Do atheists have souls?

[Anonymous]

A PP made the claim earlier that "across cultures and time there has been a general category of acts deemed immoral," and that poster then posited that this was the case for worshippers of sun gods and Christians alike. This is utterly false, and anyone who nodded his head in agreement with that should do a little research to see just how wrong this is. In the Old Testament, the Jewish people were continually judged by God for following after Canaanite and Egyptian gods, to whom these other peoples regularly engaged in child sacrifice. Child sacrifice and temple prostitution were common in antiquity across many cultures throughout the world. But these things were never sanctioned by the God of Israel, or by Christians. Please don't make the uninformed mistake of believing that all cultures arrived at the same morals regardless of which god they followed.

[Anonymous]

Regarding "original sin" postings, the concept of original sin merely states that we are all born with an innate tendency toward sin and that we all WILL sin. This is easy to see. None of us is sinless. The point is that we all need the righteousness of Christ to cover this sin nature. It is the only provision of God for us to get past our sinful nature. This has nothing to do with whether anyone's daughter shares her toys, used or otherwise. We all sin, and we all need a savior. Some of us do good things, and some of us do many more good things than others. But none of our good deeds cover our bad ones. Our bad ones are still bad, and this is why we need the forgiveness that comes from faith in Christ. If you think you've never sinned, you're fooling yourself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm an atheist, and I do believe in souls, as defined as psyche, consciousness, and even spirit. I think humans and possibly some animals have this consciousness. I am open to the idea that souls exist outside of the corporal body. I still consider myself an atheist, because I do not believe in any divinity.

Where is the scientific evidence for this! Please point me to an refereed article in nature or any other prominent journal supporting this idea. Or do you just believe random unproven things?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Well, crazy faux-atheist, you can't force the rest of us to change our definitions of atheism. Words mean what most people take them to mean. That's how language works. Can yourself a cow for all I care but if it mattered to me I would mention to you that you aren't a cow.

I don't notice that crazy faux-atheist is trying to force the rest of us to do anything - just sounding off on his view of things. The word "morals" also means different things to different people - and God knows "god" does.

They are claiming that atheist means no belief in God plus no morals. Then they claimed the rest of the atheists on here aren't real atheists because we believe in morals.

I'm not claiming that. I'm just claiming that any atheist that does believe in morals is stupid. I personally am not that stupid.

You might be a sociopath.

So what if I am? What's wrong with that? I'm happy. I get what I want. From my point of view, that's just fine.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:^^ Christ said " what is good? No one is good except the father ."

Christians do not believe they are good. They believe they are forgiven and saved by grace.

My children are good.

I don't need a god to tell me that I'm wrong in thinking that.

My children are good and kind and loving.

BS. Children are self centered . When is the last time they gave their brand new toys to a poor kid?

What in the hell ever happened to Matthew 19:14?

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

My daughter gives away her items to her brother, who's younger, and to the thrift shop in our 'hood. My son always writes me cards in school, telling me how much he loves me.

-One of the atheists signing off

But she is not giving her Brand New presents away to other kids so she's self centered , at least according to pp.

FWIW, I do think that God wants us to be kind and good to each other and that includes being charitable to others less fortunate. And charity is not just about money there are lots of other ways to give of yourself. Remember - we are all "less fortunate" in one way or another. It's not just about handing over $$$$ and new toys.

I think what I've highlighted in bold says more about you than about my 10 yo daughter. Just b/c something is new and shiny doesn't mean it has more value. The act of giving is just as important as the item that's being donated.

But you're putting a price on that.

nice job, Christian

Again, if you're so religious and driven by God to do good, you'd know your bible more -

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

12 years of Catholic school taught me something.

- Atheist signing off again

My post is the one that you bolded, and I think that you either misunderstood or I didn't explain my thoughts well. It was not my intent to put a price on anything actually. Would you want every gift that you receive to be second hand, used. Would you expect your youngest child to never, ever receive anything brand new and just be happy with your oldest child's hand me downs? Of course not.

I have given away used items that had more meaning and more value to a person than any similar new item would. It is quite possible to do that. It is also possible to give away things just to get rid of them. Ex: I recently took a car load of stuff that I no longer wanted to Goodwill. It was better to do that than it would have been to just toss those items into the trash. Someone will hopefully get some use out of them and I have less clutter. Win-win. My family participated in a yard sale recently and one of the things I was selling were children's shoes. I probably had 20 pairs of them set out, many barely worn. It was early in the morning, the sale had just begun and we had already sold a pair for 4 bucks, woohoo! Then a man came up and explained that he was collecting shoes to send to orphans in another country. We gave him the rest of those shoes.

ok
You win.

My daughter's going to hell b/c she donated her used Barbies.

At least I can keep her company.

The Christian poster did not say anything about you or your daughter going to hell. You seem to have a chip on your shoulder. Knock it off and you'll be carrying around a lot less weight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm an atheist, and I do believe in souls, as defined as psyche, consciousness, and even spirit. I think humans and possibly some animals have this consciousness. I am open to the idea that souls exist outside of the corporal body. I still consider myself an atheist, because I do not believe in any divinity.

