I look for answers but not in a church, under a guy's dress or up in the sky

I disagree. I think there are seekers, questioners and those that are self-satisfied or nonchalant in both groups.

The absence of God is no more provable then the presence of God is. Both theism and atheism must be accepted on faith. My experience is that atheists seem just as convinced they are right as dedicated theists. I believe it is agnostics who look for answers.

No, I don't agree. One can be atheist and no longer inquiring, certain of one's conclusions. Likewise, one can be a spiritual seeker, having chosen a particular path, but still open minded and unresolved about the big questions. Or vice versa. But I think it's a good question -- to dig at the distinction between having an inquiring mind vs. clinging to beliefs. One can cling to any belief: either a belief in deities, or a belief in the absence of deities. In a certain sense, a person doing that is defined more by the clinging than they are by the belief itself.

Disagree !

I agree with the second part only. Atheism does not equal philosophy, the love of knowledge or wisdom. Just because some people don't believe in nonsense doesn't necessarily mean they have attained this view through intellectual inquiry. Philosophers look for answers no matter their beliefs about gods. Theists that hold faith as a virtue, however, are content believing things without evidence, so I can't imagine them being true philosophers; if one believes in an unknowable idea, then (1) what how are we to discredit, debunk, or fairly discuss such an unreachable idea? and (2) why believe such an idea in the first place? The faithful have stopped themselves from the rational approach to knowledge because they're too busy feeling proud that they believe in the unprovable.

Atheists answer "no" to the question, "Do you believe in god(s)?" Some may look for answers and some atheists may think they have them. I think faith by definition requires a belief in certain answers without questioning them. I'd rather say that science looks for answers by examining the evidence, while the faithful look for evidence to support the answers that they believe in. Faith has only brought good to the world by accident and has caused much harm while ignoring or trying to force the evidence.

I agree that that applies to the two groups generally, but not neccesarily about the individuals that make up the groups.

Well, I certainly try to puzzle out answers to anything I wonder about, so I suppose in my own case that's true. But I can say the same of several of my religious friends. And I know more than one atheist that isn't interested in the big questions about existence. Even when we're talking about god, I don't think that's true. I've found my answer to the god question. My devout Bahai'i friend still seeks out answers, since that's part of his faith.

Well some atheist might look for answers - but honestly anymore I just let the answers come to me. I have enough information already to make an informed choice on things - and every little bit of new information that comes my way only lends streingth to my position. As for what the faithfull do - well, they certainly have found a way to suspend disbelief I'm sure, frankly I've only found about 1 person in 50 who honesty can talk about his belief system rationally and with some authority - most people just go to church and haven't a clue as to what's going on or what their god is doing or his plans - they just take it on "faith" that they are doing the right thing and go through the motions. So I guess I disagree here - sorry.

Disagree; it's human nature to look for answers. People just look in different directions.

i think a lot of religious people are not certain they have found the answers. I think in today's world, it is acceptable (even expected) of people to question everything and to make an effort to see things from other peoples' points of view. Religion is different for everyone (as is atheism). I see religion as a framework for giving meaning to your life. As with everything, it can be interpreted almost any way you want. Atheists just use different models to find meaning in their lives! And I say... If you have managed to find the answers to the big questions in your life through any pathway, you deserve to be applauded !

I disagree. Many faithful that I know have many questions. Just because you believe doesn't mean you don't have things you don't understand. Many atheists that I know have no questions because they have already decided that there is nothing to question.

Disagree. The other way around, Skid. Having intimately dealt with both within my family, I have found that the atheists tend to close their minds on learning more than 'the faithful'. I think, too, this is evidenced in most of the people I observe: those that learn best are more often, of Christian background. They seem to, more usually, get the higher marks and are the Huge people in history - in terms of the genuine useful progress of Man. They are also more useful to Man, generally.

Disagree. In my experience, Atheists are no longer looking. They are certain that they've found their answers and it's; "There is no God!" "Agnostics" are still looking, or more correctly, are still waiting for proof one way or the other. But Atheists are just as adamant in their DIS-belief as the faithful are in their belief. Hope this helps.

