RE: Let's answer CARM's Questions for Atheists
September 14, 2014 at 4:21 pm
(This post was last modified: September 14, 2014 at 4:25 pm by 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?
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?
John Adams Wrote:The Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion.
