Please tell me what atheist means

[Scented Nectar]

I have been raised a christian and it is all I know.In my town in Nigeria and even throughout the country,when people talk about atheists they do it with hatred and laughter and all I have been told is that atheist people don't like god.Surely this can't be true because god created us and loves us so I can't understand how that makes sense.

Atheists do not believe god is real. If he was real, I would not like him, since the bible shows that the main character, god, is a nasty genocidal narcissistic dictator. I am glad he's not real. Unfortunately, the wars and injustices caused by religions all over the world are very real. And that is something I don't like.

God does not love. He demands love though, at the threat of eternal torture. Nice guy! Good thing hell is not real. No crime deserves punishment that lasts forever. That is simply cruel. Especially as a punishment for not loving/worshipping the punisher on demand. Have you actually read the whole bible yourself? The preachers will only read you parts of it. You should read all the killing of babies that god does, the killing of people who have harmed no one that he orders, the entire tribes of people he orders killed, the slavery he condones and the total denial of human rights to women. If the god of the bible's rules were followed by the people around me, I would have been put to death many times over by now in my life.

SoI have the feeling that I'm being lied to,and you people are atheists but you don't sound bad to me so there must be another explanation.If it's because you don't believe in god I find that very strange but maybe it's because everyone around me does.

I don't believe in any gods at all. I do not believe in a powerful creator/ruler who is reading my thoughts and judging me on them and who is going to punish or reward me after I die. Why do you believe? Is it because the people around you believe? Do you have any proof that any gods exist? If you think there is some sort of creator, why do you think it must be the christian version of god when there are so many other religions who also think that they are the right one? Do you believe out of fear of hell, just in case?

Do you believe in god? Or do you doubt god? If you do I'll try to understand but this is very strange to me.

There is no reason at all to believe that any god is real. The bible was written by humans. The concept of gods was created and passed on to others by humans. No one has ever seen a god, or an afterlife of heaven or hell, or proven any kind of magic whatsoever. There are many things that we don't know the answers to, but we can't just say 'since I do not know, a magic being who can read our minds must have done it'.

If you don't believe that is ok but I can't see why not.I don't think you actually have to believe in god to get to heaven because not everyone knows about him so he won't punish people for that,that would be unfair.

Even after people know it's still unfair. Why punish if they still don't believe after some person tells them they should? Who is harmed? Is god's ego hurt? If god wanted people to believe, then why didn't he just make us all believers?

So tell me what you believe.Compared to the people in my community I am what they call a troublemaker for asking so many questions but you need to ask questions,that's how you learn.

Being a question asking troublemaker is good. That is how improvements happen in the world. It is also a good way to improve personal knowledge. If you don't ask something, you have less chance of finding the answer.

And maybe you can learn from me although I m not the most intelligent person.Humility is important for all of us.

Don't put yourself down so much. You are probably a lot more intelligent than you've been led to think. Belief in god usually means that you believe the story that you are naturally a bad person, a sinner, and not very worthy of much. It's not true. Religions always like to give credit to god for the good things, and blame devils and evil humans for the bad things. The truth is that everything is due to a mix of what we do ourselves (both good and bad things) and the things in life that just happen by chance (also a mix of good and bad).

I hope I haven't scared you away with all my talk above.

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