I'm an atheist. Ask me anything.

[whereismynotecard]

How much wood would a wood-chuck chuck if a wood-chuck could chuck wood?

 

[DarkSun]

Do you suggest red wine or white wine when dining on babies?

Both. And mixed with human blood.

 

[whereismynotecard]

The person who made the idol never stops to reflect,“Why, it’s just a block of wood!I burned half of it for heat and used it to bake my bread and roast my meat.How can the rest of it be a god? Should I bow down to worship a piece of wood?”

No... Not unless you really respect wood. Maybe you know of a tree king. The ents.

 

[Father Heathen]

Both. And mixed with human blood.

I responded to this, but my reply was too gross so I deleted it.

 

[Ozzie]

If you have any question about how one atheist sees morality, the world, our place in it, or anything else, this is a place to ask.

If any of the answers spark debate, so much the better.

Would you be a lot happier without all those pesky theists in the world?

 

[dust1n]

Is this accumulation of questions making you think twice of further pursuing this thread?

 

[Autodidact]

Autodidact doesn't not represent all atheists or a singular atheists belief. Please keep in consideration of your questions. Thank You.

It would be great if other atheists would respond as well.

 

[Autodidact]

hey how are you?

whom do you turn when there's noone to help you?

.

Other people. I believe that humankindness is our salvation. I focus a lot of effort on maintaining good relationships. So far I have never been entirely alone or without help from others.

 

[MSizer]

Duh, if you don't believe in God, then where do you get your morals. And why are you on a religious forum if you're an atheist? And where do you think everything came from? And why are there still monkeys?

 

[Autodidact]

what was your religion be4 you became an Atheist ?

I was raised Reform Jewish, but spent 20 years developing my ideas about the nature of God, ideas very different from Judaism (I can go into more detail of you're interested) before I thought to ask the question, "Does God exist?"

& when did you decide to become and Atheist and throw away your faith??

I've been an atheist for 7 years.

do you get and doubts that a deity might REALLY EXIST?

No. I'm always open to asking the question, but the more I go along, the more confidence I feel in my answer. I look back at my earliest religious beliefs as nothing but primitive superstition.

The only question left in my mind is the possibility of an unknowable Deist God, which I'm comfortable with. I'm 99.9999% confident there is no YHWH or Allah, more confident than I am that you're a person and not a computer program.

 

[Autodidact]

Do you profess your atheist worldview in real life too, and if so, has it ever "cost you" something personally (job, relationship, etc.)?

Yes, and no. I believe in being honest and living with integrity. This is something I got from being a Jew and a Lesbian and carries over to being an atheist. If you believe in what you're doing, you should be able to be open about it. I have not lost anything as a result. The worst consequence has been some social awkwardness.

 

[Autodidact]

How many theists does it take to screw in a light bulb?

Two, if they're really small.

 

[Autodidact]

Two, but how the hell did they get in there??

Ninja'd again by the brilliant Alceste.

 

[BucephalusBB]

It would be great if other atheists would respond as well.

hey how are you?

whom do you turn when there's noone to help you?

.

To nobody..
That would be, I would be on my own, because you allready said there is nobody to turn to
Untill then I rely on people so once in a while. Has not let me down yet..

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

As an atheist in the US, what sort of discrimination do you encounter in your daily life? Is it more or less severe than discrimination that you encounter as a lesbian?

... if it's possible to separate the two.

 

[Autodidact]

Meh. The intonation of the OP implies that there is some sort of philosophical agreement or uniformity in thought between people that do not posses a belief in god or gods. Contrary to popular belief, if you don't believe in fairy tales they pretty much become irrelevant in terms of answering the 'big' questions in life. In and of itself 'atheism' is a meaningless word.

This does not jibe with my experience. While theoretically correct, in my own experience atheism has started me on the path to personal and spiritual (if I may borrow the word) fulfillment. In addition, I find I share more in common with other atheists than any other group of people.

 

[Autodidact]

Do you suggest red wine or white wine when dining on babies?

Medium rare.

In all seriousness:
(1) I think humor is second only to love in the human value scheme.
(2) My morality is based on compassion and reducing suffering.

 

[BucephalusBB]

As an atheist in the US, what sort of discrimination do you encounter in your daily life? Is it more or less severe than discrimination that you encounter as a lesbian?

... if it's possible to separate the two.

I am curious about this as well, mainly because in the Netherlands these are hardly combined..

 

[MSizer]

...when did you decide to become and Atheist and throw away your faith??...

May I chime in on this one please Auto?

Aymen, nobobody chooses atheism, just like nobody chooses faith. Certitiude is an unconcious mental faculty. You don't choose to beleive in god, your mind makes that choice without any willful participation by your concious self. I'm forced to not believe just like you're foced to believe. That's not to say that your mind can't change, based on external information that comes available, but we don't choose what we believe, our brain chooses for us and we have no control over that, no matter what we would like to believe.

 

[Autodidact]

Would you be a lot happier without all those pesky theists in the world?

Good question. I think if we didn't have theists killing other people or oppressing people and denying them rights based on their religious beliefs, or fighting against scientific advancement, on the whole I prefer diversity and would keep the rest of them. Unfortunately so far it has not been possible to have Theism without religious violence and oppression, as well as combating scientific advancement, so I guess in reality I would be happier without them. I'm on the fence on this one.