Let's answer CARM's Questions for Atheists

[Dolorian]

CARM has a list of questions for atheists in their website. I found it a nice exercise to go ahead and answer them and I think it would be nice if people here post their answers as well, I think it will be good to see each other's points of views on these things, maybe discuss about them, etc. Here are the questions:

1. How would you define atheism?
2. Do you act according to what you believe (there is no God) in or what you don't believe in (lack belief in God)?
3. Do you think it is inconsistent for someone who "lacks belief" in God to work against God's existence by attempting to show that God doesn't exist?
4. How sure are you that your atheism properly represents reality?
5. How sure are you that your atheism is correct?
6. How would you define what truth is?
7. Why do you believe your atheism is a justifiable position to hold?
8. Are you a materialist or a physicalist or what?
9. Do you affirm or deny that atheism is a worldview? Why or why not?
10. Not all atheists are antagonistic to Christianity but for those of you who are, why the antagonism?
11. If you were at one time a believer in the Christian God, what caused you to deny his existence?
12. Do you believe the world would be better off without religion?
13. Do you believe the world would be better off without Christianity?
14. Do you believe that faith in a God or gods is a mental disorder?
15. Must God be known through the scientific method?
16. If you answered yes to the previous question, then how do you avoid a category mistake by requiring material evidence for an immaterial God?
17. Do we have any purpose as human beings?
18. If we do have purpose, can you as an atheist please explain how that purpose is determined?
19. Where does morality come from?
20. Are there moral absolutes?
21. If there are moral absolutes, could you list a few of them?
22. Do you believe there is such a thing as evil? If so, what is it?
23. If you believe that the God of the Old Testament is morally bad, by what standard do you judge that he is bad?
24. What would it take for you to believe in God?
25. What would constitute sufficient evidence for God’s existence?
26. Must this evidence be rationally based, archaeological, testable in a lab, etc., or what?
27. Do you think that a society that is run by Christians or atheists would be safer? Why?
28. Do you believe in free will? (free will being the ability to make choices without coercion).
29. If you believe in free will, do you see any problem with defending the idea that the physical brain, which is limited and subject to the neuro-chemical laws of the brain, can still produce free will choices?
30. If you affirm evolution and that the universe will continue to expand forever, then do you think it is probable that given enough time, brains would evolve to the point of exceeding mere physical limitations and become free of the physical and temporal and thereby become "deity" and not be restricted by space and time? If not, why not?
31. If you answered the previous question in the affirmative, then aren't you saying that it is probable that some sort of God exists?

---

My answers...

1. How would you define atheism?
As a lack of belief in gods.

2. Do you act according to what you believe (there is no God) in or what you don't believe in (lack belief in God)?
No.

3. Do you think it is inconsistent for someone who "lacks belief" in God to work against God's existence by attempting to show that God doesn't exist?
No. People who believe in God act on said belief and often seek to impose their beliefs on others. Opposing their belief in God doesn't makes one inconsistent. I don't believe God is real, but believers certainly are as is their impact on society and others.

4. How sure are you that your atheism properly represents reality?
5. How sure are you that your atheism is correct?
These two questions are basically the same. I think there is a high probability that atheism is correct.

6. How would you define what truth is?
Truth is that which conforms with reality.

7. Why do you believe your atheism is a justifiable position to hold?
Because of the lack of evidence to support the contrary.

8. Are you a materialist or a physicalist or what?
I'm a naturalist. I think the terms materialist and physicalist are often confused and misused by Christians.

9. Do you affirm or deny that atheism is a worldview? Why or why not?
No, atheism is as much a worldview as theism is, meaning...it is no worldview at all. However, atheism can be an aspect of some particular worldview (ie. naturalism).

10. Not all atheists are antagonistic to Christianity but for those of you who are, why the antagonism?
It would depend on what is meant by "Christianity" given that it is a rather nebulous term. There are over 40,000 denominations and each has their own set of beliefs. I can say I am antagonistic to certain attitudes and views expressed by some Christian groups such as opposition to secular and humanist principles, eroding scientific education (ie. opposition to evolution), etc.

