No bunfights please, a genuine question about Atheists.

[BurlyShassey]

some of this cut and copied from another thread after a suggestion to maybe start this one-

genuine question- just wondering-

Do the Atheists here go on threads about other faiths -Allah,Krishna,Mohammed, (bit naive here, just starting to study other faiths) and the rest and dismiss them as much as they dismiss Christiantity?

Asking as Ive never come across it anywhere else.
as I said,genuine question- just wondering-

do the atheists here go on threads about other faiths -Allah,Krishna,Mohammed, (bit naive here, just starting to study other faiths) and the rest and dismiss them as much as they dismiss Christiantity?

Asking as Ive never come across it anywhere else.

We are called to respects each others beliefs/non beliefs, even if we don't acceptt tthem, and I know (looking at a few thread titles on this site) people are asking for honest opinions or experiences.

Be nice ! Please.

That was possibly excessively gnomic. What I mean is, if God exists and created the world as we know it then presumably he deliberately set out to ensure that his existence was without obvious proof. That to believe in him required faith due to the lack of evidence.

With that in mind, who benefits from this state of affairs? Why the mystery? I know that the standard answer is "free will" but that seems a bit insufficient for me. If God really did do something obvious to make it clear that he exists we'd still have free will to decide whether or not we feel he deserves our worship and love.

"No, because that's the definition of faith and belief."

Oh, that's clever. I'll make up a preposterous story, then when you ask for proof, I'll say "No need for proof, because that's the definition of faith and belief".

know what you mean Howard.

Also, I know there have been wars and atrocities by the church/crusades and the like,and the church is not perfect by any means, (yes, priests and abuse) but Christianity in general is about peace, love (sounds like hippie!), forgiveness and the like, all good things.

Howard I think there being no obvious proof is so that faith remains a choice, something we can decide to move towards, rather than something we're obliged to accept.

CoteDAzur why are you so keen to obtain proof of something you've already decided you don't believe in?

Would rather call myself Humanist than Atheist.
I normally completely ignore these threads & this topic, no matter what the faith.
Why should I care about faith discussions?
All religions seem pretty silly to me.

Then again, most of them have at least one good idea.

I've known very many lovely religious people, but also some outrageous hypocrites who committed highly immoral acts almost in the same breath as loudly claiming eternal, spiritual and moral superiority because of their preferred religion. It would be comical if it weren't so annoying, and real people didn't get very hurt.

"I refuse to prove that I exist," says God, "for proof denies faith, and without faith I am nothing."
"But," says Man, "the Babel fish is a dead giveaway isn't it? It could not have evolved by chance. It proves you exist, and so therefore, by your own arguments, you don't. QED"
"Oh dear," says God, "I hadn't thought of that," and promptly vanishes in a puff of logic.

Not supposed to be any proof is a ridiculous thing to say.

Fair enough to say that there doesn't have to be any proof, but to say that there is a requirement for a lack of proof seems preposterous.

"why are you so keen to obtain proof of something you've already decided you don't believe in?"

You have it backwards.

I first tried very hard to obtain proof. Because there is none, I decided that I don't believe it.

I look at the other threads.
all religions have interested me but I'm firmly atheist.

I have multi cultural friends so it's nice to acknowledge their transitions with respect I feel.

*traditions!

"why are you so keen to obtain proof of something you've already decided you don't believe in?"

I'm keen to find proof in all situations where my beliefs are not based on proof.

If there were some proof one way or the other then what I believe would change.

I think there being no obvious proof is so that faith remains a choice, something we can decide to move towards, rather than something we're obliged to accept.

Yes, I know, that's the "free will" argument I mentioned. But my question remains - who benefits from this? Humanity? God?

I don't go any threads about any faiths and dismiss them, Burly, Christianity included.

Life's too short.

Why did Jesus do miracles if blind faith is so important to him?

It's just the way religions are, bundled with contradictions.
One of my favourite all-time reads was The Year of Living Biblically. It demonstrated so clearly how most (?all) religions pick and choose hugely from their holy texts, which bits to follow & regard as non-essential. It's why fundamentalism is so especially absurd.

I wouldn't go on the threads and dismiss any faiths. I don't believe in any God but if you want to believe it then I'll respect that, in much the same way as I would with children who believe in the tooth fairy etc.
I do tend to see religion as a bit of a crutch though. Then again, there is something special about a lovely church.

Just to answer the OP. I don't go seeking out faith threads. However I feel compelled to defend secularism when religion is being used to influence laws, policy, schools etc. We use science to justify our health system, why not schools etc too? And this is stuff that directly affects me so it is my concern.

I can also relate the feeling that to question other religions than Christianity feels a bit racist. This is because I would be coming from a place of ignorance if I was to do that. Having been raised Christian in a country which is Christian, I know enough to criticise a majority.