Question for atheists...Do you feel baffled by the religious viewpoint?

[frg001]

That's not certainty. It's arrogance.

I can't argue with the master.

 

[rojse]

but what if it is clear that we are all blind(too many versions of what sight is).

To continue with the analogy, is it really clear that we are all blind?

Would you believe a blind man telling you what sight is like because he believes the person that told him was not blind and did not lie?
No, probably not. you would be skeptical. that is why i am agnostic.

I would have to weigh up what the possibly sighted person told me, and test them based on those assertations.

 

[rojse]

I can't argue with the master.

You can - most people have before. Don't let the near-certainty of being in the wrong stop you.

 

[frg001]

You can - most people have before. Don't let the near-certainty of being in the wrong stop you.

It was more of a "Takes one to know one" retort I know, the guy posts short, usually rude and vague quips almost all the time, and contributes little.
The Billy goats gruff tell me he's a right pain.

 

[Willamena]

It was more of a "Takes one to know one" retort I know, the guy posts short, usually rude and vague quips almost all the time, and contributes little.
The Billy goats gruff tell me he's a right pain.

The thing about arrogance is the number quoted. You can believe you're that certain, but philosophy demonstrates to us a world that is essentially unknowable beyond what we perceive. Certainty is a tricky claim.

Here's a good thread on it, if you want to read more.
http://www.religiousforums.com/forum/comparative-religion/46089-wood-between-worlds.html

 

[frg001]

The thing about arrogance is the number quoted. You can believe you're that certain, but philosophy demonstrates to us a world that is essentially unknowable beyond what we perceive. Certainty is a tricky claim.

Here's a good thread on it, if you want to read more.
http://www.religiousforums.com/forum/comparative-religion/46089-wood-between-worlds.html

Which is why I am not 100%
I don't really want to go into the old FSG/ invisible pink unicorn thing, but they have absolutely equal merit to any of the religious ideas of a god.

To be honest, I tend to think there are powers in the universe that are far more advanced than humans, and it's remotely possible one of them created us. But not the universe...that's a mystery, and will be for at least my lifetime.

 

[Pah]

.... I feel saddened by those who work so hard to denigrate it.

It doesn't take hard work. It's rather easy. So I share your concern.

However, it is not the individual that I denigrate but the irrationality. It's much the same as those poor Republicans. What really irks me is the dogmatic intrusion into a secular society.

 

[Sententia]

I'm sure I am not the only one who feels utter bafflement, bemusement and almost sheer disbelief that so many otherwise intelligent beings can actually believe in a divine being. And more so that some of them actually believe in the magical and miraculous events told in the bible and koran?
I mean virgin births, illiterate arabs writing books,virgins for matyrs, and heaven and hell?

The older I get, and the hopefully wiser I get, the less I can even identify with these people. The religious, mainly Islamic countries in the East, and the rabidly religious states of the USA make me wince. How can these people give up all they are in the blind notion that they are serving a god who must be worshiped and even more stupidly, be protected from the likes of me who have no problem dismissing them. I mean can't it protect itself!!!?

Again, this is for atheists only, I know many religious folk feel the same in reverse, but to be honest I don't feel that the reverse feeling is of anywhere near equal validity... ie Not understanding that someone DOESN'T believe in the paranormal carries no weight for me.

Sorry to come across badly here, but I had to get it out...

Hmmmmm

 

[jrbogie]

I'm sure I am not the only one who feels utter bafflement, bemusement and almost sheer disbelief that so many otherwise intelligent beings can actually believe in a divine being. And more so that some of them actually believe in the magical and miraculous events told in the bible and koran?
I mean virgin births, illiterate arabs writing books,virgins for matyrs, and heaven and hell?

The older I get, and the hopefully wiser I get, the less I can even identify with these people. The religious, mainly Islamic countries in the East, and the rabidly religious states of the USA make me wince. How can these people give up all they are in the blind notion that they are serving a god who must be worshiped and even more stupidly, be protected from the likes of me who have no problem dismissing them. I mean can't it protect itself!!!?

