Where do we go when we die and are you afraid?

[The Grand Nudger]

After having learned more about it, do you still find it compelling?

[Mister Agenda]

I was wondering why we bother to be good, if we'll all just end up in the same boat in the end. I could be completely horrid to people and not suffer 'eternal damnation'.

Being horrible to people isn't beneficial in the long run: people will not trust you, not help you, and fight against you. Your life will be worse off than if you are nice and good to people.

We are *social* creatures. No one can live solely on their own. it helps to have other people to help. And to get that, you have to help others.

It always scares me when a theist asks questions like this. Is the only reason they aren't 'horrible' because they are afraid of hell or wanting heaven? Really? How fundamentally immoral can you be?

Wait, don't answer that.

Theists aren't nearly as bad as they think they are, when they become atheists they never seem to act out the way they thought they would without the fear of divine punishment holding them back.

---

Psychologically, I would be more concerned about the delusional ramifications brought about by thinking religious faith is better for humanity.

But the Bible does have some pretty good ideas don't you think?

You know, "thou shalt not kill" and "love thy neighbour"  

What do you disagree with?

I certainly pick what I like from the Bible and reject all the bad advice. Since I'm an atheist, I'm not committed to the whole Bible. I don't think it's the word of God, just the writings of ancient people who sometimes got things right and sometimes got things wrong. On what basis do YOU pick what you like from the Bible and ignore what you don't like? Have you read the whole thing?

PS: I appreciate you participating in your thread, sometimes people start a thread and that's the last we hear from them.

[Shazzalovesnovels]

I'm just fascinated by atheism (I'm a psych student). (and when i say fascinated, I don't mean it in a sarcastic or patronizing way. I mean it genuinely) I really want to hear all your thoughts on the subject and i'm reading every message.

If this is true, and based on this thread and your posts, I'd suggest you find a different vocational path or a better school.

Yeah, I might change to a bachelor of arts. I have no Idea what I want to do with my life. But I'll always wonder about the depths of the human mind.

[Mister Agenda]

Thank you for taking the time to write that even though I am thoroughly confused now    : )

And in regard to not fearing death, how I wish I had your confidence. It would be great for my mind to be at ease but I'm always wondering "what if?"

By the way, I've always wondered, Why don't atheists TRY to believe? The way I see it is, you've got nothing to lose. (Although false faith is not a good thing).

You can convince yourself of anything if you try hard enough, and there's no objective way to distinguish 'true faith' from 'false faith'. Either one is just what you believe based on what you believe you SHOULD believe. In what way is your faith in God distinguishable from a Hindu's faith in Krishna?

Not all atheists disbelieve because they have standards of evidence that they require to believe something, but it's a very common attitude among Western atheists. I want to believe as few false things as possible. I don't think trying to believe things is a good way to avoid believing things that aren't true. I don't think WANTING to believe something is true has any bearing on whether it is actually true or not. Skepticism serves me well in many areas of my life, from bolstering my otherwise weak sales resistance to keeping me from falling for conspiracy theories. If I make exceptions to my requirements for evidence, any resulting beliefs won't be warranted, and I care about that.

[Peebothuhlu]

If this is true, and based on this thread and your posts, I'd suggest you find a different vocational path or a better school.

Yeah, I might change to a bachelor of arts. I have no Idea what I want to do with my life. But I'll always wonder about the depths of the human mind.

    


Not at work.

[Mister Agenda]

I'm only 19 and still seeking answers but so far I've got this.

1. Hope (that he's real)
2. It makes a LOT of sense that he would exist, meaning I find it plausible based on the Bible 
3. Too many coincidences
4. The Big Bang DOESN'T make sense 
5. There is a limitation to man's knowledge. We don't even have the cure for cancer, how can we be so sure that's not all we don't know about? If we don't even have definitive answers on religion vs the big bang and the Genesis and end of mankind, it means there's a that we're not aware of certain things.

What are your thoughts on this?

Without understanding probability you're in no position to determine how many coincidences is 'too many'. Your inability to grasp the physics of the 'Big Bang' doesn't mean it doesn't make sense. It is a scientific fact that the universe was once much, much smaller than it is now.

