Are atheists too complacent?

[Skeptical Greg]

See my sig line...

 

[Modified]

Is it not easier and more comfortable to believe death brings oblivion, than to believe you are held accountable in an eternal afterlife?

Not by a long shot. The survival instinct is very strong.


But most Christians don't believe they will be held accountable anyway.

 

[smartcooky]

Some years ago, a little girl asked her Dad if he would ever get to see his dead parents again. He considered his answer carefully. Finally, he said that there was nothing he would like more in the world than to see his mother and father again, but that he had no reason, and no evidence, to support the idea of an afterlife, so he couldn't give in to the temptation. Then he told her, very tenderly, that it can be dangerous to believe things just because you want them to be true. You can get tricked if you don't question yourself and others, especially people in a position of authority. He told her that anything that's truly real can stand up to scrutiny.

That little girl was Sasha Sagan, her Dad was Carl.

 

[psionl0]

I would swap the word "assume" for "know", because it's true.

No matter how strongly you assert it, you can't change a belief that there are no gods into certain knowledge.

Almost half a century ago I made the statement that "religion is a crutch for the weak" and I've yet to see any reason to change that opinion.

That presupposes that believers and atheists alike know that there are no gods but believers choose to shun that "reality" for a delusion instead.

That's just plain baloney, because it's not how the enormous majority of christians act, because christianity has the get-out-of-jail-free card of pleading for forgiveness, with no limits as to what may be forgiven.

Murder a child? No worries. Accept Jesus and plead for forgiveness, and heaven shall be opened unto you.

An atheist giving lessons on scripture isn't really comment worthy but AFAIK saying "please forgive me for this murder while I plot my next murder" is not going to cut it.

 

[The Atheist]

No matter how strongly you assert it, you can't change a belief that there are no gods into certain knowledge.

Depends on where you draw the line on "certainty". For me, the vanishingly small chance god/s might exist isn't worth considering.

Mathematics, it ain't.

That presupposes that believers and atheists alike know that there are no gods but believers choose to shun that "reality" for a delusion instead.

Yep, that's exactly what I said.

An atheist giving lessons on scripture isn't really comment worthy but AFAIK saying "please forgive me for this murder while I plot my next murder" is not going to cut it.

Except it's true. Forgiveness is universal - the bible is unequivocal and so are the vast majority of priests.

 

[smartcooky]

Depends on where you draw the line on "certainty". For me, the vanishingly small chance god/s might exist isn't worth considering.

THIS.

The chances of any gods really existing is so miniscule that they are not even worth a moment of serious consideration.

 

[psionl0]

Depends on where you draw the line on "certainty". For me, the vanishingly small chance god/s might exist isn't worth considering.

Mathematics, it ain't.

That's the only bit that is true. You don't know how to calculate the probabilities of any of this.

Yep, that's exactly what I said.

Then the onus is on you to prove that you actually have this supernatural power that allows you to read the minds of believers.

Except it's true. Forgiveness is universal - the bible is unequivocal and so are the vast majority of priests.

That is a debate for believers.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

This is just repackaging of the nonsense we need God or people would just go wild in the street pillaging and murdering.

 

[psionl0]

This is just repackaging of the nonsense we need God or people would just go wild in the street pillaging and murdering.

Which post repackages that nonsense?

 

[bruto]

Depends on where you draw the line on "certainty". For me, the vanishingly small chance god/s might exist isn't worth considering.

Mathematics, it ain't.



Yep, that's exactly what I said.



Except it's true. Forgiveness is universal - the bible is unequivocal and so are the vast majority of priests.

I would be surprised if anything from the Bible is that unequivocal. It's a sure thing that a bunch of my Universalist ancestors took a hell of a beating for believing it was even numerically possible from members of other sects who took the Revelations seriously.

I would also question whether all theists know there is no god and shun reality. It seems to be what they recommend to atheists, but most of those who do that presume that we know there is a god and choose, for reasons unfathomable, to deny it. I think most theists really do believe there is a god, even if one chooses to think their belief faulty or even lazy, and even if it is infected with doubt.

