Why are you an Atheist?

[fantome profane]

"He who thinks that God is not comprehended, by him God is comprehended; but he who thinks that God is comprehended knows him not. God is unknown to those who know him, and is known to those who do not know him at all." (source unknown)

Almost sounds like something from the Tao Te Ching.

 

[YmirGF]

Why are you an Atheist? Oh, that's a simple one. I am an atheist because there is no god.

Anything else?

"And when you stop and think about it
You won't believe it's true.
That all the love you've been giving
Has all been meant for you."

 

[Tomorrows_Child]

I don't necessarily think the concept of a universe created entirely for humans is bad, I just think it speaks of arrogance. I mean it's basically saying the universe revolves around us.
We are a miniscule element of the vast, complex and wonderful universe. We "serve" the universe, not the other way around: humans simply are not that special.

At least that's my take on it.

EDIT: If you have 3 minutes to spare and are up for watching a video, check this star size comparison out. As Carl Sagan said: "Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark".

This concept that we serve the universe isn't correct. Just simple physics, the sun is there to keep us alive, as are the atmospheric gases, the plants, the animals etc. Everything is in place to support life on earth...life on earth does not support the universe. You don't even have to believe in God to see that.

 

[Tomorrows_Child]

Why are you an Atheist? Oh, that's a simple one. I am an atheist because there is no god.

Anything else?

"And when you stop and think about it
You won't believe it's true.
That all the love you've been giving
Has all been meant for you."

But what makes you think there is no God?

"He who thinks that God is not comprehended, by him God is comprehended; but he who thinks that God is comprehended knows him not. God is unknown to those who know him, and is known to those who do not know him at all." (source unknown)

What does this mean?

 

[Willamena]

What does this mean?

To me, it means "knowing" has two different senses. What you think you know about god (or anything, really) isn't really it; and what it is, you know, without having to think about it.

Or something like that.

 

[Aquitaine]

This concept that we serve the universe isn't correct. Just simple physics, the sun is there to keep us alive, as are the atmospheric gases, the plants, the animals etc. Everything is in place to support life on earth...life on earth does not support the universe. You don't even have to believe in God to see that.

I wrote serve in quotations for a reason. But no, the sun is not there to keep us alive: biological life arose from the nutrients the sun provided. We are "leeching" off of our star, so to speak.
As for gases, many of the same ones are found all over the universe, so how does that fit in to your belief that those gases are there to serve humans on Earth?

 

[YmirGF]

But what makes you think there is no God?

You have to understand, T_C, that this is not what I "think" as it were. It's based on my own rather exotic experiences and my current views are a result of those experiences.
I have looked directly into the eyes of Vishnu and was blown away by why I beheld. You certainly could have knocked me over with a feather. It was only after awhile that I began to look into those unimaginably huge eyes and then... I saw something... that forever changed me and my life. There is no "god" but that doesn't mean there aren't some pretty huge misunderstandings about personality.

 

[YmirGF]

I wrote serve in quotations for a reason. But no, the sun is not there to keep us alive: biological life arose from the nutrients the sun provided. We are "leeching" off of our star, so to speak.
As for gases, many of the same ones are found all over the universe, so how does that fit in to your belief that those gases are there to serve humans on Earth?

A more succinct way to put it would be to suggest that the universe was made for dolphins. That is about how preposterous an idea as the universe being made for us. It's a particularly loathsome and egocentric vision of reality.

 

[Aquitaine]

A more succinct way to put it would be to suggest that the universe was made for dolphins. That is about how preposterous an idea as the universe being made for us. It's a particularly loathsome and egocentric vision of reality.

Indeed, "We're so special: the entire universe was created for us, and the creator of the universe personally favours us over all other sentient life within the vast cosmos!".

 

[suncowiam]

Because God made me an atheist.

He gave me free will. What was he thinking?!?!

 

[suncowiam]

Does Atheism has any evidence of truthfulness? I don't think it has any from religion or from science. Are they mythical?
Regards

Atheism is more like the belief in lack of evidence. You're getting closer...

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

This is coming hot off the trail of my thread about the God Delusion, where I've had some interesting discussions with regards to atheism and what it takes people to become atheists and who they read, listen to, take info from etc etc. So I'm curious, to all the atheists out there, why are you an atheist? Is it based on science? Neglect and/or dislike of religion? Or something else?

