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Atheism
Atheism is the disbelief in or denial of the existence of God or gods.
1,002 Questions
What happens to people who don't believe in god?
It is an interesting phenomenon that not having a fixed religious belief with all that entails opens a person's mind for learning much more about the world and its people. It fosters acceptance of people who think differently. It also does not lead a person to be judgmental about what other people are doing in their personal lives.
Answer:
If the question implies "What happens when Atheists die?" the answer is that they convert from biochemical to chemical processes and reenter the carbon cycle. If there is an afterlife they may be surprised and challenged (depending on which religion was right). If there is nothing (their belief is confirmed), they'll never know.
Are there more atheists or believers in the US?
With the prejudice against atheists, it is hard to determine their actual numbers. Some studies indicate the top four choices in "religion" are Christianity (2.1 billion), Islam (1.5 billion) secular/Nonreligious/Agnostic/Atheist (1.1 billion) and Hindu (900 million).
How do you prove an atheist wrong?
The existence of God (or gods) can neither be proven nor disproven. Therefore, you cannot prove that an atheist is incorrect. Such an action (asserting one's own religious opinion onto another) is considered taboo in modern culture and is generally looked down upon.
So far, no one has been able to find any founder of Atheism. This is due to the fact that Atheism isn't a religion, it's not a political movement, it's not a trend, and it's not a philosophy. Therefore, it would be very difficult to find the first person to truly belief God doesn't exist. Aethiesm was not founded, it is the lack of religion. When groups began forming cults that collectively believed that various magical being created everything, those that didn't were simply classed as aethiests, whereas before 'religion' was invented aethiests comprised of the entire human race, so there was no need for a group name.
What is truth from an Atheist's point of view?
Other Answers from our community:
So what do atheists think is truth? Most atheists don't pretend to know. Atheists realise that the actual, real truth is ALWAYS subjective. Atheists take a scientific approach as best they can. Observe things happening. Try to work out why it happens. Test, and see if you are correct. If you are, then great! If not, your idea was wrong or incomplete. The most important aspect of being an atheist is the willingness to change your mind about what you think, if new evidence comes to light which contradicts what you think.
Atheists do not believe in god because there is *no evidence* that there is a god. All the evidence which has ever been submitted has been shown to be faulty, forged, or can be explained without the need for any gods. So, in short, atheists don't much bother with the pursuit of truth: just the pursuit of knowledge and explanations. They do, however, get riled when other people claim that something is "true". If there was any single religion on the planet which provided good evidence, then almost all atheists would convert to it. There isn't. So they haven't.
ANSWER
Truth is only that which can be verified; everything else is opinion. Truth is exactly as it may stand in any dictionary. Truth is what we know to be the reality of the world. Atheists use evidence. Sciences use evidence. They both use evidence to find our most accurate possible description of the Universe that is true. Sciences use what absolutely is observed, tested by experiment and known to true like trees and stones and water to find out more truths about the Universe. Like this they have discovered radiation and atoms and the photosynthetic pathways.
Creationists, advocates of intelligent design and those who think any fundamentalist faith is true cannot use these objects to find more truths in the Universe, as a scientist or atheist can, since their objects are not necessarily true as they have yet to be subjected to experiment. Indeed they are yet to be deemed able to be subject to experiment.
Who is the founder of atheism?
No one founder of agnosticism has existed. The word is a variant of agnosis, which simply means "not knowing," and people use it in reference to their belief that a person cannot truly know whether or not a god does or does not, or gods do or do not, exist. That is strong agnosticism. Weak agnosticism is an individual's being undecided.
If it can be said that there was a main proponent of agnosticism, then that proponent was one of Charles Darwin's staunchest defenders, Thomas Henry Huxley. He noted that others had too-strong beliefs--he called them gnostics--whilst he was still searching. For him, agnosticism was an epistemological method, one that might have been equated with rationalism, and thus did not conflict with his being an atheist in metaphysics.
