Atheism, kind of lame

[Mister Joy]

I have been pondering this idea of god for quite some time now and I do admit I am somewhat of an atheist but I cannot tell myself I do not believe in god because I believe we all must believe in something or else we are just pigs feeding off this world which we have no answer to how it exists.

It depends on what you value most: belief or knowledge. All you need for a belief is to make stuff up. If you want knowledge then you and the rest of mankind have to do some work in order to find the truth. 'God' is nothing but an easy option and a hindrance to those of us who want real answers.

Now this is just philosophy but what if the universe or all of existance IS god including me and you and we are just a living part of this wonderful universe of God with all the laws of physics and consciousness to enjoy it.

If I were to believe in God I would take a similarly pantheistic attitude (it's certainly more plausible than a independent bearded man in the sky), however there is still nothing to suggest that this is the case.

Consciousness has to go somewhere and I think an eternity of darkness and nothingness while you're dead is lame.

The brain is a projector, the mind is an image. Take away the former, you'll lose the latter. Like it or not, within a rational thinking world, that is the only thing that makes sense. You can't deny reality simply because you think it's 'lame' and if you do then it isn't philosophy, it's just wilful ignorance.

I think this "energy" or "lifeforce" of Consciousness when you die is recycled in the wonderful universe of God and your soul or "lifeforce" is absorbed into everything, in fact this "lifeforce" comes and leaves your body every moment but it is what keeps your brain connected to the world.

Good for you. But why?

If you think that when you die you are just worm food, I think thats kind of lame to be in a state of darkness for eternity and I believe it is impossible to be in that state forever, your consciousness has to end up somewhere.

Repeating the same assertion doesn't give it more validity.

If you believe, god is everything and must be respected. If you have a sh**y life, dont blame it on this god, blame it on your parents and others who decide to disrespect God and yourself, we are all part of this God. Why do I say Atheism is lame? Well, I call it a very lame answer to our existance as much as the written words of other religions but they can believe what they want. Atheism is a way for these hardcore scientists to skip the question of existance and the laws of physics to just study them. Atheism is also a way for people who think that god has "betrayed" or "ignored" them and just say that god doesnt exist, well if god doesnt exist then how do you exist?

You've got it the wrong way around. Many 'hardcore scientists' are very interested in figuring out how we came to exist, et cetera. Your religious superstition is merely an easy way for feeble minded people to avoid having to do think by filling in the blanks with useless (but comfortable) fluff. And don't fall into the trap of thinking that atheists are somehow angry or bitter at God. If we were, we wouldn't be atheists.

Also, what do you mean by 'if God doesn't exist then how do you exist?' You have asserted that God = existence with no backing other than to say that you personally like the idea, twice, and that opposing view points are 'kind of lame'... now you're operating under the pretension that this is enough and we can move on, having accepted your wishful thinking as irrefutable fact.

Believe what you want though, if you think god is bulls*** then at least believe in the universe.

Sorry, did anyone here claim to be a solipsist? I must have missed that.

[joeactor]

You are a poorly disguised theist in atheist clothing.  Your ass is showing.

I am inclined to agree.

You don't sound like an atheist at all.
Just because you may not subscribe to a particular religion doesn't make you an atheist.

As for "knowing" if god does or does not exist - meh.  IMHO nobody knows.

Humans just seem really uncomfortable with the unknown in general.
We like to say "if it's not THIS, then it MUST be THAT".

"I Don't Know" is a perfectly acceptable answer.

Join me in my agnostic theism - god know's we could use more of a following ;-)
JoeActor

(edit) props to MisterJoy (well said, sir).  You may want to join him in agnostic atheism instead.

[susangail]

I have been pondering this idea of god for quite some time now and I do admit I am somewhat of an atheist but I cannot tell myself I do not believe in god because I believe we all must believe in something or else we are just pigs feeding off this world which we have no answer to how it exists.

You either believe in some sort of God/god, or you don't. "Sort of atheist" that believes in god is contradictory. Please pick one.

Now this is just philosophy but what if the universe or all of existance IS god including me and you and we are just a living part of this wonderful universe of God with all the laws of physics and consciousness to enjoy it.

Okay, what if that is all true?