Fire away and I won't really be commenting on this thread as I am looking for reasons why people are atheists and don't want to pressure them into discussions, so feel free to post any reason you like/want.

I just thought of another reason why I'm an atheist: a complete and utter failure on the part of every theist who has ever tried to change my mind to give a reasonable argument for their position.

It would have only taken one.

 

[Demonslayer]

I'm an atheist because I find the notion of an all-powerful being completely absurd, because most modern depictions of such a being are accompanied by grade-school level fairy tales filled with magic and creatures of fancy, and because although we can't prove a negative, we can damn sure prove most of what people claim about their God is not true.

 

[Tomorrows_Child]

I wrote serve in quotations for a reason. But no, the sun is not there to keep us alive: biological life arose from the nutrients the sun provided. We are "leeching" off of our star, so to speak.
As for gases, many of the same ones are found all over the universe, so how does that fit in to your belief that those gases are there to serve humans on Earth?

It is still keeping us alive, so the sun is there, whether you want to admit it or not, to keep us living.

Also, you are right, many of those gases are found elsewhere but not at the very accurate levels that they are present in our atmosphere. A percent either way and we do not live, let alone survive for long periods of time. The same can be said of various nutrients in the earth, in plants, in the meat we eat, the sustenance provided by water. You are trying to say the situation is the reverse of that, but it's not. Again, this is basic science. I can understand putting forward a different argument but in this one, there is no other way around it.

 

[Tomorrows_Child]

A more succinct way to put it would be to suggest that the universe was made for dolphins. That is about how preposterous an idea as the universe being made for us. It's a particularly loathsome and egocentric vision of reality.

Why would that be preposterous? The universe is made for all living beings, dolphin, human or otherwise but as human beings, we are of the highest intelligence (surely you would not deny that?) and we have the ability to appreciate and understand that. There is no ego involved, especially from an Islamic perspective, where we have to respect nature and thank Allah for providing us with all this.

I don't understand why there would be so much dispute directed at a simple, common sense idea. Again, we don't serve the universe, put it in quotations or otherwise. Everything is in place to keep us alive.

 

[Tomorrows_Child]

I just thought of another reason why I'm an atheist: a complete and utter failure on the part of every theist who has ever tried to change my mind to give a reasonable argument for their position.

It would have only taken one.

That's a very interesting position. What type of argument could "convince" you?

 

[McBell]

It is still keeping us alive, so the sun is there, whether you want to admit it or not, to keep us living.

Interesting.
Just how many conversations have you had with the sun?

Also, you are right, many of those gases are found elsewhere but not at the very accurate levels that they are present in our atmosphere. A percent either way and we do not live, let alone survive for long periods of time. The same can be said of various nutrients in the earth, in plants, in the meat we eat, the sustenance provided by water. You are trying to say the situation is the reverse of that, but it's not. Again, this is basic science. I can understand putting forward a different argument but in this one, there is no other way around it.

this is nothing more than the puddle claiming the hole was intelligently designed just for the puddle.

 

[McBell]

That's a very interesting position. What type of argument could "convince" you?

I do not speak for the Penguin, but it will not be an argument that convinces me.
It will be convincing evidence.

 

[Tomorrows_Child]

Interesting.
Just how many conversations have you had with the sun?


this is nothing more than the puddle claiming the hole was intelligently designed just for the puddle.

You do realise how ridiculous that sounds? To reduce a discussion about sentient beings...living beings into the context of a puddle? But again, I'm not here to convince or discuss. I only replied to particular people who wanted to have a discussion so do let them answer the questions aimed at them, as you have not seen the entirety of the discussion and said discussion is not aimed at you. It just makes it difficult to keep track of all the talk.

 

[McBell]

You do realise how ridiculous that sounds? To reduce a discussion about sentient beings...living beings into the context of a puddle? But again, I'm not here to convince or discuss. I only replied to particular people who wanted to have a discussion so do let them answer the questions aimed at them, as you have not seen the entirety of the discussion and said discussion is not aimed at you. It just makes it difficult to keep track of all the talk.

I am the one pointing out how ridiculous your fine tuning argument is, so yes, I do realize how ridiculous it sounds.