Why are you atheists/agnostic?

[Gingka Uzumaki]

The man who claim there is not a God is a fool.

Yes, I agree.

Atheism is hard to understand.

 

[evil kakashi23]

Its very wierd 2 know that ppl actually think that the universe came into being on its own.
Now i'll be leaving this thread so, if anyone found any of my posts ofending then i am sorry.

 

[NaruGoku]

Precisely some of the reasons why I get put off from Christianity.

Ghandi said it best...






same f***ing shit to me. :|

lol, well, they're not the same. but whatever, it's all good!

 

[BusinessManTeno]

I disagree.
I'm 16 by the way, so all my examples were just that. Examples.
My wife could've cheated on me for many reasons, but she didn't cheat on me so I could realise something. First of all, let's ask ourselves why she actually cheated on me. It could be for many reasons. Maybe I'm a bad husband? Maybe I'm violent? Maybe I'm suffocating her with my testicles every night? Who knows? But the fact remains that she didn't think 'Hey, I'll cheat on my husband so he can realise that I'm not the one for him' No, she was probably thinking that she really needed someone to hold, or someone to trust. Or maybe she just needed a bigger penis in her vagina. Again, who knows? But the fact remains that she wasn't thinking of me when she cheated on me, she was thinking of herself. Which was perfectly logical.

So, here we have two conflicting oppinions. One faction (me) thinks he's been treated unfairly because his wife has cheated on him. The other faction (my wife) thinks she's been treated unfairly, because her husband didn't treat her right. Both parties have their own arguments for acting as they did and reacting as they did. So, what's the purpose behind this?

God is, by default, an Omnipotent being that can do anything. Any physical, mental, restrictions of any kind really, doesn't apply to God in any way. You cannot aply logics to God, for you cannot even remotely understand anything God does, because he's Omnipotent.

So, how's there a higher purpose with my wife cheating on me?

For that to be actually discussed, we would have to bring cards such as 'Destiny' or 'Fate' into this discussion and honestly, this is already extremely abstract.

Why would the purpose be 'for' me? According to you, the purpose of my wife cheating on me is, and I quote; "so you can realize shes not the one for you." So, the purpose is purely there to comfort me? How's that fair? According to me, of course, my wife was the shrew and I deserve a comforting purpose for being subjected to this injustice. But my wife, she believes that it was I who did something wrong in the first place. Why is there no comforting purpose for her? God can do anything, he knows everything. He can be you, not you, not exist, be and not be simultanously.

Why would he favor me?

We cannot apply human biases when it comes to God, we cannot apply logics, we cannot apply our sense of right and wrong.

If there's a higher purpose with everything, then every action and reaction is controlled by God, meaning that we are naught but puppets.

This whole scenario 'evolves' all the time. There are so many factors to be considered. The whole purpose of all 'evil' could also be to merely emphatize on the light? But if that's true, then the 'evils' themselves have no purpose. They're simply chaos. Chaos made to show people what they shouldn't do.

I'm actually getting a headache from this. I'm so far out, man.

But that was just what I had to say on the bolded part of your post.

I'll probably get cancer so I can get through it? You're using the comforter-trick again. Hope is a peculiar thing, it can do the most amazing things. Placebo is a 'proof' of that. But hope does not originate from purpose or God (note that I'm using God, not religion in this context) My cancer might as well be meaningless, for to die a meaningfull death without actually knwoing that it's meaningful. How's that helping anyone? I really can't follow your thoughts here, you're just swamping around the same thing.

Don't expect people to live forever... I actually snorted when I read that. You do know that you're promising infinte space in Heaven to those who do good in life, right? To me, it seems like many religions are trying to make life seem like a test that exists merely to see whether or not you're ready to enter 'paradise'. You enter paradise by believeing. You believe without knowing all the facts. That means life is just about obeying without knowing. Now that's a scary thought. Jehova's witnesses are even preaching that God, the almighty being, only has limited space in his paradise.

You belive in God but not in what he, supposedly, told the humans to preach? Good, at least you've cut the worst off. You see, from the point where the Bible (for exmaple) was put in human hands, it became infected with human prejudices. Wcich makes it like any other book here on Earth.

I made the last part dark-red because I believed it to be the most important thing in your post. Look beyond, think abstract, think new.
By the way, don't try to go all mysterious on me. I couldn't help but read that in a mental-old-sage-guy voice. You're not qualified for that.



