Why are you an Atheist?

[beowulf 1]

A well thought out response.


http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2010/12/19/a-holiday-message-from-ricky-gervais-why-im-an-atheist/

[CanuckInUSA 0]

I'm not. I am agnostic. Big difference.

Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

[maadmax 0]

A well thought out response.


http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2010/12/19/a-holiday-message-from-ricky-gervais-why-im-an-atheist/

[beowulf 1]

Why did you think the topic was a question directed toward you?

[Andy9o8 0]

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If there wasn't a need for God, He wouldn't exist in our consciousness.

Santa Claus.

[VTmotoMike08 0]

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If there wasn't a need for God, He wouldn't exist in our consciousness.

Care to back that up with reasoning, or are you just content to state it as fact and expect people to believe it?

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Can't help but notice that the little diatribe is full of dogmatic statements for which there is absolutely no proof.

Please list one. Shit, if it is so full of them then you should be able to list at least 3, right?
BTW, the non-existence of god is the default in any reasonable discussion. Why would the burden of proof be on anyone but the believers?

[petejones45 0]

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A well thought out response.


http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2010/12/19/a-holiday-message-from-ricky-gervais-why-im-an-atheist/

because religious nutjobs have no common sense

Look out for the freefly team, Smelly Peppers. Once we get a couple years more experience we will be a force to be reckoned with in the near future! BLUES!

[Bolas 5]

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A well thought out response.


http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2010/12/19/a-holiday-message-from-ricky-gervais-why-im-an-atheist/

response = SSDD, If there wasn't a need for God, He wouldn't exist in our consciousness. Can't help but notice that the little diatribe is full of dogmatic statements for which there is absolutely no proof. atheism is just another belief system where the believer is god.

So you're saying there is no point to believe or follow something if you can't prove it?

Stupidity if left untreated is self-correcting
If ya can't be good, look good, if that fails, make 'em laugh.

[Erroll 49]

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If there wasn't a need for God, He wouldn't exist in our consciousness.

Santa Claus.

If there was no God, there would be no need for atheists.

[Lindsey 0]

I'm grateful that I'm NOT an athiest. Though there was a time in my youth....

--
A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail

[champu 1]

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If there was no God, there would be no need for atheists.

You're begging the question.

[happythoughts 0]

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If there wasn't a need for God, He wouldn't exist in our consciousness.

It isn't some "consciousness" issue. It is an attempt
by primitive people to answer what they do not understand. Perhaps if they understand, they won't be frightened.

Today, we all know that Thor caused lightning from the
sparks on his anvil and thunder from the sound of his
hammer hitting the anvil.
Thor is a blacksmith and people can identify with that.

Good thing that we have that explained now.

Now if we could only get the water-sprite out of the
stream because he keeps poisoning the water in the summer.

[3331 108]

God has been dead for a long time. Haven't you noticed ?

I Jumped with the guys who invented Skydiving.

[skyrider 0]

Why?

I believe in myself, and basic human goodness...Plus have a brain.....

[skyrider 0]

if there is a God? , (for those of you that believe)

Which one is it?

Did all the ancient Greeks burn in hell, for believing in so many Gods?

Are all Native american Indians burning in hell?

There are no 72 Virgins?

How did they prove a virgin birth?

why were there Dinasuars, was that the image of God, and we came later?

Are we all Guilty of Incest? we must be...there was only Adam and Eve....

[winsor 186]

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If there was no God, there would be no need for atheists.

You're begging the question.

I am stunned! Someone who accurately used the concept of begging the question/petito principi!

[mutumbo 0]

I dont believe in a god because yeah, theres no PROOF in it. Bible is jus a bunch of stories written by man, who are fallable. Why is their opinion any better than mine? Who says they are right and i am wrong? Just because an idea is popular dosent mean its right. History has proved that multiple times over. Some of the, hell ill go with MOST of the biggiest atrocities and genocidal events are/ were committed in the name of someones "god" or over some sort of difference in belief. So i choose not to believe in anything really. Just the way i personally am. I dont push my ideas on anyone and expect the same courtesy to be extended to me. Live and let live.

