Questions for both sides.

[Justcurious]

Atheists: I have three questions.
1. Is there an organized group of atheists that has a global presence?
2. For what reason do you go about and try to disprove the beliefs of the theists?
3. Isn't the belief/knowledge that there is without a doubt no God/gods also faith based? ( I don't just mean the Christian God, but the existence of higher beings in general, and please don't bring up the stupid flying spaghetti monster argument).

Christians:
1. How can there be a God who knows everything, loves everyone, and is all powerful yet still allows people to hell.
2. If any of the three descriptions of God I mentioned are false, can you give me Biblical references?
3. Are there any new testament Biblical references that are anti-gay besides the ones found in Paul's letters?

Actual attempts at answers instead of the stereotypical back and forth bickering please and thank you.

[paulpablo]

Atheists: I have three questions.
1. Is there an organized group of atheists that has a global presence?
2. For what reason do you go about and try to disprove the beliefs of the theists?
3. Isn't the belief/knowledge that there is without a doubt no God/gods also faith based? ( I don't just mean the Christian God, but the existence of higher beings in general, and please don't bring up the stupid flying spaghetti monster argument).

1 yes
2 i only go about trying to disprove the beliefs of the theists that are bullshit on several levels for logical reasons, i dont go trying to disprove the existence of god because its impossible
3 You asked 2 questions in one, if somone knows without a doubt theres no god then thats knowledge based information.
4 If somone belives theres no god without a doubt then it depends on the basis of that belief as to wether its based on faith, evidence, or lack of evidence.

[Esquilax]

I'll hit up the atheist side, as appropriate:

1: Not that I know of. Maybe. Kinda doubting it, but maybe.

2: Can't speak for everyone, but for me, it's because people are letting these fantasies affect their dealings with real life issues. Religious beliefs are often poisonous things, turning even otherwise good people toward hatred just because it's in a book that any rational mind can see is full of crap. That, and it's just an interesting thing to think about.

3: Once again, I can't speak for every atheist, but from the looks of it you're thinking of anti-theism, with this one. For my part, my atheism is simply based around the idea that the religious haven't been able to sufficiently prove that their god or gods exist, and that faith is no good reason to believe anything. You'll find that the beliefs of most atheists are contingent on the facts, not on the beliefs themselves; the moment ANY god is conclusively proven to exist is the moment we'll believe that he does. To do so before that is simply irrational. There's no faith involved.

But you'd better not denigrate the FSM again, dude.

Oh, and I think you're likely to get some... interesting responses to question one on your christian side, too. Be prepared

[Ryantology]

1. Is there an organized group of atheists that has a global presence?

Not that I know of.

2. For what reason do you go about and try to disprove the beliefs of the theists?

I don't attempt to disprove them so much as I attempt to demonstrate their absurdity. I do this mostly for the fun of it; I have no delusions that it will make an ultimate difference in the big picture. However, I became an atheist in part because I witnessed other atheists make arguments against my former faith that could not be refuted. I like to think that it can happen to other people. I am antipathetic to the dominant religions and I want to see their influence in the world evaporate.

3. Isn't the belief/knowledge that there is without a doubt no God/gods also faith based? ( I don't just mean the Christian God, but the existence of higher beings in general, and please don't bring up the stupid flying spaghetti monster argument).

Yes, but not all faith is equal. I have no doubt about there no being any gods because the likelihood of any gods existing is vanishingly small. It is the tiniest possible leap of faith to say "there is no god" when not the tiniest shred of credible evidence exists to indicate that any god does exist.

Having faith in any God requires a huge assumption all by itself, and requires a huge number of huge assumptions if your faith conforms to any particular dogma.

Basically, it is sort of like this: A theist has faith that they will win every lottery in the world every single day until they die (and this is me giving ridiculously generous odds for comparison's sake). An atheist has faith that this is not going to happen, even though it is not technically impossible.

[Darth]

Esquilax it seems you're confusing anti-theism (opposition to religions and/or belief in god/s) with negative/weak atheism.

