Why do athiests like to talk about God all the time?

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babybird
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25 Jun 2014, 10:13 am

I was just curious that's all.


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TallyMan
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25 Jun 2014, 10:39 am

As an atheist, notions of gods are irrelevant to my life. The only time I talk about gods is when other people bring up the subject or try to foster religious propaganda. If people never mentioned gods in PPR I'd never think about the subject.


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ooOoOoOAnaOoOoOoo
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25 Jun 2014, 10:42 am

Atheists want to convince people who believe in God He doesn't exist and they want to in turn convince the atheists he does. Two sides of the same coin.



babybird
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25 Jun 2014, 10:48 am

I wasn't meaning to be personal or anything. I just feel that sometimes certain people try to be antagonistic towards people who do believe in God.

To my way of thinking, if you don't believe in something then there is no point in fetching up the subject.

I'm not slamming atheism here. I just get a bit puzzled with people talking about things that they believe don't even exist.


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YippySkippy
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25 Jun 2014, 10:48 am

An atheist can find the idea of god(s) interesting, just as some people find Star Wars or fairy tales interesting.
The fact that theists actually believe their god is REAL makes it even more interesting.
Imagine finding a group of people who believed they were Jedis and that the Force existed. Wouldn't you want to discuss that?



babybird
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25 Jun 2014, 11:01 am

Personally, I'd be inclined to leave them too it. But I can see what you mean.

Thanks anyway.


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Stannis
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25 Jun 2014, 11:44 am

This will happen again if we don't challenge the claims of superstition, and by so doing reduce the pool of support for theocratic movements:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oXDs8xXmMM[/youtube]



Kiriae
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25 Jun 2014, 12:18 pm

Perhaps they are subconsciously unsure and want to convince themselves by arguing with people who believe. The more you say something the more you believe. That's why. r maybe they want show other people how smart they are.

Personally I consider myself an atheist or agnostic but I don't really give it much though anymore. I did for a few first years after I stopped believing but right now I already got tired of this. This is a never ending discussion. I don't see a point anymore. There is nothing wrong with believing and there is nothing wrong with not believing so why care? If someone ask me what I believe I just say I am agnostic and change subject. It become just as boring as talking about the weather.



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25 Jun 2014, 12:22 pm

babybird wrote:
Personally, I'd be inclined to leave them too it. But I can see what you mean.

Thanks anyway.


I would be as well (inclined to leave them to it). Myself I am not an atheist but I don't follow a religion either, I believe in afterlife and I have always been interested in spirituality, but my brother is a Christian, and we have had a few arguments about religion and Jesus, and at some point I realised it was better to let it be, and to let him believe the way he wants, because it makes him happy and it makes him a better man (he used to be addicted to drugs, and has been clean since he discovered Jesus and has faith). Either way I can't take his faith away (and I don't really want to), it is strong, and its fine that way, his faith has helped him in his life, and its his right to believe what he feels to be true. He doesn't hurt anyone, it is quite the opposite.


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Shadi2
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25 Jun 2014, 12:49 pm

Stannis wrote:
This will happen again if we don't challenge the claims of superstition, and by so doing reduce the pool of support for theocratic movements:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oXDs8xXmMM[/youtube]


This is actually human nature, make no mistake forcing people to be atheists is just as bad as forcing them to practice a religion.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_atheism

The problem is it seems there is always some people who can't live and let live, they have to control everything and have power over others. I do agree tho that if a specific belief (I don't mean religion as a whole, nor Atheism, but for example, some specific verses in Holy books) is the actual root of the violence that this specific belief should be stopped somehow.

For example the belief, in a certain area in Iraq (and Syria), that they are different than everyone else, and are the only ones who were truly created by God and are direct "descendant" of God (its a little more complicated than that, but briefly it is what they believe), in addition to certain family values, and human nature (of certain humans) which ultimately caused the stoning of Du'a Khalil Aswad: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoning_of ... alil_Aswad (honestly in this case I'm with the Sunni Muslims, I can see why they retaliated).


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TallyMan
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25 Jun 2014, 1:07 pm

Shadi2 wrote:
babybird wrote:
Personally, I'd be inclined to leave them too it. But I can see what you mean.

Thanks anyway.


I would be as well (inclined to leave them to it). Myself I am not an atheist but I don't follow a religion either, I believe in afterlife and I have always been interested in spirituality, but my brother is a Christian, and we have had a few arguments about religion and Jesus, and at some point I realised it was better to let it be, and to let him believe the way he wants, because it makes him happy and it makes him a better man (he used to be addicted to drugs, and has been clean since he discovered Jesus and has faith). Either way I can't take his faith away (and I don't really want to), it is strong, and its fine that way, his faith has helped him in his life, and its his right to believe what he feels to be true. He doesn't hurt anyone, it is quite the opposite.