11. If you were at one time a believer in the Christian God, what caused you to deny his existence?
A lack of correspondence between reality and the beliefs I was holding unto by faith. I also stopped seeing faith as a virtue.

12. Do you believe the world would be better off without religion?
Not necessarily.

13. Do you believe the world would be better off without Christianity?
Given that Christianity is so broad and diverse it is hard to pass judgment on all of it to answer this question. But I think that groups that are into what I mentioned in question number 10 above we would definitely be better off without.

14. Do you believe that faith in a God or gods is a mental disorder?
No, I just think it is a mistaken position to hold.

15. Must God be known through the scientific method?
How would we know God is there to begin with? If he exists and, as the Christian faith holds, intervenes in nature then his effects within it would most definitely be accessible to the scientific method. Not that this is the only means by which he must necessarily be known, he could, after all reveal himself to me, offer some kind of sign which is not repeatable in the way the scientific method demands, or something along those lines.

16. If you answered yes to the previous question, then how do you avoid a category mistake by requiring material evidence for an immaterial God?
Not applicable.

17. Do we have any purpose as human beings?
Not some grand purpose imposed upon us, rather we each create our own purpose.

18. If we do have purpose, can you as an atheist please explain how that purpose is determined?
Per the above, we each make our own purpose and find our own meaning in life.

19. Where does morality come from?
Morality is a human invention grounded in our survival instinct, sense of empathy and desire to form relationships.

20. Are there moral absolutes?
I wouldn't call them "absolutes", but rather principles that are inherently beneficial to us as a species if we abide by them.

21. If there are moral absolutes, could you list a few of them?
A core function of morality being to ease the challenges of coexistence; principles such as prohibiting needless harm and minimizing conflict would be two of them.

22. Do you believe there is such a thing as evil? If so, what is it?
Depends on what is meant by the word. I believe there are actions which are harmful and end up having a negative impact on individuals and society, these I would term evil.

23. If you believe that the God of the Old Testament is morally bad, by what standard do you judge that he is bad?
By the standard outlined above. He causes both needless harm and increases conflict. He seems to be aware of this since, he regretted flooding the world, after all.

24. What would it take for you to believe in God?
Already answered in question number 15 above.

25. What would constitute sufficient evidence for God’s existence?
26. Must this evidence be rationally based, archaeological, testable in a lab, etc., or what?
Again, two questions which are basically the same. For evidence, how about some of the things God was willing to do before as recorded in the Old Testament but apparently is unable to do now?

27. Do you think that a society that is run by Christians or atheists would be safer? Why?
If we are talking about a society grounded on secular and humanistic principles, which upholds both the separation of church and state as well the freedom both of and from religion, I don't think it should matter much who it is run by.

28. Do you believe in free will? (free will being the ability to make choices without coercion).
Not the libertarian kind of free will that this question obviously has in mind.

29. If you believe in free will, do you see any problem with defending the idea that the physical brain, which is limited and subject to the neuro-chemical laws of the brain, can still produce free will choices?
Again this question assumes that free will must necessarily be libertarian in nature.

30. If you affirm evolution and that the universe will continue to expand forever, then do you think it is probable that given enough time, brains would evolve to the point of exceeding mere physical limitations and become free of the physical and temporal and thereby become "deity" and not be restricted by space and time? If not, why not?
Frankly, I find this question nonsensical.

31. If you answered the previous question in the affirmative, then aren't you saying that it is probable that some sort of God exists?
Not applicable.

[Esquilax]