Thanatos340(on landing rounds)--
Landing procedure: Hand all the way up, Feet and Knees Together and PLF soon as you get bitch slapped by a planet.

[jakee 1,254]

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response = SSDD,

Religion = SSDD.

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If there wasn't a need for God, He wouldn't exist in our consciousness.

Gnomes. Elfs. Unicorns. Pixies. Nymphs. Driads. Wizards. Witches. Every other imaginary being that has ever been used to explain a part of the world that people didn't understand.

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[jclalor 12]

I like Penn Jilette's answer:

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I believe that there is no God. I'm beyond atheism. Atheism is not believing in God. Not believing in God is easy — you can't prove a negative, so there's no work to do. You can't prove that there isn't an elephant inside the trunk of my car. You sure? How about now? Maybe he was just hiding before. Check again. Did I mention that my personal heartfelt definition of the word "elephant" includes mystery, order, goodness, love and a spare tire?



So, anyone with a love for truth outside of herself has to start with no belief in God and then look for evidence of God. She needs to search for some objective evidence of a supernatural power. All the people I write e-mails to often are still stuck at this searching stage. The atheism part is easy.

But, this "This I Believe" thing seems to demand something more personal, some leap of faith that helps one see life's big picture, some rules to live by. So, I'm saying, "This I believe: I believe there is no God."

Having taken that step, it informs every moment of my life. I'm not greedy. I have love, blue skies, rainbows and Hallmark cards, and that has to be enough. It has to be enough, but it's everything in the world and everything in the world is plenty for me. It seems just rude to beg the invisible for more. Just the love of my family that raised me and the family I'm raising now is enough that I don't need heaven. I won the huge genetic lottery and I get joy every day.

Believing there's no God means I can't really be forgiven except by kindness and faulty memories. That's good; it makes me want to be more thoughtful. I have to try to treat people right the first time around.

Believing there's no God stops me from being solipsistic. I can read ideas from all different people from all different cultures. Without God, we can agree on reality, and I can keep learning where I'm wrong. We can all keep adjusting, so we can really communicate. I don't travel in circles where people say, "I have faith, I believe this in my heart and nothing you can say or do can shake my faith." That's just a long-winded religious way to say, "shut up," or another two words that the FCC likes less. But all obscenity is less insulting than, "How I was brought up and my imaginary friend means more to me than anything you can ever say or do." So, believing there is no God lets me be proven wrong and that's always fun. It means I'm learning something.

Believing there is no God means the suffering I've seen in my family, and indeed all the suffering in the world, isn't caused by an omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent force that isn't bothered to help or is just testing us, but rather something we all may be able to help others with in the future. No God means the possibility of less suffering in the future.

Believing there is no God gives me more room for belief in family, people, love, truth, beauty, sex, Jell-O and all the other things I can prove and that make this life the best life I will ever have.

[tkhayes 125]

There needs to be a new word beyond Atheist and/or agnostic.

I don't believe in any of that crap, period.

Or elephants in my trunk

[jgoose71 0]

Ive read the article and I've read the respnses and I really do think that some of you may be full of crap.

Issue 1: If you are are so live and let live, why do you feel the need to convert everyone over to your belief system. It's starting now with billboards and Atheist campaigns, how long until you go to war? I suspect soon now there will be an atheist "war to get rid of god and bring peace."

Trying to convert people to your belief system makes you no better than anybody else.

Issue 2: Just because a few crackpots use religion as an excuse to commit unspeakable acts doesn't mean it's religions fault. Religion is carried out by man and there for succumbs to mans short falls. There are atheists out there that believe that since there is nothing after this so they are going to do what they want right now.

I'm not going to try to lump all of the atheists together with a small group of whack jobs though. I truly believe live and let live.

I believe in god because I look around and I see all the beauty in the world and I don't believe it's and accidental mixture of chemical reactions. I like to sit and the sun and just feel it and know it's good.