You can say all the same things about Brahma or Ptah as you say about Yahweh, except the 'based on the Bible' part. Have you read it cover-to-cover, btw?

[Shazzalovesnovels]

Being horrible to people isn't beneficial in the long run: people will not trust you, not help you, and fight against you. Your life will be worse off than if you are nice and good to people.

We are *social* creatures. No one can live solely on their own. it helps to have other people to help. And to get that, you have to help others.

It always scares me when a theist asks questions like this. Is the only reason they aren't 'horrible' because they are afraid of hell or wanting heaven? Really? How fundamentally immoral can you be?

Wait, don't answer that.

Theists aren't nearly as bad as they think they are, when they become atheists they never seem to act out the way they thought they would without the fear of divine punishment holding them back.

---

But the Bible does have some pretty good ideas don't you think?

You know, "thou shalt not kill" and "love thy neighbour"  

What do you disagree with?

I certainly pick what I like from the Bible and reject all the bad advice. Since I'm an atheist, I'm not committed to the whole Bible. I don't think it's the word of God, just the writings of ancient people who sometimes got things right and sometimes got things wrong. On what basis do YOU pick what you like from the Bible and ignore what you don't like? Have you read the whole thing?

PS: I appreciate you participating in your thread, sometimes people start a thread and that's the last we hear from them.

No, I haven't read the whole Bible (I'm only up to Leviticus to be honest).

So I haven't read enough to pick or choose. But I'll do what feel is right in my heart. I've noticed that most ethical standards we live by originate from the Bible. So how can people denounce it anyway when they're living by it (indirectly, but still living by it).

Can I ask, do you (as an atheist) believe that you chose to be an atheist so you could sin without a guilty conscience?

PS: Got a lot of time on my hands : )

[Mister Agenda]

To be briefly pedantic, logic is a good thing to know about when evaluating arguments, particularly logical fallacies. For example the argument from ignorance is an informal logical fallacy where something is claimed to be true because it hasn't been proved to be false; or vice versa. That there is so much we don't know is not a reason to believe any particular thing that we don't know about is real. I can acknowledge that science is in it's infancy and there is more to discover than has been discovered; but it would still be fallacious for me to cite that as a reason why there must be invisible flying unicorns out there SOMEWHERE.

That you don't know something doesn't improve the odds of me being right about that thing at all.

[Shazzalovesnovels]

I'm only 19 and still seeking answers but so far I've got this.

1. Hope (that he's real)
2. It makes a LOT of sense that he would exist, meaning I find it plausible based on the Bible 
3. Too many coincidences
4. The Big Bang DOESN'T make sense 
5. There is a limitation to man's knowledge. We don't even have the cure for cancer, how can we be so sure that's not all we don't know about? If we don't even have definitive answers on religion vs the big bang and the Genesis and end of mankind, it means there's a that we're not aware of certain things.

What are your thoughts on this?

Without understanding probability you're in no position to determine how many coincidences is 'too many'. Your inability to grasp the physics of the 'Big Bang' doesn't mean it doesn't make sense. It is a scientific fact that the universe was once much, much smaller than it is now.

You can say all the same things about Brahma or Ptah as you say about Yahweh, except the 'based on the Bible' part. Have you read it cover-to-cover, btw?

I agree. 
So who made the universe? and if particles did explode to make the universe, who made those particles? You probably hear theses questions from 'theist's?' on the daily.

[zebo-the-fat]

Because in this life pain/suffering is bad/undesirable and pleasure/contentment is good/desirable. I can scarcely believe that people such as yourself need this pointing out to them in this day and age. Wow.

I do know this. I'm asking for the sake of procuring answers from someone other than myself. I promise I'm not THAT stupid. or maybe I am and i just don't know it yet : )

---

Shazza - next to "religious views" you wrote "he exists" - which god are you referring to? Thor? Zeus? Perseus? Ganesh? Vishnu?

He with a capital 'H'


And I only know Him by God/Jesus/Jehovah. The rest are fictional.

How do you know?