Atheism and Religion?
822518
This reminds me of the phrase "There are no Atheists in foxholes".
288398
Sure, why not....unless it is merely out of frustration or to annoy your folks.\nIf you truly believe that there is no God, no Divinity, then you already are an athiest.\nOn the other hand, if you simply reject 98% of what organized religion tells you about God and His plan, then you're an Agnostic.
1046128
I am atheist.  We actually take time to read the Bible and other books of faith and study and interpret the multiple meanings.   It is quite interesting how one passage in the Bible and be interpreted in many ways and even contradict itself.  \n\nWe find that most preacher teach what they want their congregation to know. \n\nWe do lack faith, however we are genuinely impressed with the influences religion has had on people, cultures, art, music, war, etc.
1058363
Most atheists are not very pro-active about it - this site, however, is a breeding ground for zealots with too much time on their hands.  Atheism is not a religion in the sense that there are no beliefs in the supernatural, which is the definition.  If you want to ignore the definition, sure, caregorize atheism as a religion, but it's really more the horrible connotation of religion we object to, not the mystical denotation.\nHave a pleasant day.
566342
I haven't read it, but now that I know it exists I probably will.\nI'm curious though...  Why do you address your question to Atheists instead of non-Christians in general?  Atheism is not a rejection of Christianity, but a rejection of all religion, and has no specific prejudice against Christianity.
1151320
A good point. Religions are supposedly faith-based, but then tack on requirements to keep that particular label. Even an agnostic has to meet the requirement of believing there is no God, so I guess the answer is no religion meets the parameter of not requiring anything to be a part of it.
706790
Maybe a slight god-complex. But, your main boggle is an over developed sense of satire. We atheists do not have a problem with this condition. However, the sheeple are most likely helplessly confused. Keep up the good work. LOL :)\nOh, and thanks for all the points recently. Muchas gracias! ;)
452934
Atheism.  Like it or not, there has always been at least 1 Atheist in existence throughout human history.
260079
Atheism and Buddhism? \n\nThe teachings of the Buddha, and thus Buddhism in general, does not stress the existence of a god, nor does it prohibit the possibility of a god. Buddha teaches that there are certain truths and by accepting these truths and learning how to live with these truths, we can end suffering. The truth is independent of a god and therefore god is not a part of the core Buddhist beliefs. If a person chooses to believe in a god is entirely up to the individual. Many Buddhist do believe in a god or in gods or in a higher power that could be considered a god even is not specifically names such. Many of the so called Asian Christians still practice Ch'an (Zen) meditation. They simply incorporated Christianity into their existing faith. In Japan, many Buddhists also follow aspects of Shinto. This is Not against the teachings of the Buddha. Buddha never said my way is the only way ,do as I say or else. In fact, Buddha said that everyone's journey would be unique and that they should question all teachings, including his, and that the individual should take that witch works for him. \n\nAtheist do not believe in a god or any higher power. According to willblueeyes26, Atheists don’t care about anything.  This is not true. They do not believe in an immortal soul. In their mind, they can not fathom that there is more to humanity then the flesh and the bones since there is no concrete proof that a soul exists. To an atheist, worrying about the nonexistent is a waste of time. It is not a matter of not caring about the soul, it's a matter of caring about life. Generally speaking, they feel that if we live for only 60 to 100 years, then we should make the most of it, because once it's over, it's over. This is not the same as not caring. \n\nWillblueeyes26 also seams to believe that Buddhists believe that people are reborn over and over until they reach godhood.  This is also inaccurate. Most Buddhist do believe in reincarnation, this is true. But when a person achieves enlightenment, then he or she is freed from the bindings of the cycle of rebirth. That is to say that reincarnation stops and Nirvana is entered. Nirvana is another topic all together. Some believe it is a place like heaven, others believe it is a state of existence. What is known and what is important, is that if you focus on Nirvana, it will never be reached. Those who enter Nirvana, are NOT gods, just those who have awakened from the cycle of samsara. (Live, death and rebirth.) Buddha is not a god, is not considered a god and even insisted that he was not a god. \n\nMarti249 wrote, "To each their own - whatever the individual feels most comfortable with. Just don't slam others who choose a different path." This is a very Buddhist approach. The differences between different sects of Buddhism are vast, and if a person is uninitiated into the teachings of Buddha, could even seam almost polar opposites from one another. Tibetan Buddhism and Ch'an (Zen) Buddhism are about as alike as Roman Catholicism and the Southern Baptist faith.  And yet, neither group believes the other party to be wrong. The Lama's of the Tibetan beliefs speak fondly of Ch'an Monks and visa versa. Many Buddhist have held religious leaders of other faiths in high regards for the things that these people have done. Buddhist believe that it is not god you follow or what faith you hold dear, but what thoughts you think and what actions you perform. \n\nBlessedman believes that Buddhist worship statues.  This is not the case. Although again, some sects do pay homage to figurines, generally speaking, statues are more for decoration, inspiration and motivation. An old Buddhist tail tells the story of a Buddhist teacher and his disciple who, while walking along in the snow and freezing rain, came to a temple and entered. They built a fire with the logs that had been stacked for making fires, but then the wood ran out and the snow was still falling,
551376
Dear Sen831,\n\nYou request personal experience or evidence... \n\nI used to be an atheist. Over a period of time however, I grew convinced of the existence of the Christian God, and ultimately committed my life to Christ. \n\nFor a draft-version of my journey from atheism to Christ, see http://www.godsci.org/gs/chri/testimony/seek.html\n\nCan we believe the Bible? See http://www.godsci.org/gs/chri/bible.htm\n\nFor scientific and intellectual evidence for the existence of God, see http://www.godsci.org/gs/godsci/evidence.htm\n\nFor evidence for the historicity and truth of Jesus Christ, see http://www.godsci.org/gs/chri/jesus.htm\n\nCordially,\nJohn
576189
Atheism means not believing in a god.  Nontheism is not a word in common use. Perhaps you mean monotheism, which refers to the belief in one god.
