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Interview an Atheist
December 1, 2016 at 8:17 pm
Hello,
For a class I am taking I am required to interview someone and learn about their personal world views and beliefs. This is in no way to demean or preach to them, but instead listen and learn about others world views. If anyone would be willing to let me listen to their world views I would greatly appreciate it! It will be 4 basic questions: Origin:where's do we come from? Morality: how do you determine right from wrong good from bad? Purpose: What is our purpose in life? Destiny: What happens once we die? Thank you!
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RE: Interview an Atheist
December 1, 2016 at 8:20 pm
What class is this for?
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RE: Interview an Atheist
December 1, 2016 at 8:46 pm
Origin:where's do we come from?
Mommy and Daddy hook up.....usually there is alcohol involved... and one thing leads to another.
Morality: how do you determine right from wrong good from bad?
If you can go to jail for it, it is probably a bad idea.
Purpose: What is our purpose in life?
To live and reproduce like every other animal.
Destiny: What happens once we die?
Not a damn thing. That's what being dead is all about.
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RE: Interview an Atheist
December 1, 2016 at 8:49 pm
(December 1, 2016 at 8:17 pm)Rader052612 Wrote: Hello,
For a class I am taking I am required to interview someone and learn about their personal world views and beliefs. This is in no way to demean or preach to them, but instead listen and learn about others world views. If anyone would be willing to let me listen to their world views I would greatly appreciate it! It will be 4 basic questions: Origin:where's do we come from? Morality: how do you determine right from wrong good from bad? Purpose: What is our purpose in life? Destiny: What happens once we die? Thank you!
Do you live in a place with no people to talk with?
Boru
‘I can’t be having with this.’ - Esmeralda Weatherwax
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RE: Interview an Atheist
December 1, 2016 at 9:03 pm
(This post was last modified: December 1, 2016 at 9:34 pm by Rader052612.)
The class is an apologetics class, this week it's focusing on worldview and learning to listen and build good lasting relationships even if we disagree on certain issues.
Also I live in a very theostic community. There are very few non-Christian groups close by, so the next best thing would be a forum.
(December 1, 2016 at 8:46 pm)Minimalist Wrote: Origin:where's do we come from?
Mommy and Daddy hook up.....usually there is alcohol involved... and one thing leads to another.
Morality: how do you determine right from wrong good from bad?
If you can go to jail for it, it is probably a bad idea.
Purpose: What is our purpose in life?
To live and reproduce like every other animal.
Destiny: What happens once we die?
Not a damn thing. That's what being dead is all about. Thank you for answering all of my questions.
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RE: Interview an Atheist
December 1, 2016 at 9:40 pm
(This post was last modified: December 1, 2016 at 9:43 pm by Astreja.)
(December 1, 2016 at 8:17 pm)Rader052612 Wrote: Origin:where do we come from?
IMO, almost certainly from self-replicating organic molecules via billions of years of chemical reactions followed by billions of years of evolution. In the grand scheme of things, I think that the stuff from which atoms are made has always existed in one form or another.
Quote: Morality: how do you determine right from wrong good from bad?
Empathy. I imagine what it would feel like to be on the receiving end of the action, and strive for actions that increase others' happiness rather than diminishing it.
Quote: Purpose: What is our purpose in life?
Wholly subjective and uniquely personal. There is no grand purpose to it all, only myriad individual purposes.
Quote: Destiny: What happens once we die?
When we lose consciousness for the final time the "self" simply disappears, along with all our beliefs and memories. The atoms of our bodies eventually make it back into the ecosystem and may become part of other living things.
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RE: Interview an Atheist
December 1, 2016 at 10:16 pm
(This post was last modified: December 1, 2016 at 10:17 pm by SteelCurtain.)
Origin:where's do we come from?
This question begs several follow up questions. Do you mean where does all matter come from? Where did intelligent life come from? Where did organic molecules come from?
I think you probably mean the first one, and the answer is we don't know for sure. There are some pretty compelling theories with good evidence, but in the end all we will really ever be able to say for sure is that there are certain physical constraints that must have always been the way they are, and a result of those laws is life--whether it be abundantly common or extremely rare.
We are able to see far back into the past via our most advanced technology, and we know that this universe is very old, and was once very dense and compact. We know that every atom that makes up you and me came from the furnace of a long dead star. We don't know how that became life. It's okay not to know, because claiming to have the answer when you don't is what makes it okay not to search any more.
Morality: how do you determine right from wrong good from bad?
I would say that I likely determine what is right and wrong and good from bad in the very same way you do. And that's not from a 2000 year old book that condones slavery, the murder of infants, sleeping with your own father, the genocide of the entire human race save for 8 and the repopulation of the earth from those 8 people in the what would be the world's worst inbreeding fiasco, the sale and subjugation of women, blood sacrifice, etc.
We get our morality from the culture we live in, and the micro-society we choose. We get our morality from our sense of empathy, and how far our sense of altruism reaches. Evolutionarily, we are a social species, and the propagation of our genes depended heavily on group cohesion. This still resonates today.
Purpose: What is our purpose in life?
Is there are purpose? I think you must demonstrate that such a thing must exist before asking a loaded question.
Destiny: What happens once we die?
The same thing that happened before you were born.
"There remain four irreducible objections to religious faith: that it wholly misrepresents the origins of man and the cosmos, that because of this original error it manages to combine the maximum servility with the maximum of solipsism, that it is both the result and the cause of dangerous sexual repression, and that it is ultimately grounded on wish-thinking." ~Christopher Hitchens, god is not Great
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RE: Interview an Atheist
December 1, 2016 at 10:32 pm
Origin:where's do we come from?
Some place far far away!
Morality: how do you determine right from wrong good from bad?
If you wish it happened to you, then good, else bad.
Purpose: What is our purpose in life?
All reasons are personal. Whatever your subconscious says.
Destiny: What happens once we die?
How can we possibly know.
No God, No fear.
Know God, Know fear.
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RE: Interview an Atheist
December 1, 2016 at 10:47 pm
Thank you all for your in depth and personal responses! They were great answers, and I could really tell thought was put into each of them. This definitely gives me plenty to write my paper on! I'm glad I could be a part of hearing so many deep personal beliefs and world views.
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RE: Interview an Atheist
December 1, 2016 at 11:17 pm
(This post was last modified: December 1, 2016 at 11:18 pm by Whateverist.)
(December 1, 2016 at 9:03 pm)Rader052612 Wrote: The class is an apologetics class, this week it's focusing on worldview and learning to listen and build good lasting relationships even if we disagree on certain issues.
You might study Catholic_Lady. Of course, I'm not sure it would be possible to be as genuine as she is if in fact you have a change-agenda for the people you interact with.
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