Atheism Explained

by Dis-Member 13 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

• 

  Dis-Member

  Thought some might find this interesting..

  Where do you get your morality from? Don't assume that atheists don't have morals. We all have morals, we all have ethics. Atheists just don't derive them from a holy book. And probably your Bible isn't the only reason you're not out there killing everybody in sights.

  You do not believe in anything, your life must be so empty?Atheists don't believe in God but they believe in plenty of other things that give their lives meaning... like friends, family, teaching, talking, etc. So no, their lives are not empty.

  Why are you mad at God? Atheists don't hate God, atheists don't believe in God... they also don't hate unicorns. But, you can't prove God doesn't exist. Why Christians have no problem disbelieving in Hindu Gods... disbelieving in other religions' Gods? It is the same way that atheists don't believe in their God.

  What if you're wrong? Nothing's going to happen if atheists are wrong. You're assuming that God is going to punish them for asking honest questions? Why would God be mad for actually doing some research instead of just sitting around and going to church couple of times a week and acting like you really care? But what if Christians are praying to the wrong God and making the real one madder and madder every time they do it?

  You just have to have faith. God's given us this mind to use it but theists are asking atheists to close it when it comes to religion. Being able to think critically is not a bad thing. You have to open your heart to God. There's nothing wrong with atheists' hearts. They're not actively shielding themselves from God; they're not wearing aluminum tin foil hats. They're open to possibilities... just explain to them why should they believe in God.

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNjEbPfc2d0&list=PLZGLqPtxUOKGnuubsqv7X3dBrvPE22_xv
• 

  cofty

  Good post.

  I can't count how often we hear the canard that atheists are mad at god.
• 

  never a jw

  So humans owe morality to the Bible?

  Where does the Bible come from? From all the reading I have done regarding bible authorship, biblical scholarship, history of early chrsitianity, copying of the bible, translation of the bible, the existence of hundreds, even thousands of Christian denominations, I have to conclude that we owe the Bible to humans, superstitious humans at best, or controlling, manipulative and dishonest humans at worst.

  Since Bible gives morality to humans, and the Bible comes from humans. I guess humans are ultimately responsible for an ever changing and improving morality code. I wonder how many good christians here would trade the treatment they get from, let's say, the Constitution of the United States, for the treatment they would get under Mosaic Law. Imagine being an adulterous woman...actually just imagine being a woman in the times of Moses, or the times of the apostle Paul. What do you prefer, the morality code of the Constitution in the 21st century, or the morality code from 2,000 to 3,000 years ago as prescribed by the "word of God" in the Bible?

  Chrsitian women, enjoy:

  GENESIS 2:22 Eve created from Adam’s rib. 3:16 Eve cursed with painful childbirth and domination by husband. 4:19 Man marries two wives. 12:13-19 Abraham prostitutes wife. 19:1-8 Rape virgin daughters instead of male angels. 19:26 Lot’s wife turned into pillar of salt for disobeying god. 19:30-38 Lot impregnates his two daughters while drunk. 20:2-12 Abraham prostitutes wife – again. 25:1-6 Keeping many concubines is OK. EXODUS 20:17 Wife as property. 21:4 Wife and children belong to master. 21:7-11 OK to sell daughters. Female slaves can be used for sex. Polygamy permitted. Unwanted female slaves can be set “free” without payment of money. 22:18 Kill witches. LEVITICUS 12:1-8 Childbirth unclean, Women need to make atonement after childbirth. 15:19-32 Menstruating women are unclean. 20:10-16 Death penalty for homosexuality and various sexual transgressions. 21:7 Priests must not marry prostitutes or divorcees. 21:9 Burn daughters. 21:13-14 Priest must marry virgin, not “used” woman. NUMBERS 1:2 Census lists only men – women do not count. 5:11-31 Fidelity test for women only. 30:1-16 Woman’s vow invalid unless approved by her father or husband. 31:17-18 Kill all except virgins. Keep virgins for yourselves. 12 Miriam punished for rebuking Moses. DEUTERONOMY 20:14 Take women, livestock as plunder. 22:13-21 Stone non-virgin bride. 22:23-24 Stone rapist and rape victim. 22:28 Rape victim must marry rapist; rape victim’s father compensated for depreciation of his property. 25:11-12 Cut woman’s hand for touching foe’s penis. 24:1-5 Man can “send” wife from HIS house. Man must not marry “used” woman.

  I CORINTHIANS 11:2-10… Woman created for man. 14:34 Women must be silent in churches. EPHESIANS 5:22-24 Wives must submit to husbands in everything. COLOSSIANS 3:18 Wives submit to husbands. 3:22 Slaves must obey masters in everything. I TIMOTHY 2:11-15 Woman must not have authority – she must be silent. Women can be saved with childbearing. 5:9-10 Widows should be faithful to husband and must wash saints’ feet. 1 PETER 2:18 Slaves submit to masters, even masters who are harsh. 3:1 Wives submit. 3:5-6 Sarah calls husband master.
• 

  rebel8

  If God doesn't want humans to be atheist, why does he make all babies atheist?

