"We do not know a millionth of a percent about anything." -Thomas Edison

Its not that I have never met a self described "atheist", its just that I know that a true atheist cannot exist. Here's the thinking: If I told you that there is no silver in Minnesota, I would have to be all knowing. I would have to know that there is no silver in the ground, in any store, in any ring, or on any medal in Minnesota. Therefore, the statement "There is no silver in Minnesota" is absolute. Meaning it would take an all knowing being to know if this statement is true. But if I told you, "There is silver in Minnesota", I do not need any knowledge. All I need is to find one speck of silver, and my statement is true.

What I am getting at is that it is impossible to be an atheist (one who knows there is not a God), because a person is not all knowing, therefore, cannot know if there is not a God.
There is also an agnostic (one who claims ignorance when it comes to God). An agnostic can't find God because he won't. An agnostic looks for God like a thief looks for a policeman. Therefore, an agnostic is no better than a self described "atheist", because neither are truly looking for God.
Why? Fear. "Atheists" and agnostics fear finding out the truth about God, because that would mean that they would have to admit to a higher power, admitting that they are ultimately responsible to Him. Apparently, nonBelievers refuse to confront such a notion.

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And agnostic would be believing there is something out there similair to a god, but not believe in one particular being as a god.

Agnostics believe that a higher power cannot be known. They neither believe in or deny a higher power.

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Originally posted by EarthGoddess:

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However, when people adhere to Christianity out of law/respect for Christ's teachings, then those Christians will practice what they preach.

Not all the time.

Oops...that's supposed to be "love/respect for Christ's teachings."

Maybe not all the time, but certainly a lot more often than we do now. Of course, I'm only talking about Christians now; I think that people who claim Christianity without following Jesus' teachings are much worse than people who are just as mean but don't claim Christianity.

I've never known an "athiest" to claim that they know for a fact there is no god. They just chose not believe in one.

And agnostic would be believing there is something out there similair to a god, but not believe in one particular being as a god.

Dang. Everytime I invite Creationists to a debate they vanish.

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However, when people adhere to Christianity out of law/respect for Christ's teachings, then those Christians will practice what they preach.

Not all the time.

Yes, but once again, I can adhere to decent moral standards of my own and still be a good person. Christians are no better or worse than myself.

Exactly! If people adhere to Christianity out of fear, then those people will not follow Christ's teachings when the people don't feel the presence of church authority. Also, those people will look for any potential (and often erroneous) highway to hell (or just the grocery, but whatever...) and become chauvinistic towards people on that highway.

However, when people adhere to Christianity out of law/respect for Christ's teachings, then those Christians will practice what they preach.

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Lots of nonChristians want to believe that they are awesome, better than everyone else (or at least most people).

hmm... it's been my experience that the people who think they are better than everyone else are christians (or the fake kind of christians that are majority of christians...). In my expereience, they think that they are better than everyone else because they have been 'saved' and god loves them more, and that they are 'God's children'. But, that's just my experience with it...

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Honestly, I'd rather not have to worry my entire life over whether or not I'm going to Heaven. I mean, if my views challenge those of the Bible and the general Christian public, there's nothing I can do. At least I'm a good person, eh? I might as well live my life fully while I have it, before I'm reincarnated or whatever the heck happens.

Exactly, I once had a friend (or I thought she was a friend, anyway) say to me: "Nick, tonight in your dreams I hope you smell the sulfur and feel the heat and the power of Hell, so that you will live in reverance to the Lord." As I was later thinking about this, I realized that this was probably the single most hurtful thing that anyone has ever said to me. I asked her, "So, you want me to live my life in fear? You want me to be scared into believing." It is just ridiculous. Death scares me a little bit, but not in the sense that I shall die (that is inevitable), but what scares me is that it could come before I acheive what I want in this world...

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Christians believe that they as humans are divine and that a higher power actually cares about them. Who has more pride?

Indeed.

Some people use the "it's safer to just believe in God, just in case" argument, but since I don't believe in God, if it turns out that I'm wrong, the surprise and fascination at this would outweigh the turmoil of being incorrect.

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Atheists must come to term with the fact (or idea, whatever) that humans are no more important than other lifeforms and serve no divine purpose. Christians believe that they as humans are divine and that a higher power actually cares about them. Who has more pride?

Honestly, I'd rather not have to worry my entire life over whether or not I'm going to Heaven. I mean, if my views challenge those of the Bible and the general Christian public, there's nothing I can do. At least I'm a good person, eh? I might as well live my life fully while I have it, before I'm reincarnated or whatever the heck happens.

Perhaps it is pride that keeps me from believing in an all-powerful being who has nothing better to do than pass judgement on humans.

Yep, that's pride all right. I have free will and I'm going to exercise it.

Hey, reactionary, are you Christian? Sounds like it. In any case, I wanted to add that I think the one thing that keeps people from finding God is pride. Christianity is based on the fact that mankind is fallen - we're weak and sinful and we can't get to heaven without help (the help being Jesus). Lots of nonChristians want to believe that they are awesome, better than everyone else (or at least most people). They won't admit to themselves that they fail and sin.
And hey, I'm not passing any judgement here. I was one of the worst before I became a Christian, but God changes a person. I'm a completely different person, all because of God's grace. In my pre-Christian years, I really did think I was better than pretty much everyone. I'm really smart, and so I looked down on people who weren't as smart as me. The ironic thing is, my belief that I was better than people because of my intelligence is, well, stupid. I was born smart. I didn't do anything. Should I look down on redheads and brunettes because I was born with blonde hair and they weren't? It's ridiculous.



Anyway, yeah....pride keeps people from God.

They edit p*ss?

Wow.

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As I previously stated, I do not believe in a divine origin of the universe, and thus do not believe that humans are more important than other organisms. Our importance only extends to our ecological niche in the planets ecosystems. We are doing an extremely bad job of filling that niche, so really, the world would be better off without our presence.

Oh I get it now.

I think we all have purpose in this world, all meaning animals, humans, and etc. We have purpose in good and bad areas. We make mistakes but I think we all play a role in this universe.

We are important but not that important, i mean we are important on this world but in the ever expanding universe we are ****-ants.

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I think like that sometimes.but then again how do we know we ren't important to some extend?

As I previously stated, I do not believe in a divine origin of the universe, and thus do not believe that humans are more important than other organisms. Our importance only extends to our ecological niche in the planets ecosystems. We are doing an extremely bad job of filling that niche, so really, the world would be better off without our presence.

That's cool Finn!

That's makes sense, you believe in something but dnn't think it involves God.

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I don't believe that there is an afterlife or that humans are in any way divinely seperated from other organisms. I think that we are just as insignificant as other lifeforms, and that we just like to consider ourselves more important because of natural egotism inherent in our brains. I also do not believe in corporeal souls or a life force.

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Like clpo, I believe the bible to be a creation of humankind, and I do not value it as a moral guide or a history reference. I consider religion to be a way to avoid having to say "I don't know" and thus not have to deal with uncertainty about life. Religion is a way that humans comfort themselves and find a sense of being important.

I think like that sometimes.but then again how do we know we ren't important to some extend?

I just live in ignorance

I agree with finn. We do have beliefs, but they don't involve gods.

Additional Note:

Atheists aren't people who "don't believe in anything". We have beliefs, they just don't involve Gods.