1. How would you define atheism?: A lack of belief in god claims.
2. Do you act according to what you believe (there is no God) in or what you don't believe in (lack belief in God)?: The latter. I have no particular reason to believe anything about a god, for or against.
3. Do you think it is inconsistent for someone who "lacks belief" in God to work against God's existence by attempting to show that God doesn't exist?: No. Personally, I just enjoy dismantling poor argumentation, and it so happens that theists provide a target rich environment when they try to prove that their god exists. All I'd need to find is a single argument for god's existence that isn't poor, and I wouldn't "work against" that one: it's the quality of the claim I object to, not its content.
4. How sure are you that your atheism properly represents reality?: Without any evidence that a god exists in our reality, what would move me to consider that atheism doesn't map to reality?
5. How sure are you that your atheism is correct?: Lack of evidence for a god. That is sufficient.
6. How would you define what truth is?: That which best corresponds with objective reality.
7. Why do you believe your atheism is a justifiable position to hold?: Isn't this just a rehash of question five?
8. Are you a materialist or a physicalist or what?: What. Definitely what.
9. Do you affirm or deny that atheism is a worldview? Why or why not?: Deny. It is a position on a single claim, a component of a worldview. Beyond that, an atheist can believe in pretty much anything.
10. Not all atheists are antagonistic to Christianity but for those of you who are, why the antagonism?: Because the followers of that religion are being harmful to the world that I live in, and the justifications they give for their actions are woeful.
11. If you were at one time a believer in the Christian God, what caused you to deny his existence?: Nope.
12. Do you believe the world would be better off without religion?: Yep.
13. Do you believe the world would be better off without Christianity?: Yep.
14. Do you believe that faith in a God or gods is a mental disorder?: No, just a poor intellectual choice.
15. Must God be known through the scientific method?: Depends on your god.
16. If you answered yes to the previous question, then how do you avoid a category mistake by requiring material evidence for an immaterial God?: Easy. It's not my problem if you're desperate to turn your god into an unjustifiable, unfalsifiable position. If you want to do that, then I won't bother committing a category error, I'll just dismiss the belief out of hand until you can demonstrate the existence of the immaterial, and that god belongs in that set. If you want to play with the grown ups, that's the sort of evidence you need to provide.
17. Do we have any purpose as human beings?: Survival, I guess. I mean, the ones that don't follow that purpose are probably dead.
18. If we do have purpose, can you as an atheist please explain how that purpose is determined?: Dead people can't have purpose. Aside from rotting.
19. Where does morality come from?: The needs and desires of thinking agents within the group structure they evolved into, measured against objective reality and subject to testing.
20. Are there moral absolutes?: No, but there's an objective reality that serves as the yardstick by which subjective moral claims can be measured for accuracy and worth.
21. If there are moral absolutes, could you list a few of them?: No.
22. Do you believe there is such a thing as evil? If so, what is it?: There are evil actions, defined as harmful actions performed with no benefit other than to the actor himself.
23. If you believe that the God of the Old Testament is morally bad, by what standard do you judge that he is bad?: Yes, and by the morality detailed in question 19.
24. What would it take for you to believe in God?: Objectively verifiable evidence that points specifically to a god.
25. What would constitute sufficient evidence for God’s existence?: Think about what it would take to demonstrate the existence of your pet dog. That, but for god. It's actually an extremely low barrier of entry.
26. Must this evidence be rationally based, archaeological, testable in a lab, etc., or what?: What, again.
27. Do you think that a society that is run by Christians or atheists would be safer? Why?: Atheists. No exhortation to kill anybody in any of the atheist's moral systems.
28. Do you believe in free will? (free will being the ability to make choices without coercion). : Yeah, I guess.
29. If you believe in free will, do you see any problem with defending the idea that the physical brain, which is limited and subject to the neuro-chemical laws of the brain, can still produce free will choices?: No problem at all. Material components in specific arrangements can often do things the individual components cannot do on their own.
30. If you affirm evolution and that the universe will continue to expand forever, then do you think it is probable that given enough time, brains would evolve to the point of exceeding mere physical limitations and become free of the physical and temporal and thereby become "deity" and not be restricted by space and time? If not, why not? : I don't care.
31. If you answered the previous question in the affirmative, then aren't you saying that it is probable that some sort of God exists?: Not your god, you sneaky shit.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

1. Lack of belief in gods.

2.The question is poorly constructed. I act according to the dictates of my conscience, my needs, and the needs of other people. Gods are not part of the equation.

3. No.

4. 100%.