GTFO.

dude
no offense
but type alot less next time. thats ALOT!
but yea. i personally do believe in fate
The thing about it is.. 2morrow has already happened. TOMORROW holds no promise to NOBODY.


im done though
im hungry
Talk 2 u later man

 

[Daki Kibe]

Okay, I'm spoiler-tagging this because it turned out longer than I'd imagined it would, and I'm positive no one wants to read this. :|
And this is after cutting out an impressively long rant on this topic. ~_~

Spoiler

I was not brought up in a Christian family; both my parents are Hindu. So I will speak solely for myself here:

The several contradicting beliefs that Hinduism preaches have led me to not only lose what very little religious belief I had to start with, but also to cease believing in the existance of God.

My argument is based greatly on the teachings of the religion that my parents follow, and is backed up partially by logic, reasoning and science. I fail to see why I should put my faith, belief, time and effort into something which has not been proven to exist.

Also: I am, quite frankly, tired of all the "festivals" and "ceremonies" that one must oblige to in order to be considered a Hindu, yet when they are questioned about God X or God Y (Hinduism, for those that don't know >_> has gods for everything. EVERYTHING. Like, there are literally thousands of gods. ._.), they cannot provide jack about this "God" that they've been praying to for half their lives.

The religion (at present day) is based on an extremely hypocritical and shallow way of simply proving your loyalty to said religion by chanting some hymns every now and then. Not many people actually care about the gods, the reasons behind all these festivals, etc. They just care about the presents, the nice clothes and the fancy food.

So anyways, back to the point at hand: After a few years of unresolved doubt, inexplicable confusion and unanswered curiosity, I refused to be a part of this farcical religion any longer. And that is why I chose to become an atheist.

I am sorry if this offended any Hindus, although I doubt there are many on this site.

PS: This post is subject to editing. A lot of editing. I'm sure I'll be tempted to add my rant back into this at some point. ._.

 

[UchihaBrat]

My apologies but if you were sharing your opinions I have no problem nor should I. But I do not take kindly if people are jumping in and going off topic by posting arguments against us(atheists/agnostics) when the topic is why we (atheists/agnostics) believe what we believe.

NP, and that is understandable.

 

[kadowade]

I think God exists. Cuz the stuff in the bible, basically foretold whats happening now, and it's comin true.

 

[Oronagato]

God does exist, and in fact, atheists believe in that subconsciously. Let's be honest, if you were on a plane and it was about to crash, for every 10 atheists 9-10/10 would definitely cry out to God naturally. It has happened numerous times. It's natural, you cannot deny it no matter how staunch of an atheist you are, it will naturally occur. In fact, even people who believe in God experience the same natural feeling. Example: Someone who believes in God but isn't religious is in a dilemma, lets just say he needs to pay off a debt by tomorrow. This person, who is very weak in faith and doesn't take religion that seriously, I swear to God will literally stand hours in prayer supplicating to God asking for help. No matter how nonreligious the person may think he is during a time of need he will definitely sprout and jump to prayer if he's in hopelessness and all hope has been lost.

This happens to all of us, including myself. The TIMES when I pray the most are the times when I'm in trouble, you'll find copious individuals who take religion lightly, but right when they're in a time of need then you'll find them acting religious and invoking God, asking for help etc.

I don't care how agnostic a person thinks he is, deep down in his heart he has an inclination to God, which is revealed when in need.

Put a nonreligious person in a perilous situation, even if he never prostrated to God once in his life you'll find him praising God like a saint, but right when his trouble is over that's when he'll act as if GOD doesn't even exist.

Sorry, but that's reality. I've heard of stories of people who don't believe in God, but during a plane crash or shipwreck they started invoking God for help, but once their trouble is over they acted as though they never even mentioned God to begin with.

I never noticed this phenomena until evaluating myself, and the numerous times when I took religion lightly, but during trouble I would cry and cry to God, until God answered my prayer. This phenomena enforces the natural belief that we humans are in need, and only when we are in need do we realize that only God can save us.

this is my personal analysis and observations from most people, including myself. personally I BELIEVE in God, and I can't force you to believe in him also, for that's very immoral, but having a clean debate isn't too bad

 

[Itachi Minato]

u have a choice whether u believe in god or not if god was to make himself obvious to u u would have no choice but to believe in him so there for takin away wat he has given u A choice its ur job to make the right one whether u believe in god or not btw the person above me is very right

 

[JojocIaw]

Okay, I'm spoiler-tagging this because it turned out longer than I'd imagined it would, and I'm positive no one wants to read this. :|
And this is after cutting out an impressively long rant on this topic. ~_~

Spoiler

I was not brought up in a Christian family; both my parents are Hindu. So I will speak solely for myself here:

The several contradicting beliefs that Hinduism preaches have led me to not only lose what very little religious belief I had to start with, but also to cease believing in the existance of God.

