Atheists - which God don't you believe in?

[Æsahættr]

In response to OP - ex-Christian, became atheist via deism then agnosticism.
Incidentally, is it just me, or do lots of atheist ex-theists go through a period of deism? I know quite a few people who have. Anyone else notice this a lot?
What I found wrong with it - I was only ever a believer when young because I was told to, and skepticism began to kick in more and more, while I never had any personal experience with God or sense that He was out there.
As regards to other religions, only ones that would have been applicable would have been ones without gods, best example that comes to mind is Buddhism, and I never liked the concept of contentment in Buddhism.

Scientifically testable evidence, please.??????????
Where do you think you are ???????

Well, this certainly gets full marks for incredulity, if nothing else.

 

[Halcyon]

Scientifically testable evidence, please.??????????
Where do you think you are ???????
this is a 'Religious Forum', there is no such thing as 'Scientifically testable evidence'
everything is taken on trust, they believe because they were told by people they trust, (parents)
there is no need for Scientifically testable evidence, what they were told is the absolute truth.

Lol, i think you missed my point.

The poster i quoted, from what i gather, is an atheist. Their point was that a creator God cannot exist because the multiverse has always existed.
There is no evidence that the multiverse has always existed, and making such a claim is as nonsensical as claiming that God created the multiverse.
Thus using such a claim, or more accurately a belief, to counter the belief in a creator God is not viable.

 

[Archaeopteryx]

Lol, i think you missed my point.

The poster i quoted, from what i gather, is an atheist. Their point was that a creator God cannot exist because the multiverse has always existed.
There is no evidence that the multiverse has always existed, and making such a claim is as nonsensical as claiming that God created the multiverse.
Thus using such a claim, or more accurately a belief, to counter the belief in a creator God is not viable.

This is true - A logical conclusion would be to say that both statements are based on assumptions, and neither statement's validity can be verified, so neither position can be logically justified given the present information. However, given that there is no evidence supporting the idea that the universe* has always existed, nor the idea that its existence had a beginning (rendering both positions logically intangible), the position that the supposed beginning of the universe was caused by a creator is even more logically intangible than believing that the universe has always existed, to a multitude equivalent to that position's logical intangibility squared, because the founding assumption behind that idea is also based on an assumption.

(Did I lose you?) My point is, the idea that the universe had a creator is less logical than the idea that the universe has always existed, by an exponential degree.

*Word used just to make things easier...

 

[Archaeopteryx]

Also, to answer the original question - "Which god don't you believe in?" - Abiding by the quintessence of the word atheist, the obvious answer is, "All of them." Posing this question is as silly to me as asking a painter, "Which color do you use?" or to a poker player, "Which card do you shuffle?" - I could go on, but..

 

[gnostic]

This is an answer to the original post (since there are too many replies already for me to read them all).

If anyone believe in any god, whether they be Judeo-Christian (and Islamic) god or those who believe in any one of many deities of polytheistic religion (and of heaven and hell, resurrection and reincarnation), then that person is not, and cannot be called an atheist.

 

[logician]

There are scientific theories that posit that the multiverse has always existed, and that our universe is just another in an infinite series of universes. As most science students know, a theory cannot be proven, only invalidated by counter-evidence. Thus my assertion that no creator god is needed given that the multiverse has always existed is backed at least by some theoretical data.

 

[Halcyon]

(Did I lose you?) My point is, the idea that the universe had a creator is less logical than the idea that the universe has always existed, by an exponential degree.

That's interesting. The only problem is that there is evidence that the universe had a beginning at the big bang, which pretty much renders the basis of your argument null and void.

Also, to answer the original question - "Which god don't you believe in?" - Abiding by the quintessence of the word atheist, the obvious answer is, "All of them." Posing this question is as silly to me as asking a painter, "Which color do you use?" or to a poker player, "Which card do you shuffle?" - I could go on, but..

I don't believe that you have read the OP then, just the title. This thread is actually to do with the origins of your beliefs or lack of them, that actual title is only a small part of the OP.

If anyone believe in any god, whether they be Judeo-Christian (and Islamic) god or those who believe in any one of many deities of polytheistic religion (and of heaven and hell, resurrection and reincarnation), then that person is not, and cannot be called an atheist.

Again, this is very true gnostic, but the actual purpose of the thread is meant to discover if it was specifically the concept of a certain God that you reject and if the rejection of that deity has cuased rejection of all form of deity for logical reasons, or emotional.

There are scientific theories that posit that the multiverse has always existed, and that our universe is just another in an infinite series of universes. As most science students know, a theory cannot be proven, only invalidated by counter-evidence. Thus my assertion that no creator god is needed given that the multiverse has always existed is backed at least by some theoretical data.

Indeed, there are. The problem with such theories is their highly speculative nature. Sure the concept of a creator God is highly speculative, but using one speculative argument to counter another can't work.
For example, i could posit that hyperspace is actually composed of pink jelly and inhabited by banana-fish. There is no way for you to disprove my theory because you cannot acquire the evidence to invalidate it.
Is my theory valid, if not then why not?

 

[logician]

It can be proven that an omniscient, omnipotent benevolent god cannot exist.

 

[polomint]

The point is that atheism means not believing in a supreme creator(s) of the the earth/universe.
If you do not believe in a god, then it would be illogical to assign a particular mythological creation to be the 1 in which you have no belief, by default you do not believe in any.
If your disapproval move towards a particular theological slant then I think you will find that agnosticism is a better description of your belief.
To answer the question, that this thread seems to be bringing up, I was brought up as an Irish Catholic in South East London and I enjoyed the camp idiocy of the priesthood, but the fact that it makes no sense and is more of a MEME than a logical choice makes me avoid it.

:angel2: MAKE LOVE, NOT WAR :angel2:

 

[Archaeopteryx]

If anyone believe in any god, whether they be Judeo-Christian (and Islamic) god or those who believe in any one of many deities of polytheistic religion (and of heaven and hell, resurrection and reincarnation), then that person is not, and cannot be called an atheist.

One could argue both ways - One could say that relative to any specific god or gods that a person does not believe in, that person holds an atheistic viewpoint. However, one could also argue from the more general standpoint that because a person does posit a belief in a god, that person has a generally theistic or deistic viewpoint.

That's interesting. The only problem is that there is evidence that the universe had a beginning at the big bang, which pretty much renders the basis of your argument null and void.

Well, you just took a dump all up in my mashed potatoes…

This point is only valid, however, if one considers the Big Bang as the overall commencement of all that exists, which is more of a speculative, subjective topic, and has no place at the foundation of an objective standpoint.

I don't believe that you have read the OP then, just the title. This thread is actually to do with the origins of your beliefs or lack of them, that actual title is only a small part of the OP.

OK, then – To answer the OP in its entirety:

To the atheists on the forum, have you always been atheist or have you 'converted' from some form of theism?

Been atheist since birth, baby -

Have you/did you explore alternative religions such as Buddhism or Taoism before opting for complete atheism? If so, what about these religions did not appeal to you?

I’ve attempted to explore every religion I’ve stumbled upon since I was a kid, beginning with Greek mythology, as I was taken to the idea of a physical interaction between mortals and gods, and the diversity of characters and settings, but I grew out of the idea as I matured, taking on a more materialistic ideology, and continued to dabble more into pure philosophical ideas and practices.