Again, this is for atheists only, I know many religious folk feel the same in reverse, but to be honest I don't feel that the reverse feeling is of anywhere near equal validity... ie Not understanding that someone DOESN'T believe in the paranormal carries no weight for me.

Sorry to come across badly here, but I had to get it out...

not understanding your point. if it's that you feel far removed and isolated from the god fearing then sure, many of us do. that's why we don't participate in church activities and whatnot. i rarely engage in religious discussions with the faithful. why? because i have no problem dismissing them.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

I'm sure I am not the only one who feels utter bafflement, bemusement and almost sheer disbelief that so many otherwise intelligent beings can actually believe in a divine being. And more so that some of them actually believe in the magical and miraculous events told in the bible and koran?
I mean virgin births, illiterate arabs writing books,virgins for matyrs, and heaven and hell?

The older I get, and the hopefully wiser I get, the less I can even identify with these people. The religious, mainly Islamic countries in the East, and the rabidly religious states of the USA make me wince. How can these people give up all they are in the blind notion that they are serving a god who must be worshiped and even more stupidly, be protected from the likes of me who have no problem dismissing them. I mean can't it protect itself!!!?

Again, this is for atheists only, I know many religious folk feel the same in reverse, but to be honest I don't feel that the reverse feeling is of anywhere near equal validity... ie Not understanding that someone DOESN'T believe in the paranormal carries no weight for me.

Sorry to come across badly here, but I had to get it out...

Not baffled at all.

To not be inclined towards superstition and irrationality is, by far, the exception for human beings. Those who search for, and respect, objective truth are the weird ones.

 

[gnomon]

I'm sure I am not the only one who feels utter bafflement, bemusement and almost sheer disbelief that so many otherwise intelligent beings can actually believe in a divine being. And more so that some of them actually believe in the magical and miraculous events told in the bible and koran?
I mean virgin births, illiterate arabs writing books,virgins for matyrs, and heaven and hell?

The older I get, and the hopefully wiser I get, the less I can even identify with these people. The religious, mainly Islamic countries in the East, and the rabidly religious states of the USA make me wince. How can these people give up all they are in the blind notion that they are serving a god who must be worshiped and even more stupidly, be protected from the likes of me who have no problem dismissing them. I mean can't it protect itself!!!?

Again, this is for atheists only, I know many religious folk feel the same in reverse, but to be honest I don't feel that the reverse feeling is of anywhere near equal validity... ie Not understanding that someone DOESN'T believe in the paranormal carries no weight for me.

Sorry to come across badly here, but I had to get it out...

It's not baffling. It's about community. Of course I grew up in a Southern Baptist community and having witnessed it first hand I can understand how the community aspect of religion can be such a force in people's lives.

Just because the mythology or beliefs of individual members or even the dogma itself I might find simply irrational or perhaps even absurd or dangerous doesn't really equate to baffling that people believe these things.

There are many non-religious or so called "spiritual not religious" people who believe in Reiki healing, mass alien abductions, Holocaust denial, etc.

 

[jrbogie]

I'm sure I am not the only one who feels utter bafflement, bemusement and almost sheer disbelief that so many otherwise intelligent beings can actually believe in a divine being. And more so that some of them actually believe in the magical and miraculous events told in the bible and koran?
I mean virgin births, illiterate arabs writing books,virgins for matyrs, and heaven and hell?

The older I get, and the hopefully wiser I get, the less I can even identify with these people. The religious, mainly Islamic countries in the East, and the rabidly religious states of the USA make me wince. How can these people give up all they are in the blind notion that they are serving a god who must be worshiped and even more stupidly, be protected from the likes of me who have no problem dismissing them. I mean can't it protect itself!!!?

Again, this is for atheists only, I know many religious folk feel the same in reverse, but to be honest I don't feel that the reverse feeling is of anywhere near equal validity... ie Not understanding that someone DOESN'T believe in the paranormal carries no weight for me.

Sorry to come across badly here, but I had to get it out...

assuming an atheist is one who believes there is no god, as an agnostic i'm no less baffled by the atheist viewpoint than i am about the viewpoint of the god fearing folks.