RE: Let's answer CARM's Questions for Atheists
September 14, 2014 at 6:17 pm
(This post was last modified: September 14, 2014 at 6:19 pm by Dystopia.)
[quote='Dolorian' pid='751169' dateline='1410722893']
CARM has a list of questions for atheists in their website. I found it a nice exercise to go ahead and answer them and I think it would be nice if people here post their answers as well, I think it will be good to see each other's points of views on these things, maybe discuss about them, etc. Here are the questions:
1. How would you define atheism? A lack of belief in gods is the minimum requirement, but it can also be the belief no gods exist - My case.
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)? There is no god.
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? It depends on the concrete situation, but often it won't be inconsistent, if all theists kept their beliefs to themselves most atheists wouldn't bother disproving god.
4. How sure are you that your atheism properly represents reality? Yes (duh!) otherwise I wouldn't be an atheist
5. How sure are you that your atheism is correct? 90-99%
6. How would you define what truth is? The truth for you has to be the truth for me. I like to see truth as something that is objectively verified.
7. Why do you believe your atheism is a justifiable position to hold? Because there are no reasons for me to adopt any other position, therefore by excluding all other beliefs I'm left with atheism
8. Are you a materialist or a physicalist or what? Materialist, nothing exists b sides the physical world
9. Do you affirm or deny that atheism is a worldview? Why or why not? Sometimes it seems like a worldview - We look at the world without god, we view the universe's awesomeness without thinking 'god did this!'
10. Not all atheists are antagonistic to Christianity but for those of you who are, why the antagonism? I'm not against Christianity as much as I'm against Islam, but if I lived 100 or 200 years ago I would probably be - Because of oppression, indoctrination and violence, etc...
11. If you were at one time a believer in the Christian God, what caused you to deny his existence? No. I denied a higher force's existence by realizing there is no god.
12. Do you believe the world would be better off without religion? Yes, but not necessarily. It would be better if extremism disappeared and no one imposed their beliefs to one another
13. Do you believe the world would be better off without Christianity? Yes, at least without the churches
14. Do you believe that faith in a God or gods is a mental disorder? No, just an irrational choice
15. Must God be known through the scientific method? I don't know - But I think it's childish to ask for scientific proof for god considering he is invisible and all that shit - It also depends on the god
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? Already answered
17. Do we have any purpose as human beings? No, but we can create a purpose for our lives - We don't have an inherent purpose. We have as much purpose as other species
18. If we do have purpose, can you as an atheist please explain how that purpose is determined? The purpose of each individual is what he/she determines and nothing else
19. Where does morality come from? Humans, brain.
20. Are there moral absolutes? No, but there is objective morality.
21. If there are moral absolutes, could you list a few of them? Objective moral values - Life, physical integrity and human dignity. I think no one can deny these are inviolable. But they are NOT absolute. There are no moral absolutes
22. Do you believe there is such a thing as evil? If so, what is it? A social constructed concept that we use to describe something that has a negative effect on society, a conduct we, humans, despise
23. If you believe that the God of the Old Testament is morally bad, by what standard do you judge that he is bad? All gods are bad if they don't prevent evil. If they can't, they're not gods
24. What would it take for you to believe in God? Some evidence
25. What would constitute sufficient evidence for God’s existence? A physical sample, I don't even require that god shows up in front of me
26. Must this evidence be rationally based, archaeological, testable in a lab, etc., or what? Yes, testable, I want to be able to look at it.
27. Do you think that a society that is run by Christians or atheists would be safer? Why? It would be safer run by atheists, because there is no dogma to oppress people. It would depend though, I'm just saying it is more likely
28. Do you believe in free will? (free will being the ability to make choices without coercion). 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? No
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? Han?
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?
CARM has a list of questions for atheists in their website. I found it a nice exercise to go ahead and answer them and I think it would be nice if people here post their answers as well, I think it will be good to see each other's points of views on these things, maybe discuss about them, etc. Here are the questions:
1. How would you define atheism? A lack of belief in gods is the minimum requirement, but it can also be the belief no gods exist - My case.
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)? There is no god.
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? It depends on the concrete situation, but often it won't be inconsistent, if all theists kept their beliefs to themselves most atheists wouldn't bother disproving god.
4. How sure are you that your atheism properly represents reality? Yes (duh!) otherwise I wouldn't be an atheist
5. How sure are you that your atheism is correct? 90-99%
6. How would you define what truth is? The truth for you has to be the truth for me. I like to see truth as something that is objectively verified.
7. Why do you believe your atheism is a justifiable position to hold? Because there are no reasons for me to adopt any other position, therefore by excluding all other beliefs I'm left with atheism
8. Are you a materialist or a physicalist or what? Materialist, nothing exists b sides the physical world
9. Do you affirm or deny that atheism is a worldview? Why or why not? Sometimes it seems like a worldview - We look at the world without god, we view the universe's awesomeness without thinking 'god did this!'
10. Not all atheists are antagonistic to Christianity but for those of you who are, why the antagonism? I'm not against Christianity as much as I'm against Islam, but if I lived 100 or 200 years ago I would probably be - Because of oppression, indoctrination and violence, etc...
11. If you were at one time a believer in the Christian God, what caused you to deny his existence? No. I denied a higher force's existence by realizing there is no god.
12. Do you believe the world would be better off without religion? Yes, but not necessarily. It would be better if extremism disappeared and no one imposed their beliefs to one another
13. Do you believe the world would be better off without Christianity? Yes, at least without the churches
14. Do you believe that faith in a God or gods is a mental disorder? No, just an irrational choice
15. Must God be known through the scientific method? I don't know - But I think it's childish to ask for scientific proof for god considering he is invisible and all that shit - It also depends on the god
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? Already answered
17. Do we have any purpose as human beings? No, but we can create a purpose for our lives - We don't have an inherent purpose. We have as much purpose as other species
18. If we do have purpose, can you as an atheist please explain how that purpose is determined? The purpose of each individual is what he/she determines and nothing else
19. Where does morality come from? Humans, brain.
20. Are there moral absolutes? No, but there is objective morality.
21. If there are moral absolutes, could you list a few of them? Objective moral values - Life, physical integrity and human dignity. I think no one can deny these are inviolable. But they are NOT absolute. There are no moral absolutes
22. Do you believe there is such a thing as evil? If so, what is it? A social constructed concept that we use to describe something that has a negative effect on society, a conduct we, humans, despise
23. If you believe that the God of the Old Testament is morally bad, by what standard do you judge that he is bad? All gods are bad if they don't prevent evil. If they can't, they're not gods
24. What would it take for you to believe in God? Some evidence
25. What would constitute sufficient evidence for God’s existence? A physical sample, I don't even require that god shows up in front of me
26. Must this evidence be rationally based, archaeological, testable in a lab, etc., or what? Yes, testable, I want to be able to look at it.
27. Do you think that a society that is run by Christians or atheists would be safer? Why? It would be safer run by atheists, because there is no dogma to oppress people. It would depend though, I'm just saying it is more likely
28. Do you believe in free will? (free will being the ability to make choices without coercion). 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? No
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? Han?
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?
Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you
