Ask an Atheist

[Admiral Dardanos]

AvenirLegacy

I thought an Atheist meant someone who studies religions. Hopefully, also has respect for religions and the people with belief(s). Or am I reading to much into it?

That's a surprisingly common misconception yet I have no idea where it comes from.

Atheists are simply anyone who doesn't hold a belief in a god. That's it. Full stop. Period.

Different atheists hold all manner of different beliefs. The only thing they ALL share is the lack of belief in a deity.

Which is why an ask an atheist thread is kinda pointless unless you want to delve into the history of it. Atheism itself can and should be described in only a single sentence.

[AvenirLegacy]

Dardanos Immortalis

AvenirLegacy

I thought an Atheist meant someone who studies religions. Hopefully, also has respect for religions and the people with belief(s). Or am I reading to much into it?

That's a surprisingly common misconception yet I have no idea where it comes from.

Atheists are simply anyone who doesn't hold a belief in a god. That's it. Full stop. Period.

Different atheists hold all manner of different beliefs. The only thing they ALL share is the lack of belief in a deity.

Which is why an ask an atheist thread is kinda pointless unless you want to delve into the history of it. Atheism itself can and should be described in only a single sentence.

Webpage Title
Webpage Title

Both pages start with "In a broad sense...."

I like my definition better, it allows for flexibility, like all good thinkers.

[Admiral Dardanos]

AvenirLegacy

Dardanos Immortalis

AvenirLegacy

I thought an Atheist meant someone who studies religions. Hopefully, also has respect for religions and the people with belief(s). Or am I reading to much into it?

That's a surprisingly common misconception yet I have no idea where it comes from.

Atheists are simply anyone who doesn't hold a belief in a god. That's it. Full stop. Period.

Different atheists hold all manner of different beliefs. The only thing they ALL share is the lack of belief in a deity.

Which is why an ask an atheist thread is kinda pointless unless you want to delve into the history of it. Atheism itself can and should be described in only a single sentence.

Webpage Title
Webpage Title

Both pages start with "In a broad sense...."

I like my definition better, it allows for flexibility, like all good thinkers.

"Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities.Most inclusively, atheism is simply the absence of belief that any deities exist."

The second sentence is hard atheism or gnostic atheism, which is more of a personal and does not apply to all atheists. The third is atheism in general and is in line with what I said before.It applies to all atheists.

[AvenirLegacy]

Dardanos Immortalis

AvenirLegacy

Dardanos Immortalis

AvenirLegacy

I thought an Atheist meant someone who studies religions. Hopefully, also has respect for religions and the people with belief(s). Or am I reading to much into it?

That's a surprisingly common misconception yet I have no idea where it comes from.

Atheists are simply anyone who doesn't hold a belief in a god. That's it. Full stop. Period.

Different atheists hold all manner of different beliefs. The only thing they ALL share is the lack of belief in a deity.

Which is why an ask an atheist thread is kinda pointless unless you want to delve into the history of it. Atheism itself can and should be described in only a single sentence.

Webpage Title
Webpage Title

Both pages start with "In a broad sense...."

I like my definition better, it allows for flexibility, like all good thinkers.

"Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities.Most inclusively, atheism is simply the absence of belief that any deities exist."

The second sentence is hard atheism or gnostic atheism, which is more of a personal and does not apply to all atheists. The third is atheism in general and is in line with what I said before.It applies to all atheists.

So it's flexible?

[Admiral Dardanos]

AvenirLegacy

Dardanos Immortalis

AvenirLegacy

Dardanos Immortalis

AvenirLegacy

I thought an Atheist meant someone who studies religions. Hopefully, also has respect for religions and the people with belief(s). Or am I reading to much into it?

That's a surprisingly common misconception yet I have no idea where it comes from.

Atheists are simply anyone who doesn't hold a belief in a god. That's it. Full stop. Period.

Different atheists hold all manner of different beliefs. The only thing they ALL share is the lack of belief in a deity.

Which is why an ask an atheist thread is kinda pointless unless you want to delve into the history of it. Atheism itself can and should be described in only a single sentence.

Webpage Title
Webpage Title

Both pages start with "In a broad sense...."

I like my definition better, it allows for flexibility, like all good thinkers.

"Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities.Most inclusively, atheism is simply the absence of belief that any deities exist."

The second sentence is hard atheism or gnostic atheism, which is more of a personal and does not apply to all atheists. The third is atheism in general and is in line with what I said before.It applies to all atheists.

