9 Questions That Atheists Might Find Insulting (And the Answers)

I saw this article today and wanted to share it. It states the case for Athesists very well.

Part of the first question:

1: "How can you be moral without believing in God?"

The answer: Atheists are moral for the same reasons believers are moral: because we have compassion, and a sense of justice. Humans are social animals, and like other social animals, we evolved with some core moral values wired into our brains: caring about fairness, caring about loyalty, caring when others are harmed.

If you're a religious believer, and you don't believe these are the same reasons that believers are moral, ask yourself this: If I could persuade you today, with 100% certainty, that there were no gods and no afterlife... would you suddenly start stealing and murdering and setting fire to buildings? And if not -- why not? If you wouldn't... whatever it is that would keep you from doing those things, that's the same thing keeping atheists from doing them. (And if you would -- remind me not to move in next door to you.)

I consider myself somewhere along the Atheist/Agnostic spectrum as I don't believe in a 'being' of some sort watching over us, telling us what to do, etc. And I certainly don't believe any one has the 'ear of god' any more than anyone else. Those things said it's funny how much I believe and practise principles that people call religious. I pray (not to a god per se but to my higher self or Life as a whole) for guidance and get some answers (whether from Life or my sub/un conscious it's hard to say) The practise is calming and helpful but doesn't presuppose a belief in a higher being.

I do get a bit tired of these questions and more, often from people who aren't really interested in the answer - their eyes just glaze over when I try to explain my concept of reality. Could be me - not the ideas, but still....

Here's the article, please give it a read.

www.alternet.org...

"If you don't believe in God or heaven, why don't you just kill yourself?"

If there is a heaven which is so much better than here, why dont they kill themselves?? Ahhh because they think they could be wrong lol!!! I find most people of religion are hypocrites, especially the ones who hold power and rape and fiddle with little boys.

reply to post by AmberLeaf


What an Ignorant response. "Believers" don't kill themselves because they believe it is wrong, and a sin, not because they are scared they might be wrong. Some of them might think they are wrong, but those individuals have a lack of faith.

Originally posted by RedBeardRay
reply to post by AmberLeaf

 

What an Ignorant response. "Believers" don't kill themselves because they believe it is wrong, and a sin, not because they are scared they might be wrong. Some of them might think they are wrong, but those individuals have a lack of faith.

Devout believers may not kill themselves, but most of them are just as scared of dying as the rest of us. I've always wondered why that was, if they know for a fact that a glorious heaven exists.

reply to post by RedBeardRay


Just being as ignorant as those with faith lol
Like we athiests should kill ourselves because we have nothing to live for, have no morals etc

Sins can be forgiven, touching kids doesnt stop priests going to heaven does it? As long as they repent, or say sorry. So, you could kill yourself and get into heaven.

Once you get saved you will go to heaven but you will pay for the sins you have done (if you dont ask for forgivness of your sins)

From some religious site, pretty much all of them state, you can sin all you want, but you have to ask the guy in the robe for forgiveness, and he will let you in regardless.

Originally posted by kaylaluv

Originally posted by RedBeardRay
reply to post by AmberLeaf

 

What an Ignorant response. "Believers" don't kill themselves because they believe it is wrong, and a sin, not because they are scared they might be wrong. Some of them might think they are wrong, but those individuals have a lack of faith.

Devout believers may not kill themselves, but most of them are just as scared of dying as the rest of us. I've always wondered why that was, if they know for a fact that a glorious heaven exists.

I too wonder about that point...If you are a dying christian, one would thing you would embrace your death with open arms and joy, after all you've said your "Hail Marie's", asked to be forgiven for your sins or just flat out asked Jesus to come into your life so you're off to the great Holiday Inn in the sky...Why would one sweat that?

People in general are afraid of death because we are so involved with this physical existence. And most do not wish this to end. We are invested in our lives, and so we are scared of death. I am not a "believer" but neither am I an "atheist"

The idea that an Atheist or a believer should kill themselves is stupid. Go ahead and do it if you want, but it's a selfish act, because you're affecting more people then just yourself. We need a lot more love and a lot less hate and ignorance, let people believe what they want and leave each other alone is what I say.

I don't know if touching kids and repenting will let someone get into heaven, I for one would not wish to spend eternity with those people. Of course I also think a belief in heaven and hell as most people describe it is pretty ignorant also.

There's one thing more annoying than Bible-thumping Christians...

Atheists!

I don't see why it would be insulting, I'd be a bit embarrassed for the person who was asking stupid questions like that in the first place.

Pretty good 101 on atheism overall. Simplistic questions, yet yes, most common questions by those whom have no concept of what an atheist is outside of some brainwashing garbage religious folks pass to one another.

