10 Questions for Every Atheist

[ignoramus]

I sent away for a kit I saw advertised in the back of a magazine. What a stoopid fucking question.

:rotflol:
(damn I can't remember the code for that smiley on my iPad... Oh well)

I bought the one next to it with the xray vision glasses.

[Zidneya]

1. How Did You Become an Atheist?
By taking in count what is important, real, knowable and solid in order to define the world around me.
2. What happens when we die?
We cease to exists. I am sick and tired of people asking that question you are jus an insignificant mammal in the Universe why is so hard for you to understand the concept of dying. You are only a human being.
3. What if you’re wrong? And there is a Heaven? And there is a HELL!
I haven't murdered, stole, raped nor told a great lie why should I worry?
4. Without God, where do you get your morality from?
By my own conscience.
5. If there is no God, can we do what we want? Are we free to murder and rape? While good deeds are unrewarded?
Okay first why would I do that? What? You think that people can't do good just because they want to? What the hell is wrong with you? Second we have this thing called, laws along with other moral peers that certainly will stop you.
6. If there is no god, how does your life have any meaning?
If there is no eternal heaven nor hell and the only thing left is eternal death that means that I have nothing to die for but everything to live for.
7. Where did the universe come from?
I don't know.
8. What about miracles? What all the people who claim to have a connection with Jesus? What about those who claim to have seen saints or angels?
See 5 Reasons why Your Miracles aren't Really Miraculous

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1) Our memories are very selective. Amazing moments can take on a life of their own in the future.

Looking back, we can always find those turning points in our lives. It's easy to call them miracles. Or to say God guided us in one particular direction. But you could easily explain that as just a coincidence.

2) Other peoples' miracles can sound pretty delusional.

When something happens to us, it's miraculous. When it happens to someone else, it's crazy. When we feel led to make a decision or we think God has blessed us with good luck, it seems perfectly normal to thank God. But when someone else tells you God was speaking to them and told them to quit their job, you think they're weird. You go home and talk smack about them with your spouse!

When someone else says God healed them of a disease, you want to see their medical records. When your cancer goes into remission, God had a hand in it...

3) Christians experience a lot of miracles...

Faith healers on television? Benny Hinn, Peter Popoff...
Incredibly successful pastors? They get their own reality shows
Bestselling books? They get their own bookstore sections!
Everything Snopes debunks? It's something you heard in church.

None of that happens with Muslim imams and hindu priests and Jewish rabbis. They all believe God is divine. They all believe in Miracles. But they don't market miracles like Christians do. Successful Christians love to pretend God's grace had everything to do with their success and not their own skills or luck. It's a powerful story that keeps perpetuating every time something goes right.

4) Miracles have never, ever been proven. There are things we can't explain, but there are no miracles. If you can prove supernatural powers exist, James Randi will give you a million dollars. Even the Catholic Church's supposed miracles that turn a Pope into a Saint are just stories that may lack a natural explanation.

5) If Miracles were real, our problems would be solved.

If God spoke to us and actually intervened and helped us, diseases would be eradicated, and our loved ones would always live, and we'd never get hurt... but as it turns out, miracles are rare, selective, subjective, and unverifiable.

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9. What’s your view of Dawkins, Hitchens and Harris?
That they are famous atheists with awarded or recognized achievements.
10. If there is no God, then why does every society have a religion?
Because people are idiots. And I can prove it.
If people aren't idiots, then why does every society has internal problems.

Every time a creationists make those questions blogs, Facebook pages, Youtube channels and article pages in a matter of seconds fill with answers from a bunch of atheists. Yet by next Thursday theres another idiot that's gonna be bragging around saying that atheist can't answer those questions. Is not that we can't answer those question is that they can't accept the answers that we give them.

[Holden Caulfield]

Just for fun (and been done plenty in the thread but whatever)

Some Questions Atheist Cannot Truly and Honestly REALLY Answer! Which leads to some interesting conclusions…

1. How Did You Become an Atheist?
I was born with a mind to think about everything.

2. What happens when we die?
My body is burned (I've made this very clear to my family).

3. What if you’re wrong? And there is a Heaven? And there is a HELL!
The magical sky god punishes me for using this intellect he has given me for intellect. He punishes me since despite my being a decent and honest human being since I didn't believe in vague, unreliable doctrine.

