Theists: what do you think movitates atheists?

[MikeF]

I should add first that I am no expert on Buddhism but I read an anthology about early Buddhist texts. Buddha was against the elaborate deity and ritual system of Hinduism. IMHO, the most abstract form of divinity in Hinduism is Brahman, but Buddha radically rejected even this. As I understood him, he was in search of the cessation of suffering. He established that suffering exists, what causes it, how to end it, and what path to take to do so. I read a text that when you are hit by an arrow, you don't debate endlessly about the philosophical nature of the arrow, you just pull it out. Another text talks about a Brahmin who wants to sacrifice an animal but has forgotten the firewood. While he is leaving to get the wood, a predator comes and eats the sacrificial animal. When the Brahmin finally returns, he finds that the sacrificial animal has been eaten, and concludes that a god who could not protect the animal to be sacrificed to him does not deserve worship.

I guess with a lot of religion, there can be a lot of difference between tenets and practice. I'm sure Jesus who might be argued took issue with ritualistic hoo-ha, might take exception to the way Christianity is practiced in some quarters.

 

[robocop (actually)]

In another thread, the idea was brought up that many theists believe that atheists are atheists because they're angry with God.

Theists: do you agree with this? Why do you think atheists are atheists?

What do you think causes a person to abandon their theistic belief system and become an atheist?

What do you think motivates a person to never adopt a theistic belief system in the first place?

2 Nephi 9

28 O that cunning aplan of the evil one! O the bvainness, and the frailties, and the cfoolishness of men! When they are dlearned they think they are ewise, and they fhearken not unto the gcounsel of God, for they set it aside, supposing they know of themselves, wherefore, their hwisdom is foolishness and it profiteth them not. And they shall perish.

 

[jonathan180iq]

As someone who was raised in the religious South, it took a very long time for me to "leave the faith". I practiced and tried to years (most of my life) to believe in something that I always thought was silly and forced. Hell, I even went to college for it...

I've been accused by many on the religious path of being angry at God - But that's silly. I'm no more angry at God than I am at Ebeneezer Scrooge.

I think the modern Christian church uses the "angry at God excuse" because they're unable or unwilling to admit that they're the problem.

And just to be clear, I reject all of the other gods that have ever been posited as well - I just assume the focus here is really on the Christian god since it's the most prominent religion in the world and has the biggest impact on the social circles here at RF.

 

[A Vestigial Mote]

"you don't exist and I hate you"

I have a hard time making sense of this sentiment. Can you relay where you might have heard this, or what behaviors/words you have seen/read from atheists that make it seem that this is possibly the case?

The reason I am confused is that I know exactly where my anger is directed, and it would be extremely hard for that direction to be "toward God" when I don't know where He is at, or even whether or not He exists at all. And, I readily admit that I also happen to believe very strongly that God does not exist (not all atheists do). I admit that is a belief... but do you see how it would be very hard for me to direct anger "toward God" when I do not believe He exists? It would be like directing my anger over the lack of pots of gold at the ends of rainbows toward leprechauns while simultaneously having zero confirmation that they even exist.

 

[McBell]

In my opinion, Christianity is a huge cult.

What specifically, in your opinion, makes Christianity a "cult" that leaves out your own beliefs from being a "cult"?

 

[Estro Felino]

In another thread, the idea was brought up that many theists believe that atheists are atheists because they're angry with God.

Theists: do you agree with this? Why do you think atheists are atheists?

What do you think causes a person to abandon their theistic belief system and become an atheist?

What do you think motivates a person to never adopt a theistic belief system in the first place?

I have never thought of that.
I have always thought that atheists just do not believe in deities, that'all.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

No, it's not because they are angry at God. If they are angry at all, it's anger at religion for promising so much and delivering so little. Rightly so, in many cases.

Why people are atheists of course is going to vary like the colors of the rainbow. If you're talking those who just didn't 'get it' growing up, that can be for many factors. Not the least of which would be the way religion is explained to them. If they are rationally oriented, telling them to set all that aside and "just believe" in what amounts in their minds to fairy tales, that's not their fault. It's just a simple mismatch of modes of thinking clashing with one another.

For others who were believers, but later found those beliefs unsatisfactory, that could be a matter of their own faith development, growing beyond mythic-literal thinking into a larger vision, but lacking any developed structures they can rationally acknowledge. Again, a lot of that failure is due to the church itself being behind modernity and stuck in a mythic-literal past.

They don't "hate God", but rather just find religion like that to be childish, and have no other place to look to other than the promise that reason and science will provide these answers where religion failed. That too exists within that spectrum of colors. It's not all just one thing, or for one reason. More reasons too could be looked at.


As above. For myself personally speaking, it was because the questions I had needed a larger container than what they offered. Denying reason and science, in order to preserve beliefs, was not faith to me. It was fear. I was and am still of the mind, that faith and reason should complement each other, not compete.


Could be what they were presented with, and how it was presented. Could be the symbolism just never spoke to them. Could be that they just have no interest in the larger questions of life, such as "why do I exist". Some people are just content living life and not trying to understand "big picture" questions like that.

That's certainly true of religious folks too, who simply never wish to try to understand beyond what they are taught in church. They're just content knowing the basic rules, and not questioning things. That's one possibility, but of course they are many others too that could be looked at.

@idea didn't post the quotes you attributed to her; I did.

 

[Katzpur]

In another thread, the idea was brought up that many theists believe that atheists are atheists because they're angry with God.

Theists: do you agree with this?

No, I think it's stupid. How can you be angry with someone you don't believe in?

Why do you think atheists are atheists?