Atheists would only be insulted by these questions if they weren't informed of the answers... but they should be informed, or take the time to be informed, because a lot of the answers help explain atheism and how it makes sense.

See, it could be insulting if, for example, you live in a heavily religious community and someone finds out that you are an atheist and pummels you with questions you aren't prepped for, trying to tear you down to their level.

Originally posted by pazcat
I don't see why it would be insulting, I'd be a bit embarrassed for the person who was asking stupid questions like that in the first place.

Depends on how its asked. Sometimes it is simply informative..a person truly wants to know because they haven't considered it much outside of how they were taught.

Originally posted by the_philth
There's one thing more annoying than Bible-thumping Christians...

Atheists!

edit on 5/15/2013 by the_philth because: (no reason given)

Oh, zing..you sure showed both sides of the coin on that one. har har har.

Originally posted by RedBeardRay
reply to post by AmberLeaf

 

What an Ignorant response. "Believers" don't kill themselves because they believe it is wrong, and a sin, not because they are scared they might be wrong. Some of them might think they are wrong, but those individuals have a lack of faith.

But is it wrong?

The story of Jesus goes that he knew full well he would be executed if he went to Jerusalem..not a potential chance..it was a go there and die 100% situation
So he went there.

Isn't that suicide?
Was It wrong?
Did Jesus lead by example?

Considering most religious folk claim to take their entire outlook on life, including morals and values, from a few dedicated sources, its not surprising how upset they are with non believers.

To me there is something about religion that is very depressing. It's almost self defeating.

Religion assumes that ALL humans are entirely incapable of governing themselves, without fear of some eternal damnation. It proposes that without having a set of rules, which the consequence for not following them is an eternity of pain and suffering, human society would fall apart.

It places absolutely no trust in the ability of human beings as a race to be better than our ancestors.

I have the same frustration with the "who built the pyramids" idea. When you say aliens did, that's a means to discredit the human spirit and resolve.

The same thing is occurring within religion. IMO anyway.

I'm an agnostic. I know there is something there, I don't pretend to know what it is, or what it wants or how it came to be. I try to live my life the best way I know how and hopefully make the world a little better than it was when I came to it.

Anything else is really an exercise and unrealistic goal setting.

~Tenth

reply to post by FyreByrd


I just find it extremely disturbing that "believers" would imply the only reason they don't steal kill rape etc..

Is from fear of their god.

I am not a believer, though I am not exactly a denier either, I don't know either way, some days I think it a possibility, others, I am convinced no loving all powerful being would create such a pile of # to force people to live in, then punish them beyond any rational level for ever for not being perfect in it.

Having said that, it just seems to me believers saying nonbelievers can't be moral without a fear of god, is the same as saying, people are all criminals without the law, this is not very smart to me....no sir, not very smart at all.

Originally posted by RedBeardRay
People in general are afraid of death because we are so involved with this physical existence. And most do not wish this to end. We are invested in our lives, and so we are scared of death. I am not a "believer" but neither am I an "atheist"

The idea that an Atheist or a believer should kill themselves is stupid. Go ahead and do it if you want, but it's a selfish act, because you're affecting more people then just yourself. We need a lot more love and a lot less hate and ignorance, let people believe what they want and leave each other alone is what I say.

I don't know if touching kids and repenting will let someone get into heaven, I for one would not wish to spend eternity with those people. Of course I also think a belief in heaven and hell as most people describe it is pretty ignorant also.

edit on 5/15/2013 by RedBeardRay because: spelling.

But they know they will be with their loved ones for eternity, the pain and suffering will be short lived...a test they may say. So why stay here and go through all the hardship of life? Many people who believe in religion talk about how they will be with their family, and how great it will be. So why be here now? If its so great why not take a shortcut, pass the sins on to Jesus (thats his job after all) and live an eternity without pain, suffering, sadness and everything else we have to suffer in this life?

Anyone can get into heaven

So how do people with sin, get into heaven, a place without sin?

We've already seen that doing enough good works won't get anyone into heaven. The only way for any of us to make it there, is if God takes away our sin. We can't do that ourselves. But if God comes up with a plan to remove our sin, then we're fully qualified to go to heaven.
The only way that we can have our sin taken away is if it's transferred to someone else. If you have the debt of a house mortgage, you only become debt-free when your debt is transferred to someone else. If you pay off your home loan, you transfer your debt to the bank, and you become debt-free. If you sell your home to someone else, the proceeds of the sale enable you to pay back the money you owe to the bank.
Again, you become debt-free. When your sin is transferred to someone else, you become sin-free.

