Your Atheism

[dgirl1986]

A question for atheists...

How do you view your atheism and how does it effect your every day life in regards to your actions? Are you anti theism? Do you just simply not believe and go along your merry way? Do you try to educate people on atheism? And why do you do what you do?

 

[Gjallarhorn]

A question for atheists...

How do you view your atheism and how does it effect your every day life in regards to your actions?

I view my atheism as a disbelief in gods. It's one of the main reasons I don't pray to gods.

Are you anti theism?

Depends on the definition of "god" in play.

Do you just simply not believe and go along your merry way?

See above.

Do you try to educate people on atheism?

Only if necessary.

And why do you do what you do?

Genetics and environment.

 

[LuisDantas]

A question for atheists...

How do you view your atheism and how does it effect your every day life in regards to your actions?

I don't know. It keeps me honest, I guess.

Are you anti theism?

Yes, I am.

Theism is simply too easy to misuse, so I attempt to discourage it, or at least to remind people of its dangers.

Do you just simply not believe and go along your merry way?

Sort of. Social pressure makes it so that every now and then I have to make a point of reminding people that I am a kafir.

Do you try to educate people on atheism?

Yep. Then again, I try to educate people on everything from comics to how to make an A4-sized PDF to how to speak english to how to knot a tie.

But mostly on ethical issues, which keeps bringing me back to my atheism.

I'm just like that.

And why do you do what you do?

It just seems right. Life is too short to keep hiding who I am and what I believe in.

 

[Revoltingest]

Atheism affects me not at all.

 

[LuisDantas]

So it is you who is teaching him all those things instead?

Well, at least you taught him about bacon. It could have been worse. It could have been coleslaw.

 

[Bunyip]

A question for atheists...

How do you view your atheism and how does it effect your every day life in regards to your actions?

Well I think that is a very important question. Atheism influences my thoughts and actions very deeply - it means that I have no choice but to take responsibility for my actions and their consequences.

Are you anti theism?

No.

Do you just simply not believe and go along your merry way?

Well no, I am fascinated by what people believe and why. Religion and belief are important factors in driving human civilisation and so merit study.

Do you try to educate people on atheism?

Only in circumstances where they have chosen to engage on the topic.

And why do you do what you do?

Because I think it matters.

Cheers.

 

[Willamena]

A question for atheists...

How do you view your atheism and how does it effect your every day life in regards to your actions? Are you anti theism? Do you just simply not believe and go along your merry way? Do you try to educate people on atheism? And why do you do what you do?

It has no effect on my everyday life, since by comparison to a religious life it is only lacking (lacking that one thing).

I am in no way anti-theistic.

I do actually believe in something in regards to "god"--and go on my merry way, yes.

I have no interest in educating people on atheism. If they can't figure it out for themselves, they're not doing it right.

I do what I do just because it's what I do.

 

[Twilight Hue]

A question for atheists...

How do you view your atheism and how does it effect your every day life in regards to your actions?

I found it quite natural and appropriate. A suitable default position that harbors no impact in regards to everyday life whatsoever.

Are you anti theism?

Not at all.

Although I view theism as being a very misguided view, it's only an interpretation, a representation, and reflection of what a particular person sees, feels, and hears and places it through a lens of theisim bringing it essentially to "life".
I can't fault people for thinking that way, and can respect how they arrived to such a view.

Do you just simply not believe and go along your merry way? Do you try to educate people on atheism? And why do you do what you do?

I find no direct reason to even start a foundational theistic belief in light that the direct sourcing of all theistic views centers solely upon human beings, and of which is found absolutely nowhere else.

Nature itself, outside human extrapolations, remains notably silent and unresponsive. I figure the best possible education in face of this, is to just let the universe do all the talking and encourage humankind to remain silent in order to reveal the real truthful matter at hand.

To do that reveals why i do what i do. ;0)

 

[NobodyYouKnow]

I don't know whether I am Atheist, Anti-Theist or Theist - I simply don't know what I am.

I thought I was Agnostic because I just 'didn't know', but Agnostic doesn't fit either.

I'd like to believe and I really want to believe, but if there's a 'God' out there (or inside here), He has given me no reason, nor rhyme to believe in Him anyway, so it becomes a question of Faith.