5. 100%

6. Truth is that which exists irrespective of whether or not you believe in it.

7. Because it is true - I lack belief in all gods. Any other position would be hypocritical.

8. Materialist.

9. Affirm. Because it is how I view the world. duh.

10. Because of the great, almost incalculable harm done to my species by Christians and Christianity. This is true for religions in general.

11. N/A.

12. Yes.

13. Yes.

14. Yes.

15. Incoherent question.

16. N/A.

17. Yes.

18. See my answer to #2, above.

19. From the need of people to live together without slitting each other's throats. Morality consists of the common, but not universal conventions which we have (rather painstakingly) evolved over time in order to get on with one another.

20. No.

21. N/A.

22. Yes. Evil consists of (and only of) harming another person unnecessarily.

23. Mine. No other standard is possible.

24. 1) Evidence or 2) irrefutable argument.

25. Any event or occurrence which can have no other possible explanation than 'Goddidit'.

26. Yes.

27. False dichotomy, but atheists.

28. No.

29. N/A.

30. N/A.

31. N/A.

I don't generally take silly quizzes like this, but what the hell? It's raining and getting cold out...

Boru

[Dolorian]

31. If you answered the previous question in the affirmative, then aren't you saying that it is probable that some sort of God exists?: Not your god, you sneaky shit.

Hehe, yeah they are quite sneaky with these loaded/trick questions

[ShaMan]

31. If you answered the previous question in the affirmative, then aren't you saying that it is probable that some sort of God exists?: Not your god, you sneaky shit.

Hehe, yeah they are quite sneaky with these loaded/trick questions

Hehe, yeah they think they are quite sneaky with these loaded/trick questions
(added two words)

[Fidel_Castronaut]

The entirety of that 'quiz' is loaded. Presupposing the Christian god, for example.

I suspect that they are not being truthful with the purpose of their quiz.

[Dolorian]

The entirety of that 'quiz' is loaded. Presupposing the Christian god, for example.

I suspect that they are not being truthful with the purpose of their quiz.

Yeah, we all know the whole thing is a poor attempt at a setup. Just fill it up for the fun of it :p

[Jenny A]

1. How would you define atheism?
Lack of belief in any god or gods.

2. Do you act according to what you believe (there is no God) in or what you don't believe in (lack belief in God)?

It's not so much that I act according to a lack of belief than that I don't act in accordance with a belief in a god or gods.

3. Do you think it is inconsistent for someone who "lacks belief" in God to work against God's existence by attempting to show that God doesn't exist?

Um no? Really. I can try to demonstrate that belief in Nessy is preposterous while not believing in Nessy. The idea of god is no different. More to the point most believers in one god or another see no problem with attempting to show the lack of existence of other gods.

4. How sure are you that your atheism properly represents reality?

99.9999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999%

5. How sure are you that your atheism is correct?

99.9999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999%

That was really just the same question twice.

6. How would you define what truth is?

I wouldn't. Demonstrable truth is verifiable truth.

7. Why do you believe your atheism is a justifiable position to hold?

Because belief in a god is unjustifiable either rationally or empirically.

8. Are you a materialist or a physicalist or what?

That's irrelavent to the question of atheism.

9. Do you affirm or deny that atheism is a worldview? Why or why not?

Atheism is not a word view. It is a single issue.

10. Not all atheists are antagonistic to Christianity but for those of you who are, why the antagonism?

I am antogonistic the Christianity and other religions when they attempt to impose an immoral, historically inaccurate, or scientifically inaccurate opinion on the rest of the population based on religion.

11. If you were at one time a believer in the Christian God, what caused you to deny his existence?

I never really believed in the Christian god. Why not. Because there is no real evidence of it whatsoever.

12. Do you believe the world would be better off without religion?

Yes.

13. Do you believe the world would be better off without Christianity?

Yes.

14. Do you believe that faith in a God or gods is a mental disorder?

No necessarily, but it can be.

15. Must God be known through the scientific method?

Not necessarily, but some evidence should be supplied for belief in anything.

16. If you answered yes to the previous question, then how do you avoid a category mistake by requiring material evidence for an immaterial God?

That isn't a mistake because those claiming a god almost invariably claim that god has a material effect on the world. So far none has been demonstrated.