Mostly, I just think they fail to see anything that they would call evidence of the existence of God. Seriously, I've said it before and I'll say it again: I've always just think some people are wired to believe and some people aren't. I realize that's an awfully simplistic way of looking at it, but that's how I feel.

What do you think causes a person to abandon their theistic belief system and become an atheist?

Perhaps a person has unrealistic expectations of God and He fails to meet them, or else they can't reconcile the idea of why a loving God would allow so many people in the world to suffer.

What do you think motivates a person to never adopt a theistic belief system in the first place?

The idea of their being a Higher Power is just something some people are not drawn to.

 

[Nimos]

In another thread, the idea was brought up that many theists believe that atheists are atheists because they're angry with God.

Theists: do you agree with this? Why do you think atheists are atheists?

What do you think causes a person to abandon their theistic belief system and become an atheist?

What do you think motivates a person to never adopt a theistic belief system in the first place?

I think they are motivated by more or less the same thing as theists are. What seems to best explain reality to them.

 

[leroy]

In another thread, the idea was brought up that many theists believe that atheists are atheists because they're angry with God.

Theists: do you agree with this? Why do you think atheists are atheists?

What do you think causes a person to abandon their theistic belief system and become an atheist?

What do you think motivates a person to never adopt a theistic belief system in the first place?

In my opinion, atheism is motivated by the desire of having an idea/world view that goes against the status “quo”

Its motivated by the desire to have an original belief, something cool and original that goes against “the system”

 

[Epic Beard Man]

Belief and non-belief are multifactorial and are largely contingent upon some psychological factors, not philosophical ones (although philosophical suppositions derive from our psychological foundational beliefs). Disbelief in theism could be as simple as losing a loved one in a car accident to getting a degree in the hard sciences and thinking you know that God doesn't exist. It varies.

 

[stvdv]

In another thread, the idea was brought up that many theists believe that atheists are atheists because they're angry with God.

Theists: do you agree with this? Why do you think atheists are atheists?

I would be very surprised if there is any Atheist who is angry with God. That would kind of negate being Atheist

 

[stvdv]

In another thread, the idea was brought up that many theists believe that atheists are atheists because they're angry with God.

Theists: do you agree with this? Why do you think atheists are atheists?

I think atheists are atheists because they never had any personal experience with "God"

 

[Jeremiah Ames]

In another thread, the idea was brought up that many theists believe that atheists are atheists because they're angry with God.

Theists: do you agree with this? Why do you think atheists are atheists?

What do you think causes a person to abandon their theistic belief system and become an atheist?

What do you think motivates a person to never adopt a theistic belief system in the first place?

possible reasons; they see something wrong with religion, and the beliefs that one is usually forced to adopt to become part of religion, and the people in the religion talk about love and goodness, yet behave mean and hypocritical.
so they leave that belief system and become atheist

easy peasy

or they may have tried various religions and arrived at the same final destination

 

[InChrist]

In another thread, the idea was brought up that many theists believe that atheists are atheists because they're angry with God.

Theists: do you agree with this? Why do you think atheists are atheists?

What do you think causes a person to abandon their theistic belief system and become an atheist?

What do you think motivates a person to never adopt a theistic belief system in the first place?

From a biblical standpoint, I’d say most atheists are atheists because they are fools (Psalm 14:1; Romans 1:22). As humans we tend to think pretty highly of ourselves and our own ability to figure things out and control our own lives. Most of us don’t like the idea of an authority higher than ourselves, to which we are accountable.

 

[blü 2]

after removing all the ritualistic hoo-ha, Buddhism could certainly be understood as an atheistic philosophy.

Some strands of Buddhism are atheistic, and these are popular in the West. And there's evidence that Gautama was at last agnostic. However, theism is an element of Buddhism in many countries. For example, if you ever visit the Temple of the Buddha's Tooth in Kandi, Sri Lanka, you'll find Hindu gods and goddesses have shrines in the sacred precinct as though they were all part of one spectrum. Tibetan Buddhism has an annual festival where the old Tibetan gods and demons acknowledge the Buddha as top dog,

 

[Link]

Their actions are for other then God as is everyone who doesn't see God. But the difference between them and other people who follow other religions that are not true, is they don't make up a fantasy religion nor follow Satanic forces claiming to be Angels/gods/spiritual guides.

The believers see God and the true God through his name. The believers are then guided to their duty and abandon the deceiving world for what remains.

Atheists are people who don't know about the true magical nature of who and what they are. They find more appeal in science and intellectualism, as a result, remain blind to this.

While other people of religions witness magic reality, it's only believers who worship the true God through his name.

 

[Revoltingest]

From a biblical standpoint, I’d say most atheists are atheists because they are fools (Psalm 14:1; Romans 1:22).

Of course a book trying to convince people to believe
outlandish myths would call non-believers "fools".
It provides the faithful with a circular argument to
believe they have The Truth, & that they're better
than we are.

 

[InChrist]

Of course a book trying to convince people to believe
outlandish myths would call non-believers "fools".
It provides the faithful with a circular argument to
believe they have The Truth, & that they're better
than we are.

If it’s just a book of outlandish myths, then you’re right.
I don’t think it’s about, or shouldn’t be anyway, believers assuming they are better than atheists, since from the biblical perspective everyone starts off at the same level with the same need.

 

[Revoltingest]

If it’s just a book of outlandish myths, then you’re right.
I don’t think it’s about, or shouldn’t be anyway, believers assuming they are better than atheists, since from the biblical perspective everyone starts off at the same level with the same need.

I don't buy the assumption. I see different
tendencies in people to leap to belief or not.