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Why don't atheists change faiths very often?

9-10ths_Penguin

1/10 Subway Stalinist
Premium Member
Maybe it is. I would not bet on it, though.

And I don't know if MECE applies when the decision of to which group the individuals belong is entirely arbitrary,either.
What does the one thing have to do with the other?

If someone is a theist because of upbringing and cultural reasons, then they're still a theist and not an atheist.
 

LuisDantas

Aura of atheification
Premium Member
What does the one thing have to do with the other?

If someone is a theist because of upbringing and cultural reasons, then they're still a theist and not an atheist.
True, but not what I meant. Apparently you see a lot more substance on theism than I do.
 

Muslim-UK

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
I didn't answer your question, "What dictates something undesigned, uncreated and possessing all the wisdom known in the Universe must itself be created?" because I never made the claim that you are challenging. I guess that I could have told you so before. My claim was that it is illogical to posit the existence of such a thing to account for something simpler such as a living cell.
The self replicating organic Cell is massively complicated and devoid of hard evidence showing it came about per chance, my answer is GOD Almighty designed the first cell, and each of the Billions of other cells that started the many strands of life on Earth.

People would be entitled to ask, well who created God then, as He's more complex than anything we can fathom.

If I were to say, for the sake of argument, that someone created ALLAH, then they would ask you, Who created the creator of the Creator? Then, who created the creator of the creator of the creator?! And so on, ad infinitum. This is irrational and impossible, thus GOD must be the uncaused cause of the start of the Universe, and subsequent life as we know it. Indeed he tells us, He is outside of Time and Space, and not subject to the rules that govern us.
 

9-10ths_Penguin

1/10 Subway Stalinist
Premium Member
The self replicating organic Cell is massively complicated and devoid of hard evidence showing it came about per chance, my answer is GOD Almighty designed the first cell, and each of the Billions of other cells that started the many strands of life on Earth.

People would be entitled to ask, well who created God then, as He's more complex than anything we can fathom.

If I were to say, for the sake of argument, that someone created ALLAH, then they would ask you, Who created the creator of the Creator? Then, who created the creator of the creator of the creator?! And so on, ad infinitum. This is irrational and impossible, thus GOD must be the uncaused cause of the start of the Universe, and subsequent life as we know it.
You're contradicting yourself. If God doesn't require a cause, then your argument that complex things require causes is false at least some of the time, and therefore your claim that the universe needs a cause hasn't been demonstrated.

Indeed he tells us, He is outside of Time and Space, and not subject to the rules that govern us.
So any cause that is outside time and space is exempt from needing a cause?
 

LuisDantas

Aura of atheification
Premium Member
I'm not sure what you mean.
Theism, I have come to conclude, is not necessarily stable or self-consistent.

There is no clear reason why someone will always know whether they are theists, nor why they can't simply oscillate between theism and atheism for any or no reason.

I fully believe that such cases are in fact very common, although somewhat masked by widespread social expectations of conformance towards the one or the other.
 

Muslim-UK

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
Then why call it God? Perhaps more significantly, why should we presume intelligence or intent in it?
You may call it what you like, Alien, Creator, Force, The cause etc. Muslims call him ALLAH swt, as do Arabic speaking Christians and Jews. Hindus also know of ALLAH swt (subhanahu wa ta'ala - The Most Glorified, The Most High)

If we look at the best minds in the World and marvel at how smart they are, then how much more is this true of the Being who designed the Universe, Solar System, Earth and the Human Body to name but a few things. He is Intelligent beyond anything we can ever hope to comprehend.

He alone deserves our worship.


And when the heaven is split open and becomes rose-colored like oil - Qur'an 55:37

warda.jpg
 

Shadow Wolf

Certified People sTabber & Business Owner
Everyone is born believing in God, but it is the upbringing which shapes what religious/non religious path they will take, some follow their parents and peers.
I was brought up to believe in god, kind of the same/kind of different from your own. This happened for no other reason than being brought up in rural America.
 

Muslim-UK

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
But the universe itself is also outside the time and space that's inside the universe. Why would one need a cause and the other not?
Everything we can observe of the Universe is within time and space. Could you prove the highlighted part please.
 

lewisnotmiller

Grand Hat
Staff member
Premium Member
As far as we can tell, who babies develop into depends on culture (to an extent, anyways, especially in regards to religion) They aren't entirely a blank slate, of course, but there is little room to doubt why Christians are found in the West, Buddhists in the East, why Hindus are in India, and why a place like Norway is considered way more Atheist than America. Of course none of these babies are born Christian, or Muslim, or Hindu, or Atheist, but rather they must be taught these things.

How do you teach someone to be an atheist?
 

Looncall

Well-Known Member
You may call it what you like, Alien, Creator, Force, The cause etc. Muslims call him ALLAH swt, as do Arabic speaking Christians and Jews. Hindus also know of ALLAH swt (subhanahu wa ta'ala - The Most Glorified, The Most High)

If we look at the best minds in the World and marvel at how smart they are, then how much more is this true of the Being who designed the Universe, Solar System, Earth and the Human Body to name but a few things. He is Intelligent beyond anything we can ever hope to comprehend.

He alone deserves our worship.


And when the heaven is split open and becomes rose-colored like oil - Qur'an 55:37

warda.jpg

I am interested in the astronomical image you posted. I'd be grateful if you would indicate its source.
 

LuisDantas

Aura of atheification
Premium Member
You may call it what you like, Alien, Creator, Force, The cause etc. Muslims call him ALLAH swt, as do Arabic speaking Christians and Jews. Hindus also know of ALLAH swt (subhanahu wa ta'ala - The Most Glorified, The Most High)

That does not answer my question.

Why presume an intent or will when there is no evidence of any?
 

Looncall

Well-Known Member

Many thanks. That is a beautiful image, and some interesting science.

Did you notice that the image is of x-ray observations? X-rays are not registered by human eyes, so the image was coloured to make its structure intelligible to people. That image has nothing to do with anything "rose-coloured" and nothing to do with your scripture. It shows a stellar explosion, not any kind of tearing of the cosmos.
 

Hawkins

Well-Known Member
Faith is believing without reason. Faith cannot possibly be a path to truth, since any idea or its polar opposite are equally (in)defensible if all one needs to believe such an idea is faith in it.

To humans faith can be the exclusive path to a truth of any kind. To 100% humans who know for a fact that black holes exist, 99% of them don't have the evidence. All they have is basically faith!.

Today's humans are brainwashed to think that 1) humans rely on evidence to get to a truth while they don't, and 2) every truth is a science while it isn't.
 
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