[split]Atheism is based of ignorance.

[Brian37]

You're an atheist born of ignorance rather than conviction. Whether that's better or worse I'm not sure.

Said the person with a pet invisible "POOFDADDY" claim. Yea, we are the crazy ones.

[downbeatplumb]

There is simply no reason I can see to believe.

This is my position also.

[Brian37]

In all seriousness, the OP fails to consider that we are the ones trying to help them. Just like the progress of knowing the sun centered solar system is fact helped humanity understand the nature of reality.

A godless universe makes much more sense and is consistent with what we scientifically know about it. It is not the fault of science or atheists, that people don't know any better, or refuse to face facts. We don't single out one god claim or one religion, but all unfounded claims of invisible beings, monotheism, polytheism and new age.

Please consider that WE are trying to pull you mentally out of the past and as harsh as you think we may be on you, we ARE trying to help you. The relief of knowing you don't have to defend absurd claims is worth it. And most of us who have been on that side of the fence at one time, see the world as it is, not how we wish it to be, and find just as much neat stuff in it, along with the not so nice stuff in it. We simply cannot view the world in comic book colors knowing what we know now. You will not be joining "the dark side" if you wake up from your nightmare you falsely think is a dream.

[Sword of Christ]

If ignorance is bliss then atheists ought to be more blissful than Buddha. I don't really think they are though, a restless heart is what they have.

"You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you."

A Saint Augustine quote there. It's good because it's true.

[Fidel_Castronaut]

If ignorance is bliss then atheists ought to be more blissful than Buddha. I don't really think they are though, a restless heart is what they have.

"You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you."

A Saint Augustine quote there. It's good because it's true.

We're only ignorant in your mind.

Why do you not see that your views are subjective and not objective? your faith and your beliefs are personal to you. They don't mean anything to us, and they never will.

It's laughable that you would claim that we're ignorant when it is patently obvious that you don't realise the above is true.

Really, you don't appear to have a clue about what you're talking about. "a restless heart is what they have"? How on earth do you know? Atheists are linked only in their lack of belief. That's it. So they are as variable as any other demographic.

Talking to people like you is futile. You're about as ignorant, misinformed and closed minded as they come. It's a sad reflection on the state of humanity that, even in the 21st century, people can still be so silly.

[Mister Agenda]

No atheist is an atheist born of conviction, even those who were once christians.

Dawkins has every bit as much conviction as the most fundamentalist of Christians or whoever else. He does have a bit of ignorance as well though he hasn't studied theology or philosophy.

Dawkins gives himself a 6 out of 7 on a seven-point scale where '7' is 'firm conviction that God does not exist'. His convictions are that creationism is a danger to science and religious fanaticism is a danger to world peace. His atheism is not a conviction, it's just an opinion on the topic of whether or not any gods are real.

There isn't a burden of proof to meet if it's a faith not a scientific hypothesis. The proof has to be internal within you kind of thing. You can't prove God with science anyway I keep saying this.

And that's fine. If you're not trying to convince people that God exists by using logic or evidence, you've no burden of proof. You're just sharing what you believe and are okay with not supporting it with anything but your shining example.

I'd call it a cynical mindset tbh. It's not like you know anything more than anyone else as to whether God exists or not you're just saying he doesn't and expect to be taken as humanities leading authority on the question.

Actually, most of us just opine that there's probably no God and don't pretend any special knowledge. It's just that people like you read our books and come to our forums and complain that we're getting in your face when we never rise to the level that some religious folk do when it comes to confronting strangers on the street or in their homes. If you don't want to hear what we have to say, it isn't that hard to ignore us.

[Fidel_Castronaut]

If you don't want to hear what we have to say, it isn't that hard to ignore us.

It is hard when the conviction in your faith is evidently so shaky that you feel the need to join an atheist forum and complain to atheists about how bad atheists apparently are.

What a silly person.

[Ryantology]

There isn't a burden of proof to meet if it's a faith not a scientific hypothesis. The proof has to be internal within you kind of thing. You can't prove God with science anyway I keep saying this.

That's just how you rationalizing and defending a belief that is in no way demonstrably congruent with reality.

Maybe there's no burden of proof for you, internally, and that's fine. But, if you're going to insist that your internal belief is objectively true, then you do possess the burden of demonstrating it.

Your internal proof is like a gift card for a single store. It might be worth $25 to that particular store (given the situation, it is likely empty), but if you want $25 that every store will accept, you need $25 of legal tender (i.e., demonstrable evidence) to do it.

[Esquilax]

If ignorance is bliss then atheists ought to be more blissful than Buddha. I don't really think they are though, a restless heart is what they have.

Most of us are still seeking an answer. We haven't the pretentious arrogance to pick the first one offered to us and demand that it's the truth regardless of facts.

[Mister Agenda]

Ignorance is not a good reason to turn to god.

But our relative ignorance is a damn good reason to deny anything beyond the physical world or some kind of greater meaning/purpose to life? Hmmm... I'm not really seeing how this follows tbh, but feel free to explain this.

The list of things you would have to believe in order to consistently believe in things that haven't been proven NOT to exist is potentially infinite, and some of them are mutually exclusive. Witholding belief that a notion is true until you have good reason to think it is true is just a sanity-saver. Picking just one or a few of those conceivable things to be true with no more evidence that lack of disproof is irrational if you can't show the good reason to think those particualr things are true and not the others. No denial required, assuming you're employing the common connotation of 'deny' as a refusal to believe something there's good reason to believe.