I am an atheist, ask me anything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sure, I have a question for you: why the need to start this thread when I did an "I'm an atheist, ask me anything" thread already?

New perspective.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Atheist can be victims of some of the worst discrimination.
Most of the time, I kept my (non) beliefs to myself.
Lately, I have been coming out.

Can you give some examples? How have you been coming out?

NP.

Examples of discrimination against atheists -- I am really open about my atheism. If it comes up, I don't make any bones about it. When a friend in law school found that I am an atheist she stopped being my friend. I later found out that this was because she was pressured by the Christian Legal Society to stop talking to me. I also found out that the Christian Legal Society went to the dean and told him that I should be removed from the school because my atheism meant that I couldn't fulfill my character and fitness requirements for having a law degree. The dean laughed them out of the office, but that was pretty f***ed up. Imagine working with or for one of those people... This was at a T20 law school, not a "Christian" law school.

OP here. I was once told by a Mormon that the most ridiculed religious groups in the US are Mormons and Atheists. I have to agree.
I am lucky to live in a place where most people are academic enough to understand that intimidation is unacceptable. But as I said before, there are members of our society who are intolerant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am agnostic. I can neither prove or disprove to existence of god. I am also a scientist, and trust data. I believe that if god exists, everything he does is through physics (chemistry is physics).

I also believe the bible gives historical reference of things they did not understand.

How so?

The chemical reactions are all controlled on the principals of physics..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How will you feel when you burn in the flames of Hell for all eternity?

That's the beauty of being an atheist. We don't worry about such nonsense.

But if there really IS a hell, I hope Satan allows you to warn us. Just bring lots of sunscreen.

BTW, pp, you are not the OP, I am.

Then answer the damn questions.

You still haven't addressed mine.

[Anonymous]

I'm personally agnostic. I do lean more toward not believing in a higher power than believing. But I am unable to make the full leap. To me there is currently no way to prove or disprove the existence of a higher power.

My question for the true Atheist; How are you absolutely certain there is no higher power?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm personally agnostic. I do lean more toward not believing in a higher power than believing. But I am unable to make the full leap. To me there is currently no way to prove or disprove the existence of a higher power.

My question for the true Atheist; How are you absolutely certain there is no higher power?

I'm not OP (I'm another agnostic) but the answer to your question could be as simple as: Because I don't have Faith. The inverse of a theist's usual answer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Atheist can be victims of some of the worst discrimination.
Most of the time, I kept my (non) beliefs to myself.
Lately, I have been coming out.

Can you give some examples? How have you been coming out?

NP.

Examples of discrimination against atheists -- I am really open about my atheism. If it comes up, I don't make any bones about it. When a friend in law school found that I am an atheist she stopped being my friend. I later found out that this was because she was pressured by the Christian Legal Society to stop talking to me. I also found out that the Christian Legal Society went to the dean and told him that I should be removed from the school because my atheism meant that I couldn't fulfill my character and fitness requirements for having a law degree. The dean laughed them out of the office, but that was pretty f***ed up. Imagine working with or for one of those people... This was at a T20 law school, not a "Christian" law school.

Was it a Jesuit school? I am thinking of one that fits that criteria.

Nope. Not Catholic or religious, at all. Just crazy Christians who were freaking about meeting an atheist for the first time. Lots of law school students are REALLY sheltered.

[Anonymous]

I'm an atheist, but not a militant one. My husband and I raised our children to be compassionate skeptics and to understand their responsibility as part of this world.

I roll my eyes when people ask how you can raise moral children without religion. Really? When people cherry pick the bible for only the loving and tolerant phrases, they are exercising their morality, only they don't seem to realize it.

God is Not Great, and religion really does poison just about everything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm personally agnostic. I do lean more toward not believing in a higher power than believing. But I am unable to make the full leap. To me there is currently no way to prove or disprove the existence of a higher power.

My question for the true Atheist; How are you absolutely certain there is no higher power?

Not absolutely certain. Just don't believe in it and NEVER think of it. Like never.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How will you feel when you burn in the flames of Hell for all eternity?

That's the beauty of being an atheist. We don't worry about such nonsense.

But if there really IS a hell, I hope Satan allows you to warn us. Just bring lots of sunscreen.

BTW, pp, you are not the OP, I am.

Then answer the damn questions.

You still haven't addressed mine.

What question? The one about burning in flames? I did, I said that I would feel hot, as a joke, then said that I don't believe in that kind of thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm personally agnostic. I do lean more toward not believing in a higher power than believing. But I am unable to make the full leap. To me there is currently no way to prove or disprove the existence of a higher power.

My question for the true Atheist; How are you absolutely certain there is no higher power?

Not absolutely certain. Just don't believe in it and NEVER think of it. Like never.

So you simply have faith/belief of no higher power? Similar, but opposite, to how someone will have faith/belief in a higher power.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm personally agnostic. I do lean more toward not believing in a higher power than believing. But I am unable to make the full leap. To me there is currently no way to prove or disprove the existence of a higher power.

My question for the true Atheist; How are you absolutely certain there is no higher power?

Not absolutely certain. Just don't believe in it and NEVER think of it. Like never.

So you simply have faith/belief of no higher power? Similar, but opposite, to how someone will have faith/belief in a higher power.

Not even sure how to answer that. I was raised with no religion in our house. I was always very uncomfortable around people who would talk about a higher power. It sounded as if they were hallucinating. I was not sure if THEY really believed what they were talking about. Sometimes I got scared. Watching people pray was also odd to me. (now I am more comfortable with that).
I am trying to say that I don't know what opposite is, because I don't know what others believe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you make fun of those who believe?

Anonymously or not?

???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm personally agnostic. I do lean more toward not believing in a higher power than believing. But I am unable to make the full leap. To me there is currently no way to prove or disprove the existence of a higher power.

My question for the true Atheist; How are you absolutely certain there is no higher power?

Not OP, but for me the question then would be, well then *which* higher power should I be on the fence about? Why not multiple deities? How can a monotheist be so certain that there aren't plural gods (or vice versa)?

Ultimately for me, there are too many versions of a "higher power" that seem to be created as a reflection of society's needs at the time, and place of origin. Human beings have created thousands of gods over the centuries, millenniums, etc. No version of "higher power" seems more plausible to me than the next.


What's plausible to me, is that that there are no higher powers or gods. It just makes the most sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How will you feel when you burn in the flames of Hell for all eternity?

Not the OP, but another atheist. I don't worry about hell because I simply don't believe in it. Faith is belief in the absence of proof, and without proof I see no reason to believe in Christian mythology any more than Christians believe in Greek mythology.

If I end up in a lake of fire for eternity I guess I'll have to admit that I was wrong, but given that I've (so far) lived a life that a Christian would consider moral, if the Christian god chucks me in a lake of fire for eternity for non-belief despite my good behavior then I'd have to spend eternity thinking he's an asshole, as well.

Another (np) atheist here and this is pretty much my view as well.

I haven't read through all the posts, but for me, I was raised in a christian family. My parents have become more extreme-probably starting around when I was in high school, which was about the time I really started questioning my (and therefore, their) beliefs. It has been a long process but now at 35 am I most definitely atheist (and my parents are now extremely conservative evangelical christians).