4. Without God, where do you get your morality from?
From being a decent human being. This is actually my favorite religious argument. Who is better, the one who does good for fear of hell or the one who does good for the betterment of humanity?

5. If there is no God, can we do what we want? Are we free to murder and rape? While good deeds are unrewarded?
Why yes raping and killing is the best life has to offer. Experience that now. Your kidding right?

6. If there is no god, how does your life have any meaning?
We have meaning everyday. What's more meaningful, living a worthy life or living life to satisfy some fictional person?

7. Where did the universe come from?
The greatest thing about being an atheist is I can I don't know but I want to find out. Rather than just dissmiss it as "god did it".

8. What about miracles? What all the people who claim to have a connection with Jesus? What about those who claim to have seen saints or angels?
Why has there never been a camera around for miracles? Can they only occur in the times where camera's didn't exist? Why would that be?
What about all those people who claim to be abducted by aliens?
What about all those people who claim to be abducted by aliens?

9. What’s your view of Dawkins, Hitchens and Harris?
Great men standing up rationality in an irrational time.

10. If there is no God, then why does every society have a religion?
Why does no society agree on which religion is right?

[jesus_wept]

1. How Did You Become an Atheist?

I suppose I was born one but its the sheer dishonesty of religion's most fervent believers that convinced me its made up. The truth stands on its own and doesn't need people to bullshit and play silly word games for it. That and actually reading the nonsense in their holy books.

2. What happens when we die?

We usually get buried or cremated.

3. What if you’re wrong? And there is a Heaven? And there is a HELL!

What if you're wrong about Allah?

4. Without God, where do you get your morality from?

Peter Sutcliffe.

5. If there is no God, can we do what we want? Are we free to murder and rape? While good deeds are unrewarded?

Christians can murder and rape and still go to heaven as long as they repent and seek forgiveness. so good deeds arent really rewarded at all. The only thing that really matters is belief in Jesus, without that nobody goes to heaven. And if believing in god is all that stops you from killing and raping then I think that says more about you then it does me and I hope you don't stop believing for all our sakes.

6. If there is no god, how does your life have any meaning?

This is insulting to your family, friends and just about everyone else on the planet.

7. Where did the universe come from?

I don't know and neither do you. I don't even know if its a meaningful question because the universe might've always existed, in which case it didn't come from anywhere.

8. What about miracles? What all the people who claim to have a connection with Jesus? What about those who claim to have seen saints or angels?

Deluded. I give them as much credence as you do people who talk to and see fairies.

9. What’s your view of Dawkins, Hitchens and Harris?

I don't really have one. They seem like honest people and raise some interesting points but they are largely irrelevant to my atheism.

10. If there is no God, then why does every society have a religion?

To keep them in line, or to explain things they don't understand. Isn't this an argument to the numbers fallacy BTW? The earth wouldn't be flat if everyone.believed it was, the same goes for god.and religion.

[davidMC1982]

1. How Did You Become an Atheist?

Like everyone else I was born one (and I have remained one). How did you become a Christian? Like everyone else you were born an atheist.

2. What happens when we die?

The same as happens to all other living organisms. What happens to you?

3. What if you’re wrong? And there is a Heaven? And there is a HELL!

What if I'm right and you've wasted the one and only life you know you have?

4. Without God, where do you get your morality from?

With God, where do you get your morality from? If God commanded you to kill, would it be a moral action?

5. If there is no God, can we do what we want? Are we free to murder and rape? While good deeds are unrewarded?

If there is a God, can we do what we want? Are we free to murder and rape. If there weren't a god would you murder and rape? Is it even moral to take actions only because of the potential consequences to yourself?

6. If there is no god, how does your life have any meaning?

If there is a god, how does your life have any meaning? You're not much more than a superior beings play thing. Life has the meaning we attach to it.

7. Where did the universe come from?

Where did god come from?

8. What about miracles? What all the people who claim to have a connection with Jesus? What about those who claim to have seen saints or angels?

What about those who claim to have seen the Loch Ness monster, or to speak to the dead, or to have been abducted by UFO's? What about those who claim to have a connection with any other god or agent of god?