So it's flexible?

Well, atheism is basically a blank canvas so yes, flexible in the sense that it can coexist with ANYTHING other than theism.

[Requiem ex Inferni]

If God doesn't exist, then why do gloves fit my hand perfectly? YOU CAN'T EXPLAIN THAT.

[Golden Black Tea]

Question: What made you an Atheist? Was it an event that occurred where you noticed some indecency among believers of a particular religion? Or perhaps you sat down a thought about it.

Perhaps a combination of both?

I am curious.

[stealthmongoose]

Lucky~9~Lives

JediDillon

TANRailgun

So, I'm feeling a bit masochistic this evening, and I see a lot of these "Ask a __" threads all the time, but never really an "Ask an Atheist" thread. So I figured I'd make one, basically just because I can.

So yeah, anything you ever wanted to know about Atheists and were afraid to ask....here's your chance.

But I will be out of town for a few days, so don't flip out if I don't answer you for a while.

What would you do if you found out there is a higher power then yourself?

Atheists may beleive in powers higher than themselves - just not gods.

Hurricanes and Tidal waves, as well as atomic bombs and some viruses could be considered higher powers to the unfortunate, atheist or otherwise. Just providing some examples.

[TANRailgun]

JediDillon

TANRailgun

So, I'm feeling a bit masochistic this evening, and I see a lot of these "Ask a __" threads all the time, but never really an "Ask an Atheist" thread. So I figured I'd make one, basically just because I can.

So yeah, anything you ever wanted to know about Atheists and were afraid to ask....here's your chance.

But I will be out of town for a few days, so don't flip out if I don't answer you for a while.

What would you do if you found out there is a higher power then yourself?

There are higher powers than myself, they just aren't any kind of deity. Now if you meant a God of some kind I guess I would just know then, and not believe, and would follow what ever rules said deity set down.

[TANRailgun]

Henry Hobo-Master

Atheists are not the same. I fail to understand why I should ask you anything, when someone else could be completely different (in why they are Atheist and what they believe in).

To me, Atheists are wolves. Religions main purpose is to gather them under one belief structure (hence theists have the "Sheep and Shepard" relationship). I'm not saying either is good or bad... it doesn't exactly matter in this situation either.

I'm really just saying that "Ask an Atheist" doesn't exactly make any sense, now does it Mr. Wolf? The only thing you may have in common with other Atheists is the fact that you don't believe in any type of Deity officially.

Thus why this is titled "Ask an Atheist", not "Ask EVERY Atheist". If you honestly think that every member of a given religion (or what have you) believes the same thing, then you are grossly misinformed. Take for example Christianity, you can believe a wide variety of things as still refer to yourself as Christian, because all that is required of you to classify yourself as a Christian is to believe in Christ and all that stuff. Similarly there are vastly different schools of thought in pretty much every religion.

And I wonder what you mean when you call us wolves. Are you saying that we prey on the faithful (the sheep)?

[TANRailgun]

Jazin Kay

I don't mean to be rude, but the "Ask a _____" threads are usually made to situate an opportunity of gaining knowledge in-depth, personally, which may otherwise be scarce.

But Atheism is very common on the internet. So the opportunism that those threads serve best with isn't there.

That thought did cross my mind, but I was bored, so I did it anyway.

[TANRailgun]

stealthmongoose

I am following up on Henry The Hobo's question and going off of the notion that his writings are accurate.


Ahem...


What route does Little Red Riding Hood take on her way home? More importantly, why are your teeth so big?

The right route, and I don't think my teeth are big...are my teeth big? Now I'm all self conscious about it....

[TANRailgun]

The New Wineskin

Have you have eastwooded a conversation with God?

Have you have grammar?

[TANRailgun]

AvenirLegacy

I thought an Atheist meant someone who studies religions. Hopefully, also has respect for religions and the people with belief(s). Or am I reading to much into it?

Many Atheists do study religions, for a vairity of reasons, personally I study them because I don't understand them and would like to. Whether or not someone has respect for a given religion is a personal choice. Personally I lack respect for any religion that says I deserve to be punished for not believing what they do.

[TANRailgun]

M a h z a l a

What is the purpose of life? smile

My question reminds me of existentialism. Do all Atheists have that view?

Life does not inherently have any purpose other than to perpetuate life. Other than that the purpose of an individuals life is up to that individual.

And existentialism is a very broad school of thought, and yes, we can have that too.