17. Do we have any purpose as human beings?

Only that which we supply ourselves.

18. If we do have purpose, can you as an atheist please explain how that purpose is determined?

By myself.

19. Where does morality come from?

Rational thought and evolution.

20. Are there moral absolutes?

No, but there is broad moral agreement about a number of things.

21. If there are moral absolutes, could you list a few of them?

See above.

22. Do you believe there is such a thing as evil? If so, what is it?

Yes. Acting for the purpose of causing pain and suffering to others, treating people as things, or consistently acting in contradiction to generally accepted moral principles.

23. If you believe that the God of the Old Testament is morally bad, by what standard do you judge that he is bad?

See above. The God of the Old Testament treats people as things, acts for the purpose of causing pain and suffering to innocents, and acts contrary to generally accepted moral principles.

24. What would it take for you to believe in God?

Enough evidence to make god more probable than not.

25. What would constitute sufficient evidence for God’s existence?

Good question. Could we make predictions about the future based on the existence of god? Are there any predictions beyond the level of horoscopes made by god that have come true. Either would be handy.

26. Must this evidence be rationally based, archaeological, testable in a lab, etc., or what?

Any of the above would be useful.

27. Do you think that a society that is run by Christians or atheists would be safer? Why?

Atheists. Societies that have a greater number of atheist and/or are more secular currently are better societies in that they have less crime and are more prosperous on average. The U.S. is an exception, but within the U.S. more secular states are better than bible belt states.

28. Do you believe in free will? (free will being the ability to make choices without coercion).

Not really an atheist versus god question but while I'm not sure that free will exists I act as if it does.

29. If you believe in free will, do you see any problem with defending the idea that the physical brain, which is limited and subject to the neuro-chemical laws of the brain, can still produce free will choices?

Yes, I do see a problem with that. See above.

30. If you affirm evolution and that the universe will continue to expand forever, then do you think it is probable that given enough time, brains would evolve to the point of exceeding mere physical limitations and become free of the physical and temporal and thereby become "deity" and not be restricted by space and time? If not, why not?

No. I don't know what you think the expanding universe has to do with the question, but brains are very physical objects and there is no reason to suspect that given enough time they will cease to be so.

31. If you answered the previous question in the affirmative, then aren't you saying that it is probable that some sort of God exists?

Well no.
[/quote]

[fr0d0]

[15. Must God be known through the scientific method?: Depends on your god.
16. If you answered yes to the previous question, then how do you avoid a category mistake by requiring material evidence for an immaterial God?: Easy. It's not my problem if you're desperate to turn your god into an unjustifiable, unfalsifiable position. If you want to do that, then I won't bother committing a category error, I'll just dismiss the belief out of hand until you can demonstrate the existence of the immaterial, and that god belongs in that set. If you want to play with the grown ups, that's the sort of evidence you need to provide.

They got you there


I love these. We should make it an online questionnaire with a prescription at the end.

[Darkstar]

