ANSWERS: 30
  • Funny, I thought this site was open to everyone - not just the people who happen to agree with YOU. God forbid you should learn to be considerate, or tolerance, huh?
  • I am an atheist and I gave you points. Educcated religiously, I know quite a lot about religion and I answer questions on the topic if I think I can help.
    • pugwashjw65
      Many people know the Bible and its directions...but how many are obedient... (Matthew 28:19, 20) Go, therefore, and make disciples of people of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all the things I have commanded you. And look! I am with you all the days until the conclusion of the system of things.? The system we now live in is coming to an end...so what standards should we attain to to survive into the ' new world' ?
  • Because they're angry that they haven't been given "proof" of God's existence. Me thinks if they WERE given proof. . .they'd be closed-lipped very quickly.
  • Many atheists are quite knowledgable about religion (that's why they are atheists). Personally, I don't answer questions that are asked to a particular religious group, but I will answer a religious question if I feel I have something to add to the discussion.
  • Some people just want to make their thoughts heard - athiest or not - and so will take any opportunity to do that, no matter how unhelpful or offensive. I am an athiest who finds religion fascinating which is why I chip in every now and again =)
  • well, i tried, but i just found the whole christianity thing to be dull and rather immature
  • It's not the atheists so much as the rabid anti-religionists. It's not enough for them to not believe in God personally, they have a need to somehow insult and demean those who do believe.
  • what makes you think we haven't? So stop laughing. A LOT of us are the way we are BECASUE of early religious teaching whose answers just did not satisfy logically. If you don't know, now you know. +4
  • Because many are open minded in concept only. In those cases, their bitter, resentful anger snaps their mind shut as soon as the "G-word" is uttered and usually results in a good carbonizing of the poor soul who dared utter that despised word - be in the Atheist section of AB or elsewhere. And some especially bitter and anger types go "hunting" for people of faith that they can carbonize - for fun and profit. And sometimes just for fun. Thankfully, there ARE exceptions to the above broad brush generalities.
  • They do believe in God because as soon as they hit trouble they say God, help me. Why would they say that if they did not believe? Why call for help from someone that you do not believe in. They believe. They only say they do not to get attention.
  • A lot of atheists are atheists because they have in fact thought quite a deal about God and religion and what it all means.
  • Atheists answer religious questions because we take the other side of the argument. We defend the victims from bad pedophile priests and evangelists like Swaggart and Baker who are fleecing their flock. I don't think you will be downgraded because of the question. Everybody is allowed to think in this AB forum, unlike priests who spoonfeed you with interpretations that will make them look good.
  • I will tackle each point in order and then address the broad thrust of the question. No intention of learning about god. Quite the contrary. I spend and have spent quite a large portion of my free time studying religions and the philosophy of religion. Textual criticism of the Bible particularly the New Testament is my current passion. I am more than familiar with many of the common arguments involved in the debate over existence issues (ontological, teleological, cosmological arguments etc) as well as many of the moral discussions which primarily arises through an interest in moral philosophy. I also have a reasonably good grasp of the history of various religions, particularly Christianity and to as lesser extent Islam. And so on and so forth, etcetera... So I not only have the intention, I have put it into practice. However none of this research and study has really changed my position as an atheist, although to be sure my opinion on certain elements has changed which is only natural if one is to approach matters with an open mind. So why do I answer religious questions? Well by and large I do know a fair amount (not a great deal, I am no Russell, Dennett, Ehrman, Aquinas or Kant) and so if I feel I can offer something to the debate, then I do so. That's a general point. When it comes to AB, I tend to answer where I feel I can make a contribution but avoid questions deliberately aimed at a specific religious group (e.g. "as a Muslim do you think X, Y Z?") but feel perfectly validated in answering more general questions (e.g. "If God is X why is Y?", "In the Bible where did X come from?" and so on). Just because you don't believe in something doesn't mean you can't have an opinion or know a great deal about it. John Searle strenuously denies that Strong AI is possible however he is no ignoramus on the subject. He knows a great deal about it. Many people on AB are not communists yet still feel the need to comment on communist ideology. There are hundreds, if not thousands of other examples of this nature. I don't like much of the name calling that goes on on AB with regard to religious questions (of which all sides are guilty to an extent) but differing opinions can be expressed intelligently, calmly and with a desire to debate the point, rather than debating the person. Ad hominem is an all too common logical flaw in the world (just look at politics). The latter should be encouraged the former, I won't say discouraged as it is free-speech but perhaps ignored or disregarded in favour of the latter, by and large. As for down-rating, I don't do much of that. Maybe fro time to time if an opinion is truly diabolical or an answer is genuinely not helpful to the question but more often than not I merely ignore it. However that is just me as a person, not necessarily as an atheist. Certainly not the atheist. Many things I may be but I am most certainly not the definite article of atheism. So overall, it is an interesting subject whatever position one chooses to adopt and as such one I will comment on as and when I see fit and by and large avoid downrating. Well around 96% of the time at least.
