| Lavamelon said: Nobody is born an atheist. An atheist is a person who believes that the universe came into existence from a magical firecracker (Big Bang) that appeared out of nowhere and exploded for no reason. Nobody is born believing that, they are indoctrinated into it. I believe you mentioned that there is a person at your station that believes in God. Do you hate him for believing in God? |
Everyone is born a blank slate, and for reasons humans think it's fun to trick children into believing in Santa Claus, Easter bunny, Tooth Fairy and so on. Yeah life sucks, try to make it magical for your kids to enjoy their childhood in blissful ignorance.
But most kids grow up and see all these 'higher powers' for what they are, fantasies. But just as I can't prove God does not exist, I can't proof Santa Clause doesn't exist either. That doesn't make either real.
An atheist is not someone who believes in the Big Bang. An atheist is someone who does not believe in the existence of God or any gods.Atheism is the absence of belief in deities.
Atheists are also not indoctrinated with the Big Bang. It's called the Big Bang theory for a reason. It's a plausible explanation, just like the theory of evolution. Although the latter has actual proof in fossils, DNA and historical records. Still it's a work in progress, there are still plenty questions about the origins of life, as well as the origin of the universe. It could have always been there, time could merely be an illusion, we simply don't know.
And that's OK. It's ok to say you don't know. That's how theories come about and evolve. Once you shut the door to critical thinking by claiming "it was God" that's when it's not OK to tell other people to stop thinking. Or tell them they are indoctrinated by science...
Atheist do not hate people that believe in God for believing in God. It's the actions of certain religious people that deserve hate. Luckily those are the minority. All the religious people I know are great to be with. I don't mind Jehova witnesses either, always friendly to chat with.
One time after I got robbed at gun point back in Amsterdam by a group of teenagers, a garbage man from a religious community found my discarded driver's license. He invited me to join for a community dinner to give me my things back. Free meal, pleasant company, everyone welcome. I declined to come along for a bible study, heartily thanked them and filed it away as a positive experience.
Religion is great as a community, it's the fanatics that ruin it.
