I am an atheist. I do not believe in God. I see no evidence that God or Gods exist. If a God existed, humans would presumably be able to detect this God. Yet we can't despite our great technological advances of the last few centuries. The Bible contains many mistakes and contradictions which is to be expected because it was written by humans who had limited information. It reflects the attitudes and worldviews of the people who wrote it. The authors of the different Bible books each have their own point of view. There are many thousands of Christian denominations. Many thousands of different religions and Gods have been followed, practiced throughout history. Are they all correct, true ? It seems that humans invented all these religions and Gods. What about the Gods who are no longer worshipped ? What happened to them ? I'm not saying that all religion is necessarily bad. There may be some good aspects of some religions.
I think if you are truly an Atheist, you simply are not awake. Whatever god exists, there is surely a reason that a variety of gods have been followed. It simply requires an open mind to see God in some form. Close-minded you may be, but I hope you one day open your mind and your eyes.
@Paul Couillard we accept all religious or non religion people here. I find myself more of a spiritualist - as long as we do not try to convert others to our belief - or non - all is well.
We look up to God like a dog sitting on his haunches with his head cocked to one side and looking up at his master. He knows you are there but just doesn't quite get it.
I am agnostic and have no issue with atheists nor theists. People have their own reasons for believing or not, and it's interesting to have discussions about religion as long as people remain civil to one another. I know that many people draw comfort from their beliefs, and I envy that.
I feel the same way @Beth Gallagher but I am a non-conventional Christian of sorts. I have no problem with anyone's religious beliefs as long as they 1) Don't not criticize other religious beliefs or systems, and 2) Do no harm to either their own people or the followers of other systems. Most people who claim to be Atheists are actually Agnostics or they have substituted some other god for for the conventional ones, such as Cosmology, "Spiritualism", Environment, Evolution, etc. You can often tell which god they have substituted by how ardently they defend their views. Listening to an avid Environmentalist or Evolutionist is a lot like listening to a Baptist preacher.
One issue: Religions frequently make assertions that make very little sense or are contradicted by well-known knowledge. One may say that atheists are "close-minded," but many thoughtful, intelligent people have searched for God and failed to find God. Many atheists are former religious believers. "God" has never been adequately defined; there is no agreement on God's nature, qualities, requirements, priorities, etc. Religion, religious beliefs help many people cope with our often difficult lives. I noticed that this topic wasn't covered elsewhere.
The first thing a person with “well known knowledge” has to admit is that they still know nothing. Many Atheists and Agnostics I have spoken to base their belief system on the wrongs of what mankind does in the name of their “religion”. Note: I’m not in any way a “religious” person. The word carries with it a full spectrum of fact, fantasy, tradition, superstition and misunderstandings. Simply put, I’m a Christian and a very errant one at that but still a Christian nonetheless. In one aspect, although I do care about the eventual destiny of what one’s journey through life will bring them to upon their demise, what someone else does will not affect my relationship with God. I do not worship other people nor do base my beliefs on what other humans may assume they know or rend as some scientific knowlegy that has no more empirical merit than my beliefs are touted to be by those same people. Where the true rub is that much the same as many relationships in marriages I have observed, people who have doubts about my God do not have a full and honest relationship with Him. Those who have a full relationship in marriage know that things are going to be rocky at times and know that they will in some way commit an error but will still depend on and love one another and most importantly, not base their marriage on what someone else does in their marriage. Those like myself who have a fully honest relationship with God cannot in any way describe why it is so any more than the millions of poets throughout time have tried to describe what love is. Love in intangible and cannot be described and like thought itself, it cannot be measured nor totally defined by all the science in the world yet, we know love is real and know it when we obtain it. The same can be said for a truly full relationship with my God.
Are we talking about religion or God here? Religion is the organized way of viewing Gog/gods but that is not the same as God himself/itself. Atheism itself is a religion; we have discussed this elsewhere on the forum. I have known many people who claimed to be Atheists, but only one who truly is/was IMO. He is one of my three geniuses that I have also mentioned elsewhere. That man had a heart attack some time ago and told me he was "reconsidering his view of God." I don't know what that meant and I don't know if he changed his views. I agree that people use religion to help them cope with difficult times in their lives, and that can be either religion-related or God-related. One of the things I have noted in my exposure to Catholicism is that people seem to get great comfort from the rituals of the Church much more than I ever saw in may long experience with the various forms of Protestantism when they are undergoing hard times.
I think many atheists today make science their god--technology--or themselves--that they can do what needs doing without help. I look around and see God. Without the touch of human hands, the rain falls, the trees grow, rocks crumble, all lives and dies. People mess things up unless they help others and God inspires that. Who in their right mind would do for others without reward? Without God.
I can relate to people who don't believe in the God of the bible, I don't think I was atheist because there just had to be a creator. I came to believe because nothing else in my life has made more sense, held more wisdom, or given me more hope.
Hi Paul, I don't see myself as religious, but that's just because I believe more that I am in a personal relationship with Jesus. I want to follow Him, His example of what God (a Trinity) wants from His creation is to love Him as a true Father. I don't think my human mind could take in the whole definition of God, if I could, then He wouldn't be God. We only know what He allows us to know because it's like a dad and mom trying to teach a little baby before it's little brain can comprehend. Does human-kind ever agree on everything? No, because we have egos and want to be right, even if we don't speak up. Many don't end up getting good dose of humility, and that's what really brought me to believe in Jesus. That's one of the first things I notice about a person, do they have any humility, I've met many that do so I have some good company here on Earth, but sad to say, most don't have it.
By Paul's criteria, atoms did not exist prior to the early 20th century since humans could not detect their existence. The existence of atoms had been theorized since classical Greek times, but no one could detect their existence, so I guess they didn't exist until a century or so ago. I wonder how things operated until then?