9. What’s your view of Dawkins, Hitchens and Harris?

They don't speak for me and they are not an authority for atheists. There is none. Nonetheless, I tend to find Dawkins' arguments generally correct but I can't say he's entirely convincing. Hitchens' arguments are often harder to follow but I like the way he would tell people in no uncertain terms that their arguments were wrong. Harris, I find to have the best debating skills but find some of his arguments on the periphery of his views to be weak (to be expected when you're probing the extremes of an argument; language isn't perfect afterall).

10. If there is no God, then why does every society have a religion?

If there is a God, why do societies have such different religions.

[Chad32]

Ok, I'll bite.

1. How Did You Become an Atheist? Not all atheists start out as religious people that leave the faith at some point in their lives, but I was raised christian. The more I learned about the darker parts of the bible, the less I liked it. I think the final straw was when I found out that Jesus wasn't the only guy that supposedly was born from a virgin, and rose from the dead three days after he died. He wasn't the first either. Older religions had myths like that, but I'm not going to start worshiping Horus.

2. What happens when we die? Our brains shut down, along with everything else, and our bodies decompose and return to the earth. That's as far as anyone knows for certain.

3. What if you’re wrong? And there is a Heaven? And there is a HELL! Even if we could narrow Yahweh down to the one true god, we still have to pick between the Jews, Muslims, and Christians to figure out the true path. Even if we picked Christianity, there are thousands of mutually different groups to choose from. Personally if I wanted to worship a god, I'd pick Vishnu from Hinduism. Vishnu encourages us to reach personal enlightenment. S/he doesn't tell us we're pieces of shit for not meeting a standard that's impossible to meet, and demands that we beg him to save us from something he made for not meeting that impossible standard.

4. Without God, where do you get your morality from? The same place everyone gets it. The people around them, and their life experiences.

5. If there is no God, can we do what we want? Are we free to murder and rape? While good deeds are unrewarded? Do you believe that Jeffrey Dahmer is in heaven right now, just because he repented before he died? Do you believe that Anne Frank has less of a chance to get into heaven than Hitler, because Hitler said the right things to the right god? We may have a messed up justice system around here, but I'd argue that your god's justice system is even worse.

6. If there is no god, how does your life have any meaning? I'm not sure why I'd get meaning in life from anything external.

7. Where did the universe come from? For all we know, the particles that created stars and planets and such have always existed. At one point they were condensed, but now they're expanding. It seems to be a self replicating system.

8. What about miracles? What all the people who claim to have a connection with Jesus? What about those who claim to have seen saints or angels? That's all they are. Claims. The bible, by itsself, doesn't even prove that Egypt existed. Much less Yahweh or Jesus.

9. What’s your view of Dawkins, Hitchens and Harris? They were outspoken atheists. I'm not well read on any of them, so I don't have much to say. I will say that we needed more people like these before christianity corrupted our secular nation so much. Some people don't even know that many founding fathers were deists that disdained christianity because of what happened in Europe. The only time religion is mentioned in the constitution or bill of rights is when it says religion should be separate from government.

10. If there is no God, then why does every society have a religion? Because people want answers for things that don't understand. They once thought lightning comes from the sky because Zeus or Thor or whoever was throwing thunderbolts at the ground. Yet here we are harnessing electricity in our daily lives. We would be gods to those ancient people, and we're not done advancing.

[Clueless Morgan]

Wow, this thread is still going! I guess I'll answer them, too, since, you know, I posted the link to them...

1. How Did You Become an Atheist?

I realized that appealing to God was an argument from ignorance - before I even knew what an argument from ignorance was. Then I started researching who "had it right" and found out that none of them held up under scrutiny.

2. What happens when we die?

We stop breathing, our bodily functions cease, brain functions shut down, our family and friends (hopefully) mourn us not being around anymore, and then it's up to the last wishes of the dead person about what happens to the body: buried, cremated, organ donation, donated to science, etc.

3. What if you’re wrong? And there is a Heaven? And there is a HELL!

Well, first off, hello Pascal.

Secondly, then I was wrong and we'll find out how much of an asshole this god figure is: will it send me to eternal torture for not believing in it because I lacked sufficient reason and evidence? If so, then I'm glad I never gave it the satisfaction of kissing its ass. If not, then I'd like to sit down with it and get some explanations for the shit it put humans through. If there isn't actually a hell it would send me to and everyone gets into some kind of heaven, then what's the point of worshiping it?

