Are athiests hypocrites?

[Copernicus]

Atheist 1: "I don't believe in any sort of deity, but if actual proof was found that one existed, I would reconsider my stance."

Atheist 2: "I don't care about some stupid fairytale. Even if some fundie lunatic supposedly found proof, I wouldn't even bother looking at it."

Atheist 1 is not a hypocrite. Atheist 2 is. Not being willing to look at proof because one is so entrenched in their mindset is the exact same problem that many fundamental religious people have, at least as most Atheists seem to think.

You left out Atheist 3:

Atheist 3: I believe that deities do not exist. Not only is there no good reason to believe in them, but there are good reasons to reject belief in them.

Now, that's my kind of atheist.

 

[punkdbass]

Which religious claims do atheists make that make them hypocrites? atheists lack a belief in the supernatural or in a deity, how do you go about to prove a negative? how can anyone call me a hypocrite simply because I lack faith in the supernatural?

I think what the band was trying to say was that atheists often attack the faith of the religious.. and yet atheists too have faith. Many have faith that certain questions such as "Why are we here?" or "why is there something instead of nothing" or "why do natural laws exist?" simply have no answer or arent relevant.

I think since we all lack absolute knowledge, that none of us can KNOW the answers to these questions, and yet the atheist has faith in his answers to them, just like the theist has faith in his.

 

[839311]

I think since we all lack absolute knowledge, that none of us can KNOW the answers to these questions, and yet the atheist has faith in his answers to them, just like the theist has faith in his.

There is a big difference. Think about this. Do you have faith that Zeus doesn't exist? How about Odin? What about Ra? Ahura-mazda? To say that you have 'faith' that those don't exist, doesn't make much sense does it? There's no reason to think they exist, any more than there is to think that the Abrahamic God does.

 

[crocusj]

I think what the band was trying to say was that atheists often attack the faith of the religious.. and yet atheists too have faith. Many have faith that certain questions such as "Why are we here?" or "why is there something instead of nothing" or "why do natural laws exist?" simply have no answer or arent relevant.

Really? You get what you wrote above from:

"All that is real is blurred by your notion of reality.
Nothing is real. Color is black, is white, is color blind.
Tucking away what’s true, what’s tangible.

You skeptic, you. You believe in unbelief.
Now you’re the hypocrite.
You can’t hide from this"

Conversely, I got someone putting words into someone else's mouth and equation of one belief system into a downright misrepresentation of another's naturalistic view of the world in order to formulate a complete straw-man attack specifically to engineer the word "believe" into an idea where any skeptic can be accused of hypocrisy. But hey, it's only music.

I think since we all lack absolute knowledge, that none of us can KNOW the answers to these questions, and yet the atheist has faith in his answers to them, just like the theist has faith in his

The song (I only have the lyrics you provided) asks no questions at all. The atheist, however, does not have faith in the answers to the questions that you set so much store by, the atheist merely does not believe. Atheism is the opposite of theism, it is not the opposite of faith - however much you or your minstrels would like it to be so.

 

[laffy_taffy]

I think what the band was trying to say was that atheists often attack the faith of the religious.. and yet atheists too have faith. Many have faith that certain questions such as "Why are we here?" or "why is there something instead of nothing" or "why do natural laws exist?" simply have no answer or arent relevant.

I think since we all lack absolute knowledge, that none of us can KNOW the answers to these questions, and yet the atheist has faith in his answers to them, just like the theist has faith in his.

First of all, atheism doesn't even address any of these questions. Secondly, as an individual who happens to be an atheist, I admit that "I don't know" the answers to any of these questions. Unlike many theists, I don't need to come up with "some" answer, just to have "an" answer.

So, (assuming you believe in god) what is your belief in god based on? Your simply not having a better explanation for something (origins)? I am not trying to pick on you specifically, but am trying to address those theists that I have come across who give this same "reason" as the basis for their belief in god. Why do you feel that you have a need to assign an "answer" to an unknown....to the point that you end up believing in another unknown (god)? Do you feel that you must have an answer to all questions in life? What about the extinction of the dinosaurs? Do you make yourself believe in one particular theory just because you do not have an answer?

I have no clue as to how the universe began or if it has always existed in one form or another, so I just say "I don't know." Even though I don't "know" how we came to be, I obviously don't believe a god created us, because I have not been convinced that a god even exists to have done anything. I believe that one must prove god exists first, before we should give consideration to the claim that "it" created us and the universe.

 

[crystalonyx]

Claims made w/o proof, can be dismissed w/o proof.

 

[FlyingTeaPot]

The following isn't indicative of what I believe, but the Christian metal band August Burns Red has a song called "rationalist" that had some interesting lyrics I thought I'd post for debate:



I'm not 100% sure what the lyrics mean but Im guessing its something along the lines of: atheism, which is the assertion that God does not exist, often asks theism for evidence that it is true, or argues that theism has no evidence.. but what evidence is there that atheism is true? Are they not both simply "beliefs" ?

Aside from the fact that EVERYONE is hypocritical on some things.. do you guys think atheists are hypocritical in the manner that this band indicates?

If what they mean in the song is what you have posted, then they have a fundamental misunderstanding of what atheism means.

 

[ArtieE]

Does that mean that those who no longer believe in god have lost a part of their brain?

Maybe they have just overridden that part?