Is it a good idea to be an atheist?

[robvalue]

An atheist makes no claims by default. No claims.

If you do another post without researching what atheism is (it's all on my website) I'm going to ignore you.

Or do you want me to tell you that your God is a mouse called Herbert and then argue why that is a ridiculous thing to believe in?

[Alex K]

And you are absolutely right, an atheist may believe - and not think - he is right. Sorry about this. All the more evidence the atheist at point should not, let us say, disbelieve.

Your dichotomy belief vs. thinking is nonsensical, georges.
Everything in life is always a matter of degrees of belief, for atheists and theists alike. Thinking is a tool which allows you to gauge plausibility to inform your beliefs.

---

No, you are claiming the existence of something, the burden of proof is so much on you. Why would you consider the opposite stance contradictory? In contradiction with what?

Because I cannot prove you wrong.

Ok, let me get this straight. You are saying the default position to not believe in the existence of God XY unless there is a good reason for it, is contradictory because you have no evidence? That doesn't mean that my position is contradictory, it means that your position is not tenable.

I cannot prove there is a God. But I acknowledge it.

What is that supposed to mean, you acknowledge it?

On the other hand, you are saying that I need to prove to you there is a God.

Mathematics deals in proofs, we are asking either for empirical evidence or some other good reason to believe.

Which comes back to my original point. If I were able to demonstrate to you there is a God, I would be sitting on a pile of money, because not even the Pope can do that.

Well, fine, then why do YOU believe in God?

[The Reality Salesman01]

Sorry but the burden of proof, as you call it, is on you. Otherwise, it means you would first - if no proof - assume there is no God. Which is contradictory.

My son is almost 6 years old. He doesn't believe anything about Gods. Are you saying that you think the burden of proof would be on my son if you walked up to him and said that he ought to believe in God? Notice that my son is in the default position-(No God). The assumption is that the world is exactly as he believed it to be before you walked up. Currently, Gods are not featured among the things he believes to exist, and your understanding of the burden of proof tells you that you're right until he proves you wrong?

I want you to really think about this one, because the wrong answer is going to put you in a real pickle...

[Anomalocaris]

No, you are claiming the existence of something, the burden of proof is so much on you. Why would you consider the opposite stance contradictory? In contradiction with what?

Because I cannot prove you wrong. I cannot prove there is a God. But I acknowledge it. On the other hand, you are saying that I need to prove to you there is a God. Which comes back to my original point. If I were able to demonstrate to you there is a God, I would be sitting on a pile of money, because not even the Pope can do that.

Which is precisely why you are a gullible fool for "believing".

[The Reality Salesman01]

http://youtu.be/KayBys8gaJY

[Cato]

If you are an atheist and you so damn think you are right to be one, then let the world hear how you came to that conclusion, because for sure, this will change the world.

No Fucking Evidence!!! It's really not that difficult to understand. The thing is, you believers have your tonsils so firmly wrapped around the base of Christ's cock it has cut off all blood flow to the brain.

[robvalue]

The polite thing to do on an atheist forum is to simply ask why we are atheists, not tell us what atheism is and that we hold a stupid position.

[zebo-the-fat]

I don't believe in gods because I have not seen any evidence to make me believe. When someone provides convincing, testable evidence I may change my mind. Until that happens gods are in in the same category as pixies, genies and elves.
You make the claim so the burden of proof is on you.

[Fidel_Castronaut]

No, you are claiming the existence of something, the burden of proof is so much on you. Why would you consider the opposite stance contradictory? In contradiction with what?

Because I cannot prove you wrong. I cannot prove there is a God. But I acknowledge it. On the other hand, you are saying that I need to prove to you there is a God. Which comes back to my original point. If I were able to demonstrate to you there is a God, I would be sitting on a pile of money, because not even the Pope can do that.

Yup. It's because you're making a positive claim (god exists), whilst we're saying "I don't believe you".

As to the reason why I don't believe in any god thus far posited? No evidence.

[pocaracas]

If you ask a believer why he believes in God, his answer most likely will be "Because I believe" or something to that extent.

Not very convincing, huh?

Indeed, not very convincing...
It just shows that the belief is based on very little.
And that's true, most believers believe due to indoctrination and wishful thinking... mostly about the after-life.

Let us turn the question around. Let us ask an atheist why he doesn't believe.

Most likely, we will hear something like "I only believe what I see" or "Why would a God let little innocent children die in a natural disaster?"

That comes after the theist fails to understand the simple fact that some people like using their brains and realize that the indoctrination their parents/society have sold them is baseless. They then try to find a base on where to stand.... sadly, no religion, no cult, no belief has any decent base to stand on.
And so the tendency is to withdraw from the belief espoused by those parents/society.

It's not that we know it's a falsehood... it's that the story is not compelling.
Besides, if it was actually true, why would I need to believe that such a being exists, when that very being has all the tools at its disposal to make me and everyone else on this planet unequivocally know about it?

The very fact that there are various religions strongly hints toward the falsehood/manufactured nature of them all.

You see, the difference between a believer and an atheist is a believer believes and an atheist thinks he is right.

Actually, I'd label as atheist someone who wants to know, instead of just believe what he's told by other people.
And there is no religion, cult or belief system that doesn't rely solely on that medium: people convincing people that what they say is true.
It doesn't mean that it is true, does it?
Reality doesn't care about what some people claim to be true... think about the distinction between real and true the next time you want to use the word "true" about your beliefs and holy stories.