Hence, it is possible for a person to be both a strong agnostic and an atheist. Rationalists declare their argumentation defensible and maintain that agnosticism applies. But some of these consider strong agnosticism wrong in that the arguments against God and the arguments for naturalism succeed. It is therefore a matter of judgment. Graham Robert Oppy, in Arguing About Gods,expresses the fallibilist attitude and explains weak agnosticism.
What are the beliefs of an Atheist?
As stated previously there is no organized belief system. Atheists are largely independent (free thinkers) and there is not strong organization although there are a few groups. Answer
Atheism is not an organized belief system - indeed it rejects faith as as useful way of understanding; it has no teachings.
To assume that atheists have common beliefs is to misunderstand what atheism is. Atheists simply don't hold a belief in god(s). That is all. Atheists reject faith-based belief and instead tend to rely on empirical (testable, repeatable) evidence.
Answer
The above is correct. Atheism has no teachings: it is simply the position which reasonable people take when confronted by religion. Atheists assume nothing. There are good atheists and bad atheists. But the only thing which could be said to be a "teaching" would be this: "don't believe what anyone tells you without checking the facts and thinking about it for yourself." That's it. if you do that, and you do it thoroughly, then you'll be an atheist.
Whatever else you are is up to you.
Answer
As noted before, atheism is not an organized belief system and has no teachings; however, in general, atheists would agree with the principles of secular humanism.
Note: atheist does not = secular humanist
What is a sentence using the word atheist?
Many philosophers have defended atheism; the rejection of the belief in gods.
Atheism is the disbelief in gods.
Can you believe in the devil and still call yourself an atheist?
"The Devil" is an imaginary, supernatural being- a religious construction originally based on a fallen angel. An atheist does not believe in supernatural gods or other beings.
It would be highly unusual to find someone who calls him/herself a true atheist, but also believes that "the Devil" exists.
An athiest would say yes Anyone else would say no Alternative Answer Most atheists are humanists; humanists generally try and chose "good" decisions from rationality. So from that point of view, atheism certainly can be described as good.
What do atheists say about the presence of evil in the world?
Atheism isn't like a religion; there aren't set "answers" to moral and philosophical questions and different atheists will have different views. Philosophers take a different approach - they ask the question, why do we perceive some things as evil? Probably this evolved as when we started living in social groups and developed because we have to spend a long time caring for our children.
Suffering is part of nature; virtually all animals suffer - in fact, very few animals survive long enough to breed.
What is Unitarian Universalism?
That God is one entity, in contrast to the Trinity which defines God as three persons in one being
Atheism is the position of thought that there is no god. There is no code, belief system, secret handshake, uniform or the trappings of religion associated with it. As the saying goes - if baldness is a hair colour, then atheism is a religion.
What are the goals of theology?
Theos in the polytheism of the Greeks denoted a god or deity. The word was appropriated by Jews and retained by Christians to indicate the one true God. Logos in the Greek means word, and by extension in context, the study and treatment of any given subject. Therefore, the aims of theology are to systematically study all references to gods, while also examining in depth, accounts of the God of the runaway Hebrew slaves, whom Christians believe to be the one true God. Having said that, it must be realised that separate religious beliefs have separate theologies, the aims of which may be to either exclude all others as false, or include all others as equally valid though not preferred.
Only President Obama can answer that question for sure. I recently read his book "The Audacity of Hope", and I became slowly convinced that he was an atheist.. right up until his chapter on "faith". I am still not convinced that he is religious: he may just have recognised that it is impossible to be elected to high office in the USA unless you say you are a Christian.
One can certainly say (and President Obama himself says) that he is a strong secularist, and believes in the separation of church and state - and that religion is a personal matter.
He is very heavily influenced by Abraham Lincoln, who was not a Christian (and was probably an atheist). See attached link for a well-written article on this subject. The debate will, no doubt, continue.
If he is, he's doing a GREAT job of hiding it. He is a member of the United Church of Christ.
