Tag: ask an atheist

Isn’t atheism just another religion?

I’ve seen this one a few times out there.  People like Ken Ham of Answers in Genesis like to tout this one.  He takes it a step further in saying that atheism and those who believe in the theory of evolution are religious and want to kill Christianity by saying they aren’t a religion so they can be taught in schools…yeah so no.  But to get back to people who genuinely think that atheism is a religion, no it’s not.

Atheism is an answer to a single question, “Do you believe in a god (or gods)?”  There are no tenents of atheism.  There are no rules, no dogma, no other unifying factor in it other than a lack of a belief in any god.  We don’t meet weekly and study “The God Delusion” or watch old videos of Christopher Hitchens.  I’ve heard it explained this way which may be helpful:  Atheism is as much of a religion as not stamp collecting is a hobby.  My lack of beliefs do not guide my actions, only my beliefs.

We atheists don’t have a club.  Most of us disagree on a lot of things.  We disagree on whether morality is subjective or objective.  We disagree on whether there is free will.  There are a lot of things that we don’t have in common.  Literally the only idea we share is a lack of a belief in a god.  I know I’m repeating this a lot here but this seems to be a huge point of confusion.  There are other idea that atheists may gravitate towards such as Secular Humanism but again that’s also not a religion any more than a book club is.  The confusion here might just be a paradigm issue.  Theists just may not understand that one can live a life without religion.

We’re back for week two of Ask and Atheist.  I pulled the list from this site.  Still not 100% sure if it’s a troll site or not but judging by some of the other posts…no.  Anyway on with the show!

1. If creationists can’t do science, then why do Kent Hovind and Duane T. Gish, who are creation scientists, have professional degrees in science? I’m unaware of any rule that says creationists can’t be scientists. 

2. If dinosaurs turned into birds, why are we not afraid of them? That’s not how evolution works…like at all.

3. If homosexuality is right, then how come two people of the same sex not produce a child? Homosexuality and hetirosexuality it are neither right nor wrong. They just are.  I’m assuming that you aren’t a big fan of just having fun. Everything has to have a reason? 

4. What purpose do we have if evolution is real? One has nothing to do with the other but putting that kind of lense on meaning my guess would be to propigate the species. 

5. You say Jesus never existed, but have you heard of the Shroud of Turin? 1) I never said that. An historical Jesus may very well have existed. 2) That claim has been debunked many times. 

6. Why do we not see humans being born in the zoos from monkeys if we came from monkeys? Again that’s not how evolution works. 

7. Why do we go to church if God is not real? I don’t. 

8. How did the Grand Canyon form?  Millions of years of water errosion. 

9. Do you know that Jesus loves you? But somehow his love for me is dependant on me loving him?  Wouldn’t call that unconditional. 

10. If Christianity is false, then why is it popular? The Roman empire. 

11. If you say Christianity is not true, then why do hundreds of people continue to become saved every day?  Indoctrination, finding people at their most vunerable, people at the end of their rope will cling to anything. 

12. Why do we not see half trees and half carrots, fronkeys, and crocoducks if evolution is real? You really don’t know how evolution works do you?

13. Why is Richard Dawkins afraid to debate Ray Comfort? Ask him

14. Did you know Christopher Hitchens was saved before death? Source please. 

15. Are you aware Ray Comfort disproved atheism with a banana? Yeah I saw that stunt… coconuts don’t seem to be built for the human hand and have much higher benefits to us so….

16. Why do people laugh at evolutionists? Not sure I’ve seen that happen. 

17. How did the planets form when the Big Bang explosion all of a sudden happen? After all, you don’t see round objects form when something blows up. Big bang wasn’t like a bomb going off. It was the rapid expension of both time and space. Gravity started pressing particles together until we had atoms.  This atoms we’re pressed together until we had stars. When those stars died out they created heavier elements that got together and formed…and so on and so on…I’m not a cosmologist. 

18. If evolution is real, how can it explain gravity, angular momentum, human emotions, and why we worship God?  Well it can’t. Evolution explains one process in biology.  You keep using that word…I don’t think it means what you think it means. 

19. How did pond scum make living things appear out of nowhere? What you’re referring to is abiogenesis. That is one of the thoeries of how life started on Earth. This process is something that’s been studied by much smarter people than me. While I understand the gyst of it in my head, I would have a hard time explaining. 

20. How can evolution be true if we don’t see pocket watches or airplanes form by themselves? Have you been to every planet? How do you know there isn’t a planet of sentiant pocket watches. 

21. Did you know that dinosaurs and man lived together? Yeah not so much. 

22. If evolution is real, then why do caring people like Rick Santorum argue that it must be challenged in the classroom? People get scared when you show evidence that what they believe is false. It’s called the backfire effect. 

23. Why are youtube atheists like AronRa and Thunderf00t afraid to debate Ray Comfort? Ask them. 

24. Why do we celebrate Christmas if Christianity is not real? Most of the traditions of Christmas are stolen from other pagan holidays. 

25. If creationists can’t do science, then why does the website Answersingenesis have proven science articles from creationists that do science? See answer one but as far as AIG there’s a great YouTube channel that debunks most of AIG. 

26. If evolution is true, then why can’t white people compete to be good in basketball like black people? After all, white people can’t jump! This a satirical right?

27. Where do you decide to fit God in your everyday life if you don’t believe in him? The same place I fit leaporcons and unicorns. 