Religious belief seems to be a sort of psychological support for believers; it is almost like a narcotic in some ways. They need it to function and can't face life without their religion. Some have been helped to step out of terrible life situations due to gaining their religious belief and it has given their life a sense of purpose. In that sense religion seems to be useful even though it is founded on fantasy and make believe. One could liken the relationship between religion to psychological well being with the effect of placebo medicines on illness. If people get "better" as a result then fine. It doesn't make the medicine or their gods any more real though. If someone turns their life around in a positive way by believing in flying pink unicorns then good for them; just don't expect me to buy into it too, no matter how useful the belief may be.


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25 Jun 2014, 1:21 pm

babybird wrote:
I wasn't meaning to be personal or anything. I just feel that sometimes certain people try to be antagonistic towards people who do believe in God.

To my way of thinking, if you don't believe in something then there is no point in fetching up the subject.

I'm not slamming atheism here. I just get a bit puzzled with people talking about things that they believe don't even exist.


Those folks are what you call Evangelical Atheists. :wink:

Personally, I like Marcus Aurelius' take on God:
Quote:
Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones.


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Stannis
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25 Jun 2014, 1:36 pm

Shadi2 wrote:

This is actually human nature, make no mistake forcing people to be atheists is just as bad as forcing them to practice a religion.



Pointing out fallacious arguments and factual inaccuracies is not coercion.

Demagogues climb to power on the backs of the ignorant. People are immunised against providing that support when they learn how to critically assess claims. Any claims.



Last edited by Stannis on 25 Jun 2014, 5:59 pm, edited 3 times in total.

Pobbles
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25 Jun 2014, 4:52 pm

Atheists are interested in God - I imagine - in the same way that war and conflict might be a subject of ridicule and discussion at a get-together for pacifists.

But that's just me.


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Shadi2
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25 Jun 2014, 5:29 pm

Stannis wrote:
Shadi2 wrote:

This is actually human nature, make no mistake forcing people to be atheists is just as bad as forcing them to practice a religion.



Pointing out fallacious arguments and factual inaccuracies is not coercion.

Demagogues climb to power on the backs of the ignorant. People are immunised against providing that support when they learn how to critically assess claims. All claims.


I was actually talking about coercion, in Russia for example, where people were forced to be atheists (at least in appearance), and Churches and other places of worship were destroyed, and people persecuted for their beliefs/religion.


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Shadi2
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25 Jun 2014, 5:50 pm

TallyMan wrote:
Shadi2 wrote:
babybird wrote:
Personally, I'd be inclined to leave them too it. But I can see what you mean.

Thanks anyway.


I would be as well (inclined to leave them to it). Myself I am not an atheist but I don't follow a religion either, I believe in afterlife and I have always been interested in spirituality, but my brother is a Christian, and we have had a few arguments about religion and Jesus, and at some point I realised it was better to let it be, and to let him believe the way he wants, because it makes him happy and it makes him a better man (he used to be addicted to drugs, and has been clean since he discovered Jesus and has faith). Either way I can't take his faith away (and I don't really want to), it is strong, and its fine that way, his faith has helped him in his life, and its his right to believe what he feels to be true. He doesn't hurt anyone, it is quite the opposite.


Religious belief seems to be a sort of psychological support for believers; it is almost like a narcotic in some ways. They need it to function and can't face life without their religion. Some have been helped to step out of terrible life situations due to gaining their religious belief and it has given their life a sense of purpose. In that sense religion seems to be useful even though it is founded on fantasy and make believe. One could liken the relationship between religion to psychological well being with the effect of placebo medicines on illness. If people get "better" as a result then fine. It doesn't make the medicine or their gods any more real though. If someone turns their life around in a positive way by believing in flying pink unicorns then good for them; just don't expect me to buy into it too, no matter how useful the belief may be.


Honestly don't expect you, nor would I want to force you (or anyone else, even if it was in my power to do so), to believe in something that you don't feel is true. I absolutely and completely respect your right to be Atheist. And I think we are lucky to live in free countries, where we have freedom of expression and religion, where for the most part we respect human rights, and we are allowed to practice any religion (or anything "spiritual"), and to be atheists as well.


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Last edited by Shadi2 on 26 Jun 2014, 3:33 am, edited 2 times in total.