  Now let's pose these questions to the babies who have not yet become theists, and let's see what sense it makes.

  Where do you get your morality from?
  Uh, I pretty much was born as a straightforward being, without being too complicated. I just do what comes naturally to me. My parents and teachers will show me to be nice and not naughty.
  
  You do not believe in anything, your life must be so empty?I am pretty happy. I believe in love, a warm blanket, a tasty bowl of oatmeal, a pretty sunbeam, a giggle and a cuddle. That's pretty much what I need to be a good person and be happy. Adults seem to think it's more than that, but I think that's mostly what everyone needs.
  
  Why are you mad at God?
  Who is God? I'm not mad at him/her/it.
  
  What if you're wrong?
  What would change if I was? I'm still a happy, nice little baby.
  
  You just have to have faith.
  I'm pretty happy without it. Life is good.
• 

  sammielee24

  They're open to possibilities...

  ---

  I would disagree that this statement is entirely true.

  An extreme belief in either or is extreme - period. There are many atheists that are not open to any possibility of anything other than their own choice to believe in no religion - there are celebrities that often poke fun at religious people as wearing tin foiil hats jusb because they believe in something unseen - they rely on science to prove their point and yet - science itself is only a product of what man can offer up. It has it's limits in the natural - and even science cannot disprove that which is outside the realm of their own study and theory. Science cannot say that the spiritual world does not exist - because they are bound by the parameters of knowledge for the period in which they live. Today's science could in fact be worthless with tomorrows technology.

  I think those who don't claim to be either/or - are most likely the most open to possibilites because they can admit nobody has all the answers. sw
• 

  snare&racket

  My answer 'are you angry at unicorns?'
• 

  fahrvegnugen

  The people who become the most convinced atheists are those who were the most serious about religion. They tend to give short shrift to the possibility that any human religion, or any ideas that closely ressemble it, could actually be true, because they have already fully explored that line of inquiry and found it to be a dead end. They see no reason to waste any more time exploring "possibilities" that have zero chance of being accurate explanations of reality. In my view any clear thinking person who comes to grip with the facts of history and present scientific understanding will quickly dispense with religious explanations and become an atheist by default. It's not a matter of plugging in this or that doctrine or deity. It's all simply diffferent version of the same dead-end way of trying to explain the world around us.
• 

  Viviane

  Sammielee, it's incredibly rare that a single statement will be true about any large group of people.

  As far as the science and the "spirit" world, of course if something's outside of nature it can't be proven. It's unnatural, not supernatural.
• 

  abiather

  For atheists, this life is all there is. Some may offer themselves whimsical comfort by saying that before this slice of life happened, there was an infinite period when we didn’t exist and after we die, there is going to be another infinity when we wont either. Nevertheless since there is no evidence to the contrary we may find ourselves continuing in some kind of post-mortem existence, with no overtones of paradise, retribution or any kind of divine paraphernalia. Of course, this is an area that only fringe researchers explore, yet even some prestigious scientists, notably the impeccably credentialed Ian Stevenson, who was director of the Division of Personality Studies at the University of Virginia, have endorsed it. Among other things, he devoted the last 40 years of his life to the scientific documentation of past-life memories of children from all over the world. In the end, he had over 3, 000 cases on record in his files and many people, including sceptics and scholars, agree today that these offer the best evidence yet for life after death. But heres the twist: almost all non-spiritual atheists regard his work or the evidence he may have garnered over a lifetime as nonsense, while conveniently forgetting that Dr Stevenson was as much an atheist as any of them, if not more. Its just that some people believe in a far richer non-theistic experience than one that has only an arid landscape on the horizon with little other than chance and nothingness calling the shots.

  For example, Karl Marx viewed religious belief as a reflection of humanity on itself and maintained that divinity was an idealised version of humans inkling of their potential. It was natural, therefore, for him to suggest that the correct way to propagate freedom was to present the truth to individuals and let them choose to accept or deny it. Contrary to popular belief, he never suggested prohibiting religion. Nevertheless, what he did say was, Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people. Meaning, the abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is, in fact, the demand for their real happiness. To call on them to give up these illusions about their condition is to ask them to give up a condition requiring illusions.

  The whole problem is that God is not well-presented by greedy religions that turned out to be human-rights violators.

  Another problem is that there is no universally acceptable answer to the question: Why does not God stop human suffering? (which of course God did not start)
• 

  DeWandelaar

  Although I am not an atheist (no theist either) I must say that what is stated above is true and are very wise words.

  The "what if you are wrong" question which is asked quite frequently by believers is actually quite easy to anwer: If I am wrong then God has not done enough to prove me otherwise.