I am an atheist like most people in my country. I have some members of my family who are believers but we never talk about religion, when we do, the discussion then tends to get carried away, therefore we avoid this subject.
That everyone believes in what they want doesn't bother me at all. Everyone deserves respect. But once I spoke with a religious person who told me I will go to hell and atheists like me are bad people
I don’t think atheism makes one good or bad in and of itself. I am of the opinion that it tends to make people less judgmental of others on the morality or faux-morality fronts. I think people are judgmental by nature, to a degree, no one is immune to doing it, but I feel like there’s an element of virtue-signaling for the religious, like “God says that’s wrong, and I’M going to be one of the people on Earth trying to curtail this behavior!”, and they feel more conviction in it due to believing they are stewards of the ways of a supernatural being. It’s like they think they’re scoring “heaven points” by being a dickhead to other humans, whether you’re the Westboro Baptist Church or the Taliban, lmao. It’s basically just people who have been frightened into a particular lifestyle and moral code a lot of the time, and my argument would maybe be “if an atheist is a decent person and a religious person is equally decent in their thoughts and deeds, isn’t the atheist a little more decent, or at least more genuine in their decency, since they do it just for decency’s sake, whereas the theist is partly or wholly motivated by selfish fear for their own soul’s ultimate outcome?”
I think it’s a tricky subject overall, because you can find great people and deplorable people from any of these factions. I think in terms of Christianity, which I’m most familiar with, it’s become very tied in with American politics, causing further division. It’s not even that one side has religion and the other doesn’t, obviously, but each political party has over the years won over and aligned themselves with various factions. Southern white Christians are one of the Republicans’ bread-and-butter factions. They are EXTREMELY reliant on “The Bible Belt” to maintain political viability, so the floor of any message they have must appease that group. That’s where I get iffy about it. “Hey folks, we had this good idea for our society, but unfortunately about a third of the country believes the Earth is only 5,000 years old and a force up in the sky that we can’t prove or disprove during our mortal lives already gave us a bunch of rules, and they said the force IS real, so none of us can move forward with this idea, despite being able to prove and disprove some pretty enlightening scientific shit these days.” I’m kind of a hardcore naturalist, a whooooolllllleeeee other can of worms that involves me not really thinking we should be living the way we currently do as humans, but I’m saying all this within the usual context that assumes society is a thing, an arguably good thing, and it’s happening no matter what. Just so no one reads this and says “hey, aren’t you the guy who said we should be living like cavemen?”😂
Anyway, that’s neither here nor there, but the point is: I think whether you’re a theist or an atheist, when judgements are made by one side of the other, we probably mean to label one another “misguided” more so than actually “bad.” I just think many people are black-and-white thinkers, so to them, if something isn’t good, it must be bad; if something isn’t right, it must be wrong; it’s not enough to just avoid the bad through our collective individual actions, it must be outlawed from existence altogether. They simply don’t know how to think otherwise, so now their standards must be YOUR standards too.
I’d probably call myself an agnostic, albeit a doubtful one just leaving room for what I can’t certainly know, but from that middle place, that’s kind of my assessment.
People are people. Your religion or lack of a religion does not make you who you are. Your soul (or in the case of an atheist; heart) makes you who you are and that is all that matters.
There are horrible people who are atheists... these horrible people tend to do horrible things because they do not believe there will be any consequences in the afterlife for things they do on Earth, so they tend to behave badly for this reason.
There are Christians who believe that they can do no wrong because Jesus is on their side, or they justify bad behavior because they believe they will be forgiven, or they justify it by any religious means.
Then you have the real good people... the people who are good not because of their religion or lack of a religion, but rather they are good because they are simply good people with or without religion.
I personally do not have a religion nor do I subscribe to a religion. However, I do believe in God. I do believe that an entity took part in creating existence and everything in this existence. Even science says that nothing creates itself. So somebody... or something created the universe and everything within it. But that is me. And I do not push my ideas on anyone else. And if somebody wishes to talk about it, I can do so rather easily because I use scientific methods to discuss my belief, not a bible.
Does that mean I look down on atheists or believe them to be bad people? Of course not. Whatever happens after death happens, regardless if you believe or not believe. God does not care if you believe or not, if there is a God, you disbelief will not make him go away after death. Just the same as God will not magically appear after death for me if there is no God just because I believe in him. God either exists, or he does not exist.
Short answer, people control themselves and how they behave, not religion or the lack of religion.
@Guffrus Interesting theories. However, it doesn't answer a fundamental question; where did existence come from? Even through quantum mechanics, it states that nothing creates itself but if only for a brief moment. This happens when one object from another universe enters in to our universe, but because the laws of physics would be different for different universes, that object could only exist in our universe for a very brief time.
The Universe is nothingness that some now believe has an end. Nobody can explain where all of the material that is in our universe came to be in order for there to be a big bang in the first place. Nobody can answer the questions of where the ether that is beyond the universe originated, what caused everything that exists, even the things we cannot see and can only theorize about that exists outside the black void we call the universe.
And to touch up on this book, there is one pivotal question never answered; in relevance to Relativistic Quantum Fields, the question becomes where did those fields come from? This becomes a constant struggle of forever trying to answer where creation started. "What created that?" "Okay, then what created that?" "Okay, then what created that..." and then so on to an infinity.
I believe that if we could get to the earliest beginnings of any type of creation whatsoever, we would find the the only logical answer would be that of a creator.
Don't listen to those religious nuts who are telling you you're gonna go to hell. They're just trying to guilt trip you into following their religion. There was some g@g user on here who asked a question about Christian conversion therapy (an anon, not surprising) and he accused me of going against God when I offered my opinion. Being an atheist does NOT make you a bad person. What religion you follow has NOTHING to do with who you are as a person
I think this will sound like I'm bragging or something, but just know that I'm not.
I'd like to say that I'm not a bad person. Yes, I have lied. Yes, I have supported LGBTQIA+. Yes, I decided it would be a great idea to not be a christian. And it was one of the best decisions I've made so far, since I'm not forced to follow a set of unnecessary rules. But that's just my take. No hate on any religion. Y'all are great. (Only a few, tho)
Well, whether one is an atheist or a believer, one thing is clear. None is good but God.
Do you know the 10 commandments? 1. Have you ever lied? I have 2. Have you ever coveted something? I have 3. Have you looked at someone you aren't married with while listing after them? Jesus said that's adultery and that's something I've done actually. Have you ever stolen something (little stuffs included)? I have
If we had to judge righteously, I'm a lying, covetous and adulterous thief here. One thing we tend to do is thinking that we're good people but honestly, that's just according to the norms of the society, in truth none of us here on earth are actually any good. And just like if we were speeding on the road and had a fine to pay, we can't bring up other good stuffs we did on the road because it's not related, we're to be judged on our crimes.
However, that's exactly why Christ came here on earth, Jesus Christ who was without sin came here on earth to die for us and become the payment for our crimes so that whoever would repent from his sins, believe on Him and become His disciples could be forgiven so that it's not through our bad deeds that we are judged but rather Christ's righteousness.
So as for your original question, are atheist bad people? Yes but so are Christians and every single person here on this earth
I tend not to consider someone"bad" unless criminal activity is involved. So, no. I don't think that atheists are bad people. Both believers and atheists can be rude and confrontational and difficult when the idea of pushing a (dis) belief is the goal. Any belief, including political ideology can be used in an argument. The bottom line is... the person is an arrogant jerk, regardless of whether the topic is religion or politics. It has nothing to do with being an atheist or a believer in whatever religion. If one is kind and considerate you can have a discussion about anything, even if you don't agree. If one is a jerk then it turns into a confrontation or bullying or insulting.
No I don’t think they are bad people. In fact I know some atheists who are way better people than some devoutly religious people. I mean I know an atheist who gives a ton of his money and time to charities and helping people. He does it out is a sense of right and wrong and truly caring about people. Just because you are religious it doesn’t mean you are a good person. And if you are not religious it doesn’t mean you are a bad person. That has been my experience.
I am a believer, but I don’t force my views on others. We make our choices. At the end of the day, I judge people on their behavior and how they treat the other person right in front of them. Their religious choices are their choices, just like my choice is mine.
I'm saying this as a person who is not at all religious, yes, I think most of them are, the self proclaimed atheists.
I've tried to distance myself from the term, I think pure atheists usually lack a moral structure and real worldviews other than what they see other atheists say, and maybe they understand evolution theory
But to be a proper person you need to have a moral structure, a compass, just knowing about evolution is not enough, I value religion in being a collective moral code for people to follow, even if I don't agree with a lot of religious morals, they still usually have a very reasonable base, I used to call myself an atheist, but I now understand why religious people tend to not like them, because they're often people without any real worldview.
That is also not what I'm saying, I think "you're atheist so you don't have any morals" is a very dumb argument, the thing is, maybe you don't know the ones I'm talking about but there is a great number of atheists that seem to base their whole life philosophy on NOT believing in something, they often don't really give any opinion on what they DO think, just what they do not, I think it's too one sided.
No I don't believe so. My aunt is a devout Catholic and my uncle is a staunch atheist yet they have been happily married over 30 years I don't know how it works but it does lol.
There is no “good people “ or bad people. There is just bad behaviour, the only thing that should ever be judged between people. Good behaviour is choosing right action over wrong action. Bad behaviour is choosing wrong action over right action. And what are the definitions of wrong action and right action? Also known as wrongdoing wrongful behaviour consist of actions which DO harm others. Rightful and or righteous behaviour consists of any action which DOES NOT harm others. That’s it. We all know this deep down but many have grown ignorant.(that’s putting it nicely)
They have to exclude some people to make themselves feel moraly outstanding. How would they be so confident they were good unless they could point a finger at someone who is bad. I'm not saying there's no such thing as good and bad. However the truth of the matter is that everyone has a dark side, people who say they don't are the most dangerous ones.
Atheists are not inherently 'bad people'. Just as someone who blindly follows one script can be ignorant, atheists can put their head in the sand when it comes to matters of cosmos.
Science can't explain everything yet and it does no good pretending it will. Plenty of atheists that go around belittling religious folk, popping anxiety pills and don't necessarily acknowledge the good meditative and restorative experiences of faith.
Atheists are just people, can be good bad and ugly.
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If you're smart enough to have a moral code that helps you understand what is good and what's bad then you don't need a god to tell you that. And second off, what I like to say to religious retards is that their god gave me free will to believe and do whatever I like. If everything happens as god wills it then maybe god chose to make me an atheist.
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Atheists believe that God does not exist. That is a theological statement, and that makes atheism a kind of religion since they claim to KNOW that God does not exist. Religious belief makes no one either good or bad. Insisting that they know anything about God makes both camps look silly, but not "bad". Agnostics have it right. They don't know if there's a God or not, and quite sensibly get on with life and living. I hope you are an agnostic, but if you really are an atheist that's ok too and you are not going to hell.
@OfDeath We agree that "Atheists don't believe god exists." Your wording. 'God does not exist' is a statement about God. Statements about God are theology. All theology is unverifiable and therefore speculative. Atheists' beliefs have no more validity than religious beliefs. Vis-a-vis the the question beliefs don't make us bad or good, behaviour and decency or the lack thereof do.
You still don't understand. Not believing gods exist is not to say "gods do not exist". It is simply saying "I don't believe gods exist" which is not to say "I believe god does not exist".
Atheism is not a positive position. Do you understand now?
I am religious, and so long as you keep respecting others like you say you have, you are ok in my books. Not believing in God is not what sends you to hell, but being a bad person. Don't worry, let the fanatics say whatever they want.
I think a lot are, they dont have the structure of religious guild lines to follow.
(yeah I know there are some fuckups in every group) but most lead a well balanced life with some religiious following. Like be good to follow man, respect, and so on. That why I think USA is going to shit. Not enough people following some form of structured religion. I see atheists just running and killing a country
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You couldn't pigeon hole all atheists with any label other than people who don't believe in gods.
Of course there will be heinous people who happen to be atheists as well as very good people.
Statistically, atheists actually care more about human rights, animal conservation and taking action on climate change than religious people. So a positive correlation between atheism and altruism can be made.
In short no atheists are not bad… for the most part I can belong to o any group and have different moral alignments then them. Basically as long as the group doesn’t have something fucked in its manifesto/declaration/or constitution then join them without worry of changing peoples opinion of u🤷♂️
461 opinions shared on Religion & Spirituality topic.
I think it’s useful to have some kind of religious experiences, you don’t have to devot yourself to a particular religion, it could be a walk in the forest, and trying to connect with the living world around you, spiritual experiences enlighten and expand your understanding of yourself.
Not necessarily. It comes down to individuals, not whether they believe in god or not. I've known a few atheists and they were generally good and respectable people
I believe in God and follow Jesus Christ by the way.
Some atheists are bad people just like some religious people are bad. It really comes down to the person. Your spiritual beliefs (or lack of) are your own and don't make you bad. Shoving your beliefs down someone else's throat kind of puts a person on the bad list for me. It sounds like you ran into to one of those kind.
I mean everyone has some religious belief even an atheist although you may think of it as irrational beliefs or subjective morals. Your idea of "good" and mine as a Christian are probably vastly different. If you're promoting bad things then you are not a "good" person.
