What do Atheists believe?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some religious people I know have a hard time believing a person can be moral without guidance from an authority. That fear of god drives behavior. They simply can't understand why anyone would behave ethically without belief. As people have posted, being an atheist entails behaving as if this is all there is. For the atheists I know, it's doing our best to make this world a better place today because things won't be better in a magical place that we don't get to until we die.

And if you fail at it, there isn't a higher power that will make it right for the people you wronged, or fix the planet, or forgive your sins. You have to do as well as you can, now, no takebacks.

This is an honest question, and something I’ve always wondered. What about the people who decide, screw it, there’s no punishment so I’ll just steal and murder and die rich and happy?

But the flip side is the religious people who do these things and then just ask god for forgivness, and boom, they are good to go. They claim only god can judge them. Atheists on the other hand, don't have a mechanism to have the slate wiped clean.

And they don’t need one, as there is nothing but life as lived, death, and nothingness in their view.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
https://www.philanthropy.com/article/Religious-Americans-Give-More/153973
NEWS AND ANALYSIS
NOVEMBER 25, 2013
Religious Americans Give More, New Study Finds
By Alex Daniels



The more important religion is to a person, the more likely that person is to give to a charity of any kind, according to new research released today.

Among Americans who claim a religious affiliation, the study said, 65 percent give to charity. Among those who do not identify a religious creed, 56 percent make charitable gifts.

About 75 percent of people who frequently attend religious services gave to congregations, and 60 percent gave to religious charities or nonreligious ones. By comparison, fewer than half of people who said they didn’t attend faith services regularly supported any charity, even a even secular one.

I don't know the point of this, the numbers mean the charitable giving is primarily religious.

Religious people, giving to religious causes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one said they are atheist organizations. What was was said is that they are not religiously affiliated. Atheists can and do give to charities ,many of them secular. We don't need an Atheist Charity™ to give back.

It would be a great way for atheists to show their commitment to eradication of poverty, crime, illness, etc.

Also volunteer opportunity.

Atheists volunteer plenty and give money to many causes. It's utterly disengenuous of you to imply otherwise.

Many atheists don't share their non-belief with others because there is a huge stigma attached to that in this country. For example, although we have certainly had an atheist president or two, they have not been open about that, and it will be decades before someone can outright say "I don't believe in any gods" and still could get elected in this country.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is it. All we have is each other. Therefore, we ought to make this the best of all possible worlds, and help each other to achieve it.

There is no future reward for the suffering, so it is incumbent upon us all to try to end it now. There is also no future punishment for those who cause suffering, so it is incumbent upon us all to try to get them to change their ways, or limit their ability to cause suffering.

And ... cycle of life, science, amazed that we exist at all -- that stuff.

NP here. I've posted before and have described myself as agnostic.

Here's the problem with what you've posted: It all depends on the greater collective to have some sense of obligation to protect those who are suffering and bring about justice, stop those who cause the suffering.

Religion has its flaws, for sure. But I'm not sure atheism is much better. I do know a few very moral atheists. But they have a strong sense of obligation, so they really hold themselves to their morals. I know a lot of atheists who think they have morals and values, but when it comes down to choices, they ALWAYS choose the path that is self-serving, no matter who they hurt in the process. They have no sense of obligation to uphold vows or oaths. It really is all about what serves them best at any given time and what they can get away with. They talk a good game about morals and values, but their system of ethics is kind of like the notion of financial companies regulating themselves: they'll do the "right" thing so long as it is in their interest and they see that the other options will have negative consequences, but if they see no net negative consequence to doing the wrong thing or skirting the edge of right, they'll go for it.

My point is, as much harm as has been done in the name of religion, I'm not so sure that pure atheism would be better for society unless there is a strong sense of obligation to the larger whole. There are some cultures in which there is a strong sense of duty to others that is ingrained in people from youth on up, but that doesn't seem to be the case here. I know atheists who do have a strong sense of obligation and internal moral compass, but I also know atheists who basically see morality as a suggestion, not a rule; they do what they want. I know one person in particular who is like this. This person is very self-righteous and will use any opportunity to criticize religion or point out how immoral a religious person is, but this person is kind of a liar and a cheater.

I think the more important question isn't "what do Atheists believe"; it's, what holds your feet to the fire when it comes to actually making ethical choices? Most everyone, religious and nonreligious, has a view of right and wrong. The real question is whether or not they do the right thing even when it runs counter to their own self-interest. And what makes them do that? For many religious people, religion is important not just as a framework for morality and ethical behavior but also as a motivator -- as sort of a cosmic system of justice. It's one thing to say we have a justice system for crime. But there's a lot of unethical behavior that isn't criminal (nor should it be). Most of it falls within the realm of interpersonal relations, be it social or professional.