The Plan

God offers us this plan: if we trust that he alone has the solution to this problem, then he will transfer our sin onto his son Jesus. Jesus is in effect a substitute in our place. Jesus qualifies for this job for three reasons: Jesus is completely human, just like us. In any substitution, the substitute needs to be of the same kind. Jesus is completely God. He has committed no sin of his own. Because he has no sin of his own to worry about, he can take the sin of others. Jesus is an infinite Person. This is important, because it means he can have the sin of any number of people transferred onto him. If you had never sinned, you would still only be able to substitute for one other person. But Jesus can substitute for everyone. All God asks is that we accept that no amount of good works can ever get us into heaven. If we come to that point, then we can accept his offer to transfer our sin to Jesus. Once our sin is transferred to Him, our standing before God is "sin-free". It's a legal transfer. God declares that legally, we are in right standing before him. There is no longer anything preventing us from getting to heaven.

Originally posted by tothetenthpower
Religion assumes that ALL humans are entirely incapable of governing themselves, without fear of some eternal damnation. It proposes that without having a set of rules, which the consequence for not following them is an eternity of pain and suffering, human society would fall apart.

Perhaps overall we are though as a species (not a individual. a individual may develop principles).

But if you consider it. As kids we have adults (parents, etc) that control our reactions
As adults, we have laws
But laws aren't enough to control our very thoughts or things done outside of view..so, we have then gods that watch us when nobody is around, and even hear our thoughts.

Its all about control. Not all control however is necessarily bad. Without laws, many of us could be fine, but overall the place would be a disaster for those whom didn't respect others individuals. Society may require gods also for the same reason..where the laws can't be enforced, a personal invisible police officer watching you may be enough to keep an otherwise unstable person on the straight and narrow.

As an atheist, I do see the need in religion to keep the Neanderthals under mind control until a more elegant solution is devised.

reply to post by SaturnFX



Interesting questions that you ask. Of course I am sure that you realize that the bible was written in such a way to control peoples religious opinions, and fact was largely replaced by something else.

However your points are valid. Since suicide is the act of intentionally causing ones own death, then yes, the Jesus of the Bible committed suicide.

Was it wrong? Who are we to make that judgement, it may be wrong, it may be right, but only Jesus can make that judgement.

Did he lead by example? Yes he did, he turned the other cheek, he loved his neighbors, he even loved the people who killed him "Forgive them for they know not what they do". But was suicide his message, that people who "believe" in him should do the same as he, and cause their own deaths I doubt it.

reply to post by FyreByrd


Interesting answer. I haven't gone through the whole thread, but here's my take on it.

The question of "why are you moral if you don't believe in God" presupposes a lot and actually, I think it's a pretty weak question to begin with.

I'm a Christian, so let me throw that out there first. I didn't grow up Christian, thought Christianity was a crock of poo for most of my life until I actually began to investigate it's claims.

The question is NOT why are you still moral if you don't believe in God. It's much deeper than that.

So let's say this "raping and torturing babies for entertainment and fun". Most people would suggest that under no circumstances would that be "right." But, if you are of the elk of atheistic thinkers, then morality is relative to culture/society and the individual, and so if another culture declared that "raping and torturing babies for entertainment and fun" is an acceptable practice, then to them, it's acceptable and considered "right." That's moral relativity for you.

But let's dig in deeper. When it comes to choices, we live in a closed system. We either do something, or we don't. I'm speaking in general terms here. Even if there are 5 choices in front of you, the bottom line is that you will choose to act upon one decision. We are rational beings right? But isn't it strange how we can talk ourselves into doing something believing it's the "right" thing to do at the time, and then look back and realize how wrong it was? Ever had that happen?

That tells us a couple of things. One, that our own judgment is not always sound. Two, there has to be an objective moral values that are independent to any individual/culture/nation that humanity shares.

Now I think most people will agree with me on the first point. But the second, some agree, some don't. You can posit that there is objective moral values without positing God. But here is where you might start losing ground.

If morality is purely relative as some suggest, then there is no true sense of right and wrong, just preference. You can't blame anyone for doing "bad" because it's just their perspective, their relative state of mind. If there is an objective right and wrong, then we know that there is a moral law, in that there is a capacity to make a decision of right and wrong. If there is a moral law, there has to be a law giver. But here's where people don't like to go.

If there is no moral law giver, then there are no moral laws. If there are no moral laws, then right and wrong are mere perspectives. If right and wrong are just perspectives, then they are simply illusory qualities that only exist in the individual. Right and wrong become meaningless.

So atheists...the question is:

How do you operate as an agent of morals when right and wrong are only relative to your own perspective? In other words, how do you know that your "right" is really "right" or your "wrong" is really "wrong"?