[cuziamthecaptai]

Atheist Posters' Beliefs Database

There are some new atheists here, so I figured I’d make a post a la the Theology posters’ belief database. Let me know if I should add any.

Level of Atheism:
Strong Atheist, Weak Atheist, Agnosticism, Weak Agnosticism etc.

Religious belief system:
Materialism/pantheism (Buddhism, Taoism, and Unitarian Universalism etc.)

Why are you here?

State of ethics:
How/Why are humans ethical?

Key philosophical argument against God:
(Argument from evil/nonbelief/inconsistent revelation etc)

Evidential argument against god:
(Astronomy/Biology/Psychological/Anthropology etc.—which field best disprove religion

Existence of a soul/existence after death:

Coping with death:

Belief prior to Atheism:

Relationship between religion and science:
Compatible? Mutually exclusive? Mutually beneficial?

Benefits of religion:
Necessary for mankind? Hindrance? More harm than good?

Morality and position of government:

Necessary requirements for belief in divinity:
(personal revelation, proof of irreducible complexity, confirmed miracle, testimony of trusted source)

Best evidence for evolution

Favorite Atheist site

Favorite evolution site

Favorite fundy site

[cuziamthecaptai]

Level of Atheism:
Strong Atheist

Religious belief system:
Materialism

Why are you here?
Sharpen my debating skills/kill time

State of ethics:
How/Why are humans ethical?
They evolved that way. Ethics/morality necessary for our collective survival

Key philosophical argument against God:
(Argument from evil/nonbelief/inconsistent revelation etc)
Evil/poor design/Occam's Razor/free will

Evidential argument against god:
(Astronomy/Biology/Psychological/Anthropology etc.—which field best disprove religion
Psychological and biological

Existence of a soul/existence after death:
It's certainly possible; I'll believe it when I see it.

Coping with death:
c'est la vie

Belief prior to Atheism:
Evangelical and then Jewish

Relationship between religion and science:
Compatible? Mutually exclusive? Mutually beneficial?
Mutually exclusive

Benefits of religion:
Necessary for mankind? Hindrance? More harm than good?
Hinderance-- usefull at the start; more harm than good in modern times

Morality and position of government:
Government should impose morality such that a person does not directly and explicitly harm another.

Necessary requirements for belief in divinity:
(personal revelation, proof of irreducible complexity, confirmed miracle, testimony of trusted source)
Personal revelation, confirmed miracle

Best evidence for evolution
Genetic Similarities/Error similarities

Favorite Atheist site
http://www.infidels.org/index.shtml

Favorite evolution site
http://www.ebonmusings.org/evolution/index.html

Favorite fundy site[/QUOTE]
http://objective.jesussave.us/

[joshaber]

Sorry to butt in, but it seems kind of odd that you have two evolution questions. Belief in evolution is hardly limited to atheists.

[Qingu]

Yeah, this is kind of weird. Isn't atheism, by definition, a lack of a particular kind of belief?

Nevertheless, I'll bite...

[Qingu]

Level of Atheism:
Strong atheist? I'm as certain that there aren't any deities (as described in our religions) as I'm certain there aren't fairies or unicorns. But maybe there's some type of extra-logical entity out there, or maybe the universe itself is equivocable to a god.

Religious belief system:
None...?

Why are you here?
Boredom.

"Here" as in alive ... who knows?

State of ethics:
They're evolved and are relative, but that doesn't mean we shoudln't have them and that we can't judge other people's codes of ethics (why would it?)

Key philosophical argument against God:
Not my forte. It also depends which God you're talking about.

Evidential argument against god:
For most religions (like Christianity), 1600s-era astronomy disproves their holy book which claims the existence of a god or God. There's plenty of other stuff but in the case of Christianity you don't really need to go much further than page 1 of the Bible.

Existence of a soul/existence after death:
Doubt it/doubt it.

Coping with death:
Neither fear nor seek death!

Belief prior to Atheism:
Half-assed Judaism

Relationship between religion and science:
Science and fundamentalist religion (taking your holy book literally) are mutually exclusive. But I've met many Christians who see creation as another "source" to learn about God, and there are many religious scientists.

Benefits of religion:
Depends on the religion. In many cases, it provides a counterweight to all-out materialism and helps many to be altruistic.

Morality and position of government:
Laws are simply morals that are enforced. In a democracy, if a majority wants to enforce a moral, them's the rules, and that moral is law. My ideal government stays the hell out of personal choices that do not affect others directly, like homosexuality and religious practice. My ideal government is also semi-socialist (I will soon be a Canadian).

Necessary requirements for belief in divinity:
Personal revelation or reputable miracle.

Best evidence for evolution
We've seen it happen.

Favorite Atheist site
www.thebricktestament.com

Favorite evolution site
Talkorigins (don't know of any others...)

Favorite fundy site[/QUOTE]
CGR!

Just kidding. Definitely Jack Chick.

[Danny]

Heh, this is just funny. Kind of a neat idea, though, I guess.

     Level of Atheism:
Moderate atheist/open-minded skeptic

     Religious belief system:
None? I get the feeling I'm not yet educated enough to be filling this out.

     Why are you here?
I've been here nearly three years and have only been an unbeliever for a few months of them. I've grown to love the community and don't intend on leaving anytime soon.

     State of ethics:
Morality is a lens through which each individual looks at the world and by which he determines his behavior. Universal "right" and "wrong" is a myth. Morality is, from an objective, universal standpoint, nothing more than an evolved survival mechanism.

     Key philosophical argument against God:
Depends what god you are talking about. If we're talking about the modern omnipotent, omniscient and omnibenevolent god of many popular religions today, the most glaring problem as I see it is that all three omni's are logical impossibilities.

