As an atheist, do you find an inner resource of strength?

[Whitney]

zero...for more christians (and a good mix of denominations) go to www.christianforums.com.  Atheists and agnostics also post there if you use the general area (which is open to non-christians).

Honestly, I'm not sure how one's view towards the existance of a god would affect how these questions are answered.  I guess theists would be likely to answer "god" to number 2.

[McQ]

OK, thanks, Miles.

1. As an atheist, do you find an inner resource of strength and discernment?

Yes to strength....see number two.

2. Where does this inner strength come from? Mitochondria.
Is it a personal/rational resource? Yes

3. Is it something unexplainable? No.

4. From birth to death, do ALL people have a potential chance of realizing this inner resource of strength? Yes.

[Will]

No such thing as "inner strength". It's a philosophical term and is thus simply a matter of perceiving your mind.

[Ninja Donkey]

since you changed one of the questions, I have to change one of my answers:

4. From birth to death, do ALL people have a potential chance of realizing this inner resource of strength?  YES, They all have the potential of realizing, but not all are actually able to do so in the long run.

[Whitney]

No such thing as "inner strength". It's a philosophical term and is thus simply a matter of perceiving your mind.

That was one of the things about the question which wasn't so direct.  If it had been more than yes/no answers the above is something I would have touched on in my answer.

Zero...what do you mean by "inner strength" in the context of your questions?  I may have to change my answers.

[zeromiles]

leatusatheos
Whatever you interpret a resource of inner strength and discernment to be.  It could be that ""a resource of inner strenght is just a philisophical term" and therefore doesn't exist because it is only a mental perception. As willravel says. In which case I guess your answer might be "no." this may or may not mean then that you can explain it. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing. (not to be able to explain something. It may actually even be more realistic.) Just because we can explain something doesn't bmean it is true. the Christians can "explain" thunder and lightning. THey can "explain" inner strenght and discernement." What do you think?
-miles

[zeromiles]

There are no right and wrong answers to these questions. the point is to be honest, becuasse whatever your answers are, you have your own reasons for them, which then leads to yes or no. I understand that these are vast questions, open to much interpretation, but that is the point of the survery. That is the talent of the brain, and what you bring to these questions is the very content in which I am interested. Something I am learning about atheism and atheists is that something can have a completely different meaning from one person to the next. This indicates free thinking. Interestingly, most of the christians are all answering the same as each other. Do you see what I'm getting at here? That is why these questins are open to interpretation. To test for different behaviours according to groups of people. I am not giong to say what I mean by "Inner resource of strength." because I would be telling you what it is.) I'd beinterested to see how willravel answers the next three.
All right yall. Have fun.
peace.
Miles

[SteveS]

Food for thought, I answered "yes" to "inner strength and discernment", because I was thinking like the last part of Willravel's statement: "a matter of perceiving your mind".  I think I have this - I can perceive my mind.  Although, it's not always a source of inner strength, sometimes its a source of inner weakness  :wink:

[zeromiles]

Steve S
With respect to willravel's statement, I say the answer MIGHT be "no" because that may or may not be one's answer. By no means am I implying that the answer IS no; however, one might deduce that they do not know an inner resource of strength because it is only a philisophical term, thus only a mental formation, and something they can't really know for sure. Just a hypothetical resonse though. This COULD be one's answer. If not then fine. I don't want to influence how other's answer this question too much. My interest is what you bring to these questions.
-miles

[rlrose328]

This is what happens when you ask atheists a question that is not completely finite.  You'll get questions and more questions and more questions rather than answers.  

This is why we can't organize (or don't WANT to organize) to fight the religious injustices in this country.  While the religious folks can agree on all of the big issues and just agree to disagree so they can rule, the non-believers are busy debating the TINIEST details in some esoteric argument that is irrelevant to the issue at hand.

Not criticizing... I'm just as guilty as the rest... but it's kind of amusing to be on the sidelines, watching.  

