Have Any Of you Ever Personally Known An Atheist?

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Have any of you ever personally known an atheist?
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i see a lot of talking about them, and I’ve seen a lot statement of beliefs about them, but really, how can you truly know what an atheist truly is if you have never really met one? If you have never really met one then you should really try to be friends with one.
 
It’s my (possibly inaccurate) opinion that atheism is a stage that many young people go through, as they come to grips with their inablity to continue in the blind faith of childhood.
I know I was an agnostic for some time, before I had a life-changing experience with God. I wasn’t an atheist as there seemed too much evidence on both sides, and also I didn’t put much thought into it, so I hedged my bets.
My co-workers don’t discuss personal beliefs much, so I can’t say I’ve ever known an atheist. But it seems to me - and again I may be mistaken - that to remain an atheist much past young adulthood, you would have to be developmentally stuck because of past issues – it’s like saying I’m absolutely sure man has never walked on the moon, it’s a fraud perpetuated by NASA. How could you be sure? Agnosticism at least leaves room for doubt.
 
I know an Atheist and he’s a total jerk. He and my best friend from college are now married. I know (knew) him well. We no longer hang out or go around each other.

I know an Agnostic and he’s very much involved in the Pro-Life movement.
 
Viki63 said:
It’s my (possibly inaccurate) opinion that atheism is a stage that many young people go through, as they come to grips with their inablity to continue in the blind faith of childhood.
I know I was an agnostic for some time, before I had a life-changing experience with God. I wasn’t an atheist as there seemed too much evidence on both sides, and also I didn’t put much thought into it, so I hedged my bets.
My co-workers don’t discuss personal beliefs much, so I can’t say I’ve ever known an atheist. But it seems to me - and again I may be mistaken - that to remain an atheist much past young adulthood, you would have to be developmentally stuck because of past issues – it’s like saying I’m absolutely sure man has never walked on the moon, it’s a fraud perpetuated by NASA. How could you be sure? Agnosticism at least leaves room for doubt.
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I think you are mistaken. You would think that philosophy graduates have put some serious thought into the question of a god’s existence. And ironically, they even have a poll question about lunar landing fraud belief.
 
I know several atheists, have been friends with atheists, and used to be an atheist. I share an office area with a Mormon, a lapsed Christian, and an agnostic (good friend of mine) who is married to an atheist. It makes for an interesting day.

Teaching in a secular college, you tend to bump into atheists a lot. 🙂
 
I know couple of atheists. One of them is quite famous here in Russia for being successful sci-fi writer and leader of anti-sex movement (he and his followers hate sex at all, even in marriage, and believe that sole purpose of sex is making children, but they reject all possible pleasures for married people). In his sci-fi books, this guy always attacks religion and always attacks sexual relationships. If several characters in his book struggle with same problem, the one who is anti-religion and anti-sex oriented, will survive, other would usually suffer and die. He was interesting to talk with, though, and he wrote some quite funny jokes about religion - not with ugly and rude attacks, but rather intelligent and gentle.
Another one is also a writer. I only talked with him some times during sci-fi writers conventions. He is even more famous, and he is very smart and incredibly well educated about religion and history of religion, so it’s difficult to argue with him. I really respect him because his atheism is a result of long studies and research.
Both of them never were my close friends.
Also, I’ve had an atheist teacher when I was in school. He was very proud to be an atheist. But one day I met him in the church - he became devoted orthodox 🙂
 
Sure, one of my best friends is a very devout Atheist; he says he occasionally is tempted to a form of Deism so he kind of borders of being an Agnostic.
 
Starwynd said:
Have any of you ever personally known an atheist?
’
i see a lot of talking about them, and I’ve seen a lot statement of beliefs about them, but really, how can you truly know what an atheist truly is if you have never really met one? If you have never really met one then you should really try to be friends with one.
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yes, i am friends with an actual atheist, well he claims he is one and makes all the right arguments, but in the end he always comes to the idea that G-d must be evil, because there is suffering in the world

real atheists dont last long, its irrational.

ive known several, and most of them have some other issue than actual atheism, their atheism is generally a means to another end, at least as far as i can tell.

now i used to be an atheist myself, from an empirical evidential standpoint, when that was dispelled i had no other hangups that kept me in that camp.

so yeah, i know an atheist or two:)
 
You can’t swing a cat in my neck of the woods without hitting an atheist. I love discussing the great questions with them.
 
I have a cousin Jim who has been a dedicated atheist for 40 years.
 
Being at a private school, I know many atheists.

