalterable.\n\nThe Evolution of Earth contains the Creator existing along with it.  This is Integration. \n\nBest regards, Lana