[SteveS]

zeromiles - understood, and agreed.  If Willravel (or anyone else, for that matter) decided to answer "no" on this basis I would certainly understand.

Further food for thought (and because I want to keep rlrose328 fully entertained :wink: ), I find the idea of "inner discernment" to be more or less equivalent to moral/ethical judgment, both "conscious" and "subconscious".  With this aspect of the question, I certainly find my own moral/ethical judgments to be internal.  I don't always readily know why I feel something is right or wrong, but I feel it strongly --- I take this as prompting from my subconscious mind.  One thing that is a fascinating aspect of being human is that while we cannot seem to control what our subconscious hits us with, it is never the less available to scrutiny by our conscious mind (especially if we're given to self reflection and thought), which allows us to perform a regulatory function on our own uncommanded thoughts - fascinating!  I think this is a part of what I mean by "perceiving your own mental function".  I regard self questioning to be a critical aspect of maturity in a human being.

Just my thoughts, I'm a solid amateur in psych/neuro stuff - but I find this to be an interesting and engaging topic.

[tigerlily46514]

SteveS, thanks for explaining your views.  back on page one....i hadn't noticed this second page !!!     I think after mulling it over, and the way the question has now been rephrased to include POTENTIAL, i guess i will withdraw my NO TO #4 to be a

YES for #4.

SteveS, I guess you ARE correct, even lamos ARE relying on an their own internal guidance.  Even if it is a very poor one, they DO have one.  An internal compass that includes "strength" i don't know.... i don't know.  but you are right   they DO at least possess one, don't they?  , i hadn't thought of it that way.


rlrose, i did chuckle out loud reading your post!!       We DO ask a lot of questions, don't we???

[rlrose328]

I love when I come across a religious counter-argument saying that atheists can just break laws and hurt others because they have no god to answer to.... um, hello, I have a conscience!  I have a consideration of other people!  I don't need a promise of heaven to have good morals!

On another note, I was on an atheist mailing list a few years ago and a guy there took an unnecessary pot shot at my father, who had just died.  I told him I wanted an apology... and he told me that he doesn't apologize to anyone for anything because that would mean he felt guilt and "guilt is a religious concept" to which he didn't subscribe.  Yes, I was flabbergasted... but I was even more so when several other members of the mailing list AGREED with him.

That, to me, is what the religious folks are talking about.  He said something very hurtful and I felt an apology would be nice... not some sort of flagelation, but a simple "I'm sorry that hurt your feelings."  I was stunned that these atheists felt guilt was something reserved for religion.  I guess you can call it something other than guilt... maybe a conscience?  I dunno... I left that mailing list immediately... it was poisonous after that.

[tigerlily46514]

Well rlrose, i totally agree, about atheists can be bad cuz they have no god.  BAH HA HA!  Like religious people are sooooo kind!!  How do they explain all those priests?  

I know all us atheists are different, we should strive to avoid lumping people (like i just did in the line above..) but honestly, the few atheists i know are so kind and moral...

My own moral guide is very intense, ooh, it'll bite me if i don't behave.

I DON'T THINK I AGREE GUILT is a religious concept!!!  I feel guilt for derailing this thread...i don't need no god to cringe when i am bad.  i can do THAT all by myself.

I think when one finds their own moral compass, it may work better than those store-bought ones...but we are probably gonna get spanked now for derailing the thread.  hee hee

[SteveS]

Sorry that happened rlrose - I certainly experience guilt and I'm not religious in the least.  For the record, my wife also knows I feel guilt --- I think she exploits it even more effectively than the church would!

I'm exaggerating, my wife is sweet and I love her deeply.  I exploit her guilt, too  :badgrin:

EDITED:
Everyone - please don't change your answers on my account - I just can't help blabbing my fat mouth!  I don't necessarily disagree with the answers that differ from mine - as long as you've got a reason, well, you've got a reason, I don't necessarily disagree with your reason.  Problem with simple yes/no to complex questions - depends on how you read them, how many assumptions you make, what context you employ, blah blah blah.  "Tiniest details", as rose said  :wink: