Why are you an Atheist?

[Streamland]

I think it's more to do with the misconception that agnostocism is a middle ground between atheism and theism, and the further misconception that you have to deny the existence of a god in order ot be an atheist.

I think it's funny that all atheists seem to be Christian atheists, as if there's only one god that you can't believe in and that there are no other gods that you can't believe in.

Since we were Christians before being atheists, we were atheistic towards the other religions already anyway.

[Gravonia]

Atheists are not more likely to be intelligent than the average person.

Rather intelligent people are more likely to be atheists. Being an atheist does not make you any smarter than you were before. Plenty of intelligent people have been religious, or held religious views. Freeman Dyson, for one.

And finally, atheism is not irreligion. I am an atheist, I am a non-denominational Christian, too. You can be atheist and religious, and it irks me when people conflate the two or think them both the same.

Don't you have to not believe in god to be an atheist?
Don't you have to believe in god to be a christian?

Personally, I'm an atheist because nobody has proved to me that a god exists.

[Imsogone]

I think it's funny that all atheists seem to be Christian atheists, as if there's only one god that you can't believe in and that there are no other gods that you can't believe in.

Since we were Christians before being atheists, we were atheistic towards the other religions already anyway.

Were we? So if we were Jewish before being atheist, then we're not atheist? Or if we were Wiccan before being atheist, we're not atheist?

[Wiser Society]

I had a horrible set of parents who used god to frighten me into doing various tasks which were unholy enough to begin with that they should be thrown in jail, thats why I'm religious, that and religious people are stupider than Atheists as a general rule.

Fact: Religion is used against weaker people to control them.
Fact: Religion is used as a scapegoat for the morality of wanting to kill other human beings.
Fact: Religion threatens the future of our society by dumbing down our children to the point that they will believe in anything, including the falsehood that is money and an economy that perpetually gets itself into debt. (Watch "The American Dream" on Youtube for more info.
Fact: The world is beginning to fall apart and everyone is going to fall flat on their faces, and the only reason I can come up with is that everyone is stuck in this mindset, this dogma, that money is king and you need to get a job inorder to get back to nature.
Fact: Nature doesn't care about land rights or property ownership, only humans do that.
Fact: Religion is a collective delusion fed by a bunch of dead writers who wrote books that looked like fact but was actually fiction.
Fact: Drugs were prevalent back then as they are today, the effects of these drugs wouldn't have been known to the writers who wrote the Bible.
Fact: Nature doesn't take money inorder to build you a home, only humans do that, build your own damn home in the wilderness somewhere and live freely.
Fact: I practice the last point, and abhor the violence and hatred and ignorance that all the other points generate in our society.

[Erinkita]

Since we were Christians before being atheists, we were atheistic towards the other religions already anyway.

Were we? So if we were Jewish before being atheist, then we're not atheist? Or if we were Wiccan before being atheist, we're not atheist?

I have no idea how you arrived at that conclusion. I think there are several logical steps you've skipped.

[Streamland]

Atheists are not more likely to be intelligent than the average person.

Rather intelligent people are more likely to be atheists. Being an atheist does not make you any smarter than you were before. Plenty of intelligent people have been religious, or held religious views. Freeman Dyson, for one.

And finally, atheism is not irreligion. I am an atheist, I am a non-denominational Christian, too. You can be atheist and religious, and it irks me when people conflate the two or think them both the same.

Don't you have to not believe in god to be an atheist?
Don't you have to believe in god to be a christian?

Personally, I'm an atheist because nobody has proved to me that a god exists.

You don't have to believe in god to be a Christian. You have to believe in the teachings of Christ. So yes, you can be a Christian atheist, but I believe there were more intelligent and even more MORAL people throughout history than Christ, so why be a Christian?

[Streamland]

Since we were Christians before being atheists, we were atheistic towards the other religions already anyway.

Were we? So if we were Jewish before being atheist, then we're not atheist? Or if we were Wiccan before being atheist, we're not atheist?

We are. The point I was making is that THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A PERSON WHO BEFORE BEING AN ATHEIST HAD MORE THAN 1 RELIGION. So it doesn't. even. matter.

[Gravonia]

Since we were Christians before being atheists, we were atheistic towards the other religions already anyway.

Were we? So if we were Jewish before being atheist, then we're not atheist? Or if we were Wiccan before being atheist, we're not atheist?

I for one was jewish before being atheist, albeit a rubbish jew.

[Imsogone]

Were we? So if we were Jewish before being atheist, then we're not atheist? Or if we were Wiccan before being atheist, we're not atheist?

I have no idea how you arrived at that conclusion. I think there are several logical steps you've skipped.

I'm being deliberately silly. Even the Bible doesn't deny the existence of other deities, it just relegates them to a form of Hell or subservience to the Abrahamic deity. Also he seems to assume Christianity for everyone here.

[Streamland]

Were we? So if we were Jewish before being atheist, then we're not atheist? Or if we were Wiccan before being atheist, we're not atheist?

I for one was jewish before being atheist, albeit a rubbish jew.