My argument is based greatly on the teachings of the religion that my parents follow, and is backed up partially by logic, reasoning and science. I fail to see why I should put my faith, belief, time and effort into something which has not been proven to exist.

Also: I am, quite frankly, tired of all the "festivals" and "ceremonies" that one must oblige to in order to be considered a Hindu, yet when they are questioned about God X or God Y (Hinduism, for those that don't know >_> has gods for everything. EVERYTHING. Like, there are literally thousands of gods. ._.), they cannot provide jack about this "God" that they've been praying to for half their lives.

The religion (at present day) is based on an extremely hypocritical and shallow way of simply proving your loyalty to said religion by chanting some hymns every now and then. Not many people actually care about the gods, the reasons behind all these festivals, etc. They just care about the presents, the nice clothes and the fancy food.

So anyways, back to the point at hand: After a few years of unresolved doubt, inexplicable confusion and unanswered curiosity, I refused to be a part of this farcical religion any longer. And that is why I chose to become an atheist.

I am sorry if this offended any Hindus, although I doubt there are many on this site.

PS: This post is subject to editing. A lot of editing. I'm sure I'll be tempted to add my rant back into this at some point. ._.

Well said and very enlightening. +rep ^___^

Spoiler

God does exist, and in fact, atheists believe in that subconsciously. Let's be honest, if you were on a plane and it was about to crash, for every 10 atheists 9-10/10 would definitely cry out to God naturally. It has happened numerous times. It's natural, you cannot deny it no matter how staunch of an atheist you are, it will naturally occur. In fact, even people who believe in God experience the same natural feeling. Example: Someone who believes in God but isn't religious is in a dilemma, lets just say he needs to pay off a debt by tomorrow. This person, who is very weak in faith and doesn't take religion that seriously, I swear to God will literally stand hours in prayer supplicating to God asking for help. No matter how nonreligious the person may think he is during a time of need he will definitely sprout and jump to prayer if he's in hopelessness and all hope has been lost.

This happens to all of us, including myself. The TIMES when I pray the most are the times when I'm in trouble, you'll find copious individuals who take religion lightly, but right when they're in a time of need then you'll find them acting religious and invoking God, asking for help etc.

I don't care how agnostic a person thinks he is, deep down in his heart he has an inclination to God, which is revealed when in need.

Put a nonreligious person in a perilous situation, even if he never prostrated to God once in his life you'll find him praising God like a saint, but right when his trouble is over that's when he'll act as if GOD doesn't even exist.

Sorry, but that's reality. I've heard of stories of people who don't believe in God, but during a plane crash or shipwreck they started invoking God for help, but once their trouble is over they acted as though they never even mentioned God to begin with.

That is based on your realm of reality. Your interpretation.

I don't think it is so, so I will disagree because that is not what I perceive in my realm of reality.

 

[Passion]

This isn't the thread for such banter. Besides I know where it ends....as a closed thread.

That's how things usually end here every time religion is mentioned in a thread.

To stay in topic I will say this: I am an atheist because I wasn't raised in a ''religious way''. My mother and father both belonged to a Christian family, yet they didn't deem us being ones necessary. Being an atheist isn't a choice I made. By the age when I understood what religions are and how they work, I had grown accustomed into questioning everything and being skeptic towards everything that hasn't been proved. Having an outsider's opinion makes you just see the bad sides of religion and not the good sides (if there are any besides the feeling of safety) but it also gives you the freedom to be anything and do everything you want to (no fatalism) but you must also suffer the consequences. I believe that each religion had good foundations, but many of the current leaders have forgotten the ideas behind the religion(s).