I am still trying to work out that distinction between 'justified Faith' and 'blind Faith'...reaching the conclusion that all Faith is blind, because Faith is something that cannot be justified.

So, I am starting to believe I am actually an Atheist.

No, I won't educate people on Atheism, because they may 'know' something that I do not, and I also realise they cannot explain that which I need to know in order to actually believe in a God, so I just 'go on my merry way'.

 

[Fromper]

A question for atheists...

I count 5 questions.

How do you view your atheism and how does it effect your every day life in regards to your actions?

My lack of belief in any gods doesn't impact my daily life. Nor does my lack of belief in leprechauns, unicorns, fairies, Santa Claus, or little green men from Mars. Why would it?

Bunyip mentions that atheism means we have to be responsible for our own actions. Shouldn't that be true for everyone? But really, that brings us to the next question.

Are you anti theism?

Yes. More and more, as time goes on, actually. Living in the US, I hate that so many Americans use Christianity to justify discrimination, bigotry, and other immoral behavior. Organized religion in general has annoyed me for quite some time. But as I get older and learn more about religion, I find that I have even less tolerance for religion than I used to. Too many people use religion as an excuse for too many horrendous acts, and it really ****** me off.

Do you just simply not believe and go along your merry way?

While I hate religiosity, I'm not actively engaged in doing much about it. I read some atheist stuff online, and occasionally donate to secular charities, but that's really about it.

Do you try to educate people on atheism?

Only when it comes up. And even then, it's usually a pretty short conversation. I'm not much of a talker.

And why do you do what you do?

Intelligence and laziness, I guess.

 

[Penumbra]

A question for atheists...

How do you view your atheism and how does it effect your every day life in regards to your actions?

I view my atheism similar to the fact that I'm also a non-Canadian. Meaning, I don't "identify with it" since it's a description of something I'm not. I might identify as "humanist" or "environmentalist" or whatever.

On a daily basis it's irrelevant to me. It's only a useful term occasionally for me on a religious forum.

Are you anti theism? Do you just simply not believe and go along your merry way?

I'm anti- any sort of dogmatic belief structure that in my opinion is damaging to people and society and based on untruths.

Do you try to educate people on atheism? And why do you do what you do?

Not anywhere other than here. Most people that know me, don't know much about my beliefs on things other than that I'm apparently not religious.

Sometimes I'll clarify something in a discussion on religious topics when friends are making misstatements about a specific religion or atheism or something.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

A question for atheists...

How do you view your atheism and how does it effect your every day life in regards to your actions?

I think Penn Jillette described my position better than I could:

There Is No God : NPR

Are you anti theism?

I see negative aspects to many types of religion and theism. Also, I think it's generally a bad idea to accept claims without good reason, and so far I haven't seen a good reason to accept theism. Does this make me "anti theism"? I dunno.

Do you just simply not believe and go along your merry way? Do you try to educate people on atheism?

I've never been "in the closet" as an atheist, but in the past few years I've tried to make more of a point of making it known in small ways for a couple of reasons:

- I'm sure there are closeted atheists in my social circles who, probably, feel surrounded by theism and feel very alone and isolated. I hope that me letting others know that I'm an atheist will help those people feel a little less alone.

- I think that in a lot of the cases where theists do exclusionary things (e.g. slapping a prayer on some public event, or tries to console a grieving acquaintance by telling them that their loved one is in Heaven), the people doing it don't realize they're being exclusionary because it doesn't occur to them that others don't share their beliefs. Hopefully, if I and other atheists just let people know that we don't share those beliefs, those theists will put a bit more thought into their actions.

And why do you do what you do?

You'll have to be more specific.

 

[littleoldme]

A question for atheists...

How do you view your atheism and how does it effect your every day life in regards to your actions? Are you anti theism? Do you just simply not believe and go along your merry way? Do you try to educate people on atheism? And why do you do what you do?

I have found in my atheism is to be more empathetic to other beings...
I don't kill bugs anymore. :rainbow1:

I find that my quest for truth is very very important to me, more important with every passing day. And with every passing day I understand less and less why people would rather justify ideology based on conjecture that has been used to undermine people as something to respect.