Where is the scientific evidence for this! Please point me to an refereed article in nature or any other prominent journal supporting this idea. Or do you just believe random unproven things?

I don't need a scientific article to tell me that I am experiencing consciousness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Regarding "original sin" postings, the concept of original sin merely states that we are all born with an innate tendency toward sin and that we all WILL sin. This is easy to see. None of us is sinless. The point is that we all need the righteousness of Christ to cover this sin nature. It is the only provision of God for us to get past our sinful nature. This has nothing to do with whether anyone's daughter shares her toys, used or otherwise. We all sin, and we all need a savior. Some of us do good things, and some of us do many more good things than others. But none of our good deeds cover our bad ones. Our bad ones are still bad, and this is why we need the forgiveness that comes from faith in Christ. If you think you've never sinned, you're fooling yourself.

zzzzzzzz

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Well, crazy faux-atheist, you can't force the rest of us to change our definitions of atheism. Words mean what most people take them to mean. That's how language works. Can yourself a cow for all I care but if it mattered to me I would mention to you that you aren't a cow.

I don't notice that crazy faux-atheist is trying to force the rest of us to do anything - just sounding off on his view of things. The word "morals" also means different things to different people - and God knows "god" does.

They are claiming that atheist means no belief in God plus no morals. Then they claimed the rest of the atheists on here aren't real atheists because we believe in morals.

I'm not claiming that. I'm just claiming that any atheist that does believe in morals is stupid. I personally am not that stupid.

You might be a sociopath.

So what if I am? What's wrong with that? I'm happy. I get what I want. From my point of view, that's just fine.

You're like a blind man who has never seen color or a deaf person who has never heard music. I am so sorry.

[Anonymous]

Either everyone has a soul, or no one has a soul.

As an atheist, I believe that no one has a soul. Nobody. Nada. None of us. There's no such thing.

Yes, that theoretically means that we're not special snowflakes on earth and aren't really valuable - perhaps as valuable as a worm in the great universal picture (I know one person on here loves comparing us to worms - they're right!).

HOWEVER, that doesn't mean we're unimportant to each other. My value is to my family, my community, my friends, and humanity in general. I can work towards being a considerate human being in this life - there's value to be made in that. But when I die, I'm mulch. I think we're all mulch. We may still "live" in the memories of those who outlive us, but ultimately, the vast majority of us just aren't that special. Our brain cells die, our bodies die, and that's the end.

But there's great joy and worth in making the most out of our living days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Either everyone has a soul, or no one has a soul.

As an atheist, I believe that no one has a soul. Nobody. Nada. None of us. There's no such thing.

Yes, that theoretically means that we're not special snowflakes on earth and aren't really valuable - perhaps as valuable as a worm in the great universal picture (I know one person on here loves comparing us to worms - they're right!).

HOWEVER, that doesn't mean we're unimportant to each other. My value is to my family, my community, my friends, and humanity in general. I can work towards being a considerate human being in this life - there's value to be made in that. But when I die, I'm mulch. I think we're all mulch. We may still "live" in the memories of those who outlive us, but ultimately, the vast majority of us just aren't that special. Our brain cells die, our bodies die, and that's the end.

But there's great joy and worth in making the most out of our living days.

+1 -- as if having eternal life adds meaning. It just adds life. People ask, What is the meaning of life it it just ends? Perhaps they should ask, what is the meaning of living forever? Doing what - watching reruns?

[Anonymous]

^^^ living forever in a place much better and more interesting than the crappy Earth.

That's a funny religion that's personal to you. If another unspecial snowflake wants to kill you for your car or money there is absolutely no reason but your admittedly worthless opinion not to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^^ living forever in a place much better and more interesting than the crappy Earth.

That's a funny religion that's personal to you. If another unspecial snowflake wants to kill you for your car or money there is absolutely no reason but your admittedly worthless opinion not to.

the majority of people convicted of a crime claim to be religious. Clearly fear of hell is not stopping them -- or perhaps they feel if they've accepted Jesus as their savior, they can sin without fear of hell.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^^ living forever in a place much better and more interesting than the crappy Earth.

That's a funny religion that's personal to you. If another unspecial snowflake wants to kill you for your car or money there is absolutely no reason but your admittedly worthless opinion not to.

"Crappy earth?"

Way to talk so hatefully about a place you supposed god created.

So you're saying religious people don't commit crimes because they have a reason? All the criminals are atheists, right? LOL

[Anonymous]

^^ I'm saying that without a soul guilt for any act is illogical .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^ I'm saying that without a soul guilt for any act is illogical .

It's illogical to be held accountable to your fellow human beings? What?

My value, my worth, and my guilt (or lack of) is made relevant according to my peers and community. That's sufficient enough for me to try and be a considerate human being.