Let's answer CARM's Questions for Atheists

[Jackalope]

1. How would you define atheism? Absence of a positive belief in deity. Put another way, if you answer the question "Do you believe in god(s)?" with anything other than "Yes", you're 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)? False dilemma. This particular belief has practically no bearing on how I act (other than in terms of observing religious practices).
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? Loaded question. "Work against God's existence"? In any case, no. Nor would I find it inconsistent for such a person to argue in favor of existence as a "devil's advocate" (so to speak).
4. How sure are you that your atheism properly represents reality? Reasonably certain.
5. How sure are you that your atheism is correct? This is effectively the same question as 4.
6. How would you define what truth is? Truth is the measure of how well a proposition is internally coherent and corresponds to reality.
7. Why do you believe your atheism is a justifiable position to hold? Because it's internally coherent and appears to correspond to reality.
8. Are you a materialist or a physicalist or what? I wouldn't care to classify myself. I'm not a hard monist, I'm open to having spiritualism demonstrated, if only someone could. I go where reason and evidence lead me.
9. Do you affirm or deny that atheism is a worldview? Why or why not? Deny. It's a singular answer to a singular question.
10. Not all atheists are antagonistic to Christianity but for those of you who are, why the antagonism? I tend to not be antagonistic to christianity in general, but to certain things done by some christians (e.g. pushing to teach theology as science, discrimination against certain groups, etc).
11. If you were at one time a believer in the Christian God, what caused you to deny his existence? Another loaded question. "deny his existence" - I do no such thing.
12. Do you believe the world would be better off without religion? Don't know.
13. Do you believe the world would be better off without Christianity? Without certain aspects, yes.
14. Do you believe that faith in a God or gods is a mental disorder? Not generally.
15. Must God be known through the scientific method? If you ascribe to your god properties that place it completely outside the material world, then of course not. On the other hand, if a deity interacts with the material world, then that interaction becomes detectible by empirical study. I'd need a cogent, coherent definition of the god in question to even begin to properly answer this question.
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? n/a
17. Do we have any purpose as human beings? As individuals, we have whatever purpose we decide that we have. As a population, our purpose is to pass on our genes and propogate our species. Do I think we have any intrisic purpose? No.
18. If we do have purpose, can you as an atheist please explain how that purpose is determined? n/a
19. Where does morality come from? It developed due to our place as a empathetic social animal.
20. Are there moral absolutes? No.
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? There is no such "thing" as evil. It's a concept, not a "thing". Sheehs, guys - get a fucking dictionary. Conceptually, evil is that which is opposition to what is good.
23. If you believe that the God of the Old Testament is morally bad, by what standard do you judge that he is bad? By using the reason you think your god imbued me with.
24. What would it take for you to believe in God? Sufficient reason and/or evidence.
25. What would constitute sufficient evidence for God’s existence? I don't have any preconceived notions about what form the evidence might take.
26. Must this evidence be rationally based, archaeological, testable in a lab, etc., or what? It needs to be demonstrable and falisifiable in order to avoid personal bias.
27. Do you think that a society that is run by Christians or atheists would be safer? Why? I don't think it would matter all that much either way.
28. Do you believe in free will? (free will being the ability to make choices without coercion). I'm undecided on this.
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? n/a
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? This actually seems *unlikely* as the even though the universe may be incredibly long-lived, intelligent life on Earth is not. In terms of supporting complex life, Earth likely has a future lifespan measured in millions of years. Many millions, but millions nonetheless.
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? n/a