Why do some people prefer to be atheists?

[Lou2U]

My question didn’t imply that you don’t!

It’s all good

You are quite mistaken. I define everything I do and that is my main reason for living because I believe our ultimate authority is our conscience. That is what the Church teaches and I agree because it is eminently reasonable. Where I differ from you is that I don’t believe we invent our purposes. They exist whether we like it or not. We are not purposeless freaks of nature but rational beings whose purpose is to pursue truth, goodness, freedom, justice and love.

I see. I think our most basic purpose is to survive, and everything else comes from that, really. So, maybe a reason why humans desire love is because it gives us a social “outlet”, protection, happiness, and of course, a family.

It is better to die fighting rather than live as a slave.
Survival without truth, goodness, freedom, justice and love is worthless - as many people have demonstrated with their courage, integrity, compassion and unselfishness. These are aspects of reality that cannot be explained by fortuitous combinations of molecules and random genetic mutations. Chance is a hopelessly inadequate explanation of the power and beauty of nature - and the nobility of the human spirit…

When you say “truth”, do you mean Catholicism and God? I agree that survival without something to survive for is a very bleak way to live.

Lou

 

[Jelrak_TB]

The claim to God’s existence is not the issue, since the claim to God’s non-existence also cannot be proven. If you would stipulate that convincing demonstrable proof does not exist in either case, you are left with making a choice: a philosophy of hope in the ultimate Something or a philosophy of resignation to the ultimate Nothing.

Then the question to be asked is this: why does anyone prefer Nothing to Something?

Perhaps the preference is to not be disappointed?

In my case I am equally finding it difficult to disprove the existence of any other god as well…so my default position is to wait for further evidence before jumping to any conclusions…

 

[Jelrak_TB]

The Old Testament by itself leaves people with a misleading idea of God…

This was certainly the beginning of my misgivings. I attempted to clarify why a perfect deity would allow such a misleading account of his past to remain as cannon, but was not sufficiently satisfied by the answers.

 

[oldcelt]

ROFLMAO ROFLMAO ROFLMAO. Let it take someone like Matt Dillahunty who was once Christian. He was studying the Bible and was going to become a preacher. Well after studying it enough he switched to atheism.

You may be laughing, but many have found their way out of Christianity, by studying the source material.

John

 

[tonyrey]

It’s all good

I see. I think our most basic purpose is to survive, and everything else comes from that, really. So, maybe a reason why humans desire love is because it gives us a social “outlet”, protection, happiness, and of course, a family.

When you say “truth”, do you mean Catholicism and God? I agree that survival without something to survive for is a very bleak way to live.

Lou

 

[tonyrey]

You are quite mistaken. I define everything I do and that is my main reason for living because I believe our ultimate authority is our conscience. That is what the Church teaches and I agree because it is eminently reasonable. Where I differ from you is that I don’t believe we invent our purposes. They exist whether we like it or not. We are not purposeless freaks of nature but rational beings whose purpose is to pursue truth, goodness, freedom, justice and love.

If our most basic purpose is to survive who do people choose to die fighting for freedom and justice?

It is better to die fighting rather than live as a slave.
Survival without truth, goodness, freedom, justice and love is worthless - as many people have demonstrated with their courage, integrity, compassion and unselfishness. These are aspects of reality that cannot be explained by fortuitous combinations of molecules and random genetic mutations. Chance is a hopelessly inadequate explanation of the power and beauty of nature - and the nobility of the human spirit…

When you say “truth”, do you mean Catholicism and God?

I mean that truth, goodness, freedom, justice and love are aspects of reality that cannot be explained by fortuitous combinations of molecules and random genetic mutations. Chance is a hopelessly inadequate explanation of the power and beauty of nature - and the nobility of the human spirit…

I agree that survival without something to survive for is a very bleak way to live.

In that case our most basic purpose cannot be to survive - at least not as individuals!

 

[tonyrey]

You may be laughing, but many have found their way out of Christianity, by studying the source material.

What is the source material which proves Christianity is false?

 

[tonyrey]

The Old Testament by itself leaves people with a misleading idea of God…

It is unreasonable to expect a primitive people to have a perfect concept of God - or for God to present them with that concept miraculously. The remarkable feature of Judaism is its monotheism at a time when polytheism dominated people’s thinking, but even more significant is the profound insight that the Creator is “He Who Is”, i.e. the Necessary Being…

 

[Jelrak_TB]

It is unreasonable to expect a primitive people to have a perfect concept of God - or for God to present them with that concept miraculously.

Why might God have failed to offer any reasonable explanation for His abrupt change of character in the person of Christ? Was He simply unaware of the confusion it might later cause or did He simply not care?

Further, how is it to us to claim this people to be primitive? Did they not create some of the wonders of the world that stand to this day? Were not many of the great Greek philosophers contemporaries to some of the biblical characters?

The remarkable feature of Judaism is its monotheism at a time when polytheism dominated people’s thinking, but even more significant is the profound insight that the Creator is “He Who Is”, i.e. the Necessary Being…

Fair enough…

 

[tonyrey]

]It is unreasonable to expect a primitive people to have a perfect concept of God - or for God to present them with that concept miraculously.

Why might God have failed to offer any reasonable explanation for His abrupt change of character in the person of Christ? Was He simply unaware of the confusion it might later cause or did He simply not care?
God communicated with the Jews through inspired men and women but His message was
distorted by the influence of neighbouring tribes who were polytheistic and practised animal sacrifice. Even so they stood out as the Chosen People with their monotheism, the Decalogue and the prophecies of the Messiah.

Further, how is it to us to claim this people to be primitive? Did they not create some of the wonders of the world that stand to this day? Were not many of the great Greek philosophers contemporaries to some of the biblical characters?

Animal sacrifice, “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” and stoning to death are just three examples of Judaic primitive beliefs yet they were theologically superior to the Greeks who excelled in philosophy.