 

[smartcooky]

Which post repackages that nonsense?

The OP

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

Which post repackages that nonsense?

The OP and the thread title.

Are atheists too complacent?

... But have they considered what it means to really believe you are answerable to a higher power in everything you do?
Is it not easier and more comfortable to believe death brings oblivion, than to believe you are held accountable in an eternal afterlife.

Ninja'd by smartcookie.

 

[psionl0]

The OP and the thread title.

The OP might believe that all people are at heart murderers and pillagers who are only held in check by the threats of judgement in the afterlife (I don't know him all that well). He is not articulating that belief about atheists in this thread.

Maybe he believes that they are held in check by the prospect of retribution in this life. That would mean that honest men are just timid criminals and the prevailing view of believers and non-believers alike is that it is only a crime if you get caught.

 

[dejudge]

Atheists seem to assume that people who believe in God and an afterlife are mentally weak and gullible. Thereby assuming intellectual superiority over them.
But have they considered what it means to really believe you are answerable to a higher power in everything you do?
Is it not easier and more comfortable to believe death brings oblivion, than to believe you are held accountable in an eternal afterlife?

Atheists believe that everyone should be held accountable during their lifetime.

The belief in afterlife accountability has caused the maiming, murder, denying of human rights and enslaving of millions of people throughout the history of mankind.

It is a most dangerous and terrifying thing when people believe they are only accountable to their imagined all knowing God and act upon their imagination.

 

[psionl0]

The belief in afterlife accountability has caused the maiming, murder, denying of human rights and enslaving of millions of people throughout the history of mankind.

Misguided religious belief is definitely a cause of these things but I don't think that a belief in afterlife accountability is a specific cause.

 

[8enotto]

A belief is an odd creature. Years of repetition of a "truth" can make a believer. If that person never once questions why it is a truth isn't saying they know or don't know, its because they never bothered to think deeply about it.

Not an uncommon thing to find in people.

But, the beliefs in any god as well as any new age stuff do suffer a lack of testability or evidence that leaves a big wedge in the door to call it all empty.

An atheist or anyone else need not work very hard to prove nothing is just that.

 

[TheGoldcountry]

Misguided religious belief is definitely a cause of these things but I don't think that a belief in afterlife accountability is a specific cause.

I'll be sure to keep an eye open for those good beliefs, and avoid those misguided ones. They have a guidebook for that, right?

 

[Matthew Ellard]

Atheists seem to assume that people who believe in God and an afterlife are mentally weak and gullible. Thereby assuming intellectual superiority over them.

As there is no scientific hypothesis for a god or gods, and no evidence for that same non-existing hypothesis, there is no point in a rational person considering the matter at all.

It would be a complete waste of time like worrying how Superman shaves if his beard is stronger than anything on Earth....a waste of time

 

[Robin]

Atheists seem to assume that people who believe in God and an afterlife are mentally weak and gullible. Thereby assuming intellectual superiority over them.

In general, atheists think that those who believe in God are mistaken.

But have they considered what it means to really believe you are answerable to a higher power in everything you do?

Yes

Is it not easier and more comfortable to believe death brings oblivion, than to believe you are held accountable in an eternal afterlife?

It may be. The only consideration when parsing a belief is "Is it true?"

 

[ynot]

Atheists seem to assume that people who believe in God and an afterlife are mentally weak and gullible.

Atheism is simply lack of belief in a god, and has nothing to do with assuming anything about the mental state of god believers. I believe that god beliefs are a normalised form of insanity, but that's not what defines me as being an atheist, and it doesn't mean I believe god believers are insane or mentally weak per se.

Thereby assuming intellectual superiority over them.

Only in that intellectual honesty is superior to intellectual dishonesty.

But have they considered what it means to really believe you are answerable to a higher power in everything you do?

Yep, I imagine it's much like believing in Santa.

Is it not easier and more comfortable to believe death brings oblivion, than to believe you are held accountable in an eternal afterlife?

I'm far more interested in knowing what's true, even if it's an uncomfortable truth, rather than merely believing what's emotionally easy and comfortable.