Did you believe the hindu gods didn't exist when you were jew?

If you answered yes, then Imso lost the argument and should deal with it.

[Chinese Regions]

I think it's funny that all atheists seem to be Christian atheists, as if there's only one god that you can't believe in and that there are no other gods that you can't believe in.

Since we were Christians before being atheists, we were atheistic towards the other religions already anyway.

I guess that makes us Apantheists or Pan-Atheists?

[Tulija]

--Ignore--

[Streamland]

I have no idea how you arrived at that conclusion. I think there are several logical steps you've skipped.

I'm being deliberately silly. Even the Bible doesn't deny the existence of other deities, it just relegates them to a form of Hell or subservience to the Abrahamic deity. Also he seems to assume Christianity for everyone here.

Um, no, you did.

[Streamland]

The problem, sir, is that you are an agnostic atheist apatheist. You can't cherry pick which of these three things you are, since you are ALL of them by necessity.

I'm not sure who this is directed at, me or someone else?

Imso. Sorry, people post fast around here.

@Chinese: Pan-atheists, not apantheists. An Apantheist can still be a Monotheist, and we are not.

[DaWoad]

Since we were Christians before being atheists, we were atheistic towards the other religions already anyway.

I guess that makes us Apantheists or Pan-Atheists?

we should shorten that to pantheists . . .er . . .hangon...

[Imsogone]

I'm being deliberately silly. Even the Bible doesn't deny the existence of other deities, it just relegates them to a form of Hell or subservience to the Abrahamic deity. Also he seems to assume Christianity for everyone here.

Um, no, you did.

Um, where did I assume everyone here is a Christian?

[Streamland]

I think it's funny that all atheists seem to be Christian atheists, as if there's only one god that you can't believe in and that there are no other gods that you can't believe in.

Right there.

Take lecitin.

[Erinkita]

I have no idea how you arrived at that conclusion. I think there are several logical steps you've skipped.

I'm being deliberately silly. Even the Bible doesn't deny the existence of other deities, it just relegates them to a form of Hell or subservience to the Abrahamic deity. Also he seems to assume Christianity for everyone here.

Ah. Sorry, my bad. I'm not very good at discerning seriousness levels.
Anyway, yeah, even though most atheists here were exposed to Christianity more than any other religion in their lives, there's a fair number for whom that isn't true. Personally I never followed any religion, even though Christianity is the only one I'm intimately familiar with.

[Erinkita]

I'm not sure who this is directed at, me or someone else?

Imso. Sorry, people post fast around here.

@Chinese: Pan-atheists, not apantheists. An Apantheist can still be a Monotheist, and we are not.

There's no such thing as a pan-atheist. You can't be atheistic with regards to one god and theistic with another. If you believe in any gods at all, you're not an atheist.

[Imsogone]

I think it's funny that all atheists seem to be Christian atheists, as if there's only one god that you can't believe in and that there are no other gods that you can't believe in.

Right there.

Take lecitin.

Sorry dearie, that was a comment on the attitudes of some Christians, not an assumption that everyone here is Christian.

However, there is this ...

Streamland wrote: Since we were Christians before being atheists, we were atheistic towards the other religions already anyway.

That would seem to indicate that you assume everyone here is Christian.

[Eleutheria]

I feel so alone in this tread.

Thread. And here's the thing.

General is full of leftist atheists. Now, there's nothing wrong with leftist atheists, (I've been around them, they aren't bad), but they're quite vocal. Most of us right-wing conservatives are quieter, and we don't feel like we need to voice our opinions or argue with everyone. I believe in God, other people don't, and that's okay.

But you don't have to actively argue with them about how they're wrong. That's just going to tick people off.

And this is meant to be an athiest thread. Generally, if you're a theist like me, you avoid this kind of thread.

You equate right-wing conservatism with theism? I'm not a left-wing atheist, im a right wing atheist, although more of a libertarian than a conservation admittedly

[Bluth Corporation]

For my part, I'm an atheist because I'm a Christian. Belief in a god is incompatible with my search for Christness.

[Theseonia]

Essentially, because i have absolutely no proof that such a thing as god exists.

[Dude Ranch]

Every time I think of the Bible, I always picture small, large-bearded, men gathered around a table saying, "Man, who the hell would believe this! teeheeteehee!" I personally don't believe in God because throughout history people have used God as a reason to persecute, capture, torture and kill other people who didn't want to accept the white man's ideals. Also, because I can't believe in a guy who somehow lives in everything around me. Seems strange...

[Four-sided Triangles]

It goes beyond simple lack of evidence. Not only is there no evidence for any sort of god, but pretty much any concept of a god worthy of the name is so riddled with logical and philosophical inconsistencies that any sort of "transcendent" god is pretty much logically impossible.

Polytheistic gods and non-transcendent gods are logically possible, but by their non-transcendence, they are also subject to scientific investigation and can therefore be dismissed on the basis of being incommensurate with the deepest known levels of physical law, and with any remotely reasonable generalizations thereof.

I'm therefore pretty much a gnostic atheist, disregarding extremely minute technicalities barely worth mentioning.