 

[ZK]

dude
no offense
but type alot less next time. thats ALOT!
but yea. i personally do believe in fate
The thing about it is.. 2morrow has already happened. TOMORROW holds no promise to NOBODY.


im done though
im hungry
Talk 2 u later man

For the love of.... NO!
If we all did what most of the people in this thread are doing, (typing next to nothing) discussions like these would be inconsequential. They wouldn't provide the participators with any new point of views or arguments. So far, most of you have provided jack-shit argumentation for your belief/oppinion. You can do better. If you're not ready to type a long reply to explain WHY you believe/mean as you do, then you're not ready to have such a serious dicussion.
Go research some politics if you want short and shitty explanations.

 

[BusinessManTeno]

I think God exists. Cuz the stuff in the bible, basically foretold whats happening now, and it's comin true.

i tell people that ALL the time
people who dont read the bible
READ it. amd tell me if everything in the bible not coming true

God does exist, and in fact, atheists believe in that subconsciously. Let's be honest, if you were on a plane and it was about to crash, for every 10 atheists 9-10/10 would definitely cry out to God naturally. It has happened numerous times. It's natural, you cannot deny it no matter how staunch of an atheist you are, it will naturally occur. In fact, even people who believe in God experience the same natural feeling. Example: Someone who believes in God but isn't religious is in a dilemma, lets just say he needs to pay off a debt by tomorrow. This person, who is very weak in faith and doesn't take religion that seriously, I swear to God will literally stand hours in prayer supplicating to God asking for help. No matter how nonreligious the person may think he is during a time of need he will definitely sprout and jump to prayer if he's in hopelessness and all hope has been lost.

This happens to all of us, including myself. The TIMES when I pray the most are the times when I'm in trouble, you'll find copious individuals who take religion lightly, but right when they're in a time of need then you'll find them acting religious and invoking God, asking for help etc.

I don't care how agnostic a person thinks he is, deep down in his heart he has an inclination to God, which is revealed when in need.

Put a nonreligious person in a perilous situation, even if he never prostrated to God once in his life you'll find him praising God like a saint, but right when his trouble is over that's when he'll act as if GOD doesn't even exist.

Sorry, but that's reality. I've heard of stories of people who don't believe in God, but during a plane crash or shipwreck they started invoking God for help, but once their trouble is over they acted as though they never even mentioned God to begin with.

I never noticed this phenomena until evaluating myself, and the numerous times when I took religion lightly, but during trouble I would cry and cry to God, until God answered my prayer. This phenomena enforces the natural belief that we humans are in need, and only when we are in need do we realize that only God can save us.

this is my personal analysis and observations from most people, including myself. personally I BELIEVE in God, and I can't force you to believe in him also, for that's very immoral, but having a clean debate isn't too bad

VERY TRUE

 

[ZK]

God does exist, and in fact, atheists believe in that subconsciously. Let's be honest, if you were on a plane and it was about to crash, for every 10 atheists 9-10/10 would definitely cry out to God naturally. It has happened numerous times. It's natural, you cannot deny it no matter how staunch of an atheist you are, it will naturally occur. In fact, even people who believe in God experience the same natural feeling. Example: Someone who believes in God but isn't religious is in a dilemma, lets just say he needs to pay off a debt by tomorrow. This person, who is very weak in faith and doesn't take religion that seriously, I swear to God will literally stand hours in prayer supplicating to God asking for help. No matter how nonreligious the person may think he is during a time of need he will definitely sprout and jump to prayer if he's in hopelessness and all hope has been lost.

This happens to all of us, including myself. The TIMES when I pray the most are the times when I'm in trouble, you'll find copious individuals who take religion lightly, but right when they're in a time of need then you'll find them acting religious and invoking God, asking for help etc.

I don't care how agnostic a person thinks he is, deep down in his heart he has an inclination to God, which is revealed when in need.

Put a nonreligious person in a perilous situation, even if he never prostrated to God once in his life you'll find him praising God like a saint, but right when his trouble is over that's when he'll act as if GOD doesn't even exist.

Sorry, but that's reality. I've heard of stories of people who don't believe in God, but during a plane crash or shipwreck they started invoking God for help, but once their trouble is over they acted as though they never even mentioned God to begin with.

I never noticed this phenomena until evaluating myself, and the numerous times when I took religion lightly, but during trouble I would cry and cry to God, until God answered my prayer. This phenomena enforces the natural belief that we humans are in need, and only when we are in need do we realize that only God can save us.

this is my personal analysis and observations from most people, including myself. personally I BELIEVE in God, and I can't force you to believe in him also, for that's very immoral, but having a clean debate isn't too bad

I know this is a very short reply, but I do believe this is food for thought and sufficient counter-argument against your post.

