Atheists and Christians

[ALLorNOTHINGforCHRIST]

What is it like being one people who are not sure of God also may answer.

[Jack]

Has anyone really been far even as decided to use even go want to do look more like?”

[Marguerite]

o.o

uhwah?

[dr2005]

Originally Posted by Jack

Has anyone really been far even as decided to use even go want to do look more like?”

Invoking memes on Teenhelp - Jack, shame on you.

[BDF]

Me pabugi warum de humene shumene koachnich. Vrum poist quota tintin.

Me tagi pabugi warum de findo stoopis.

[Xujhan]

Originally Posted by I love dogs

What is it like being one? People who are not sure of God may also answer.

Editted your post to what I think you were trying to say; correct me if I'm wrong.

First, a bit of definition: atheism does not necessarily mean the claim "I know there is no god". That would be gnostic atheism, and though I don't have any actual sources to back this up I can say that I've never in my life actually met a gnostic atheist. Agnostic atheism, the vastly more common view, is approximately: "I do not see sufficient evidence for the existance of a god, therefore I do not believe that one exists." By that definition we're not 100% sure either, although when it comes to specific gods like Yahweh we're pretty darned close.

Second, it's not really 'like' anything to be an atheist. Imagine that instead you were to ask what it's like to, say, not be a hockey player. There's no one thing that actually unifies non-hockey players as a group except for not playing hockey, so their experiences are going to be as varied as can be. Atheism is similar; there's no one thing that identifies us as a group except for what we are not. There are atheists who have studied both science and religion extensively, and have come to the conclusion the science is right and religion is damaging. Then there are atheists who just weren't brought up in religion, never cared to look into it, and really would just like to keep playing hockey without worrying about it all. In between the two is every stance imaginable.

For myself, atheism means freedom; I'm free to do what I want, think what I want, learn what I want, ask what I want, and love whom I want without fear of punishment from some all-powerful schoolmarm. It means that the right thing to do is actually the right thing to do, even if a millenia-old book happens to say otherwise. It means not giving either my time or my money to institutions famous for spreading ignorance and violence. It means being able to take comfort in the fact that life is transient; if I cock something up tremendously it doesn't really matter as I'll most likely dead within a century, so why not have fun in the mean time? It means being able to marvel at the universe itself, rather than the myths people have invented to explain its workings. It means being able to rejoice in the goodness of humanity, rather than believing that we are all born in sin and deserving of judgement. It means that instead of fretting about how to serve god, I can spend my time doing what I love: serving my fellow humans.

That's what atheism means to me.

[Cosmo]

[OMFG!You'reActuallySmart!]

Originally Posted by I love dogs

What is it like being one people who are not sure of God also may answer.

It took me a bit of time to figure out what you were saying but I'll go with Xujhan's interpretation.

It's a bit of a silly question because it's like asking someone how something is they've never experienced. It's like telling someone who has never tasted lasagna, noodles, meat, tomato sauce nor cheese, what lasagna tastes like. There's no answer you can give that adequately informs the person. The only suitable answer is "taste it for yourself".

Subjectively, it means freedom, ability to make decisions without having to worry about "non-real" punishments, and no restrictions on the areas of knowledge to gain. If I'm working toward a goal and screw it up badly, I don't have to worry about being punished by a blood-thirsty warped god. If I screw something up badly, I may get punished by others but I can fix my mistake and move forward. I have no reason to beg someone for something all the time, whether it's at the dinner table, before going to bed, etc... . This freedom allows me to do exactly what I want to do with no strings attached and with no worries.

Although that's my answer, the question becomes whether a religious person can appreciate and fully understand what has been said. That's the lasagna analogy: I described the flavours but don't yet know if the person can in some way mentally perceive them.

[BDF]

Originally Posted by Jack

Has anyone really been far even as decided to use even go want to do look more like?”

You’ve got to be kidding me. I’ve been further even more decided to use even further go need to do look more as anyone can to. Can you really be far even as decided half as much to use go wish for that? My guess is that one when really been far even as decided once to use even go want, it is then that he has really been far even as decided to use even go want to do look more like. It’s just common sense.

[Cosmo]

Originally Posted by BDF

You’ve got to be kidding me. I’ve been further even more decided to use even further go need to do look more as anyone can to. Can you really be far even as decided half as much to use go wish for that? My guess is that one when really been far even as decided once to use even go want, it is then that he has really been far even as decided to use even go want to do look more like. It’s just common sense.

[snappydog]

Originally Posted by BDF

You’ve got to be kidding me. I’ve been further even more decided to use even further go need to do look more as anyone can to. Can you really be far even as decided half as much to use go wish for that? My guess is that one when really been far even as decided once to use even go want, it is then that he has really been far even as decided to use even go want to do look more like. It’s just common sense.

+as many internetz as it is possible to go do look more like to you, good sir.