Is atheism foolish?

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Religion is a way to avoid personal responsibility. "God's will."

[Gwaithmir]

I have no objection to believing in a god as long as proof based upon a rational standard of knowledge is forthcoming. Is that too much to ask? But surely theists can’t expect me to adopt their beliefs on the basis of what has been presented thus far. Every “proof” I’ve heard and every piece of evidence I’ve seen for the existence of god(s) is easily countered by rational evidence and arguments to the contrary. No convincing evidence for the existence of any deity has ever emerged. But I’m more than willing to listen to theistic arguments or view theistic evidence as long as cross-examination is permitted. As conditions now stand, theology rests far more on superstition and faith than upon facts and reason.

Theology rests on explaining the evidence away, even the "evidence" contained within their own scripture.  One way of doing that is changing the meaning of words on the fly.  We sent five probes into interstellar space and they never bumped into the "firmament" that has the sun and moon and windows for rain?  Well, Raqia doesn't really mean "that which is stamped or beaten out"...as though it were metal, no, Raqia always meant a thin layer of air all along.  Atheists just refuse to accept that.

Ah, yes, the apologist's favorite ploy: The Bible MEANS something other than what it SAYS.

[h4ym4n]

A life with God is a life walking on eggshells.  First naughty word or impure thought and a trapdoor opens under your feet leading straight to Fire Lake.

Not true at all. I've said and had a nautical fuckton of naughty words and impure thoughts and I'm still being cared for, by a God who loves me.

I would be a monster if I kept you depressed for my own amusement but yet your god has you convinced that’s love.

Are you at the point yet where believing in a god is foolish, Ahriman?

[Pat Mustard]

The whole damn forum has been taken over by nuts of one type or another in the past couple weeks.

Sorry, let a few escape my grip.

[MarcusA]

Well, this thread has been properly hijacked by a nut.

[Randy The Atheist]

No.

Atheism is a realization that gods are man-made ideas and can be traced back to the cultures who invented them, to the approximate century they were invented in, and how long it took for the newly invented myths to reach California. This realization is at the root of all Atheist thought and is also the same realization that theists use to dismiss other gods in other cultures that they do not believe in.

Among the most common misconceptions is the idea that Atheism is just another form of religious belief. This is not true. A religious belief is an assumption that a myth is real. Atheism is a realization that myths are cultural ideas that vary by Time, Geography and Circumstance.

[MarcusA]

Randy, I am not saying that we're right. I am just saying that we don't know.

[MarcusA]

The religious think that they know everything there is to know.

[MarcusA]

Religion is a way to avoid personal responsibility. "God's will."

Bad choices can't be avoided.

[The Grand Nudger]

No.

Atheism is a realization that gods are man-made ideas and can be traced back to the cultures who invented them, to the approximate century they were invented in, and how long it took for the newly invented myths to reach California. This realization is at the root of all Atheist thought and is also the same realization that theists use to dismiss other gods in other cultures that they do not believe in.

Among the most common misconceptions is the idea that Atheism is just another form of religious belief. This is not true. A religious belief is an assumption that a myth is real. Atheism is a realization that myths are cultural ideas that vary by Time, Geography and Circumstance.

Negatron.  Atheism doesn't have anything to do with religion...and most atheists are, in fact, religious. It's a testament to how narrowly and how foolishly abrahamism has described religion that atheists in abrahamic societies often express this sentiment. Bluntly, it's us aping our silly oppressor.

I used to end up on the other end of this one alot, myself. With some nutbar theists saying that -because- I'm an atheist, I must be religious. Well. No. Because I'm an atheist, a smaller section of religious thinking will appeal to me. If those other things appeal to me then those things are why I'm religious, insomuch as I am (hypothetically or actually), nothing to do with not believing in gods.