Even in our modern society, you're influenced by religion from all sides. In an extreme situation, the body and mind desperately tries to find a way out. In a plane, a place where you can do absolutely nothing. Many people just sit still, screaming and praying to God, because, like you said, subconsciously they hope God will save them.
But that does not make God real, nor does it make a person a believer.
In an extreme situation, I might be forced to eat my family to survive, but that does not make me a cannibal, does it? My body desperately needs a way to survive and that way might be in the form of nutrition. In those last moments, you're willing to do anything to survive. It's not about believing or about God existing, it's simply about us being told that God can do everything and us having nothing to loose. Thus giving that prayer a chance.
By the way. Those prayers? They didn't help the people who crashed.

And of course, those who did survive thanks God for it, because they DID pray to him after all. But again, why would an Omnipotent, Almighty being show favoritism?

 

[Mr.Beastie]

I disagree.
I'm 16 by the way, so all my examples were just that. Examples.
.

So none of that you said was true?Your wife never cheated on you,your sister never died,and you dont have cancer.

 

[JojocIaw]

For the love of.... NO!
If we all did what most of the people in this thread are doing, (typing next to nothing) discussions like these would be inconsequential. They wouldn't provide the participators with any new point of views or arguments. So far, most of you have provided jack-shit argumentation for your belief/oppinion. You can do better. If you're not ready to type a long reply to explain WHY you believe/mean as you do, then you're not ready to have such a serious dicussion.
Go research some politics if you want short and shitty explanations.

Thank you for making it that way. I wish your post was a bit more longer though. I like reading and having more to discuss about.

That's how things usually end here every time religion is mentioned in a thread.

To stay in topic I will say this: I am an atheist because I wasn't raised in a ''religious way''. My mother and father both belonged to a Christian family, yet they didn't deem us being ones necessary. Being an atheist isn't a choice I made. By the age when I understood what religions are and how they work, I had grown accustomed into questioning everything and being skeptic towards everything that hasn't been proved. Having an outsider's opinion makes you just see the bad sides of religion and not the good sides (if there are any besides the feeling of safety) but it also gives you the freedom to be anything and do everything you want to (no fatalism) but you must also suffer the consequences. I believe that each religion had good foundations, but many of the current leaders have forgotten the ideas behind the religion(s).

Similar in some ways to mine.

I became this way because religion, namely Christianity, are full of bigots and liars of which I must include myself though not on par with the pros who say they do it for their god but really do it for the money or attention.

I am not allowed by their standards to love a woman like a man would love a woman. To them it is sin. I do not agree so I left.

Other than that, I am the type of person who sees things that are logical and reasonable. If they are not then you can forget about any type of agreement from me.

i tell people that ALL the time
people who dont read the bible
READ it. amd tell me if everything in the bible not coming true

The same could be said about Nostradamus and Edward Cayce's predictions. It is all based on making your work in a generalized form. That and people desperately look for ways to explain the present.

 

[ZK]

So none of that you said was true?Your wife never cheated on you,your sister never died,and you dont have cancer.

Dude, it was just examples O_O
But I assure you, cancer, cheating and death is very real. The examples were perfectly logical and plausible.

 

[Mr.Beastie]

Dude, it was just examples O_O
But I assure you, cancer, cheating and death is very real. The examples were perfectly logical and plausible.

dude i promise...when you said that i felt so bad for you bro....real talk though

 

[ZK]

dude i promise...when you said that i felt so bad for you bro....real talk though

Oh, sorry o.o
I'll make sure to include that it's just examples the next time I post something like that.
But thanks, bro.

 

[Passion]

Similar in some ways to mine.

I became this way because religion, namely Christianity, are full of bigots and liars of which I must include myself though not on par with the pros who say they do it for their god but really do it for the money or attention.

I am not allowed by their standards to love a woman like a man would love a woman. To them it is sin. I do not agree so I left.

Other than that, I am the type of person who sees things that are logical and reasonable. If they are not then you can forget about any type of agreement from me.

Why would a need for love/belonging be a sin? I don't comprehend that either and if homosexuality was already common during Ancient Greece/Roman Empire then how can they even claim that it's bad? I mean, they've build the religion on top of Greek and Roman religions, so they should be aware of it existing way before the bible.