Your last paragraph is exactly what I wondered. I think everyone knows atheists don’t believe in God. I just wondered what philosophy or guidelines or morals/values atheism entails.

Still, it doesn’t seem like much to “embrace” with atheism. Atheists want to alleviate suffering on earth but I guess they each do so individually in small ways because there’s no atheists outreach or aid organizations, apparently.

You're kidding, right? Every single organization that is not religious is not religious: USAID, UNICEF, etc., etc..
Atheists do not need a statement of non-belief in God to participate in an organization; this is the point that believers never seem to quite get. Atheists are not that interested in God. It's exactly like asking whether people believe in Zeus. It's irrelevant to anything we're actually doing in the organization, and kind of a bizarre non-sequitur.

Those organizations are comprised of and funded by atheists?

I'm an athiest who funds UNICEF and other aid organizations.

I am a Christian that does as well.
Millions give to charities mentioned and representing them as atheists organizations is ludicrous.

No one but you represented them as atheist organizations. They are charitable groups that are not connected to any religion. They don't approach people for donations based on religion. They approach people based on their interest in funding the particular cause, which is not religion-based. e.g., it could be about helping needy children, but not about supporting a religious school that needy children attend.

[Anonymous]

OP, for someone who doesn't want atheists in the religion forum, you sure seem obsessed with them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one said they are atheist organizations. What was was said is that they are not religiously affiliated. Atheists can and do give to charities ,many of them secular. We don't need an Atheist Charity™ to give back.

It would be a great way for atheists to show their commitment to eradication of poverty, crime, illness, etc.

Also volunteer opportunity.

You don't understand atheism. It's an absence of a thing, not a belonging to a thing. Just like there isn't a group called "The Non-Shriners". Or "People who don't own penguins".

Secular organizations are also technically atheist, as they are without religious affiliation, although many religious people may belong to them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one said they are atheist organizations. What was was said is that they are not religiously affiliated. Atheists can and do give to charities ,many of them secular. We don't need an Atheist Charity™ to give back.

It would be a great way for atheists to show their commitment to eradication of poverty, crime, illness, etc.

Also volunteer opportunity.

Why do you say "atheists" and not just "people"? Bigot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
https://www.philanthropy.com/article/Religious-Americans-Give-More/153973
NEWS AND ANALYSIS
NOVEMBER 25, 2013
Religious Americans Give More, New Study Finds
By Alex Daniels



The more important religion is to a person, the more likely that person is to give to a charity of any kind, according to new research released today.

Among Americans who claim a religious affiliation, the study said, 65 percent give to charity. Among those who do not identify a religious creed, 56 percent make charitable gifts.

About 75 percent of people who frequently attend religious services gave to congregations, and 60 percent gave to religious charities or nonreligious ones. By comparison, fewer than half of people who said they didn’t attend faith services regularly supported any charity, even a even secular one.

I don't know the point of this, the numbers mean the charitable giving is primarily religious.

Religious people, giving to religious causes

+1

It's a shame so much of that money isn't actually going towards helping others. It's for church maintenance (or minister's private jets & luxury living in some circumstances) or charities that are poorly rated -- not transparent or financially efficient.
https://www.charitynavigator.org/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Reading through these questions about atheists and atheism, I think how people got some of these ideas. So I'm asking - are they from personal speculation? from church? from your family? something else?

I know when I was growing up, everyone seemed to have a religion and there was not much talk of atheism. Still, atheists were generally, but vaguely, considered to be lesser people because they didn't believe in God.

It wasn't until I started to become an atheist that I thought about it in any depth.

I've never experienced that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one said they are atheist organizations. What was was said is that they are not religiously affiliated. Atheists can and do give to charities ,many of them secular. We don't need an Atheist Charity™ to give back.

It would be a great way for atheists to show their commitment to eradication of poverty, crime, illness, etc.

Also volunteer opportunity.

You don't understand atheism. It's an absence of a thing, not a belonging to a thing. Just like there isn't a group called "The Non-Shriners". Or "People who don't own penguins".

Secular organizations are also technically atheist, as they are without religious affiliation, although many religious people may belong to them.

