Do atheists really want answers?

Question

They pose their arguments in the form of questions, and then disregard and ridicule any religious answers they get. They then reward another atheist with "best answer."

They also ask the same questions over again, regardless of how many times it has been answered.

"Where did God come from?"

"Who created God?"

"Why does God let bad things happen?"

These questions have been answered. If atheists don't like the answers, then they should explain why.

Answer 1

Yes, I want answers. I would like to see a theistic response to a valid question. When I ask a question, I qualify it with what I don't understand about the traditional Christian view.



Also, you're silly if you think that atheists are the only ones who rabidly reward people with the same opinion. Many of the Christians on here do the same thing

Answer 2

Firstly, you're right...



Many people use R&S as a playground; a rough and tumble place to intellectually joust with the opposition. Some are better at it than others, and use icily clever wit. A few are just grumpy trolls, and they're best avoided by everyone.



Some people ask genuine questions, and amongst the replies are usually some genuine answers. Others are sneaky preachies, who pretend to ask a genuine question, but then just use it to preach and BA a similar believer.



There are always those new to the group who will ask their brand new shiny question, except that it's been asked 12.4 zillion times before they joined. They are baffled by the massed cries of "drink!".



BTW all the above I would very much apply to theists, particularly Christians as sneaky preachies, but I don't doubt that atheists do it too.



I can only suggest that if you want a genuine answer, wear your thickest skin, ask a genuine question and just filter out the irrelevant replies.



Secondly:

I think there's a genuine gulf of incomprehension between many atheists and theists as many think of the other "how on earth can they think that way?".



Many of the attempts at understanding are clumsy, and are phrased only in terms relevant to the asker: "Atheist (singular!) - why do you hate god? Why have you no morals" sort of thing. It's not meant as a wind-up, they genuinely think they hate god and want to find out why. Conversely the other side sees it as a wind-up, and responds accordingly. Theists feel deeply there is a god, and can't understand any 'rejection', feeling it's tantamount to hatred. They take such rejection personally.



Opposite them, many atheists are baffled how people can believe such big things without any evidence. They know the stories about religious faith, geocentrism and Galileo. They see theists as being deluded, and ask probing questions to challenge these beliefs. "So, where did this god come from then? If he was always there, why couldn't the universe be always there?" sort of thing.



This is no different than atheists would ask each other about day-to-day things, a form of accountability and verification. It's not intended as an insult, but it is intended to be probing and pushing to accountability. However, many believers see this as an unwarranted attack on their beliefs, even an insult. As such they feel aggrieved and reply accordingly.



Before long, even a genuine attempt to understand has turned into a joust. Of course, with a robust attitude, a lot of understanding can come about, but you have to be able to take the knocks that go with it.



So here we have two camps, each with a very different outlook on life, the universe and everything, and how to deal with those strange creatures in the other camp. Many will be happy just to ignore them, while others will gird their armour and come to R&S tournament...

Answer 3

God? Well there is no God. If anything I am my own God;



I can create life - Have sex and make babies

I can take life away - Kill someone (Yes, there are laws against that but I could still do that, which people do)

I choose my own destiny - I do not need someone else to make up MY mind or tell me what to do because someone else has "said this is the only way"



At the end of the day, I am me and that is all I choose to believe in. I do not need some book (Bible) or other people to tell me how I should live my life.



It is humans that supposedly do good and bad things so why "blame" it on someone else (God)? Why forgive people who do bad things to you?. Could you REALLY forgive someone that took your family away from you that has done something stupid like drink driving or a shooting for instance while they still have their life intact? I know I wouldn't.



God and the Bible are fiction. The Bible is a book of stories written by many different people of events which they claim to have witnessed. Over time, this so called book has been translated many many times so really it is just that, a book that can be read.



If you need someone to guide your life on what is right and what is wrong then you have no brain.



God does not let bad things happen, It is humans that do it. Humans created God as for something to give them false hope or something to cling to.



