How many atheists are atheist?

[Spiderman]

I met a guy who said he was an atheist for years, and less than a month after he said that, he talked about how sometimes he feels like his wife ( that died of cancer), is trying to communicate with him, and that he talks to her.

His communication with his deceased wife, strikes me as being some form of prayer , and faith in an unseen supernatural sentient being. Is he an atheist in your opinion?

An atheist doesn't believe in divinities, but maybe the spirit of his wife is a divinity of his. If he thinks he has a relationship with her, and she hears him , and influences him, and life goes on after death, that simply isn't traditional Atheism , in it's purity of Atheist essence, intrinsic nature, and value.

There are atheists who also visit cemeteries and talk to loved ones. That seems like a different branch of Atheism to me, that is very common even in very strong atheist countries like North Korea.

I don't consider North Korean Dictator Kim Jong Un to be atheist, because he keeps his ill Father (Kim Jong ill, just given you a bad time Kim! )

Kim Jong Un is not an a theist, but A Theist.

He spends a ton of money keeping his Father preserved from decomposition and surrounded by flowers, and guarded by soldiers, and encourages myriads of people to worship him , pay him homage, trust in him, keep pictures of him, and ask him for favors. That simply isn't Atheism:

Here we have images of North Koreans praying to their gods in public

Yet these fellas actually identify as atheist. They are bowing in prayer, devotion to entities unseen, in a militantly atheist country, while identifying as atheist. They are neither atheist, neither is their state an atheist government.

So tell me, what percentage of people that claim to be atheist, do you think are really atheist?

I get it that billions of people don't qualify as having devotion to anything that is traditionally thought of as a god or goddess.

But are they really atheist?
About 10% of the world identifies as atheist, including Kim Jong Un, but Kim is not, (he treats his God a lot better than many of us treat ours), and he is just one of countless atheists that have some unseen sentient being they pay homage to, pray to, communicate with in some way, shape, or form.

The answer "every atheist is an atheist", is true, but many who claim to be atheist, are in fact not. That is a fact!

 

[ChristineM]

Atheist : a person who disbelieves or lacks belief in the existence of God or gods

Nothing more, nothing less.

There atheists who believe in all sorts of things. Including some way out crazy beliefs, but it they don't believe gods exist then they are atheist

 

[Altfish]

Q. How many atheists are atheist?

A. 4

 

[Spiderman]

Atheist : a person who disbelieves or lacks belief in the existence of God or gods

Nothing more, nothing less.

There atheists who believe in all sorts of things. Including some way out crazy beliefs, but it they don't believe gods exist then they are atheist

"Existence of gods"

North Koreans who identify as atheist bow and pray to the spirits of their dead leaders or heroes.

Kim Jong Un and many worship his Father. Sounds like a god to me.

 

[ChristineM]

"Existence of gods"

North Koreans who identify as atheist bow and pray to the spirits of their dead leaders or heroes.

Kim Jong Un and many worship his Father. Sounds like a god to me.

Worship in the cult of kim is not worshipping a god/gods but worshipping their dead leaders. I do not think they are considered gods even though Americans make the claim

 

[Kooky]

"Existence of gods"

North Koreans who identify as atheist bow and pray to the spirits of their dead leaders or heroes.

Kim Jong Un and many worship his Father. Sounds like a god to me.

Want me to blow your mind? There are Hindu and Buddhist atheists on this very forum.

 

[Spiderman]

Want me to blow your mind? There are Hindu and Buddhist atheists on this very forum.

I knew that

But do they pray to or worship unseen supernatural entities, like Kim Jong Un does, and many North Korean "atheists" do? That is what I find surprising.

 

[ChristineM]

I knew that

But do they pray to or worship unseen supernatural entities, like King Jong Un does, and many North Korean "atheists" do? That is what I find surprising.

Take a look at the cult of personality rather than branding people you don't understand.

It is America that considers the North Koreans see their leaders as gods where in actual fact they are more like fathers of their country.

I the the Americans do it just try and belittle NK,

 

[Nakosis]

I'd think an atheist would not believe in the supernatural for the same rational reasons they don't believe in God.

However, atheists are not required to be rational. At least no more than any other group of people.

 

[Evangelicalhumanist]

I have always asked the opposite question, because I have known many who claimed to hold beliefs that their actions demonstrated quite clearly that they did not really hold, not in their "heart of hearts."

But @ChristineM is quite right: an atheist is somebody who does not believe in God -- nothing more. An atheist who does not believe in God may still believe in reincarnation (though I'll never understand why), but if she doesn't believe in God, she's still an atheist.

 

[John53]

Atheists aren't allowed to grieve departed loved ones?

 

[Sgt. Pepper]

I've met a few staunch skeptics who claimed to be atheist, and they adamantly insisted that they don't believe in the Christian God or believe in any gods, they don't believe we have a soul, they don't believe in heaven and hell, and they don't believe in anything paranormal (human spirits, demonic entities or anything else considered to be paranormal). However, some of these skeptics were humble enough to admit to me that they now believe in an afterlife and their viewpoint on the paranormal was completely changed after they participated in a paranormal investigation with me. As I've told many a skeptic... seeing is believing. That being said, I will admit that it's gratifying whenever a hard-core skeptic is unable to debunk the paranormal activity that they witness with their own eyes and also hear firsthand. It's even better when they witness poltergeist activity that they're unable to debunk. Anyway, I don't know if these skeptics are actual atheists or not, but I tend to take them at their word because I don't have a reason to doubt them.