1058070
H) None of the above....Atheism is a lack of a belief in god, gods or the supernatural.\n\nYou are an atheist.  Here, I can prove it.\n\nDo you believe in Zeus?  Do you believe in Thor?  Do you believe in fairies?  Do you believe in leprechauns?  Do you believe in Wizards?\n\nIf you answered “no” to any of those questions then you lack belief in that gods or that supernatural being.\n\nSo practically everyone is an atheist, because everyone doesn’t believe in some god.  In fact humans have created thousands of gods over the course of their history and I bet you don’t believe in MOST of them.  That makes someone who only believes in one god, 99.999% atheist!\n\nThose who call themselves “Atheists,” however, believe in no gods at all.  That’s only one less god than a Christian believes in.  To an atheist the idea of a Christian God is nor more plausible or believable than Thor, Zeus or leprechauns.  The fact that so many people believe it does not prove anything, but instead says more about human’s herd mentality and human’s unwillingness to think for themselves.  Remember everyone also used to think the earth was flat too, that so many people believed it didn’t make it true.\n\nAtheism isn’t a morality stance.  Believing or not believing in god does not have anything to do with whether that person is a bad person or not.  It just means they don’t have a god to dictate their morality to them.  There are plenty of viable moral codes on the earth that are without gods, such as most of the eastern religions and humanism for example.  Human values are inherent to being human.  God does not “give” them to us.  \n\nYes, there are bad atheists, but there are bad believers too.  There is no statistical proof that atheists are any worse off as far as morality choices go than any another group out there.  In fact, statistics show that atheists are more educated, more affluent and have the lowest divorce rates out of any other religious group on America.  The interesting thing is that those statistics come from a Christian polling firm trying to prove just the opposite! They couldn’t do it!\n\nTypically most atheists in the country are well educated, in good jobs and have families just like every one else.  They are upstanding citizens and decent people.
465793
My opinion of Atheism is each to their own. Why should you care about it? That's a tough one for me to answer. I could say that most people who would describe themselves as atheists are weak willed and too lazy to have the courage of a conviction. But then some smart cheeks will say that that can describe 90% of the believers. So in the end its important to know your options I guess.
572502
You cant define atheism by terms like 'believing' or 'non believing'. That's like defining light as absence of darkness. Atheism is thought of indifference towards all religious concepts. Even A person who looks down on religion or criticizes God is also not an atheist. A true atheist is not bothered.
388611
I'm an athiest as well.  Religion just didnt do it for me as i got older.  I guess i leaned more toward science.  I have no problem with there not being an afterlife.  Seriously, why have 2 lifes?  One here and one in heaven?  Just doesnt make sence.  And why does there need to be a god?  I think people just need a crutch to lean on in times of need.  But let me ask this, when you try and do something good, is it for your fellow man, or to make god happy?
210775
I think some people are confused. They don't really realize that many of the people they think of as "atheists" are actually god-fearing individuals.\n\nThey simply point at Hollywood or scientists and assume that these people are godless. They are largely wrong.\n\nI'm coming from a different frame of view. I think that faith divides people and causes them to do terrible things to one another. Worse than that, it justifies these actions. The idea that atheists are immoral is faulty. The idea that one cannot have morals without god is faulty. \n\nThe people who come down so hard on atheism are missing that it truly is a message of tolerance. It's an acknowlegement that there are no rewards or punishments in some made-up after-life, so it is incumbent upon the individual to do the right thing for no other reason than doing the right thing. It is selfless in that sense.\n\nThere is a man in Florida who is trying to start a town for Catholics where abortion (among other things) would be banned. Is it constitutional? I don't know. However, I think that if I were to try to start a town for atheists, secular-humanists, whatever you want to call yourself and the only rules would be "1. No worship of the supernatural and 2. Tolerate everyone" people would go crazy and decry it as a new Sodom or Gomorrah.\n\nAlso, atheists cannot recruit in the traditional sense. We cannot "show you the light." One must reach their own rational conclusions. The further truth is that most atheists do not fault people simply for believing in god. It's when they use their faith as justification for intolerance or violence that we really get up in arms.\n\nDespite our lack of organization, we have something going for us that no other "faith" does. We will never go away. Whether people worship Zeus, Jehovah, or (maybe in 1000 years) The Star Wars Trilogy, there will always be people who say, "This cannot be right."
412806
I don't believe in Atheism but I do believe that people should be free to believe what ever they want.\n\nI think that organized religion at its most basic level does serve a good purpose.  It allows people to worship God and congregate with people of similar beliefs.  However, it does terrible damage when those same followers go out into the world and try to force their beliefs upon other people, especially children.\n\nMorality is not exclusive to religion but it can be exclusive to environment.  Different cultures experience and believe in different moral standards.  In some places of the world it is okay to beat children and spouses, cheat on your husband/wife, etc.  Obviously different cultures believe different things.\n\nI don't think that the world would be better if we got rid of all of the religions.  I think the world would be better if all of the religions respected each other and acted peacefully.  Peace and love is what this world needs no matter if it comes in the form of religion or directly from an Atheist's heart.