1. How would you define atheism?
I would define atheism as non-belief in god, that is, a-theism. Anyone who does not believe in any gods (irrespective of whether or not they positively believe said gods are imaginary) is an atheist.
2. Do you act according to what you believe (there is no God) in or what you don't believe in (lack belief in God)?
I'm not sure that I understand the question. I don't act any differently as an atheist than I did before...other than posting on this forum and watching atheist videos on Youtube, that is.
3. Do you think it is inconsistent for someone who "lacks belief" in God to work against God's existence by attempting to show that God doesn't exist?
No, why would it be?
4. How sure are you that your atheism properly represents reality?
Reasonably sure.
5. How sure are you that your atheism is correct?
Beyond a reasonable doubt.
6. How would you define what truth is?
I'm not a dictionary. Is there a point to this question?
7. Why do you believe your atheism is a justifiable position to hold?
The is insufficient evidence to demonstrate the existence of any gods, therefore the fallback default position is atheism.
8. Are you a materialist or a physicalist or what?
Energy is 'non-physical' from s certain perspective. Regardless, if something cannot be detected in any way, it may as well not exist. If we cannot detect something or even its effect on what we can detect, then even if it did exist, such existence would be inconsequential.
9. Do you affirm or deny that atheism is a worldview? Why or why not?
Depends on how broadly you are willing to define worldview. Is non-belief in unicorns a worldview?
10. Not all atheists are antagonistic to Christianity but for those of you who are, why the antagonism?
Christians are often antagonistic towards atheism, up to and including trying to legislate their religion.
11. If you were at one time a believer in the Christian God, what caused you to deny his existence?
Common sense; I would have been an atheist earlier if I had put any thought into it, but I didn't. Ironically, my original apathy toward religion helped me hold onto theism longer than I otherwise would have!
12. Do you believe the world would be better off without religion?
Maybe. Of course, there are many widely differing religions, and there are good and bad parts within different religions. It is impossible to answer this question with certainty without knowing what possible religions could exist. Also, the existence of a-theistic religions further confounds things.
13. Do you believe the world would be better off without Christianity?
Maybe. If people only cherry picked out the good bits and didn't treat people who disagreed with them badly, then probably not. But would it still be Christianity, then?
14. Do you believe that faith in a God or gods is a mental disorder?
No.
15. Must God be known through the scientific method?
What other verifiable method of gaining knowledge do we have? In short, yes.
16. If you answered yes to the previous question, then how do you avoid a category mistake by requiring material evidence for an immaterial God?
What do you mean by "immaterial"? Is energy immaterial? Can he be detected in any reliable way? We can test for that. He can't be detected in any reliable way? Might as well not exist.
17. Do we have any purpose as human beings?
Any magical god given pre-determined objective meaning to our lives? No. That doesn't mean there aren't good reasons to make up our own meaning.
18. If we do have purpose, can you as an atheist please explain how that purpose is determined?
No objective purpose, so...it's complicated.
19. Where does morality come from?
Empathy, largely.
20. Are there moral absolutes?
Maybe, but only on the most basic levels. For example, there is no moral absolute against killing since it can be justified in self-defense. It is too complex of a topic to explain in-depth here.
21. If there are moral absolutes, could you list a few of them?
N/A
22. Do you believe there is such a thing as evil? If so, what is it?
I suppose 'evil' could be most approximated by actions that display a complete lack of empathy and/or guilt for misdoings.
23. If you believe that the God of the Old Testament is morally bad, by what standard do you judge that he is bad?
My own morals; they're as good as anybody's.
24. What would it take for you to believe in God?
I don't know, but if god exists and is all-knowing, then he does. And if he is all powerful he could easily arrange a means for me to find out without infringing on my will in any way.
25. What would constitute sufficient evidence for God’s existence?
See above.
26. Must this evidence be rationally based, archaeological, testable in a lab, etc., or what?
If god really wanted us to know about him, we would. Showing that a city mentioned in the Bible existed at some point is insufficient.
27. Do you think that a society that is run by Christians or atheists would be safer? Why?
It is impossible to say. Depends on whether the Christians were fundamentalists or not.
28. Do you believe in free will? (free will being the ability to make choices without coercion).
Depending on the definition of coercion, I will tentatively say yes.
29. If you believe in free will, do you see any problem with defending the idea that the physical brain, which is limited and subject to the neuro-chemical laws of the brain, can still produce free will choices?
I didn't say it could make truly free choices; this depends on the definition of 'coercion' used above. I doubt the brain is truly free, but it is at least complex enough to create the illusion of freedom, and that is essentially enough.
30. If you affirm evolution and that the universe will continue to expand forever, then do you think it is probable that given enough time, brains would evolve to the point of exceeding mere physical limitations and become free of the physical and temporal and thereby become "deity" and not be restricted by space and time? If not, why not?
No, because evolution doesn't just suddenly break the laws of physics. No matter the technology we create, we won't become omnipotent.
31. If you answered the previous question in the affirmative, then aren't you saying that it is probable that some sort of God exists?
I answered no, but if I had answered yes, then an obvious "who designed the designer" would come into play. After all, if the creator evolved from a lower life form through purely natural means in a universe that came to be without divine intervention, then why couldn't we do the same?