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Six questions to an atheist

HERE are six questions asked to an atheist. How will you answer them?

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Marc Draco on March 20, 2012 at 4:09pm

Any educated atheist would have no problem destroying any one of these questions based on the preposition of the paranormal and numerous fallacies - the problem is, Christians and people posing them would not listen.

Permalink Reply by CuriousKid on March 20, 2012 at 4:18pm

I agree and religious people don't have any answers other than "God did it".

Permalink Reply by gerry gallacher on March 21, 2012 at 4:16am

Yes thats right, how dare religios' pose questions when at the end of it all they wont listen to reason?!

Permalink Reply by Carolyn on April 12, 2012 at 3:42am

Indeed, CuriousKid, religion itself doesn't provide satisfactory, let alone compelling, answers to any of the questions posed, so it's moot as to how a nontheist would respond.

The questions do exactly what religion insists: argue religion in religious terms; assume that religion is default the correct position.

Question five is hilarious, and illustrates how redundant this trickery has become.

Permalink Reply by Elise Horvath on March 20, 2012 at 4:48pm

The problem with these questions is that they are written in such a way that they act as though all humans desire "the transcendent" and from the point of view of a theist. This automatically puts one on the defensive, unnecessarily.

1) This is ridiculous. I honestly don't believe that "what is the meaning of life?" is a big question. Where did we come from? and things similar are more BIG questions of which have already been answered by science a long time ago.

2) It ridiculous to think that just because we do not have god means that we have no meaning. Meaning isn't based upon a god telling us we have a purpose. We all find the things that come naturally to us or that we feel passionately about and we can choose to use those talents/passions to benefit those around us. Why not do what we can while we are here to expand minds, find scientific answers, and lead healthy, happy lives? Why does a god have to tell us what we should/shouldn't do with our lives, or what our meaning is? That's a question best answered by an individual.

3) Atheism isn't about eradicating theism. Stalin may have seen religion as a problem, but that doesn't make him atheist. What is being implied in this question isn't based on any facts. There are more numerous instances that would point to religious people committing mass murders in the name of their religion than anywhere else. It's called history, look it up.

4) Why does god have to be the one that solves evil and suffering? Last I checked, evil and suffering isn't solved by god or it would have been gone a long time ago. It is solved by all humans coming together and trying help one another. That's not a godly principle. It's a species' instinct to protect and help those in their species to keep going and to be strong. Look at most species of animals and you will see how they help one another. Lions live in prides. Female lions hunt and bring back food for the whole pride to partake of. God isn't helping them, their instincts are.

5) We don't need a god in order to critique religion or religious people. Morals are not synonymous with religion.That is not to say that religion doesn't offer good morals. Faith based morality is horrible because it assumes that the only reason people stop themselves from hurting someone else is because of the possible consequences. Not because of their conscience, or responsibility, or wanting to have peace. Faith based morality says that people only treat each other the way they do because of the fear of being seen and judged for it

6) Science has shown us how this world that we live in was created, how forms of life came into existence, how we evolved from primitive forms of life, and continues to expand our knowledge about where we came from. The beauty of science is proof.

All these questions were pretty ridiculous. Didn't want to waste a whole bunch of time on it. I totally agree Marc, that no matter how intelligent the answer, faith based people will not listen because they REQUIRE faith in religion. We prefer facts! :)

Permalink Reply by Richard ∑wald on March 20, 2012 at 5:07pm

"Stalin may have seen religion as a problem, but that doesn't make him atheist."

He was raised an Orthodox Christian, …probably remained one, an atheist in name only …a convenience. I don't think he was intellectual enough to understand either.

I do think he saw the church as a competing totalitarian-political-force, an opposing "cult of personality".

Moral of the story, don't let whack-jobs be in charge of shit. Hey, we're back to theism again...

Permalink Reply by Elise Horvath on March 20, 2012 at 6:49pm

Agreed!

Permalink Reply by Bill H on March 22, 2012 at 10:51am