Posted on 02/26/2014 3:05:25 PM PST by Notary Sojac
Good questions, and I am no atheist, but these aren’t that hard to answer.
No thinking atheist will discount the effect of religion on human behavior, despite not sharing such beliefs. That can seem cynical and it probably is to a degree. As Voltaire said, “If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him.”
Some atheist answers inserted below just to indicate some directions of answers -
Where do your rights come from?
Tradition, the social contract, biology, enlightened self interest, etc.
Why do you wear clothes ?
Fashion, social acceptance, desire to avoid social friction, mating strategies, survival, comfort, etc.
Why are there seven days in a week?
A social convention, tradition.
How do you know what is good and what is evil?
There is no such things as good and evil, just biological optimums or the opposite, enlightened self-interest, etc.
If everything came from nothing out of nowhere,
if life is just a curious side effect of an unknowing and uncaring cosmos,
if when you die, you are just so much compost,
then why seek anything other than a life of self-gratification and a painless extinction?
Biological programming towards reproduction and the survival of progeny; biological programming towards the survival of the group, etc.
The atheist won't kill you for not agreeing with them.
The other two groups have been known to do that frequently, with great vigor and perseverance.
I do not buy this Atheism claim. Every body has a ‘god’. Whatever any soul places their faith/trust in is their god. It really does not matter in the long term scheme of things, all ‘souls/spirit intellect’ return to the Maker that sent them. And all souls/spirit intellect get the opportunity to return with a blank slate.
Just saw you on another thread getting ready to pop popcorn and watch the Christian denominations go at it.
Guess you were a little premature.
Communism is based on atheism, last I heard tell it was responsible for more than 100+ million deaths.
The atheist won’t kill you for not agreeing with them.
Wrong. Communism’s atheists have killed millions for not agreeing with them.
So, if anybody places their faith/trust in themselves alone, they are either an atheist or an anarchist?
Would it matter either an atheist or an anarchist? Sorry we all leave this flesh journey and return to the Maker whether we believe or not. Might as well accept reality.
Yes, it’s gotten to where it’s noteworthy to see the phrase used correctly.
Unless you’re dealing with Communist atheists. Also, I don’t recall hearing Christians killing people for disagreeing with them. Maybe in the past, but not today.
Where do your rights come from?"
Our Constitution and the moral characteristics of our founders and the degree to which that morality can be retained in our culture and present day politicians. (hence my world view that our culture is circling the drain)
Why do you wear clothes?
Mostly to stay warm but also, admittedly, to minimize the envy of others.
Why are there seven days in a week?
Human quantification of our planet's yearly journey about it's sustaining star is just ...human quantification. At the week level, I'm sure biblical utterances had something to do with their ultimate design.
How do you know what is good and what is evil?
I don't know, I just do. How about you?
If everything came from nothing out of nowhere, if life is just a curious side effect of an unknowing and uncaring cosmos, if when you die, you are just so much compost, then why seek anything other than a life of self-gratification and a painless extinction?
That's a question each of us must ask ourselves. The answer defines who you are.
I was an altar boy back when the mass was still celebrated in Latin. I sense that I respect truth more than most. My religious beliefs have changed due to my constant search for truth. At this stage of my life I am who I am and believe what I believe for what I feel are the right reasons. I am always willing to admit that I am wrong as I certainly have a history of that. But I keep searching for truth.
Your beliefs are probably different than mine but that doesn't bother me as I am only answerable to my own perceptions of truth. That is why I am baffled as to why a homogenous group of like-thinkers are so concerned about what I believe.
The fact that I was born human.
Why do you wear clothes?
I would prefer not to.
Why are there seven days in a week?
The observed rotation of the earth and its orbit around the sun.
How do you know what is good and what is evil?
Evil is what tramples on somebody else's life or property. Everything else is good.
If everything came from nothing out of nowhere, if life is just a curious side effect of an unknowing and uncaring cosmos, if when you die, you are just so much compost, then why seek anything other than a life of self-gratification and a painless extinction?
Exactly.
[ Conservative atheists are the ones who vote conservative and seldom mention their beliefs and don’t seek out groups to join so they can proclaim their atheism.
Agenda atheism is about as compatible with conservatism as agenda homosexuality. ]
NAILED IT
"Let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle. " ~George Washington
I am speaking anecdotally. Where there is a hankering for amorality, there it is atheists and satanists. If you want "proof" and numbers you'll have to drink something stronger than I.
"The sacred rights of mankind are not to be rummaged for among old parchments or musty records. They are written, as with a sunbeam, in the whole volume of human nature, by the hand of the divinity itself; and can never be erased." Alexander Hamilton
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