My Latin teacher and my former Japanese teacher were and are both atheists. I do not know their reasons for being so, et cetera. Both are perfectly nice people, though.

My Italian teacher is from Albania and is an atheist because of the commuinist policies that existed in Albania up to the 1990s. She enjoys learning about religion and her daugher is a convert to Catholicism. I think she’s just a little lost and nervous.

Not all atheists are necessarily against GOD. Many are just lost, whether or not they know it.
 
My best friend is an Atheist. We tease each other all the time about our stubborn beliefs. 🙂 We have friendly debates sometimes but no hard feelings.
 
Viki63 said:
It’s my (possibly inaccurate) opinion that atheism is a stage that many young people go through, as they come to grips with their inablity to continue in the blind faith of childhood.
I know I was an agnostic for some time, before I had a life-changing experience with God. I wasn’t an atheist as there seemed too much evidence on both sides, and also I didn’t put much thought into it, so I hedged my bets.
My co-workers don’t discuss personal beliefs much, so I can’t say I’ve ever known an atheist. But it seems to me - and again I may be mistaken - that to remain an atheist much past young adulthood, you would have to be developmentally stuck because of past issues – it’s like saying I’m absolutely sure man has never walked on the moon, it’s a fraud perpetuated by NASA. How could you be sure? Agnosticism at least leaves room for doubt.
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Vicki;
Nothing personal, but I think you are mistaken. I was a strong Catholic until just a couple years ago. I’m currently in my mid-forties.

I agree that a lot of kids may go through a rebellious, non-believing phase in their lives, only to return to the beliefs they so stridently opposed. That’s all part of being young and finding your way - you make a lot of turns. But it is also possible that they have seriously considered and rejected belief for what appear to be very good reasons (at least to them). It is a mistake, therefore, to simply assume their unbelief is the result of a lack of maturity or a “developmental flat-tire” on the road of life.

There truly are lots of atheists, of all ages, who have given the matter a lot of thought and arrived at the conclusion that belief in gods is unwarranted.
 
Starwynd said:
Have any of you ever personally known an atheist?
’
i see a lot of talking about them, and I’ve seen a lot statement of beliefs about them, but really, how can you truly know what an atheist truly is if you have never really met one? If you have never really met one then you should really try to be friends with one.
Click to expand...
Both my sisters are atheists or maybe agnostics…closer to atheists. We were all raised in a Protestant home, but none of us really practiced our faith once we got out on our own. I converted to Catholicism in April, 2007, but they have no faith at all and between them, they make jokes about those who do. I am nice to my one sister (the other one is another story), but my faith is such an important part of me and I can’t really share it and they just don’t get it.
 
Starwynd said:
Have any of you ever personally known an atheist?
’
i see a lot of talking about them, and I’ve seen a lot statement of beliefs about them, but really, how can you truly know what an atheist truly is if you have never really met one? If you have never really met one then you should really try to be friends with one.
Click to expand...
Yep, I have several friends who claim to be atheists, however like the second poster mentioned, I think its a stage that their going through. A kind of “I’ll show my parents” type thing.
 
JSSebastianoP said:
Not all atheists are necessarily against GOD. Many are just lost, whether or not they know it.
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How can an atheist be against something that he knows isn’t real?

I think that’s a misunderstanding. An atheist isn’t anymore against gods than a Christian is against Zeus or Odin or the IPU. If Christians are “against” these other gods then it only demonstrates they are really polytheists and henotheists, something they claim is not the case.

I know lots of atheists, my wife and kids for starters. There aren’t any atheists “against god,” unless by “god” you mean the whole superstitious package. That would make sense. But in the common usage of “god,” an atheist ‘against god’ would be a theist pretending to be something else. So I don’t think it’s that.
 
Wow! Where do you live to be able to ask the question, “have any of you ever known an atheist”? Tell me and I´ll move there!!!

Seriously, I used to be one, my brother is still one, my father is one and sadly most of the people I know here in Spain are too, in that religion is totally foreign to their life. Here most catholics call themselves “non-practising catholics” ; I prefer to turn the phrase round and call them “practising atheists”. What matters is what you practise, how you live your life, how you show your love to God, not an abstract theory.

So yes, I know a bunch of atheists. 👍
 
Yes, I’ve known a few.

One of them is an older brother, of mine.
We were both raised Protestant (Presbytarian).
He went on to become an ordained minister.
A few years later … he lost his faith, totally & became an atheist.
Sadly, he still is.
 
They are not hard to find . My SIL was raised atheist her parent’s are lifetime atheists.
 
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