[Serious] Why are you an Atheist?

[downbeatplumb]

New to this site and actually atheism.  I’m here to know more about atheism and how people convert to it.

I became an atheist when first exposed to the idea of god when I was about 5 and thought "that sounds dumb". Before that I just didnt know so didnt believe.

 My questions are below.  If you have time please take a moment to help me understand more of the atheist view.  These questions are intended for those who espouse the atheist view but if you are from another belief system feel free to answer.

What do you consider as prime reality?

You get deliveries faster and have some TV channels in the price.

What is the purpose of history or does it serve  a purpose?

History is just the stuff that happened and people wrote down. Can be usefull to learn or control the populace by either telling the truth or lies. The US tends towards the latter.

How did human existence begin?

Its a sliding scale but somewhere where the ancestor species evolved into us.

What is morality?

Not being a dick.

Where do you decide what is right and wrong?

I use the don't be a dick rule.

What do you believe in with absolute certainty?

That if I put a knife through my tummy it will hurt.

[Alex K]

Evolution occurs frequently, that's why you need a different flu shot every year.

I believe you are referring to mutation not evolution.

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There are many, the most famous is Lenski's E. coli experiment.

It seems like a better term for these observed changes would be mutation not evolution.

No, mutations are one of the drivers of the evolution observed here, evolution by natural selection is when these mutations spread in the population bc they are advantageous, and lead to new properties of the organisms.

[Simon Moon]

That's kind of an odd assessment. I don't support the death penalty for anyone for anything.

Boru

I meant that nonreligious people tend to judge entire religions by very superficial criteria.

You do understand that atheists disbelief in the existence of ALL gods, even deist or pantheist gods, not just those gods associated with specific religions, right?

The only criteria I have to use, is has a god been demonstrated to exist. Until that occurs, I don't care what individual religions claim.

It doesn't require the assessment of specific religions to understand that NO god has ever been demonstrated to exist. In fact, religious leaders, holy texts, believers claims, can all be dismissed, until a god is demonstrated to exist. Only after a god is demonstrated to exist, can we then begin to try to discern if it a god of a specific religion, and described in any religious book.

[zebo-the-fat]

I meant that nonreligious people tend to judge entire religions by very superficial criteria.

You do understand that atheists disbelief in the existence of ALL gods, even deist or pantheist gods, not just those gods associated with specific religions, right?

The only criteria I have to use, is has a god been demonstrated to exist. Until that occurs, I don't care what individual religions claim.

It doesn't require the assessment of specific religions to understand that NO god has ever been demonstrated to exist. In fact, religious leaders, holy texts, believers claims, can all be dismissed, until a god is demonstrated to exist. Only after a god is demonstrated to exist, can we then begin to try to discern if it a god of a specific religion, and described in any religious book.

I don't believe in your god for the same reason I don't believe in Zeus, Odin, Ra or pixies

[no one]

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Easy there, buddy. When you say pixies, you've gone too far.

[The Grand Nudger]

[zebo-the-fat]

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Easy there, buddy. When you say pixies, you've gone too far.

Sorry, how do you feel about goblins??

[no one]

Are we talking the hobbing kind, or the ones of the nose variety?

[Gawdzilla Sama]

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

I believe you are referring to mutation not evolution.

---

It seems like a better term for these observed changes would be mutation not evolution.

No, mutations are one of the drivers of the evolution observed here, evolution by natural selection is when these mutations spread in the population bc they are advantageous, and lead to new properties of the organisms.

The best way I've heard this explained is that mutation is the raw material on which evolution operates.  I was told to imagine a rockslide damming a small stream.  Eventually, a new pond ecosystem would form.  The rockslide is the mutation and the ecosystem is the resultant evolution.

Made sense 40 years ago, makes sense now.

Boru