 

[Monk Of Reason]

A question for atheists...

How do you view your atheism and how does it effect your every day life in regards to your actions? Are you anti theism? Do you just simply not believe and go along your merry way? Do you try to educate people on atheism? And why do you do what you do?

My atheism is simply the stance that I don't believe the religious concepts that have been offered me. There hasn't been any reason to believe in god and I cannot find it within myself to believe in god.

It affects me in a few ways. Most of it simply the negative to possible things I could do. For example I obviously don't go to church though there is nothing innate within me or anyone else that would mean they should go to church anyway, but it is a common practice in our society now.

 

[WonderWho]

A question for atheists...

How do you view your atheism and how does it effect your every day life in regards to your actions? Are you anti theism? Do you just simply not believe and go along your merry way? Do you try to educate people on atheism? And why do you do what you do?

The main difference in my every day life is that I no longer live my day for 'God'. (I realized my dis-belief at the age of 50).
Yes, I do go about my merry way, each day in the knowledge that there is no being watching my every move.Or to put it another way, I am not trying to fulfil the will of 'God' in how I live my life.
It is still new to me(16 years an atheist) and am enjoying my rebirth {born again? }.

I do not try and educate people on atheism, rather I try and be honest about myself with others'. This sometimes appears aggressive when someone is trying to lay their belief-system on me;this only happens with fundies of all types.

 

[Yerda]

A question for atheists...

How do you view your atheism and how does it effect your every day life in regards to your actions? Are you anti theism? Do you just simply not believe and go along your merry way? Do you try to educate people on atheism? And why do you do what you do?

My atheism is boring and I almost never think about it anymore.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

My atheism is one, minor conclusion resulting from a rationalist/skeptical worldview. My worldview is based on respecting the value of rationality, knowledge, and honesty.

 

[TurkeyOnRye]

A question for atheists...

How do you view your atheism and how does it effect your every day life in regards to your actions? Are you anti theism? Do you just simply not believe and go along your merry way? Do you try to educate people on atheism? And why do you do what you do?

Atheism is a very small part of the reality I perceive. I pay way more attention to the ebb and flow of said reality. I am not anti-theistic if the brand of theism in question is non-denominational, non-dogmatic, and non-revealed. In such a sense, I see very little difference between theism and atheism outside of semantics. However, I do believe highly in the value and power of the self. At times, I have considered myself autotheistic, but have since discarded such a grandiose identifier.

I do not try to educate people about atheism, because there is nothing to teach. That would be like trying to teach someone about the contents of an empty box. I would, however, consider teaching someone about the inconsistencies of various thought processes associated with dogmatic theism.

 

[Fromper]

I do not try to educate people about atheism, because there is nothing to teach. That would be like trying to teach someone about the contents of an empty box.

I used to agree with you on that, before I started reading more about atheism online and realizing just how much prejudice there is against atheists. At this point, I consider declaring myself an atheist to anyone who has a positive opinion of me to be a necessary thing, just to show the world that atheists can be good people.

I'm kinda following the example of the LGBT community, which has done a great PR job over the last decade or two. The main thing is to just let people know that they already know one of "us", and that we're not baby eating Satanic monsters. Eventually, when enough of us do that, and everyone knows at least one atheist that they don't hate, the prejudice will go away.

 

[TurkeyOnRye]

I used to agree with you on that, before I started reading more about atheism online and realizing just how much prejudice there is against atheists. At this point, I consider declaring myself an atheist to anyone who has a positive opinion of me to be a necessary thing, just to show the world that atheists can be good people.

I'm kinda following the example of the LGBT community, which has done a great PR job over the last decade or two. The main thing is to just let people know that they already know one of "us", and that we're not baby eating Satanic monsters. Eventually, when enough of us do that, and everyone knows at least one atheist that they don't hate, the prejudice will go away.

I am not referring to the sociocultural significance. There is indeed quite a bit to talk about there. Regardless, many religious sects will always view our lifestyle as "sinful." I really couldn't care less about what they think. However, there are those who are rather intolerant, abusive, even dangerous. THOSE are the individuals who are a concern.