And yes, I have been baptised, confirmed and all the rest of that rubbish. I have also read the Bible and the Satanic Bible. I have also seen what other crack pot religions do and preech.



I am me and that is all there is. I do what I please and do not need to follow some scripture that someone else has written.



As for your question, I do not need an answer as I do not have any questions to ask. I do not believe in anything besides myself!

Answer 4

No The object is dazzling reparte.



I'm still in R&S because I learn something once in awhile, and think that maybe some young kid on here will take notice of truth.



I wish it could be understood that Christians do not park their brains at the door.



Yesterday I heard about a 6 yr old who told his grandmother,"It's not that I don't believe in God. It's just that I want proof. When I die and see God, I'll believe." Where do 6 year old get this?



His grandmother told him that if he kept up that, he would someday be so hardhearted that he could not believe.

Answer 5

They aren't seeking a change in their view points, most of the time it seems this section is just here for people to ridicule the beliefs of others for cheap and easy giggles.



This would be the main reason i stay away from it.



Personally i'm an atheist but i don't feel the need to hound believers to make me feel big.

Answer 6

Generally these questions are asked in the context of the religion they're targeted at so we can better understand people of that religion.



There are numerous troll posts of them, however, where a real answer is not expected nor acknowledged, but this is hardly something that only atheists exhibit.

Answer 7

Everyone is as bad as each other on this forum, and unfortunately, this question puts you in the same category. Many Atheists, AND Christians here genuinely want to learn and interact with others, it is the few with very little intellect who start the bitchfight, into which we all get drawn to defend our belief.



Peace

Answer 8

They pose their arguments in the form of questions,and then disregard and ridicule any religious answers they get.They then reward another atheist with 'best answer.'

-Christians have done this too, we aren't going to pat them on the back.



They also ask the same questions over again, regardless

of how many times it has been answered.

-Again, the same can be applied to theist's.



♣ Angie: thanks for the laugh. :)

Answer 9

i have seen quite rude answers from both, i have even given some. people tend to agree with answers that are close to the opinions that they have, christians usually pick christian answers, atheist pick atheist, muslims pick muslims, etc... what we should do is value the fact that we all have different opinions and accept the other even if we think they are wrong

Answer 10

Cutting and pasting excerpts from the bible is NOT answering a question! Atheists don't accept the bible, torah or koran as credible written proof of anything. So why do religious people keep doing it?



Maybe atheists keep asking the same questions hoping they'll get a decent answer for once instead of double-talk.

.

Answer 11

Tiedye D: With an aswer like that, what are you doing in this category? With that answer, your presence here only bolster's the asker's question.

Answer 12

Those questions do not have definite answers

They just have assumptions

What can be proven without evidence can be disproven without evidence :D



On the other hand, scientific theories have quite a bit of evidence

To just disregard that evidence and instead, believe in your own abstract ideas is kinda ignorant

But whatever, believe what you like :)

Answer 13

What you're forgetting is that the onus is on YOU to provide EMPIRICAL evidence that stands up to scientific scrutiny. If those questions you stated above have truly been answered than we wouldn't even be having this debate.



Present me with scripture written about ANY God and I'll be able to substitute my Flying Spaghetti Monster with your God and it will be just as credible because you won't be able to definitively prove that The Flying Spaghetti Monster didn't do all the things your God supposedly did. The very fact that I can do that shows the lack of credible evidence that religion gives.

Answer 14

there are no answers and will never be any answers until we die and find out for ourselves. All of this Creation and Power is too much for me to even try to comprehend in my lifetime. I'll just wait and find out later. gives me something to look forward to in death.

Answer 15

look you coudl easily say the same about chrisitians

but if you only choose to complain aboutatheists aparant qs which YOU deem answered and not lookign for answers, then your just being biased

Answer 16

Its a need for a visual answer. You can't see God face to face and you have no proof other than the words of the Bible. The Bible can't be proven as it was written by man not God.