     Evidential argument against god:
I don't think it's possible to evidentially disprove god. Why should supernatural matters be subject to natural evidence?

     Existence of a soul/existence after death:
I doubt I'm going to "go" anywhere but into the ground after I'm dead, but I remain opem-mindedly skeptical.

     Coping with death:
Certainly not an easy thing for me to do.

     Belief prior to Atheism:
See here. The short version: Devout Christianity.

     Relationship between religion and science:
I see no reason that religion and science must be inherently mutually exclusive. It depends on the religion in question and how one holds to it.

     Benefits of religion:
In the grand scheme of things, I don't see many. On a more individual level, it often inspires creativity and fosters hope.

     Morality and position of government:
The short (and loose/not very well thought out) version? I believe the government should only intervene in "moral" matters when it comes to someone doing harm to someone else. Furthermore, I think the current U.S. government's prison system and the idea of the government enacting "Justice" on criminals is nothing more than glorified revenge. I believe punishment should be traded for rehabilitation where applicable, and isolation where not (e.g., sociopathic serial killers). Economically, I think the vast majority of the population would benefit greatly from a shift away from Capitalism and toward Socialism.

     Necessary requirements for belief in divinity:
Significant empirical or otherwise rational evidence, or some sort of profound personal experience/revelation.

     Best evidence for evolution
The existence of domestic dogs, and vestiges like goosebumps and toes. I'm sure there are better ones, but I'm still learning, and those are two that have popped out at me.

     Favorite Atheist site
Don't have one.

     Favorite evolution site
TalkOrigins.

     Favorite fundy site
Qingu stole this one, but I promise I came up with it all on my own: CGR.

[SamR]

I can't understand how you can have levels of atheism (strong, weak etc) if you don't believe, you don't believe. That's like me asking how strongly you believe in apples. Also I'm afraid your finding out about life after death 'when you see it' will be a little late will it not?

[Danny]

Originally Posted by SamR

Also I'm afraid your finding out about life after death 'when you see it' will be a little late will it not?

Not much choice, is there? I'm certainly not going to spin a Wheel of Religions and pick the one I happen to land on in hope that it'll get me the most favorable afterlife on the off-chance that there is one and any of the world religions are right about it.

EDIT: If this thing's going to last, perhaps it would be better to split off-topic discussions like this into another thread?

[Dr. Worm]

I am literally shocked with amazement that no one has put www.av1611.org as their favorite fundy site.

[Danny]

Originally Posted by Dr. Worm

I am literally shocked with amazement that no one has put www.av1611.org as their favorite fundy site.

I COMPLETELY forgot about that site!

[+Donny]

How could you ever forget that site? Stupidheaddannycrapface, go evolve into something smarter, and with a better memory.

I have too much energy...

[paat]

I want to cover a song, so that my band gets on their list marking Christian bands who have done secular covers! Haha, that website rocks my socks off.

Pat D

[Longhorn26]

Originally Posted by Dr. Worm

I am literally shocked with amazement that no one has put www.av1611.org as their favorite fundy site.

you are telling me that the atheists have been to this site and none of them were converted instantly???

[cuziamthecaptai]

Originally Posted by SamR

I can't understand how you can have levels of atheism (strong, weak etc) if you don't believe, you don't believe. That's like me asking how strongly you believe in apples. Also I'm afraid your finding out about life after death 'when you see it' will be a little late will it not? .

There are different levels of atheism/agnosticism
Agnosticism: No way of knowing one way or another
Weak Atheism: No evidence of a God or Gods
Strong Atheism: Not only is there no evidence, but you can draw inferences that such a God or Gods don’t exist.
I’m a strong atheist because along with the lack of evidence in a God, I also believe there is evidence such a God can’t exist in the first place.

Originally Posted by Dr. Worm

I am literally shocked with amazement that no one has put www.av1611.org as their favorite fundy site.

Actually, I had meant to have ‘favorite fundy parody site’ a la landoverbaptist. My site is actually a parody site, though it doesn’t look that way on the suface.

Originally Posted by Danny

Not much choice, is there? I'm certainly not going to spin a Wheel of Religions and pick the one I happen to land on in hope that it'll get me the most favorable afterlife on the off-chance that there is one and any of the world religions are right about it.

EDIT: If this thing's going to last, perhaps it would be better to split off-topic discussions like this into another thread? .

Yeah, I guess if we could just limit this thread to resposne by atheists (and new ones if/when they show up) and keep the discussion to another thread. I’m sure the responses here will bring up plenty of discussion.

[Qingu]

Originally Posted by SamR

I can't understand how you can have levels of atheism (strong, weak etc) if you don't believe, you don't believe.

Yeah, it's confusing. Even with Cuziam's recent clarification, I've always seen the agnostic/atheist label reduce to a discussion about semantics. (What does it mean to "believe" something, and how strongly do you have to "doubt" to be an atheist instead of an agnostic?)

I've usually referred to people as atheists even if they refer to themselves as agnostic, mostly because I think calling someone who doesn't actively believe in God an agnostic is wasting the word "agnostic." I don't think you have to be 100% certain that there isn't a God to be an atheist--you can't even be 100% certain that your chair won't de-materialize the next time you sit in it. It doesn't mean you won't sit in your chair; and it doesn't mean you'll start going to church or praying.

I see an agnostic as someone who is genuinely on the fence, who still goes to church every now and then because he can't make up his mind about the existence of a particular deity. I also call people who think "maybe there is some universal force out there" atheists because it's clear they don't think this hypothetical force is going to be a specific deity.

Also I'm afraid your finding out about life after death 'when you see it' will be a little late will it not?

You know of a way to find out what happens when you die before you die? I'm all ears.