What you describe, that's essentially weak/negative/agnostic atheism*. What the OP describes would be positive/gnostic atheism*. Anti-theism is something else entirely (and it's not actually incompatable with theism, you can believe there is a god, that that god is an asshole, and it would be best if nobody worshiped the monster, these beliefs would make you an anti-theistic theist).


*no they arent all the same thing either, each of the descriptions by you and the OP seems to me to be a combination of those...

[LastPoet]

Atheists: I have three questions.
1. Is there an organized group of atheists that has a global presence?
2. For what reason do you go about and try to disprove the beliefs of the theists?
3. Isn't the belief/knowledge that there is without a doubt no God/gods also faith based? ( I don't just mean the Christian God, but the existence of higher beings in general, and please don't bring up the stupid flying spaghetti monster argument).

1. Not that I know of.

2. I don't go about that either. In real life that may arise on people talking to me and saying something based on their god like in abortion debates & LGBT rights. Then I have to pounce. Out here, we'll just talk about it with our theist members, just to keep the sharks fed

3. I believe in boobs, they do so much for the world. There might be superior beings, who knows? Untill they show up I remain skeptical about it.

Oh, and

[Cinjin]

Atheists: I have three questions.
1. Is there an organized group of atheists that has a global presence?
2. For what reason do you go about and try to disprove the beliefs of the theists?
3. Isn't the belief/knowledge that there is without a doubt no God/gods also faith based? ( I don't just mean the Christian God, but the existence of higher beings in general, and please don't bring up the stupid flying spaghetti monster argument).

1. I suppose. There's also an organized group of professional soccer players -- Doesn't make them a religion.
2. I don't. I make fun of their god and poke holes in their idiocy. Spending time trying to disprove something that can't be proven is futile.
3. No ... and please don't tell any of us what arguments we are and are not allowed to use, and I will do the same for you.

Christians:
1. How can there be a God who knows everything, loves everyone, and is all powerful yet still allows people to hell.
2. If any of the three descriptions of God I mentioned are false, can you give me Biblical references?
3. Are there any new testament Biblical references that are anti-gay besides the ones found in Paul's letters?

Actual attempts at answers instead of the stereotypical back and forth bickering please and thank you.

1. People are gullible.
2. Why? The Bible has no more authority than Aesop's Fables. Allow me to reference Mother Goose if you have spiritual questions.
3. The Bible hates gays man. Sorry, it's a fact. Toss it out and live your life.

[fr0d0]

Christians:
1. How can there be a God who knows everything, loves everyone, and is all powerful yet still allows people to hell.
2. If any of the three descriptions of God I mentioned are false, can you give me Biblical references?
3. Are there any new testament Biblical references that are anti-gay besides the ones found in Paul's letters?

1. Hell isn't the final destination
2. N/A
3. Don't think so

[Cephus]

Atheists: I have three questions.
1. Is there an organized group of atheists that has a global presence?
2. For what reason do you go about and try to disprove the beliefs of the theists?
3. Isn't the belief/knowledge that there is without a doubt no God/gods also faith based? ( I don't just mean the Christian God, but the existence of higher beings in general, and please don't bring up the stupid flying spaghetti monster argument).

1. Nope, nor should there be. Atheism is the answer to a single question: do you believe in a god? There is nothing else to it, that means there is nothing to organize a group around.

2. Because they, as a group, attempt to shove their beliefs down my throat and the throat of society. Their beliefs are harmful to rationality. They've earned it.

3. Virtually nobody makes that claim so the question is moot.

[Edwardo Piet]

The FSM (Flying Spaghetti Monster) argument is actually an excellent argument for doing what is actually supposed to do: Showing that being unable to completely logically absolutely prove the nonexistence of an unfalsifiable entity, whatever it is, be it a deity or not, is a weakness and not a strength and that theists often have the burden of proof backwards and think that it is actually a strength that they have no evidence for something that at least seems completely empirically and rationally undetectable.

Of course, I'm not denying that the FSM argument may be often misused, misunderstood, etc.