Answer 17

Ever hear of the expression," there are no atheists in a foxhole."? these people who are atheists haven't experienced their own personal "foxhole" yet. I'd like to be there when they do because they will be asking for help from beyond what science or mortal mankind can give them. Think of it this way..Yes I believe in God , if I'm wrong...big deal...but what if I'm right??? What do you have to say to that atheists? It is you who will have to answer for your nonbelief...if I'm wrong there's noone to answer to!!!!!!! LOL

Answer 18

whoa boy, howabout the questions that theists repeat time and time again. you could replace the word atheist with the word christian and still have the same question. while we are about it i have studied hinduism (i even went to india for divali), judaism (i have read the torah and lived for six months on a jewish moshav in israel) i've read half the koran and ive been in a sikh temple. how good is your knowledge of any belief other than your own?

Answer 19

They keep asking them because you can never give a cogent understandable answer as to why you believe in the ridiculous.

Answer 20

We want intelligent factual answers, not faith based answers and I have chose many non atheists as best answers because they have explained things to me using rationale and not a divine theory.

Answer 21

I'm not atheist, but I think they are trying to prove a point with their questions. That point being that a lot of religious dogmas and teachings make no sense when you step back and look at them logically.

Answer 22

Yes.

Answer 23

Because the answers you provide are not testable or verifiable. All of them are based on a book that makes only claims, without anything to support them. Open any scientific book and for every claim presented there, you will find references to literature, experiments and discoveries that support it.

Answer 24

We don't need answers from the nutcase that wrote the Bible, hence why were aren't Christian!



We get them from science.



The particle experiment in Geneva will answer all of those questions.

Answer 25

Everybody does that. Why do you pick out atheists? Because you just happen to want to attack atheists.

I'm willing to bet you're going to pick the answer that says "because they're lame", which would make you a hypocrite. Go ahead and prove you're no better than us.

Answer 26

Actually, none of those questions has been satisfactorily answered



And they are also grounds for debate and - if it were a different subject - discovery.



For example, if you ask "what started the big bang" I would say "I don't know" and I'd go and try to find out - which is precisely what brainiacs at Cern are doing



Whereas if I ask "what created god" you just say "god has always existed", with no evidence, no supporting information... nothing. Not a satisfactory answer. So we keep asking.

Answer 27

1. Atheist ask Christians a question.



2. Christians answer question.



3. Many many atheists answer with short, irrelevant, and snarky answers such as "believer's are retards." or "God's not real!"



4. Atheist awards best answer to one of the many atheists who offered nothing valuable to anybody. Often adding a comment like 'Yeah, religious people are super idiots! Not like us!"

Answer 28

You should remember most Atheists were first theists.--they know where the weak patches are.

Answer 29

I post questions that make the hamsters living in religious people's heads run really fast on their little treadmills generating enough power to think really hard.

Answer 30

good point, but would this question be considered an evasion of an answer?

Answer 31

these people will never accept the Truth, even when theres so much evidence, I bet most of them have never even opened a Bible.



they put all there faith in everything coming about by accident, big bangs and people from monkey's. they think (hope?) that by refusing to accept God they will not be judged for there lifetime of Sin.

Answer 32

Doesn't matter what I do now... Doesn't matter what I say. Somewhere in my heart I'm always dancing with you in the Summer Rain!

Answer 33

Sure, I want answers. It just seems like all the answers are illogical.

Answer 34

Yeah, and theists don't do that either, right? lol



It's quite simple: atheists prefer answers based on empirical data and theists prefer answers based on bronze age superstitions.



I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that you won't choose this answer as the best. Oh well.

Answer 35

the problem with religious based answers is that they aren't really answers at all, but anecdotal stories with no basis in factual information

Answer 36

exactly what angie and live 4 jesus said!

Answer 37

nope, they just want more questions, so they can answer them, while ridiculing God and trying to make themselves look "cute"

Answer 38

The answers that I want come from science, not some nut job.