Religion/Spirituality What Are the Benefits of Atheism?

[MidniteJay]

I think being Agnostic has a better deal than Christianity or Atheism.

 

[The_Sheff]

But what if at the end of those 2 hours you decided you didn't believe? Then was that time truly wasted? I would say "no" because the person learned something.

Never heard of anyone going to church to force themselves to believe though. Not saying it doesn't happen , that just sounds strange to me.

This dude Brown Bride was saying they have nothing to lose by just going and sitting in church. He compared it to a lottery where you have nothing to lose by playing. Im saying if someone has looked inside themselves and determined religion isnt for them then at that point they have nothing to gain by sitting in a church every Sunday. You seem to agree with me on that.

His mistake is making the assumption that atheists have never sat in a church before or didnt come from a religious background to begin with.

 

[Zapp Brannigan]

Are you talking to a black man about prison rates?

Besides, that's not my argument. I simply paraphrased what the homie said.

Even so, just about ANY argument about anything >>>>>>>>>>>>>> any argument based on prison rates.

How many atheists are black? How many are white? Prison rates? I can't believe you just said that.

Aren't prison rates a thing? You made an argument that there's nothing holding atheists back from doing immoral things because they don't believe in god, but the lower incarceration rates tell a different story. There's just a lower amount of criminals that are atheists, so that goes against your argument.

 

[Brown_Pride]

uh, yeah. at best it's selfish. what does personal benefit have to do with what's "true"?

how is it selfish? I believe in something (the proverbial "i" no me) because it benefits me. Are you equating belief with truth then? I take it then you're an atheist and not a agnostic? You believe in science then? The ever evolving science?

I don't follow...

assuming you're atheist you don't believe in God because you can't explain him, or prove him right?

I don't think it is a "free" lottery, since it requires me to accept something I don't accept

Then you're not playing. You're pretending to play. If you can't believe then so be it, my point is if you don't try you don't know.

You dont spend your life preparing for some end goal, it makes the everyday experience more enjoyable IMO

did you plan to go to college or did you forego that in lue of having a "biotching" high school experience?

It doesn't really have anything to do with not having a moral compass. I'm still keen on natural law, treat others as you would like to be treated, etc, and it still feels good to help people out. I volunteer from time to time and am surrounded by religious people who are amazed that I don't follow religion. People like to think atheism is an excuse to do whatever you want.

religion does not = morality.
religion teaches morality.
If you have morals in spite of not being religious then...well you just learned them from a different place.

My parents are both Christians but I just never thought the whole story it painted was very convincing once I started really thinking about it.

There are a lot of athiests who really hate religion/followers but I have no beef there, a lot of religious people are the nicest I've ever met. Just isn't the path for me.

fair enough. I'm the same but reverse. I've no beef with atheists. I find it funny a lot of them get all frantic and offensive in regards to my beliefs...but to be fair i understand where some of the animosity comes from in light of the many...many...many horrible things carried out in the name of God and religion.

 

[Brown_Pride]

This dude Brown Bride was saying they have nothing to lose by just going and sitting in church. He compared it to a lottery where you have nothing to lose by playing. Im saying if someone has looked inside themselves and determined religion isnt for them then at that point they have nothing to gain by sitting in a church every Sunday. You seem to agree with me on that.

His mistake is making the assumption that atheists have never sat in a church before or didnt come from a religious background to begin with.

then i explained myself poorly. ...i also stated it was a crude comparison. not one to be looked at as an apple to apple comparison.
If you're gonna play out of fear then my assumption was you're gonna believe.

If you're sitting there and hating it then don't even bother. At the very minimum you could open your mind to the idea of communing with other people trying to do good in the world. But if you walk in each Sunday morning all salty then why bother. The comment on the lotto was geared more towards someone who hadn't been to church or hadn't gone in a long time.

I know most atheist have had exposure to religion. So don't assume i'm assuming things.

 

[emoney]

When did I say "morals and God are the same thing"?

When did I say an atheist can't have morals?

"Communism does not believe in God"?

I said religion teaches morals. Atheism does not.

And you can't see the benefits despite my very clear example of one, Malcolm X?

The next thing you post better be absolutely astounding or you're gonna be on "muscle memory ignore" because what you just typed is completely asinine, homie.

you implied that

re-read what you typed in post #15



http://www.the-coli.com/2917084-post15.html

If it's not benefiting me why go out of my way to embrace it?

You're basically saying atheism doesn't benefit you at all, so why do you adhere to it?