I also believe in sex, jello, and dinosaurs. I believe that suffering on earth is mans fault and we can do better. I have come to terms with these things and the possibility that there is a god.

Don't lump me in with the crackpots, stop trying to convert me and let me have my beliefs already.

"There is an art, it says, or, rather, a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss."
Life, the Universe, and Everything

[karenmeal 0]

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There needs to be a new word beyond Atheist and/or agnostic.

I don't believe in any of that crap, period.

Or elephants in my trunk

How about "logical"?

"Life is a temporary victory over the causes which induce death." - Sylvester Graham

[jakee 1,254]

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Issue 1: If you are are so live and let live, why do you feel the need to convert everyone over to your belief system. It's starting now with billboards and Atheist campaigns, how long until you go to war? I suspect soon now there will be an atheist "war to get rid of god and bring peace."

I'm sorry, what? How long until we go from billboards to war? I think there may be more than a handful of intermediate steps there.

Also, methinks that you may be suffering from a mite of selective vision if you think that the atheists are being pushy with all their billboarsd and all their adverts and all their radio stations and all their TV stations and all their door to door salesmen and all their... oh, no sorry, those are the other guys.

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Trying to convert people to your belief system makes you no better than anybody else.

There are a few out there trying to actively convert, no doubt. Mostly though, it's just people standing up for their right to say "actually, this is what I think/ believe" without being shouted down. It's only because your people have had an uncontested pulpit for so long that you think an opposing voice sounds pushy.

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There are atheists out there that believe that since there is nothing after this so they are going to do what they want right now.

But judging by the demographics of the incarcerated, it's a much smaller percentage of them than of religious folks who just decide to do whatever they want right now.

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Don't lump me in with the crackpots, stop trying to convert me and let me have my beliefs already.

Until you can understand the size of of the religious majority you are part of, you really wont be able to appreciate the irony of that statement.

Ain't nothin' like a Christian who thinks he's being oppressed!

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[skyrider 0]

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Ive read the article and I've read the respnses and I really do think that some of you may be full of crap.

Issue 1: If you are are so live and let live, why do you feel the need to convert everyone over to your belief system. It's starting now with billboards and Atheist campaigns, how long until you go to war? I suspect soon now there will be an atheist "war to get rid of god and bring peace."

Trying to convert people to your belief system makes you no better than anybody else.

Issue 2: Just because a few crackpots use religion as an excuse to commit unspeakable acts doesn't mean it's religions fault. Religion is carried out by man and there for succumbs to mans short falls. There are atheists out there that believe that since there is nothing after this so they are going to do what they want right now.

I'm not going to try to lump all of the atheists together with a small group of whack jobs though. I truly believe live and let live.

I believe in god because I look around and I see all the beauty in the world and I don't believe it's and accidental mixture of chemical reactions. I like to sit and the sun and just feel it and know it's good.

I also believe in sex, jello, and dinosaurs. I believe that suffering on earth is mans fault and we can do better. I have come to terms with these things and the possibility that there is a god.

Don't lump me in with the crackpots, stop trying to convert me and let me have my beliefs already.

Convert???

Who other than Christians/Muslims tried to "convert" anyone?

Hell, een Jew's simply mind their own business!

The Asshole Athiest that try to get crosses taken down..PISS me off...they are cymbles of Love, They hurt no one....

Like radicals of any strip, they make the others look bad!

I am related (by marriage) to Christians , that ,make thier living threw thier church's.(preachers and Chaplains)..I may disagree with them, but I tell my son, listen to them, make up your own mind...I won't even press "my" beliefs on "him"...

[VTmotoMike08 0]

>>The Asshole Athiest that try to get crosses taken down..PISS me off...they are cymbles of Love, They hurt no one....

Huh? The cymble[sic] of the cross means love? The central idea is that man is a piece of shit, only this very narrow interpretation of god can save you, and if you don't believe in this message you will burn in a lake of fire and that means love to you? Oh and fuck all the people that were born into a different religion, they are all going to hell? Ya, thats love