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Forums - Politics Discussion - Why Are You An Atheist?

GameAnalyser on 10 May 2015
Chazore said:
To be honest I just don't care at all about religion, I find it irksome to have mormons or JW's popping up to my door, ignoring my signs stapled to my door and still bothering me with their religion on a weekly basis, I even get stopped now and then on my way to work by some JW's and politely I pass them up and tell them I simply do not share in their beliefs and carry on to where I'm going.

I don't mind other's believing in what they want to, as long as it doesn't harm or stop me from doing what I want in life/work towards or harm my family/friends then I'm fine with it, that said I simply do not believe in there being any sort of god, the way I see it is when we die we simply die.

I will add that I find those that do believe in their own religion and go against it's to be part of the most annoying people on the planet, I want to mention certain terrorists/groups but I'm not up for getting into such a pointless spat on here about that.

When I was in UK during my coursework, I used to have frequent mormons at my door. I used to invite them and half of the time pretend looking interested as some of my house mates wanted them to be treated well.



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FragilE^ on 10 May 2015
o_O.Q said:
sc94597 said:
o_O.Q said:

its funny how many people consider themselves atheists and then go on to for example drive around saturns and mazdas or exchange rings with their spouses when they marry all without realising the symbolism involved in these activities

What does using items that have symbolism alluding to deities have anything to do with whether or not you are a thiest/athiest? I'm not following your logic here. 

 

yes there is no overt intentional demonstration of worship of a god 

but the fact remains that these are all symbols associated with god's of antiquity and atheists blindly adopt them and partake in various rituals without really trying to understand what the origins of these things are

then amusingly to me they bash theists for the same thing for blindly following without analysing

how many atheists for example question why we exchange rings during marriage as opposed to just blindly following the practice?

for the most part none because they have not been told to question the practice

atheist just like theists have been lead

I would really like some numbers on these "irrational blindly following atheists". Seems like a rather interesting read!

 

Something that we actually have numbers on though, is that atheists in general know far more about religion than actualy religious people. That kinda seems to indicate, that atheists actually DO question stuff and don't just blindly follow everything. I know, what a crazy thought, right? But it might just be perfectly reasonable and true as well.



hsrob on 10 May 2015
o_O.Q said:
sc94597 said:
o_O.Q said:

its funny how many people consider themselves atheists and then go on to for example drive around saturns and mazdas or exchange rings with their spouses when they marry all without realising the symbolism involved in these activities

What does using items that have symbolism alluding to deities have anything to do with whether or not you are a thiest/athiest? I'm not following your logic here. 

 

yes there is no overt intentional demonstration of worship of a god 

but the fact remains that these are all symbols associated with god's of antiquity and atheists blindly adopt them and partake in various rituals without really trying to understand what the origins of these things are

then amusingly to me they bash theists for the same thing for blindly following without analysing

how many atheists for example question why we exchange rings during marriage as opposed to just blindly following the practice?

for the most part none because they have not been told to question the practice

atheist just like theists have been lead

It would appear that you yourself have made certain assumptions about the exchange of rings.  The earliest evidence of wedding rings is from Egypt and we can only surmise whether there were religious connotions or not.  Exchange of wedding rings is a significantly newer invention and has little to do with religion.

That aside, following a tradition does not in any way mean that you subscribe to it's origins or intended meanings.  I don't believe in Santa Clause but I'm going to buy gifts for my kids on his behalf. The majority of traditional societies in the world are theistic so the vast majority of traditions have their origins in theistic societies whether they are explicity religious in nature or not.  Being an atheist does not mean you have to forcibly extricate yourself from these traditions and rituals, and the premise that failure to do so indicates a lack of understanding on their part is both an assumption and a statement of false equivalency.



fps_d0minat0r on 10 May 2015
o_O.Q said:

its funny how many people consider themselves atheists and then go on to for example drive around saturns and mazdas or exchange rings with their spouses when they marry all without realising the symbolism involved in these activities

 

then many of the same people turn around and call theists ignorant because of their blind following

Its not that they havent 'realised' the symbolism, its just that they've changed the symbolism to suit them.

Thats the difference between a religous person and a non-religious person. One is comfortable with changing man made constructs, the other is not.



Uabit on 10 May 2015

Because religions are used to have people under control and were created by humans because of how scared to the unknown and to die we are. So why would i believe in something created only to control people and because of fear to die and stop existing?



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Ouroboros24 on 10 May 2015
Mr.Playstation said:

So what I want to know from you guys and especially those people here who are Atheists is why you guys are Atheists. Is it because other religions aren't precise enough when it comes to what they're saying? Is it because you outright believe other religions are wrong?.....and so on.

 

Disclaimer: Any people here who follow another religion will not be allowed to quote any other users who are stating why they are Atheists and telling them they are wrong. This is only here so that I and other people can learn more about Atheism and why people who are Atheists choose this "path" instead of  "paths" offered by other religions.

God lies within the mystery of existence.  God does not necessarily exist with a religion, God exist no matter what.  There is no good, no bad, just the power of a God that has created what we perceive to be the universe. 

Labels like Christianity, or Buddism or even Atheism mean nothing as there is a version of a God, the meaning, the definition of the word.  God, is like Wind, that it may not be seen, but there is evidence of it's existence as grass and leaves sway.  There is no tangible evidence that God exist, but as with the Wind blowing in the breeze, there is God changing and shifting the universe as only God can.  God exists within the mystery of existence.  Mic drop!



contestgamer on 10 May 2015

The same reason I don't believe in Santa Claus, the easter bunny and the tooth fairy. I grew up.



o_O.Q on 10 May 2015
Hiku said:

The main criticism is aimed towards people who blindly following things that definitely have a profound impact on their way of life.
The things you mentioned don't. Unless you want them to, as you said. In life, we are used to analyzing and questioning many things that affect our lives in a major way before making a decision. Whether it's a new career path or moving to another country, etc.
Of course there are those who are curious about the meaning and nature behind various things. I'm sure we're all interested in that at times.
But the incentive to find out about these things is much much stronger when it's something that's definitely going to affect the way we live.


"I'm sure we're all interested in that at times.

But the incentive to find out about these things is much much stronger when it's something that's definitely going to affect the way we live."

 

well as i said it depends on how willing you are to embrace the fact that these things do in fact significantly impact our lives

most people are not willing because again as i said most people like to be told what to think the difference between atheists and theists is simply which authority figures they follow

to not consider that perhaps the people who gave us something as fundamental as the names we call the days of the week may have a deeper level of influence on society is not rational imo but that's just my opinion



o_O.Q on 10 May 2015
fps_d0minat0r said:
o_O.Q said:

its funny how many people consider themselves atheists and then go on to for example drive around saturns and mazdas or exchange rings with their spouses when they marry all without realising the symbolism involved in these activities

 

then many of the same people turn around and call theists ignorant because of their blind following

Its not that they havent 'realised' the symbolism, its just that they've changed the symbolism to suit them.

Thats the difference between a religous person and a non-religious person. One is comfortable with changing man made constructs, the other is not.

lol you believe that they've changed? what has changed?



heyjew on 10 May 2015

I don't need, nor want a religion to dictate my moral guidelines. I'd rather live life according to my own set of values and morals, and what is practical instead of adhering to a set of rules decided by rulers or regular people hundreds-thousands of years ago: most of which have become largely irrelevant today. As far as the existence of a God goes, there's no reason to believe in something that has zero evidence to support it.