28. Why is Christianity the fastest growing religion if it’s false? It’s actually not…that would be Islam…better convert there bud!

29. Do you feel free to commit murders, homosexuality, go to strip bars, steal, commit adultery, and do other sins since you believe there is no God?  I can tell you I’ve killed exactly the number of people I’ve wanted to! Zero.

30. Why do the fossils say no to evolution? Yeah but they actually say the opposite of that.

31. Why did Darwin admit that how the eye formed is impossible? I’m unfamiliar with that but Carl Sagan did a great job of explaining the evolution of the eye.

32. Where did everything come from if there is no God? Not sure but that’s a more honest answer than “god did it”

33. If there is no God, then why do we have laws that govern us, such as speed limits? Mainly to keep us safe from each other. I’m kind of a libritatan. Your rights end where mine begin. 

34. Do you know where you are going when you die? In the ground. 

35. Why do we not act like monkeys if it is true we came from monkeys? We actually act a lot like monkeys but we evolved differently so we just look better doing it. 

36. Why do we display The Ten Commandments in the courtrooms if you say the Bible is not real? We shouldn’t. There is the first amendment that is supposed to stop these things from happening and many organizations around to help as well. 

37. Why should be it wrong to rape if God is not real? Consent 

38. Why is The Passion of The Christ very high on the Box Office? People like torture porn. Same reason there are so many Saw movies. 

39. How can America not be a Christian nation if there are way more churches than mosques? So what happens when there are more mosques than churches, does that make us an Islamic nation?

40. How is the bible not real if it’s the most popular book read by man? By that logic there must be a wizard named Harry Potter somewhere in London right now…

41. How did the moon form? I haven’t looked into it. 

42. Did you know that famous scientists like Newton, Sir Richard Owen, Einstein, Galileo, and Copernicus were creationists? I’d like to see the sources on these. But if they were I’d be willing to bet it was more to cohesion than genuine belief. 

43. Why do we not see black people come from white people? What?

44. Why are fruitflies still fruitflies in the lab experiments if they are claimed to prove evolution? I think I know what your talking about here but I’m gonna have to guess as you didn’t leave much information as to what your talking about. I believe you’re talking about speciation which is essentially when different groups of the same animal can no longer mate and produce viable offspring. Well that’s was evolution is. It may still be a fruitfly but it’s a new species of fruitfly. 

45. Did you know that the Piltdown Man was a hoax used for Darwinist propaganda? Yup

46. Why do we not see frogs turn into birds? THATS NOW HOW EVOLUTION WORKS!!!!

47. Why is Fox News dishonest if it is a network run by truthful Christians? No Christian has ever lied… /sarcasm

48. Why did Hitler fail to make a superior race if evolution is true? Ah the good old Hitler troupe. Not even gonna aknowladge that one. 

Well as I don’t quiet have a large following I figured I’d search online for some questions for Atheists.  So here’s my best go at answering them.  Please let me know if you see any flaws in my logic.  These questions are taken from here.  I’m not going to spend time going into each of his “gotcha” points under each question, I’m simply going to answer the question.

QUESTION 1
Is Atheism a LACK of Belief in God or a BELIEF that there is no God?

As I’ve stated in an early post Atheism is a lack of belief in a god or gods.  Gnostic would be someone who claims knowledge of the existence of a god or gods.

QUESTION 2
If God Exists Would You Become A Christian?

Having read a lot of the bible (not all admittedly) I would say no.  God has shown himself to be a jealous, angry, petty, vindictive god with few redeemable qualities.  Sure I wouldn’t be an Atheist any more but I wouldn’t be a Christian.  Unless it’s been shown the the god of the bible isn’t the same one that appears (such as people didn’t accurately put down what this god thinks or how he acts) but in that case you wouldn’t be a the same Christian you are now.

QUESTION 3
How Do You Determine What’s Right & What’s Wrong?

Mainly empathy.  When facing  a moral dilemma I ask how would I feel if everyone else did what I’m about to do.  This allows me to see things in a case by case basis instead of a broad stroke.

QUESTION 4
How Do You Deal With Guilt & Sin in Your Life?

Well I don’t think there is such a thing as sin so I don’t?  As far as guilt I do my best to set things right with whomever I may have offended or wronged.  I don’t just ask an invisible man in the sky forgiveness.  That doesn’t help the situation in anyway.

QUESTION 5
Do You Act According To What You Believe or According To What You Lack In Belief?

I act in accordance to what I believe.  I believe things that have acceptable proof.  I know some theists will asks atheists how can you believe what you don’t see, like air and gravity.  Well those things have observable effects (or is affects I can never get that right…).  I can grab a stopwatch and see how long it takes object to fall at different heights.  If I wanted to know that I’m breathing air and what’s in I can run the experiments that were documented in the 18th and 19th centuries.

QUESTION 6
Can You Prove HOW the Universe Was Created?

I can’t but neither can you.  Saying you have an ancient book whose only validation is itself is not the same as a claim to knowledge.

QUESTION 7
Can You Prove That God Does Not Exist?

Nope.  Can you prove that he does?  If so I’d love to see that information.

QUESTION 8
Do You Know Where You’re Going When You Die?

My body will slowly decompose in to more basic elements and the energy that was stored in my body will be transferred into the microbes and eventually larger organisms that use that as food.