Forums → WEPR → Reasons to be an Atheist .

I get what your saying but believe me Catholics are just called christians because they believed christ lived but if you look at the way it is they are totally against what the Bible says.

Yes but i'm saying they dont follow some of the basic ten commandments.

When an Athiest offers you a Vaccine to stop the bird flue, you don't say: "No. God will save me." you take the vaccine.

There's generally a presupposition that atheists become such because they have something bad happen in their lives or because they want to sin, but really it's just because they don't believe any theistic claims have met their burden of proof. They don't think that there's any reason to believe that the claims are true, and can you blame them? Here are the general reasonings:
Look around you! Look at nature! How can you not know?
There are naturalistic explanations to how the universe formed, how the sun formed, how life could come from non-life, how life could evolve over time and diversify, etc. "How can you not know" is not an argument.
How can a true morality exist without God?
Why does a moral code have to come from a god? Why can't it be a subjective thing that societies change over time? Wouldn't that make more sense, since many religions lay claim to ideas of slavery and women inferiority, which are newer ideas in terms of how long mankind has existed?
Can you prove that God does not exist?
No. That's not something you can prove when you can't tell the difference between a universe with a god and a universe without. So what? I can't prove that pixies don't exist. Nobody is justified in believing in pixies, and without a reason demonstrable to atheists, how can we justify asking them to believe what we have to say but can't prove?
What caused the Big Bang if it wasn't God?
Again, I don't know. If we proved that it couldn't be a god and we had no explanation, could I just make something up? Ideas don't gain credibility just because there are no competing ideas. It may have been a god, and leaving that possibility open is certainly viable, but we shouldn't accept it unless we have a logical reason why it had to be a mind that by definition is more complex than the thing we're trying to explain.
Jesus (or Buddha or whatever) appeared to me.
I don't believe that it happened. You could be lying to convert me, you could have hallucinated, or it may have actually happened. Revelation is necessarily first person. Just because something happened to you doesn't mean that I should believe it if there is no evidence to support it.

As you can see, it's not about having a definite reason (although many atheists do have some credible arguments against the omnipotent or omnibenevloent nature of a god) not to believe, but more about not having any reason to believe. It's not an assertion that gods can't exist bud a rejection of a claim to absolute knowledge that they do exist.

There's is a story that goes like this

[/quote]There's is a story that goes like this[quote]
There's a story in the bible how to cure leprosy and it goes like this:

Leviticus 14:49-53
And he shall take to cleanse the house two birds, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop:
And he shall kill the one of the birds in an earthen vessel over running water:
And he shall take the cedar wood, and the hyssop, and the scarlet, and the living bird, and dip them in the blood of the slain bird, and in the running water, and sprinkle the house seven times:
And he shall cleanse the house with the blood of the bird, and with the running water, and with the living bird, and with the cedar wood, and with the hyssop, and with the scarlet:
But he shall let go the living bird out of the city into the open fields, and make an atonement for the house: and it shall be clean.

btw the bible also says:
James 5:14-15
Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: and the prayer of faith shall save him that is sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, it shall be forgiven him.

but a study clearly showed that prayers don't have a healing effect.

Do you have any idea how much that makes God sound like he is just taking credit for other peoples hard work and deeds? Not to mention the implication of interfering with free will.

There's a story in the bible how to cure leprosy and it goes like this:

btw the bible also says:

A warning goes out telling a town that a large storm is approaching and flooding is immanent. While everyone was leaving, a religious man decided to stay saying that he has faith in god so he will save him. The area started flooding, and a man in a canoe passed by, and asked him to join him in the canoe to safety. The man stayed saying that he has faith in god so he will save him. The flooding get's worse, and a motorboat passes by. They tell the man they will rescue him, but the man says no because he has faith in god so he will save him. The flooding reaches the roof of his house and a helicopter passes by. They told the man to grab on and they will save him, but the man said no, he has faith in god so he will save him. The house get's destroyed and the man drowns. The man goes to heaven, there he asked god "i had faith in you, why didn't you save me?", to which god replied "i sent you a warning, a canoe, a motorboat, and a helicopter, what else did you want?"

mmhmm, very related.

Good thing I'm not Christian

So God is obviously also acting directly, right?

Nobody said that his help has to be done directly.

But the old testament was inspired by God, so He gave us this cure, or is that wrong?

It does say that in the bible, but we don't know if the bible is true. Just saying.

I think a good reason to be atheist is because you choose to go by facts rather than by faith. I notice people who are religious give answers that also seem to only go by faith and without reason. Not just with philosophy but with almost everything. A man I knew ( he was very religious ) would agree with everything his church said without even really thinking about it, he would trust every individual including ones with a notorious background ( they would eventually turn around to back stab him ), and when he is asked simply for opinion on the economy his answer was " Everything happens for a reason"... I think having religion could affect the way you deal with simple everyday matters. Whether good or bad, I think mostly bad, it certainly does have a role in the person's life. Oh and another good example would be Michelle Bachman. When she was asked why she was running for presidency she said it was because God told her to.

Religion has been responsible for almost every major war on Earth

Thats all I really see for the good that Religion may do.

its your choice been atheist having a religion is a way of living...knowing why you are here and be prepared for what is coming next...im christhian and i believe God will came soon or later... also it gives you a parameter which helps alot in your way of living such as the Church laws,etc. Which make temtations difficult to do.