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So atheists are both people who can follow other things without an religion and people who don't follow or believe in anything?

I too will give you an idea of my beliefs, though of course not all atheists share the same ideas.

I do not believe in a God, or any kind self-aware higher power. I acknowledge that there is no way for me to prove the nonexistance of God and that my ideas could of course be wrong, so I may be considered an atheist on the slightly agnostic side.

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.

I believe in a strictly material origin of planets, life, species, etcetera. I have no clue how the universe and reality came into being but do not want to assume that a higher power exisits as it still wouldn't explain away reality or the ability to exist.

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.

That's pretty much it. As you can see, I am here despite my atheistic beliefs.

I really enjoyed that clpo! Some of the things you said I believe in too but I think you know what generally I believe in.

People say I'm kind of Christian but at the same time I'm deist. I don't get it!

All right, here's the abridged version of what I believe (note: I do not know all this for certain).

God (or the Creator/Designer/whatever) formed what would become the Universe (but didn't create it, it created itself). I like to say that he "programmed" it, set a few parameters, but really just let it have a life of its own without any interference on his part. In other words, this isn't a God who listens to prayers or causes tsunamis to wipe out the evil Muslims. This God is deistic, not involved at all with the state of the Universe, except perhaps in extreme cases, such as a catastrophe that could destroy all of space-time, or something similarly disastrous.

So, you could call me a proponent of intelligent design, but I am in no way a Creationist. God may have designed the Universe, but I say it created itself. Evolution is part of that ongoing process.

Now, as for the Bible, it was written by men who wanted to keep people in line by saying there is a God who will throw them into eternal punishment if they sin (break laws). (read my posts in the Religion: why? thread) Think of it as an unauthorized God biography. Some of it is, of course, based in truth. Almost everything is. But it's been wildly exaggerated so as to "prove" to people that there is some sort of almighty being watching over them.

No afterlife either. The idea of an afterlife is repulsive to me. Eternal life? How boring.

Furthermore, I don't believe that anyone can ever know God or anything about him. It's just not possible, no matter what evangelists say.

So, based on these beliefs, I call myself an agnostic deist. It fits quite well, and I'm happy with my beliefs.

Darn Dictionary!!!!!

What I have been told that atheists are people who don't believe in anything at all, don't even have a religion but then again believing in nothing is like a religion, right? Because isn't a religion an group of people who have similar views?

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What if you believe in a god (sort of) but don't follow a religion?

If you believe in something else other than God, Jesus Christ or believe in another God than I don't think your an atheist, you just believe in something else.

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Actually, most Christians consider me an atheist because I don't believe in their God. Typical.

What do you believe in clpo?

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One doesn't have to follow a set religion to be religious. You can still believe in a God of some sort without having to associate. Similarly, atheists can be spiritual without deism.

See, people have told me that too but most commonly, I was told that they don't believe in anything at all nor follow anything. So atheists are both people who can follow other things without an religion and people who don't follow or believe in anything?

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In the dictionary is says: Someone who denies the existence of God.

So does that mean everyone who believes in other things other than God is an Atheist?

I see it this way, if you don't believe in God and you don't follow any other religion, then your an Atheist.

The dictionary isn't the best source of definitions. Atheism means you deny the existance of a higher power, whatever those powers may be. Since anyone can deny that something exisits, reactionary's argument has no basis in common sense.

One doesn't have to follow a set religion to be religious. You can still believe in a God of some sort without having to associate. Similarly, atheists can be spiritual without deism.

What if you believe in a god (sort of) but don't follow a religion?

Actually, most Christians consider me an atheist because I don't believe in their God. Typical.

In the dictionary is says: Someone who denies the existence of God.

So does that mean everyone who believes in other things other than God is an Atheist?

I see it this way, if you don't believe in God and you don't follow any other religion, then your an Atheist.

I know a lot of people like that so they much exist.

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I challenge all of you to visit drdino.com before you respond!

Offer me a dot org or edu and maybe I'll consider.

Oh come on, Creationists. Stump me.

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There is so much information disproving evolution

I'd really like to see this information, because I have a lot of logical facts festering in my brain, ready to come out and prove you wrong. I could easily prove you wrong by merely pointing to a mountain.

By that argument, wouldn't a person have to be in "A state of grace" to be a christian, to "know" god, and therefore omminiscent? He would therefore be a heretic, and definately not a christian.

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I do not need any knowledge. All I need is to find one speck of silver, and my statement is true.

So you really don't need to be much of a brian o find and prove that god exists, you mean.

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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.

You would not have to be all-knowing, just well informed.

I think that was a ****ty example, but that is just me.

The controversy over evolution isn't a debate between the existence of God and evolution; it's a debate between creationism/ID and evolution. I'm a Christian, and I believe in theistic evolution- that is, I believe God created the universe and all life through natural selection from the first stepping stones of life up to today. I don't believe in ID, however, because I don't believe that life developed abruptly at any stage.

Historybuff, who is more "brainwashed": the person who believes in evolution because there is evidence of it, or the person who believes in God despite the overwhelming lack of evidence for him?

By the way, where is this evidence against evolution? I have yet to hear of any. And your Dr. Dino link didn't work. Their site is down, apparently.

It's funny how the people who object to evolution are rarely (ie. 0.15% of the time) scientists, who would be informed on the scientific perspective.

There is so much information disproving evolution, unfortunatly do to the fact that public schools filter out such finds you will never here from you teachers...you have to look on your own. You are practically being brainwashed! I challenge all of you to visit drdino.com before you respond!

Reactionary gets confused.

That's an agnostic.

I think it's quite clear atheists exist. You may disagree with them, and believe them to be illogical, but they still exist.

I noticed some hypocrisy in this topic: reactionary criticises atheists, saying that they need proof that there is no god/God anywhere, and yet he also says that "Atheists don't exist." Hm.

Most atheists don't positively claim there isn't a God. They simply don't believe there is enough evidence to believe in one.

Most people don't believe in the tooth fairy either. Yet unless they are omniscience they cannot know for sure. As noone is omniscience, does that mean there is no such thing as a person who doesn't beleive in the tooth fairy? Of course not.

Quite a number of the founding fathers were deists. They believed in a Creator, but they weren't religious. Thus, we have rights "endowed by a Creator", but that doesn't necessarily mean we have to all be Christians.

Atheists are people who dont believe in GOD . Theres a difference .
i could say the same abot you . How can you believe without doubt that GOD exists ??

But the reasoning was actually pretty good .