Consciousness has to go somewhere and I think an eternity of darkness and nothingness while you're dead is lame. I think this "energy" or "lifeforce" of Consciousness when you die is recycled in the wonderful universe of God and your soul or "lifeforce" is absorbed into everything, in fact this "lifeforce" comes and leaves your body every moment but it is what keeps your brain connected to the world.

Nothingness may be "lame", but that's no reason for me to believe in something else that happens after I die. Where did your idea of a "lifeforce" come from? I was under the impression that the fact that I'm alive keeps my brain connected to the world.

If you think that when you die you are just worm food, I think thats kind of lame to be in a state of darkness for eternity and I believe it is impossible to be in that state forever, your consciousness has to end up somewhere.

"Lame" isn't a great argument. Why is "a state of darkness for eternity" impossible? Why is "nothingness" lame? Sure, it's not that exciting, but I'll be dead so I won't care.

If you believe, god is everything and must be respected.

I don't believe, so...what?

If you have a sh**y life, dont blame it on this god, blame it on your parents and others who decide to disrespect God and yourself, we are all part of this God.

I've had a pretty shitty life so far, but I don't blame god or my parents. If I were to blame something, it would be whatever caused the chemical imbalance in my head that's caused my BD, but I don't. My life isn't shitty because I decided to "disrespect God". It's shitty when I look at it as shitty, and great when I look at it as great. Life doesn't have to be so complicated.

Why do I say Atheism is lame? Well, I call it a very lame answer to our existance as much as the written words of other religions but they can believe what they want.

But why do you say it is lame? You didn't answer that. And most other religions believe in some sort of god, and they are as lame as atheism?

Atheism is a way for these hardcore scientists to skip the question of existance and the laws of physics to just study them.

Not necessarily. That's an opinion, and so is that fact that I disagree.

Atheism is also a way for people who think that god has "betrayed" or "ignored" them and just say that god doesnt exist, well if god doesnt exist then how do you exist?

Again, opinion. I'm an atheist, and I don't feel that "god has 'betrayed' or 'ignored'" me. I don't really care if He exists, I don't believe in Him so it doesn't matter to me. The fact that I exist isn't a reason for me to believe in god. I exist because... I exist. It's not really complicated.

Believe what you want though, if you think god is bulls*** then at least believe in the universe. If you dont believe in anything, then all I have to say is that you are one poor soul munching off this universe I live in. Respect the God!

I don't believe in god, and I don't have to believe in anything. I don't "respect the God" because I don't believe in Him. And if that makes me "one poor soul munching off this universe", okay then!


Life doesn't have to have a reason or meaning to keep going. My lungs still breathe and my heart still beats without any supernatural reason to. I don't need meaning in my life to live it. Life doesn't have to be complicated.
"It's just life, just live it." ~Quote Garden

[Minneapolitian]

Opsamk said: "well if god doesnt exist then how do you exist?"

That is like going back in time and handing a cell phone to the top scientists of the 16th century and asking them to explain in detail how it works.  As humans we are not evolved enough yet to understand how we have come to be exactly and how the universe works.  We will in time be able answer all of these questions with scientific proof, but I can guarantee you that none of this proof will find magic, witches, gods etc., it will all be explained with science.

[afreethinker30]

Opsamk said: "well if god doesnt exist then how do you exist?"

That is like going back in time and handing a cell phone to the top scientists of the 16th century and asking them to explain in detail how it works.  As humans we are not evolved enough yet to understand how we have come to be exactly and how the universe works.  We will in time be able answer all of these questions with scientific proof, but I can guarantee you that none of this proof will find magic, witches, gods etc., it will all be explained with science.

 

[Whitney]

Opsamk,

Others have responded to your post in depth, so I don't think there is a need to add much more.  What I will say is that you don't seem to really understand what an atheist is or is not.  Please read the following "What is an atheist" link:

viewtopic.php?f=13&t=830

Just for you I edited that link to add "An atheist is not someone who believes in nothing."  That should have been on the list anyway since it is a common misconception.

btw, welcome to the forum.

[Loffler]

I have been pondering this idea of god for quite some time now and I do admit I am somewhat of an atheist but I cannot tell myself I do not believe in god because I believe we all must believe in something or else we are just pigs feeding off this world which we have no answer to how it exists.

God does not answer the mystery of how this all exists. All it does is shift the mystery over to God. Instead of something mysterious we understand a little bit -- the universe -- we have something mysterious we don't understand at all: God!

