:help I am currently enrolled in a World Religion course which is part of my curriculum for my Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Information System which is what brings me to your forum. I have been tasked by my professor to write a paper on a religion of which I am not familiar with and Atheism, the religion I have chosen to write about, is on my list of religions to pick from. As part of my project I have to do a question and answer session with someone who is an atheist. I would like to know if there is someone on this forum who is willing to do a question and answer session with me who is an atheist.
Hello
- Thread starter jute62
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Daedalean's_Sun
New member
Hello dear friend. Nice to meet your acquaintance. Atheism strictly speaking isn't a religion, but typically encompasses something which we would regard as either 'Non-religion' or 'Irreligion'. A contrary example being certain sects of Buddhism which may be described as atheistic. Atheism itself isn't that useful of a designation because it only implies a single view on a single issue.
An Atheist merely says "I do not believe in God or gods". It doesn't tell us much about their worldview. Many atheists tend to also be Secularists, Humanists, Naturalists and derive their beliefs about the world from conclusions of the scientific establishment, although that is not always the case. It is possible for Atheists to quite literally believe in anything so long as it doesn't involve God or gods. So atheism doesn't necessarily dismiss the supernatural usually that is the case for the atheist though.
Common arguments for atheism are: "Lack of evidence for God or gods" But other reasons are often used sometimes directed at a particular god.
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Welcome to TOL. I pretty sure one of the resident Atheists would oblige you.
Hello,
Thanks for responding to my post. I guess I need to explain that the course I am taking is not a theology course but a course to help me understand what people think and believe as far as religion is concerned. I have three questions of which if you can answer them for me I would greatly appreciate it. The first is...What do Athiest believe? For instance the Budhist do not believe in a god but they have particular beliefs (meditation, karma, reincarnation) which they believe help them to treat people right and live a good life. The second question is why do Athiest believe the way that they do? and lastly How does the Athiest belief affect their lives and influence the lives of those outside of their communities? Thanks
Thanks for responding to my post. I guess I need to explain that the course I am taking is not a theology course but a course to help me understand what people think and believe as far as religion is concerned. I have three questions of which if you can answer them for me I would greatly appreciate it. The first is...What do Athiest believe? For instance the Budhist do not believe in a god but they have particular beliefs (meditation, karma, reincarnation) which they believe help them to treat people right and live a good life. The second question is why do Athiest believe the way that they do? and lastly How does the Athiest belief affect their lives and influence the lives of those outside of their communities? Thanks
Daedalean's_Sun
New member
An atheist has no beliefs (at least pertaining to atheism) but rather an atheist has just one disbelief. The disbelief in God or gods. Atheism is different from other philosophical positions in that it is the only one that comes to mind which is not an affirmative position. Atheism says nothing about how the world is, but merely how it isn't.
Well I suppose that depends on the individual, and can vary widely especially since there is no "atheist doctrine" to give us those kind of answers, however common arguments for atheism include:
The Problem of Evil is perhaps the oldest argument for Atheism.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Problem_of_evil
Other common arguments are:
-Argument from burden of proof. That because atheism is not an affirmative position, that the burden of proof rests upon Theists. Burden of proof which according to atheists has not been satisfied.
-Historical arguments that claim that because most religions throughout history have eventually become obsolete, that eventually most contemporary religions will as well.
-Naturalistic arguments, argue that because most things can be explained with natural scientific explanations, that God is logically unnecessary.
There are many political organizations composed primarily of atheists. The goals of these groups differ but typically they leverage political pressure to support a more secular, or pluralistic direction in their respective communities. There also exist atheist charities, which donate to various causes.
Examples can be found here: http://www.squidoo.com/Atheist-Charities
Outside of these examples, atheism generally does not affect the lives of atheists that much. Aside from a vocal minority most atheists are often indistinguishable from other citizens, and many atheists will relegate their atheism to casual conversations or debates.