Oh, I agree with you 100% on that point, but you originally asked what "I" think of your statement and I, personally, went with the dictionary definition of "Atheist" and disagreed. I don't think all those people out there claiming to be atheists really are atheists any more than you do, but that wasn't your question.

To a limited extent.

Totally disagree

I think that Atheists tend to have a much broader scope and perspective on life. They are not beholden to any particular system of thought and are free to pursue any undertaking that they so wish. The faithful never even get to ask a question as they are given the answers by their chosen religion. It pays for a religion to tell its members it has all the answers because any level of questioning tends to falsify your belief system pretty quickly, especially when there is no evidence or proof of its central theme. It requires blind faith to function. So yes, Atheists look for answers, the faithful are certain they've already found them because that's what they've been told.

Disagree on the grounds that it is far too generalized. I also have to disagree with the answer that says Atheists think that they have the answer and it is that there is no deity. Sorry, but that isn't the only question in the world that requires an answer, even if you accept the assumption that Atheists are SURE to the same degree as the faithful. The revealed text religions, and certainly those of the Abrahmic line, are prone to thinking that those religions (or someone within them, or within their history) did have all the answers. At the very least they believe this about their deity and their significant prophets (Yahweh, Yeshua, Mohammad...) The faithful are usually prone to say that they, themselves, do not have all the answers. They do believe that they know that: 1.) A deity exists. 2.) An afterlife exists. 3.) You have an immortal soul. 4.) The specific preferences and desires of the deity. 5.) Some level of detail about what happens after you die. 6.) How you should live your life. 7.) When life begins and when it ends. 8.) That the universe and everything in it was created according to the design of the deity, who is also the creator. Not all religious paths believe these things. Atheists are more prone to "I don't know" and "I accept the explanation of science as far as it has gone." Many Atheists accept that they don't know the answers to certain questions, and probably won't ever know, and happily go about their lives without looking for the answers. The main differentiator between the majority of Atheists and the majority of Theists is the level of evidence and logical consistency required for them to accept any theory. In fact, the majority of the history of religious belief does not go beyond the hypothesis stage.

There are a thousand answers to only 1 question. or There are a thousand questions to only 1 answer. If you understand what im saying. You know what I mean.

I Agree

Then does that means people that are not atheists are ignorant and stupid? To me anybody who doesn't ask questions thinks they have all the answers, anybody who thinks they have all the answers is pretty stupid.

Looking at each as a whole...I'd have to agree.

if faithful means those faithful to not believing. then yes we have found a great answer to believe in. and many atheists may look for answers but i quite just a few hours ago. maybe even a day ago. i found my religion here with not believing in anything.

Reminds me of the old joke, "What is the difference between a philosopher and a theologian?" The philosopher sits in a dark room looking for something that isn't there. The theologian sits in a dark room looking for something that isn't there and claims that she's found it.

More or less. However, not all atheists look for answers. My brother and my girlfriend consider themselves atheists, and they couldn't give a shit about answers or where to locate them.

I look for answers, but not the same ones you look for if your one of the Christers. You might believe you found all the answers, but there are just to many unanswered things about 'faith" The entire idea is asking you believe in something you really don't know as fact even exist. You might believe it's fact, but it's never been proven and not one single human has ever seen nor heard from God himself. Let me put it this way. if I carved a message, any message on a rock then said it's all true simply because I say so would that make it all true? of course it would. How could you possibly believe otherwise since you have faith?

Both groups tend to have made-up minds regardless of any contrary evidence. The pattern from both sides is to cherry pick data which can be interpreted to support their predefined conclusions, and disregard everything else as so much non-sense.

Meant to post this as a comment.

I disagree. Atheists and Theists continue to look for answers for their entire lives but their questions are just a bit different. With love in Christ.

Atheists explore the world looking for answers. Christians cling onto blind faith.

Yes I must agree. Atheists do look for answers, Christians cling onto blind faith.

Disagree. Both seem certain that they've found their answers. Agnostics are the ones whose jury is still out.

This is one of the few interesting questions I've seen so far. The quote is going into my Hall of Fame list of Atheist Quotations. :)  

I don't agree. Atheists are not looking for any answers. The "faithful" THINK they've found the answers.

Two sides of the same coin.