Now this is just philosophy but what if the universe or all of existance IS god including me and you and we are just a living part of this wonderful universe of God with all the laws of physics and consciousness to enjoy it. Consciousness has to go somewhere

Why?

and I think an eternity of darkness and nothingness while you're dead is lame.

Lameness is not an argument for or against anything. Lots of lame stuff exists.

I think this "energy" or "lifeforce" of Consciousness when you die is recycled in the wonderful universe of God and your soul or "lifeforce" is absorbed into everything, in fact this "lifeforce" comes and leaves your body every moment but it is what keeps your brain connected to the world. If you think that when you die you are just worm food, I think thats kind of lame to be in a state of darkness for eternity and I believe it is impossible to be in that state forever, your consciousness has to end up somewhere.

If you're convinced you will experience consciousness after your death, and that this lifeforce is always permeated all of us and the universe, I'm curious as to how you explain your lack of any memories from before your birth.

If you believe, god is everything and must be respected. If you have a sh**y life, dont blame it on this god, blame it on your parents and others who decide to disrespect God and yourself, we are all part of this God. Why do I say Atheism is lame? Well, I call it a very lame answer to our existance as much as the written words of other religions but they can believe what they want.

Atheism isn't an answer to any question at all. Atheism is a mature admission of a very hard truth: that the big questions are so far unanswered. Religions are desperate attempts to imagine answers to the big questions where no such answers exist yet.

Atheism is a way for these hardcore scientists to skip the question of existence and the laws of physics to just study them.

Correct.

Atheism is also a way for people who think that god has "betrayed" or "ignored" them and just say that god doesnt exist,

Not true. Atheists have nothing against God. As I like to say, people should go easy on God; it's not his fault his doesn't exist.

well if god doesnt exist then how do you exist?

Why does God have to exist for me to exist?

This question I asked myself led me to come up with this theory that we are all part of this universe of God. Believe what you want though, if you think god is bulls*** then at least believe in the universe.

The difference in God and the universe is that God by definition possesses intelligence. This is not a necessary component of the universe. I believe in the universe.

If you dont believe in anything, then all I have to say is that you are one poor soul munching off this universe I live in. Respect the God!

When you provide some evidence, your whimsical opinion will be worthy of consideration. Until then, all you have a colorful imagination.

[myleviathan]

I believe we all must believe in something or else we are just pigs feeding off this world which we have no answer to how it exists.

Why are we pigs just because we don't "believe in something"?

One big difference between theists and atheists is how we view people in relation to a sense of meaning or purpose. You see people without meaning as swine. Thus your perception of people is intrinsically ugly. My perception of people, whether they believe in the divine or not, is that we create our own meaning. Purpose is not dependent on any divine source. Who are you to judge people as swine?

Respect the People!

[monkeyNutBread]

In my opinion, meaning and purpose are concepts that exist because of the human mind; without something to think of ideas like meaning and purpose, those concepts would not exist. Therefore, it stands to reason that it is us, the things that create the concepts of meaning and purpose, that ALSO create meaning and purpose. I am agnostic (which I think you may be too) and though I hope there is some higher power out there, his existence or nonexistence has no impact on my reason for being.

[Tanker]

You seem to be more of a weak agnostic with very strong theistic leanings. I think may actualy just be unsatisfied with the religions out there. So are we but we accept that another religion isen't the answer. Atheist for the most part believe that when we die thats it, no darkness, no light in a tunnel dead and for most of us we aren't worried becase we'll be dead. Many of have had simile dought and questions in our life, I for one was deeply depressed and suicidal as a teen because I saw no pupose in life. But you exist, I exist we are here. I personally like thinking of the fact for me to exist, for my exact set of genes to have been chosen would be the equivelent of winning the lottery a thousand times in a row. To exist is amazing, so I am amazed to exist. I hope you find the answers you seek and I really hope you don't turn to religion but you in paticular may need that type of support structure to find peace. Unless you can accept your existance with a more clincal view you'll probably remain unhappy. learn to understand your existance with your mind or I'm afraid your only left with religion to find acceptable answers.


(sorry for rambeling)

[Sophus]

Make sure you desire truth more than an appealing purpose in life. In order to understand how to live life we must first understand what it is. Only you can determine that for yourself but I believe you will come to find atheism is the only logical answer. I am an atheist myself and I have found a purpose of my own... to love.