Even peeing in public has benefits if you really need to go, yet you can't give me one benefit to basically your philosophy on life?

atheism is not a philosophy on life

 

[Brown_Pride]

you implied that

re-read what you typed in post #15



http://www.the-coli.com/2917084-post15.html




atheism is not a philosophy on life

what he said was atheism doesn't teach morals not that atheist can't be or have morals.

 

[Johnny Kilroy]

You dont spend your life preparing for some end goal, it makes the everyday experience more enjoyable IMO


It doesn't really have anything to do with not having a moral compass. I'm still keen on natural law, treat others as you would like to be treated, etc, and it still feels good to help people out. I volunteer from time to time and am surrounded by religious people who are amazed that I don't follow religion. People like to think atheism is an excuse to do whatever you want.

My parents are both Christians but I just never thought the whole story it painted was very convincing once I started really thinking about it.

There are a lot of athiests who really hate religion/followers but I have no beef there, a lot of religious people are the nicest I've ever met. Just isn't the path for me.



You can believe in natural law and not believe in religion

Discourse ethics - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Self-ownership - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Non-aggression principle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hmmm so you're saying not having a goal is a benefit? IDK about you but I HATE getting lost. I have goals for pretty much everything I do in life. When I made this thread it was to get the opinions of my fellow brethren on a certain issue. Even if my goal was to troll that would still be a goal. So me, personally, I wouldn't view that as necessarily a benefit, the question is subjective.

You spoke of your moral code of conduct. I think all would agree morals are good. IDK who you quoted that said morals only come from religion but it definitely wasn't me lol. But while you developed morals without religion, can you attribute those morals to atheism?

 

[emoney]

this is a stupid thread

thread starter is probably an undercover theism.

 

[Johnny Kilroy]

you implied that

re-read what you typed in post #15



http://www.the-coli.com/2917084-post15.html




atheism is not a philosophy on life

what he said was atheism doesn't teach morals not that atheist can't be or have morals.

 

[Johnny Kilroy]

this is a stupid thread

thread starter is probably an undercover theism.

I'm used to this response. Every time I ask a question about atheism I get it. :hov:

Your inability to answer questions about your own ideology, philosophy, religion, whatever you wanna call it means the thread is stupid? Maybe it's not the thread that's stupid. After all, it's just a thread.

 

[The_Sheff]

then i explained myself poorly. ...i also stated it was a crude comparison. not one to be looked at as an apple to apple comparison.
If you're gonna play out of fear then my assumption was you're gonna believe.

If you're sitting there and hating it then don't even bother. At the very minimum you could open your mind to the idea of communing with other people trying to do good in the world. But if you walk in each Sunday morning all salty then why bother. The comment on the lotto was geared more towards someone who hadn't been to church or hadn't gone in a long time.

I know most atheist have had exposure to religion. So don't assume i'm assuming things.

And here you go assuming something else about these people, you are assuming they are "salty" or "hating". Why is it so hard for you to think that these people may not believe simply because the evidence that there is a higher power isnt convincing enough for them?

You can commune with people trying to do good in this world outside of a church.

 

[Johnny Kilroy]

Aren't prison rates a thing? You made an argument that there's nothing holding atheists back from doing immoral things because they don't believe in god, but the lower incarceration rates tell a different story. There's just a lower amount of criminals that are atheists, so that goes against your argument.

Prison rates don't mean anything to me. We all know prisons are disproportionately over-represented by blacks. We also know most atheists are white.

Mentioning prison rates in any way other than pointing out racism is the weakest point that can be made no matter what the discussion. It's absurd to mention something so idiotic.

 

[daze23]

how is it selfish? I believe in something (the proverbial "i" no me) because it benefits me. Are you equating belief with truth then? I take it then you're an atheist and not a agnostic? You believe in science then? The ever evolving science?

assuming you're atheist you don't believe in God because you can't explain him, or prove him right?

Then you're not playing. You're pretending to play. If you can't believe then so be it, my point is if you don't try you don't know.

I'm daze23. the pigeon hole I mostly fit in is "weak atheism"

I'm not sure why you'd assume anything about what I've 'tried' to believe

 

[Orbital-Fetus]

I said religion teaches morals. Atheism does not.

do you realize how many atrocities have been carried out
by people against other people because of religion in the name of God?


and like Bundy said before, a person does not have to believe in a God
in order to live a moral life, i.e. treat other people kindly, don't cause harm to others.