Answer
In his own words on national news broadcasts President Obama has averred his Christian faith. The President is, maybe a liberal Christian, but a Christian nonetheless. President Obama continued the faith based initiatives created in the Bush administration. The President believes in some form of God in the Christian tradition.
What do atheists think about religion?
Most atheists do not think about religion much at all. In fact they probably do not even stop to think of themselves as atheists. They just accept that there really is no God.
Those who do think further about religion are generally accepting of the rights of others to believe what they want to believe, even though there is no evidence for those beliefs. They are occasionally cynical when some evangelisers try to convert them to Christianity.
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Consider what adults think about the monster under their bed, or Christians think about Tyr and you'll be close to what atheists think about religion. The common thought is that atheists have a hate on for all things holy, that they eat their bowl of warm kittens in the morning and then go out to glower at churches. Not so, we get up, go to work, come home to the wife, kids and dog just like everyone. During almost all of our days the thought of religion, clergy or scripture never crosses our minds. The few show-boating atheists in the news, like the showboating evangelicals, taint people's minds about what atheists are all about.
Why might the believing in god affect the way people behave?
Believing in the presence of an omnipresent deity (such as the Christian God) who sees everything you do and every thought you think would be the equivalent of having a CCTV on you every second of every day from work to washroom breaks. Since the same deity is constantly putting gold stars or black marks on the ledger of your life - aiming you at eternal reward or damnation - there would be a tendency to try and "fake him out" to give you more gold stars and get the reward not punishment.
The outcome would be that you would live a life as you think it should be, not as you want, regardless of what you felt.
Answer: If you don't believe in God, you do things or behave based on what you want, what you want to believe is good and bad. If you believe in God, you do things or behave in obedience to Gods law found in the scriptures. If you truly believe in God, you want to behave according to Gods law.
Can a atheist be denied the right to hold federal office yes or no with location?
No. You are not suppose to be denied anything in this country of the U.S. based on religion.
What is the atheist extentialism view on family?
The same way anyone else thinks. We love our families, we teach our children to think rationally, learn self-reliance, have respect for each other, and instill strong moral values.
The families of atheists can be as normal or as dysfunctional as any other. There is no set of standards set up by the atheist thought process which affects their interaction with their families.
There is no organized group called "atheism." While there are several atheist groups, there is no membership requirement for atheism. An atheist is simply someone who does not believe that gods exist.
In Thebes, Heracles married King Creon's daughter, Megara, who bore him three sons. In a fit of madness he killed her and their children. His second marriage was to Deianira, the daughter of the king of Calydon. Note: Hercules/Heracles married a third time, this after becoming a deity. He wed Hebe, the daughter of Zeus and Hera.
What is friendship to an atheist existentialist?
Existentialism deals mainly with the concept of the self and its relation to material existence, so not a lot of existentialist literature touches on the intricacies of human relationships. Nevertheless we can infer that since existentialist philosophy tells us that there is no greater meaning or significance to life and so it would seem that your relationship to others would be entirely a matter of personal preference. If you desire friends, seek them out, make yourself happy. If you do not, do not.
What are the characteristics of an agnostic person?
Thoughtful, firm (about belief).
Answer:
There are no special characteristics of an agnostic except for his opinion that he (or she) does not know enough about god(s) to take firm position on their existence. Even this criteria can vary from "doesn't know and is searching for an aswer" to "doesn't know and doesn't care because the answer is unimportant"
Does atheism have a holy book?
No. For several reasons:
- Atheism is not a unified organization like a religion, there is no one set of rules
- Nothing in atheism is holy, by definition
- There are commentaries on the aspects of atheism, but no one has to read or care about them
no, they do not Answer: As atheists are not an organization they do not have a single unifying symbol like the Christians cross. The US uses the Bohr atom symbol on the tombstones of atheists in military cemeteries and the scarlet "A" is used by many atheist blogs to show their orientation.