  • I do it for entertainment purposes - lol - There's nothing like a Fundie spewing mind-numbing rhetoric and an Atheist butting in to enlighten him and show him the way out of Jesusland - lol
  • this is the first for me....atheists downrating!!!....and we are not always seeking to learn but to teach, or just share our views!!!!
  • The ones you are talking about do it for entertainment purposes. It's actually a form of trolling. I've always felt that people who get their jollies in that sort of way, regardless of the topic, suffer from a minor anti-social psychopathy. There are, of course, the minority that actually do enjoy an intelligent discussion. They are a form of interesting and informed debate, but are the exception on most of these forums.
  • I am so tempted to say "Oh, shut up", but I won't.
  • I am Catholic school survivor. Spent my life in the Marines and am in a wheelchair. I know a good bit about religion and was nearly headed into the Priesthood. After my discharge from the Marines I went to college. I recieved a Degree in Electrical Engineering from Purdue. I do not speak poorly about anything, least of all God, I simply have not seen any real evidence to support Religons existence. Whereas, the testable support of science is everywhere.
  • I think you'll find that on AB it's generally the other way around. I'm an atheist but I continually have to correct 'Christians' who misquote, misinterpret or simply have no idea of what is actually written in the Bible.
  • Speaking only for myself, I had a strict religious upbringing. Church every Sunday, etc. An Altar Boy even. As I got older and into more technical stuff and scientific stuff I started asking questions of myself that I couldn't answer. The more I looked into the history of it all, (Christianity first then others) the more I realized it was all a way of controlling wealth and there-by humans. There always has been Alpha-animals as there are now. The ones with power and money run things and write the history/bible. MONEY-POWER-CONTROL Remember, In the beginning man invented gods
  • The only thing atheists have in common is that they don't believe in you "God". You can't draw general conclusions about atheists any more than you can about non-bowlers, or non-hairdressers, or non-accordionists. Are you open to the idea that it is the anti-religion people who are causing you grief, and some of them just happen to be atheists? You are American, and Christian, right?
  • Many of us HAVE grown up in a religious household and done our time in church and logged much time reading religious texts in order to better understand the various reasons which cause some to follow them. That exposure and knowledge is precisely why many of us have chosen atheism and frequently, we know much more about those religions than the people asking the questions. Many of the questions that I get involved with are ignorant blanket statements about atheism or are otherwise demeaning or libelous toward atheists. If someone chooses to berate a belief in such a manner, they'd better be just as prepared to receive as they are to give.
  • Excuse me? Since when is it assumed just because a person claims atheism as their belief structre, that you can claim they have no intention of learning about God? That does not necessarily follow. I believe many, many atheists are those who cannot find God. They are not just going to claim they believe in God just because they are told to. God is a personal journey and many people who claim belief in God are a bunch of sheep that do not have a passing acquaintance with God. They say this because it is safe and they have never had an original thought in their lives. Give me the athiest in that example anytime over a mindless sheep brain. Ps. I am a very devout believer in God, only after I spent years upon a spiritual quest. I found God. I did not claim any knowledge of God until in my soul I was sure. This does not open any doors for anyone else to agree with me. Why should they? It is an individual's path to discover Truth and we are all children of God on a journey. I'm sure God appreciates honesty and sincerity to just mouthing the words I believe in God.
