Atheists and proof

[Kdtym10]

On several threads, some atheists have said they would believe in God/the Divine if they had proof. If you’re an atheist what would that proof look like to you?

Well, there seems to be a need for these types of conversations. Otherwise threads would not go on for a thousand posts. Gap, need? Whichever terms works for me. And I say yes, MN fulfils a need, fills a gap in that it provides the opportunity to share my experiences of faith. 🙂

How is it for atheists? Gap? Need? What does posting fulfill?

@Graviga

But there are Christian posters here who claim their aim is not to convert or proselytise.

Strictly speaking it is sharing experiences not converting. We can't convert anyone as faith is a choice.

@heyhohello "How is it for atheists? Gap? Need? What does posting fulfill?"

I. Here and in real life I try to set out the case for a secular society.

1. I am interested in philosophy, theology and psychology and love to talk about it.

HTH

How is it for atheists? Gap? Need? What does posting fulfil?
You believe.
I wonder what on earth persuades you: I keep thinking, "perhaps there is something that I've missed."
Never had a rational explanation.
I suppose it is the old "triumph of hope over experience".

I think this has been said quite a few times previously but rationality has nothing to do with spirituality. Spirituality is beyond rational thought. Rational thought belongs in the mundane.. if you’re looking for a rational explanation of spirituality, you will never find one, you need Uk look beyond. Some people can do this, others can’t. One isn’t better than the other, it’s just where people are.

And we're back to this...

There is only the mundane world, "spirituality" is your imagination and has no foundation in reality.

@heyhohello, I'm just interested in people! I like hearing about, and discussing, how other people think, feel, and live. You may be seeing a false equivalence: I doubt anyone here centres their lives on being an atheist, so you'd find us all over the place discussing different things. For many people of faith, it's the most the most important thing about them and their primary topic.

Religion is a big issue because it's so pervasive. There should probably be more discussion about that fact.

Oh I 100% agree Spirit is my imagination- it’s also something a bit more. Imagination is the new Jerusalem- I’m with Blake and Coleridge.

You’re wrong about there only being the mundane, it might be the only thing you can perceive but others are different

Totally pointless meme and indicates a lack of understanding about the point being discussed

rationality has nothing to do with spirituality.
But that's how my mind works: on rationality and logic. I can believe bonkers stuff* as long as it is logical and consistent but god doesn't fulfil the criteria.

*my favourite number is i, the square root of minus one. It doesn't exist. Can't exist! But treat it according to laws of logic - just hold your nose and go with it - and you get some amazing Mathematics.

That was what I’m saying spirituality is for some people not for others, it doesn’t mean the spiritual realm doesn’t exist.

.

"You’re wrong about there only being the mundane, it might be the only thing you can perceive but others are different"

Other people are mistaken. It is not a limit or a lack to understand that.

Ok, so I’ve seen and experienced something beyond the mundane, you haven’t. On what basis can you say I’m mistaken? That is irrational.

With insincere apologies for plugging my own thread, @Kdtym10, did you see my "miracles" post? A lot of non-mundane things happen in this world, but they have practical explanations.

Could you please define 'hope'?

In particular, do you mean hope for a life after death?

I'm using mundane in its "of the physical world" sense, not in its dull/humdrum sense.

Every experience that anyone has will have a mundane explanation, even if that's not immediately apparent.

@Lalupalina I mean hope generally. In this life and after death.

yes we are using the same definition. Again, I have experienced things without a mundane explanation. Just because you haven’t doesn’t mean others haven’t.

"even if that's not immediately apparent"...

The obvious rejoinder to that is "without a mundane explanation that you know of".

As it goes, believers often reject practical explanations, however logical and realistic. They also tend to underrate the human mind's complexities.

It’s interesting that you’re so desperate to tell me something that you’ve never experimented is something other than I experienced. I wonder why that is.

It's telling that you're so desperate to have had something happen to you that you don't want anyone else to disabuse you of, just so you can feel superior in some way...