Atheist question.

[TomLovesBecky]

My personal feeling is sadness for people that are atheists.....To think there is nothing greater than yourself is so self centered & self absorbed IMHO.

I hope people don't think if you don't go to church or another house of worship that you are atheist, that isn't the case in this house or many other homes that I know about.

I do have a very dear friend who is an atheist and I think it's unfair & irresponsible for her & her husband not give their children belief in God and the foundation it will provide for the rest of their lives.

You are ignorant as to the facts of atheism. Many atheists do believe in something "greater than themselves". In fact, most of the ones I know do. That "something" just doesn't happen to be the Christian God or any other god. That's what atheist means. I think it's sad that you pass judgment on people without understanding what they believe, think, and feel.

P.S. I go to church every single Sunday and am very involved. So don't think I am saying this because you have hurt my feelings or anything. I am just disgusted at the sanctimonious statements of Christians who think they are "better than" others. I know atheists who are raising their kids to be wonderful, moral, great people. I am not so narrowminded as to believe they have to agree with my religious sentiments in order to be good people.

 

[perla75]

You are ignorant as to the facts of atheism. Many atheists do believe in something "greater than themselves". In fact, most of the ones I know do.

I wondered if you could elaborate on this a bit. I am agnostic & DF is atheist. I believe in a higher power, I'm just not sure what that is. DF does not believe in any higher power. In the past I had always kept my beliefs private. I never gave my beliefs a title until a few years ago when someone brought up the term "agnostic" to me.

 

[bicker]

An atheist, like a Christian, holds that we can know whether or not there is a God. The Christian holds that we .. know there is a God; the atheist, that we .. know there is not. The Agnostic suspends judgment, saying that there are not sufficient grounds either for affirmation or for denial. At the same time, an Agnostic may hold that the existence of God, though not impossible, is very improbable; he may even hold it so improbable that it is not worth considering in practice.

http://arts.cuhk.edu.hk/humftp/E-text/Russell/agnostic.htm [with emphasis added]

Note that the trichotomy -- religious, atheistic, and agnostic -- is inadequate for understanding the issues of faith, believe, morality and judgment in our society, generally. Again, generally, agnosticism is compatible with number of religious beliefs, and the social conventions of atheism, agnosticism and those specific religious beliefs aren't conflicting enough to evoke significant concern.

 

[metalis4ever]

I wondered if you could elaborate on this a bit. I am agnostic & DF is atheist. I believe in a higher power, I'm just not sure what that is. DF does not believe in any higher power. In the past I had always kept my beliefs private. I never gave my beliefs a title until a few years ago when someone brought up the term "agnostic" to me.

As an atheist I don't believe in a "higher power" per se but it would be completely ignorant of me to say that there is absolutely no way 100% that there something isn't out there greater than us. Now whether that be a "big bang" , a star, an alien race, or even a Flying Spaghetti Monster. The truth is we don't know the truth no one knows the absolute truth. That is what I feel is the beauty of being an Atheist I believe in myself and that I am my own savior. Therefore, I guess one could say that is the "higher Power" that Atheists subscribe to - beleif in oneself above all else. Now I am not speaking for all Atheists just myself, as it is impossible to characterize and categorize all atheists because it is not a measurable belief system or a Religion. Atheism simply put is just the non belief in Theism and Deism.

However, as many have stated in prior posts most Atheists aubscribe to teaching their children and even following the "Golden Rule" themselves as a "moral" guidance. As proven by histroical evidence the "Golden Rule" does not have it's roots in Religion but was rather adopted by many Religions as a foundation for its moral guidance. One major example of this would be Christianity using the predated notion of the "Golden Rule" as the backbone for the "Ethic of Reciprocity" as outlined in Leviticus. The point is there was a sense of Morailty before Modern Religions and there will be a sense of Morailty when the "Modern Religions" become Ancient and a new breed of Modern Religions are born.