(January 19, 2015 at 10:07 pm)Guesto123 Wrote: “Hi I am taking Willmington School of the Bible which is a part of Liberty University. I was hoping you might be able to help me with a homework assignment I have for my course. The assignment requires that I interview 4 people regarding their worldview. Any feedback or help would be greatly appreciated.
The questions are:
<snip>
Your questions were eaten by the mods, but here's some general thoughts:
Like others have said, atheism isn't a worldview. It's simply unbelief in a god. You are an atheist regarding Allah, Vishnu, and all the rest.
Self-described atheists don't believe in any deities, and that unbelief can run the gamut from "I'm not sure if a god exists. I'm not going to devote my time on the matter when there are more pressing things to address" to "I know there are no gods. That's stupid," with a bunch of variations in between. Just as there are ~40,000 different denominations of Christians, there are a whole bunch of different kinds of atheists. The only thread that connects them/us is a lack of belief in deities.
Regarding the universe and life, I believe the universe was created by the Big Bang. The chemical components for life were likely deposited by meteors striking the earth and depositing their ice (see the following link for more info: http://www.space.com/28266-deep-space-su...8_38920547). Life then evolved over millions of years to what we see now.
The value and meaning of life comes from our actions. What we do, how we act, etc. Our morality ultimately stems from evolution. Man has always been a social animal. Our survival has always depended in being organized in groups and tribes. Biologically, we developed the theory of the mind (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_mind), which allows us to understand how our actions can affect others. It's the basis for empathy. And that empathy allowed our primitive groups to act together for common goals. That's why not murdering one another, not stealing from another, etc. are 'common sense.' We understand how it would affect others, and how it would ultimately hurt the tribe. Nothing divine about it.
I don't think that I, personally, could ever be convinced in any god. For one, the stories in the various religious texts are full of contradictions and circular logic. And, second, I don't think anything claiming to be divine would be able to meet my criteria for validity. Reality tends to favor simple answers, and while divinity may be easy to speak of, the implications are far more complex than biology, physics, technology, etc. Plus, what would the control group for god be, anyway?
Regarding Christians, I don't broad brush hate them. Many of the closest people in my life are Catholic to varying degrees of devotion. I do hate group think. I do hate the active dumbing down of society through religion (see: intelligent design in the classroom). I do hate bigotry in the guise of religion (see: homosexuality 'conversion'). I do hate violence in the name of religion (see: abortion clinic bombings). And I hate those that engage in such actions directly, and those that support them indirectly whether through their words or deeds. And that's regardless of religion. Whether it's Christianity, Islam, or anything else, those that seek to harm society are on my shit list.
I hope this helps your assignment, if you're still reading this thread.
"I was thirsty for everything, but blood wasn't my style" - Live, "Voodoo Lady"