4. Without God, where do you get your morality from?

From evolutionary processes that selected for those of my ancestors that cared for their young and formed into interdependent social groups where understandings of "right" and "wrong" actions developed.

5. If there is no God, can we do what we want? Are we free to murder and rape? While good deeds are unrewarded?

Can we do what we want? Within the limits set by the laws of the country you live in. If the society of that country deems your actions to be abhorrent or harmful enough, the laws can be changed and you won't be able to perform that action anymore. You might even be imprisoned for said actions.

Are we free to murder and rape? No, those are deemed illegal in my country and, thus, not permitted. It's not a god that keeps people in line, generally, it's the laws of the society they live in that do that.

While good deeds go unrewarded? Good deeds often go unrewarded (if we're talking about more than just the reward of feeling good because you did a good deed), while those who do bad deeds get unjustified rewards (the bank bail outs come to mind).

6. If there is no god, how does your life have any meaning?

Because I give it meaning.

7. Where did the universe come from?

I don't know, I'm not a cosmologist, nor any kind of scientist. I suggest asking one of them, they'd have a way better idea than I would.

8. What about miracles? What all the people who claim to have a connection with Jesus? What about those who claim to have seen saints or angels?

What about miracles?

What about them?

What all the people who claim to have a connection with Jesus?

What about all the people who claim to have a connection to Shiva?

What about those who claim to have seen saints or angels?

They grew up in a culture that taught them about saints and angels, so when they have hallucinations that is how they interpret them. People who are not taught about saints and angels do not attribute them to their hallucinations.

9. What’s your view of Dawkins, Hitchens and Harris?

I like Dawkin's writing style, Hitchens is a touch pompous and high-brow for me, and Harris... meh. I find it books interesting but not all that compelling to read, though it may be the subject matter. I tend to like reading about biology and evolution more than philosophy.

10. If there is no God, then why does every society have a religion?

Taking my cue from Jenny A, if there is one true god, then why does every society have a different religion?

Additionally, gods are a common aspect of religion, but they are not a requirement of religions: Buddha is not a god, but Buddhism is a religion.

[FatAndFaithless]

Cool thing is, just about every one of those can be answered with "I don't know" and theism's case is no stronger.

[Lemonvariable72]

Im answering this on their facebook site. Should be fun.

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Here is my answers
I noticed on your site that you have a article of ten question that you claim no atheist can answer in honesty. I am a atheist and I'm here to answer those questions.
1. How Did You Become an Atheist?
For me it was reading the bible and studying common apologetics arguments, like the freewill argument.
2. What happens when we die?
You go back to same place you were before you were born.
3. What if you’re wrong? And there is a Heaven? And there is a HELL!
Thomas jefferson answered this much more eloquently then I could when he said "Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call to her tribunal every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blindfolded fear."
4. Without God, where do you get your morality from?
The same place you do, through my empathy and ability to put myself in positions of others.
5. If there is no God, can we do what we want? Are we free to murder and rape? While good deeds are unrewarded? No you cannot just do whatever want there are always consquences. On the other hand how you phrase and ask this question seems to land you clearly in stage one on the kohlberg scale of development. This is usually seen in young children and prison populations.
6. If there is no god, how does your life have any meaning?
When you ask question like this I cannot help but think of a battered housewife begging to keep her husband around. Infact I will turn this around on you and ask how could your life have any meaning if its just the test run for heaven?
7. Where did the universe come from?
I don't know, and neither do you. And you do think you know then I recommend setting up a experiment to test your suspicion and then once you demonstrate it you can claim to know, and your nobel prize.
8. What about miracles? What all the people who claim to have a connection with Jesus? What about those who claim to have seen saints or angels?
What about people that claim to see Elvis or fairies? They have just as much evidence as those that claim to see angels.
9. What’s your view of Dawkins, Hitchens and Harris?
Hitchens is a hero of mine, Dawkins is kind of arrogant and condenscending, and Harris has his moments.
10. If there is no God, then why does every society have a religion?
Because until relatively recently we couldnt even explain why the sun rose, so people invented answers.