Do atheists lack a sense of awe and wonder? (Doubt it.)

[Chad32]

It always annoys me when theists liken natural formations to things like watches or paintings that don't happen in nature.

[Minimalist]

Theists have no sense of wonder. They created a "god" to explain everything. That's why, were life left to them, we would still be living in caves eating rocks.

[LastPoet]

Personally, I'm wondered by the stupidity level religious beliefs can reach in this day and age.

[Rayaan]

In relation to the OP, do I believe that atheists can or do have as great a sense of awe and wonder as theists have?

I do indeed ... why not?


That being said, I think that atheists tend to have a lesser sense of gratitude than theists, however. The reason I say that is because theists are usually taught to be more conscious of their 'blessings' and the good things in their lives. And they regard all these things as a favor from God and a mercy towards them. Their houses, cars, family, children, their appearance, their body parts, their eyes, nose, ears, brains, hearts, food, shelter, money, happiness, and so an so forth, are all favors from God. So when theists reflect on the wonderful and amazing things in this world, they might feel feel a sense of awe and wonder, but on top of that the feeling is also accompanied by gratitude and appreciation towards their Creator (whatever name they call him by).

Atheists think that everything that they need for survival are pretty much an accidental byproduct of mere laws and forces. It all just happens to be this way for no reason and they take it for granted. For example, an atheist might be peacefully eating a healthy and delicious meal one day, and later he starts to feel a sense of wonder while thinking about the food that he is eating, but he probably doesn't have the same degree of thankfulness in his heart for being able to enjoy these kind of things as most theists have.

That's the reason I think that atheists might be somewhat less grateful for the things that they have, even though they still might have a great sense of awe and wonder about everything.

[Chad32]

If there's anyone to thanks for food, it's the people that grow it, harvest it, and send it to the store for you to buy. If we ever find concrete evidence for any creator gods, and I find a way to talk to him that feels more like I'm talking to my mom than talking to myself, I'll be sure to thank him.

[Angrboda]

In my experience, it's the exact opposite. Theists take things for granted because they're smug in their self-satisfaction, and atheists are more conscious of how special the blessings they do have are because they realize it didn't have to be that way.

Theists, particularly of the Semitic religions, talk big about how they do this and that, but at bottom it's usually just bullshit and wishful thinking.

[Minimalist]

If there's anyone to thanks for food, it's the people that grow it, harvest it, and send it to the store for you to buy. If we ever find concrete evidence for any creator gods, and I find a way to talk to him that feels more like I'm talking to my mom than talking to myself, I'll be sure to thank him.

[Chad32]

I got a laugh out of that.

[Rayaan]

If there's anyone to thanks for food, it's the people that grow it, harvest it, and send it to the store for you to buy. If we ever find concrete evidence for any creator gods, and I find a way to talk to him that feels more like I'm talking to my mom than talking to myself, I'll be sure to thank him.

But you know that people wouldn't have been able to grow anything if the soil, plants, and the right ingredients weren't there in the first place. Who put those there for them?

I guess you can be thankful to Mother Nature or evolution for that ... since you're an atheist.

[Alex K]

If there's anyone to thanks for food, it's the people that grow it, harvest it, and send it to the store for you to buy. If we ever find concrete evidence for any creator gods, and I find a way to talk to him that feels more like I'm talking to my mom than talking to myself, I'll be sure to thank him.

But you know that people wouldn't have been able to grow anything if the soil, plants, and the right ingredients weren't there in the first place. Who put those there for them?

I guess you can be thankful to Mother Nature or evolution for that ... since you're an atheist.

Well, we coevolved with the stuff we eat, its automatic that if your species has survived for hundreds of thousands of years, the world apparently contains some suitable noms. We could be thankful that we didn't go extinct I guess (we came close some times). Besides, if you read up on the history of most of our food, a large part of it we have because of the hard work of our ancestors who domesticated all those plants and animals.