  • It's been my experience that most nonbelievers are more knowledgeable and versed in religion that people that follow that religion. It's the reason they are nonbelievers in the first place. "Properly read, the Bible is the most potent force for atheism ever conceived." -Isaac Asimov I am certainly more studied and versed in Christianity than any Christian I've ever encountered. I once handed a Baptist minister his ass in a religious debate.
  • If the religious kept their religion to themselves, then I would keep my atheism to myself. While religious people kill others, and try to spread their message throughout the world, then I will try to answer it whenever I can. And in my experience it is the religious who do most of the downrating.
  • Many times atheists are atheists because they have spent a great deal of time studying religions and have come to the conclusion that religions don't reflect reality. There are many cases when atheists know more about religions than believers.
    • Jenny The Great ⭐
      Quote: "religions don't reflect reality." In this planet we as human beings call "Earth," the reality of Religion plays a huge role worldwide. From helping the needy as instructed in the Bible to converting people by the sword as seen by certain religions: history continues to be in the making. With that said, what can you possibly know about Religion when your answer is not based on reality?
  • Atheists are spiritually discerned, so they are unable to make God-inspired decisions. Many of them claim they were once religious, but fail to understand biblical symbolism. To speak about learning, their "itching ears" is what attracts them to religious questions. 2 Timothy 4:3 "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but having itching ears, they shall heap to themselves teachers in accordance with their own lusts."
  • You can't downrate on the new AB. I'm glad. Atheists and theists alike want to prove they are right. They just think the other side is wrong for doing the same thing. I don't try to push my beliefs on anyone else. But I expect others to respect my beliefs as being important and useful to me and not criticize me or my intelligence (which has been proven by testing scores and is not affected by anyone's opinion) because I belong to a certain church. Or tell me what I believe is wrong. You are entitled to your beliefs and I'm entitled to mine. When someone tries to force or manipulate another into believing what they do not choose to believe they are crossing a line. I need to do better at this. Please pray I do. Thank you!
  • cause they like thern
  • From personal experience atheists are great at making you question religion, (I was one for many years) but only from a logical perspective, many atheists, like the theist who clings to their bible etc, also cling to science and the minds of atheist authors without question. If you cling to ideas without examination or awareness you may never experience the profound, the moment where you are suddenly transformed. Awareness is worth practicing a lifetime for without any expectation. The explorer returned to his people, who were eager to know about the Amazon. But how could he ever put into words the feelings that flooded his heart when he saw exotic flowers and heard the night sounds of the forests; when he sensed the danger of wild beasts, or paddled his canoe over treacherous rapids? He said "Go and find out for yourselves." To guide them he drew a map of the river. They pounced upon the map. They framed it in their Town Hall. They made copies of it for themselves. And all who had a copy considered themselves experts on the river, for did they not know its every turn and bend, how broad it was, how deep, where the rapids were and where the falls? It is said Buddha obdurately refused to be drawn into talking of God. He was obviously familiar with the dangers of drawing maps for arm-chair explorers. ----- I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw the name of the shop: The Truth Shop. The salesgirl was very polite: what type of truth did I wish to purchase, partial or whole? The whole truth, of course. No deceptions for me, no defences, no rationalisations. I wanted my truth plain and unadulterated. She waved me on to the other side of the store. The salesman there pointed to the price tag. "The price is very high, sir," he said. "What is it?" I asked, determined to get the whole truth, no matter what it cost. "Your security, sir," he answered. I came away with a heavy heart, I still need the safety of my unquestioned beliefs. Mark 4:11 And He was saying to them, "To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but those who are outside get everything in parables, Ephesians 3:9 and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things; Romans 16:25 Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past, 1 Cor 2:7 but we speak God's wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory; Ephesians 1:9 He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him Ephesians 3:4 By referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, Colossians 2:2 that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God's mystery, that is, Christ Himself, 1 Cor 15: 51-53 Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. God as a mystery is intelligible to the human mind, which is why Jesus spoke in parables, stories speak to the part of man that will hear truth.

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