I submit that not all atheists are skeptics who demand evidence before believing.

As a teenager I befriended a guy in my neighborhood. His father was an atheist and he was simply an irritable old fart that disliked all preachers in a serious way. He did not like what Christians had done to his people and would tell door to door evangelists to fuck off. He never read Darwin. He could catch fish in a mud puddle and during season always got his deer. He chewed tobacco and drank cheap beer by the case. We had a lot of fun in the outdoors. When this man died he never asked for prayer. A cantankerous old heathen to the end. (One time I knocked on his door and he pretended not to see me. He grabbed a broom and started yelling "Snake! Snake! and whooped me with the broom to the end of the driveway. Crazy-assed SOB)

I am sure that other atheists exist that do not fit the current skeptical evidence seeking rationalist model.  Do you know of any?

You could go into more details about why this man was an atheist, otherwise it seems to me like you ignored your own OP's stated intention with this thread, for the most part, and described an atheist's character instead of the reason for his skepticism.

But I'll play. And I hope the above observation didn't come off as rude. I just thought you might want some advice, lest others don't understand what you want out of this thread.

I've met some atheists in my life that didn't go into a lot of details about why they didn't believe in God. I found that frustrating at times, but you can't get a good answer out of everyone on the matter, so you just end up accepting it anyway. These answers ran along the lines of "It just doesn't make sense to me".

(September 22, 2016 at 5:15 am)Excited Penguin Wrote: You could go into more details about why this man was an atheist, otherwise it seems to me like you ignored your own OP's stated intention with this thread, for the most part, and described an atheist's character instead of the reason for his skepticism.

But I'll play. And I hope the above observation didn't come off as rude. I just thought you might want some advice, lest others don't understand what you want out of this thread.

I've met some atheists in my life that didn't go into a lot of details about why they didn't believe in God. I found that frustrating at times, but you can't get a good answer out of everyone on the matter, so you just end up accepting it anyway. These answers ran along the lines of "It just doesn't make sense to me".

He did not like what christians had done to his people. That was it. He never expounded much further and was not a well read man.

(September 22, 2016 at 5:17 am)chimp3 Wrote:

(September 22, 2016 at 5:15 am)Excited Penguin Wrote: You could go into more details about why this man was an atheist, otherwise it seems to me like you ignored your own OP's stated intention with this thread, for the most part, and described an atheist's character instead of the reason for his skepticism.

But I'll play. And I hope the above observation didn't come off as rude. I just thought you might want some advice, lest others don't understand what you want out of this thread.

I've met some atheists in my life that didn't go into a lot of details about why they didn't believe in God. I found that frustrating at times, but you can't get a good answer out of everyone on the matter, so you just end up accepting it anyway. These answers ran along the lines of "It just doesn't make sense to me".

He did not like what christians had done to his people. That was it. He never expounded much further and was not a well read man.

I'm very sorry then. It turns out there was not more to the story, and I should've gotten that without you explicitly pointing it out.

For what it's worth, I liked your story, though.

(September 22, 2016 at 5:18 am)Excited Penguin Wrote:

(September 22, 2016 at 5:17 am)chimp3 Wrote: He did not like what christians had done to his people. That was it. He never expounded much further and was not a well read man.

I'm very sorry then. It turns out there was not more to the story, and I should've gotten that without you explicitly pointing it out.

Now that I am thinking back I believe he was functionally illiterate.

People on the whole are not generally skeptical. We believe many things without evidence. You believe that I had pho for dinner because I told you that I did. We tend to be extremely skeptical about some things, and not at all about other things. There is a breed of atheist who is super skeptical about the supernatural in general, but other things not so much. I myself have come to a lot of conclusions about religion, not from any concern about the evidence, but just because the religious things don't make sense. If someone is playing games with the facts by not bringing evidence that they should be bringing, I may become extremely skeptical, but it's simply not in my nature to demand evidence about everything.

Yup. My wife believes in ghosts and has various superstitions. I can tell they are all learned from her parents. She refuses to have any sort of serious discussion about them. They don't affect our relationship, so I let her be.

The more I think about this man chimp describes the more I think his reason for not believing in religion is very interesting and perhaps a lot of other people share it as well. Perhaps for some it's not so much about reasoning and what makes sense or not as it is about a tangible authority and what that brings in their lives. The authority in this case being the Church and what it brings being community and a sense of purpose. If you're into religion for those kinds of emotional reasons and needs, then when you feel like a religious organization or religious people fail you, you're going to abandon your belief. For you, belief is more like a social contract in that way(you, meaning the kind of person I'm describing here).

(September 22, 2016 at 5:05 am)chimp3 Wrote: I am sure that other atheists exist that do not fit the current skeptical evidence seeking rationalist model.  Do you know of any?

Depends on what you mean by that. I for one only seek evidence if something unnerves me or gives me pause. Otherwise I'm pretty content in simply not knowing everything. I'm an idiot when it comes to all kinds of natural sciences. Always was. Never could wrap my head round formulas and their inner workings. So questioning anything natural science related would be an excercise in futility right from the start.