The best argument for atheism

[1over137]

I have to ask though - do you really think that the average Christian is any more likely to do the right thing than the average member of any other religion or the average nonbeliever?

Answer depends on how you do the average, who you include among Christians, among nonbelievers and if by any other religion you mean all religions.

[B. W.]

I can't speak for all atheists (we're not really an organized group and our beliefs vary widely), but personally I do my best to do the right thing, and when I've failed to do so in the past I have felt like an a#####e until I've gone back and fixed my mistake....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:A ... anizations

hmmm...

Not
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[PaulSacramento]

Really? So without God to dictate that rape, theft, and murder are wrong you'd have killed your neighbor, raped his wife, and stolen his truck by now? I seriously doubt that. Hurting people is wrong, and unless your brain is broken you know that.

History seems to show that your view is NOT correct since rape and theft and murder of other people outside our "tribe" ( and depending on the group even inside) was perfectly fine for many groups.
Hurting people is wrong why?
I mean most religions will tell you why, typiclaly ending up in either a deity to make the reason absolute or some sort of "karmic retribution" thing.
Those that go the deity route state that there is a wrong because a superiour moral being states so.
Those that go the "karmic retribution" route typically try to influence by the "don't do anything bad cause you will pay the price for it" POV.
There are pros and cons with BOTH routes of course BUt only the Deity version allows for an absolute notion that there is such a thing as "wrong".

[PaulSacramento]

As for whether or not the average Christian is more likely to do the right thing than any other person.
The point is that the average Christian knows He is suppose to and WHY.
Sure the way sometimes gets bunched up and confused at times, we are after all imperfect creatures.
Christianity does, however, "expect" that Christians do NOT always act they way they should, even the best of us and it even accepts that some non-believers may even be "better" people since ALL people have God in their hearts ( minus the ones that have rejected Him in totality and by that I don't mean those that don't believe but those that don't believe in ANY of His Word).
Why? because Christianity is well aware that Man is "fallen" and "broken" and in need of redemption and believers are no different.

[SkepticalSkeeter]

I can't speak for all atheists (we're not really an organized group and our beliefs vary widely), but personally I do my best to do the right thing, and when I've failed to do so in the past I have felt like an a#####e until I've gone back and fixed my mistake....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:A ... anizations

hmmm...

Do you really think that that disproves my statement? Thirty-one dissimilar organizations worldwide? Dude, there are almost twice that many churches within 5 miles of my house. Anyway, yeah, I stand by my statement. Atheists obviously agree that deities don't exist (since that's the definition of the word), but they branch out considerably from there. There is no such thing as atheist dogma.

Paul, I'll get back to you later. It's late and I'm tired.

[B. W.]

I can't speak for all atheists (we're not really an organized group and our beliefs vary widely), but personally I do my best to do the right thing, and when I've failed to do so in the past I have felt like an a#####e until I've gone back and fixed my mistake....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:A ... anizations

hmmm...

Do you really think that that disproves my statement? Thirty-one dissimilar organizations worldwide? Dude, there are almost twice that many churches within 5 miles of my house. Anyway, yeah, I stand by my statement. Atheists obviously agree that deities don't exist (since that's the definition of the word), but they branch out considerably from there. There is no such thing as atheist dogma.

Paul, I'll get back to you later. It's late and I'm tired.

Dogma: There is no God

Dogma:: There are no gods

Dogma: There are no deities

Yes, Atheist have dogma and agendas, vendetta's, and organizations...
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[Thadeyus]

"....Dogma..."-

Well... a friend of mine is keeping their dog with me....Oh..wait....wrong doggy...

"....Vendetta's...

Why, yes. when it's really hot I've sometimes been known to wear....um...oh, wait...that's Bandanna...

But, on a more serious note. Please, lets see the better information of one god (Or which is the more correct version of such) or of which god over the many gods being offered by all.

Much cheers to all.

[B. W.]

"....Dogma..."-

Well... a friend of mine is keeping their dog with me....Oh..wait....wrong doggy...

"....Vendetta's...

Why, yes. when it's really hot I've sometimes been known to wear....um...oh, wait...that's Bandanna...

But, on a more serious note. Please, lets see the better information of one god (Or which is the more correct version of such) or of which god over the many gods being offered by all.

Much cheers to all.

Cheers to you too
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[Thadeyus]

You are most welcome. My question is one of the reasons I pp into this forum.

Of the many gods...and many of the interpretations of the gods.....where is the trail?

Much cheers to all.

[1over137]

You are most welcome. My question is one of the reasons I pp into this forum.

Of the many gods...and many of the interpretations of the gods.....where is the trail?

Much cheers to all.

Which of those gods came down to earth?

[Thadeyus]

Which of those gods came down to earth?

Which of which gods? In Greek and Roman mythology, pretty much all of them. Same for Norse etc. Then you have the Buddha transcending, hence a person kid of 'going the other way'....(Though I've probably mangled that idea quite thoroughly with this quick posting)

Much cheers to all.

[outlaw]

The best argument for atheism is the fact that it requires faith to believe in god.
If there was evidence for god, if it actually existed you'd be able to measure it.

Past history
The amount of times a supernatural explanation has been replaced with a natural one throughout history is thousands!! Vs The number of times a natural explanation has been replaced with a supernatural one (that is we used to think that X was caused by cause and effect but now studying it closer it appears as though X its caused by gods or demons or angels) ZERO!!!!

Knowing this, what are the chances that a phenomenon that we don't have a solid explanation of now, will best be explained by the supernatural?
ZERO

[Starhunter]

I totally agree with how atheists measure the world,
take for instance your mind, you've never seen it, you've never touched it, heard it or tested in the laboratory, there has been no panel of nerds to agree and conclude that you even have one, no links on the internet, not in Wikipedia, no microscopic pictures of it, no documentation, no papers, no proof or evidence to back up any claims you might have, the only thing you have is faith, and since faith is just garbage you have no right to call yourself sane let alone believe that you have a mind.
Don't take this personally, but that's how a lot of logic goes.
Logic has its limits - its called the small capacity of the human brain.

[outlaw]

I totally agree with how atheists measure the world,
take for instance your mind, you've never seen it, you've never touched it, heard it or tested in the laboratory, there has been no panel of nerds to agree and conclude that you even have one, no links on the internet, not in Wikipedia, no microscopic pictures of it, no documentation, no papers, no proof or evidence to back up any claims you might have, the only thing you have is faith, and since faith is just garbage you have no right to call yourself sane let alone believe that you have a mind.
Don't take this personally, but that's how a lot of logic goes.
Logic has its limits - its called the small capacity of the human brain.

So how would you know if something existed outside of the capacity of the human brain?

[Byblos]

I totally agree with how atheists measure the world,
take for instance your mind, you've never seen it, you've never touched it, heard it or tested in the laboratory, there has been no panel of nerds to agree and conclude that you even have one, no links on the internet, not in Wikipedia, no microscopic pictures of it, no documentation, no papers, no proof or evidence to back up any claims you might have, the only thing you have is faith, and since faith is just garbage you have no right to call yourself sane let alone believe that you have a mind.
Don't take this personally, but that's how a lot of logic goes.
Logic has its limits - its called the small capacity of the human brain.

So how would you know if something existed outside of the capacity of the human brain?

Now THAT is a great question. But please, please do yourself a favor and stay away from Cartesian dualism (after you've thoroughly researched it, of course ).