+1

My atheist DH just signed our family up for a Kids Helping Kids day at our local Food Bank, which is a secular organization. Since we live in a predominantly Christian area, I assume that most of the people working with us will be religious. That doesn’t make the organization a religiously-affiliated one, nor does it mean any less for my secular family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
https://www.philanthropy.com/article/Religious-Americans-Give-More/153973
NEWS AND ANALYSIS
NOVEMBER 25, 2013
Religious Americans Give More, New Study Finds
By Alex Daniels



The more important religion is to a person, the more likely that person is to give to a charity of any kind, according to new research released today.

Among Americans who claim a religious affiliation, the study said, 65 percent give to charity. Among those who do not identify a religious creed, 56 percent make charitable gifts.

About 75 percent of people who frequently attend religious services gave to congregations, and 60 percent gave to religious charities or nonreligious ones. By comparison, fewer than half of people who said they didn’t attend faith services regularly supported any charity, even a even secular one.

I don't know the point of this, the numbers mean the charitable giving is primarily religious.

Religious people, giving to religious causes

+1

It's a shame so much of that money isn't actually going towards helping others. It's for church maintenance (or minister's private jets & luxury living in some circumstances) or charities that are poorly rated -- not transparent or financially efficient.
https://www.charitynavigator.org/

People use these numbers to bolster the claim religious people are more generous. They aren't. They are just charitable to their religion. I don't care what people do with their money, but for the beneficiaries it's such a tax scam. I saw a meme that pictured the Osteens with the caption "We saved 100% on our taxes by switching to Jesus". And don't get me started about the Vatican's wealth. It's obscene.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some religious people I know have a hard time believing a person can be moral without guidance from an authority. That fear of god drives behavior. They simply can't understand why anyone would behave ethically without belief. As people have posted, being an atheist entails behaving as if this is all there is. For the atheists I know, it's doing our best to make this world a better place today because things won't be better in a magical place that we don't get to until we die.

And if you fail at it, there isn't a higher power that will make it right for the people you wronged, or fix the planet, or forgive your sins. You have to do as well as you can, now, no takebacks.

This is an honest question, and something I’ve always wondered. What about the people who decide, screw it, there’s no punishment so I’ll just steal and murder and die rich and happy?

But the flip side is the religious people who do these things and then just ask god for forgivness, and boom, they are good to go. They claim only god can judge them. Atheists on the other hand, don't have a mechanism to have the slate wiped clean.

For the millionth time, no, that’s a lie. How are your values doing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some religious people I know have a hard time believing a person can be moral without guidance from an authority. That fear of god drives behavior. They simply can't understand why anyone would behave ethically without belief. As people have posted, being an atheist entails behaving as if this is all there is. For the atheists I know, it's doing our best to make this world a better place today because things won't be better in a magical place that we don't get to until we die.

And if you fail at it, there isn't a higher power that will make it right for the people you wronged, or fix the planet, or forgive your sins. You have to do as well as you can, now, no takebacks.

This is an honest question, and something I’ve always wondered. What about the people who decide, screw it, there’s no punishment so I’ll just steal and murder and die rich and happy?

But the flip side is the religious people who do these things and then just ask god for forgivness, and boom, they are good to go. They claim only god can judge them. Atheists on the other hand, don't have a mechanism to have the slate wiped clean.

For the millionth time, no, that’s a lie. How are your values doing?

I was raised Catholic and we were taught that going to confession, making a good act of contrition and then receiving holy communion wiped our sins away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one said they are atheist organizations. What was was said is that they are not religiously affiliated. Atheists can and do give to charities ,many of them secular. We don't need an Atheist Charity™ to give back.

It would be a great way for atheists to show their commitment to eradication of poverty, crime, illness, etc.

Also volunteer opportunity.

See I would rather give my time and money to charities that that support causes I believe in (education, housing, clean water, eradication of poverty, Progressive political ideals) and have a proven track record of efficacy and good organizational practices. I don't think that we need to go out and create a new "Atheist charity for atheists only" just to prove some point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one said they are atheist organizations. What was was said is that they are not religiously affiliated. Atheists can and do give to charities ,many of them secular. We don't need an Atheist Charity™ to give back.

It would be a great way for atheists to show their commitment to eradication of poverty, crime, illness, etc.

Also volunteer opportunity.

Why do atheists need to do this as a group? That's what religions are: organized groups of people who all believe the same thing. Atheists don't care about God. We don't care enough about the concept of spirituality to organize a group around NOT having a supernatural leader. Why is this so hard to understand?

We join (or form) groups that have missions we support, and we organize with like-minded people around that mission. The religion part is totally, completely irrelevant.

Why can't believers ever understand that there is a whole group of people who rarely think about god at all -- not even to deny the existence of god. It's just a non-interesting thing in the world.