 

[The Hammer]

Worship in the cult of kim is not worshipping a god/gods but worshipping their dead leaders. I do not think they are considered gods even though Americans make the claim

Ancestor worship is still a form of deification

 

[John53]

Maybe the better question is... how many theists are really theists? Why would they bother grieving a departed loved one because they're going to a better place? Or do they only grieve the ones who don't believe the same things they believe?

 

[Evangelicalhumanist]

I've met a few staunch skeptics who claimed to be atheist, and they adamantly insisted that they don't believe in the Christian God or believe in any gods, they don't believe we have a soul, they don't believe in heaven and hell, and they don't believe in anything paranormal (human spirits, demonic entities or anything else considered to be paranormal). However, some of these skeptics were humble enough to admit to me that they now believe in an afterlife and their viewpoint on the paranormal was completely changed after they participated in a paranormal investigation with me. As I've told many a skeptic... seeing is believing. That being said, I will admit that it's gratifying whenever a hard-core skeptic is unable to debunk the paranormal activity that they witness with their own eyes and also hear firsthand. It's even better when they witness poltergeist activity that they're unable to debunk. Anyway, I don't know if these skeptics are actual atheists or not, but I tend to take them at their word because I don't have a reason to doubt them.

It's a real shame, it really is, that you can only provide your say-so, rather than some video, attestations by those you claim to have had participate in "a paranormal investigation."

I have to wonder, I really, do, why this is literally ALWAYS the case. Especially nowadays, when universally present cameras record everything going on in our world, from earthquakes to murders by police. But never to those claims of the paranormal. It is a conundrum, it really is.

 

[Spiderman]

Take a look at the cult of personality rather than branding people you don't understand.

It is America that considers the North Koreans see their leaders as gods where in actual fact they are more like fathers of their country.

I the the Americans do it just try and belittle NK,

I'm not actually belittling them. I find it intriguing. It actually makes me admire North Korea more, seeing them bowing in prayer before, and paying homage to their leaders.

 

[Spiderman]

Take a look at the cult of personality rather than branding people you don't understand.

It is America that considers the North Koreans see their leaders as gods where in actual fact they are more like fathers of their country.

I the the Americans do it just try and belittle NK,

I'm doing the opposite of belittling them. I'm actually impressed. They have appointed Kim il-sung, and Kim jong-il, the Eternal leader and Eternal President of their country. This is the mausoleum for Kim jong-il, and it is built larger than a temple to most gods:

That strikes me as Deification of the people they are worshipping, in almost every sense of the word, but I'm not belittling it.

It actually makes me have far more respect for North Korea.

But it doesn't strike me as authentic Atheism, to bow yourself in prayer before unseen sentient beings that you give the title "Eternal President, Eternal leader", who you believe still can influence your nation after death.

Belief in Supernatural beings who respond to prayers, is Religious, and many atheists would say that is not Atheism in it's essence and intrinsic nature.

Therefore, North Korea has it's own Religion, and the leader and many people adhere to it. So it isn't the Atheist nation it claims to be.

I'm not saying that as a belittling statement, because I'm intrigued and edified by it, and it makes me respect North Korea more.

 

[Spiderman]

Atheists aren't allowed to grieve departed loved ones?

I didn't say that at all, but if a person believes that the spirit of their departed loved one goes on living after death, and they pay them homage, and believe the spirit of their departed loved one can influence the world after death, and they have devotion to them, pray to them, I question whether that is a belief in supernatural heavenly beings (a belief disqualified from the intrinsic nature and essence of what atheism is , by the standards of many atheists).

 

[F1fan]

I met a guy who said he was an atheist for years, and less than a month after he said that, he talked about how sometimes he feels like his wife ( that died of cancer), is trying to communicate with him, and that he talks to her.

His communication with his deceased wife, strikes me as being some form of prayer , and faith in an unseen supernatural sentient being. Is he an atheist in your opinion?

Non-theists tend to be rational folks who engage life pretty directly. If a fellow suffers the death of his wife we can assume he is dealing with some degree of emotional distress, perhaps not sleeping well, and is cognitively impaired. Humans do all sorts of things to help cope and manage trauma, and it sounds like this guy talking to his wife is more a coping strategy than belief in an afterlife as a reasoned conclusion.

 

[John53]

I didn't say that at all, but if a person believes that the spirit of their departed loved one goes on living after death, and they pay them homage, and believe the spirit of their departed loved one can influence the world after death, and they have devotion to them, pray to them, I question whether that is a belief in supernatural heavenly beings (a belief disqualified from the intrinsic nature and essence of what atheism is , by the standards of many atheists).

If talking to a dead relative brings comfort I'm not sure how that disqualifies them from disbelief in gods. Ricky Gervais made a series on the very topic but I can't remember the name of it. Someone asks his character a similar question that you have asked here about his dead wife and his answer was something along the lines of... I don't believe we go anywhere when we die but I'd rather be nowhere with her than here without her.