A theist asked 10 questions of atheists, here are my answers. I saw this over on Atheist Revolution and I like most of his answers, so he gets the credit!
As anyone who has read this blog for long, I have answered many of this type of questionnaire in the past and they vary in quality dramatically. Some are very inventive, requiring careful thought and long, detailed answers.
Then there’s this one, that is… not.
Now I’m not trying to be insulting, certainly I haven’t read much more of the blog in question to find out if this is the general quality of what’s written there. The author could have simply found these questions in a children’s storybook somewhere and posted them verbatim. I don’t know and certainly I’m willing to give the benefit of the doubt, but seriously, these are questions that demonstrate not only a total lack of understanding of the subject matter, but a complete disinterest as well. Many of these questions shouldn’t have to be asked and even if interested in an academic sense, they are phrased in such a tiresome fashion as to make them almost painful to answer. That, in addition to the random capitalization, etc. starts to make me question the whole exercise.
That said though, I get the feeling that this wasn’t a post just to fill space, but the poster has a real interest in what atheists have to say and that’s always a good thing. I’m also getting the impression, based on some of the other posts I’ve seen listed in the sidebar, that the author is having a crisis of faith. That’s a very good thing, although certainly won’t be viewed as such by most theists. It is the first step in shedding the bondage of religion. It just requires two things, actually caring that what you believe is factually true and being confident enough to go test what you believe against factual reality. Most theists never reach that point. I’m going to keep my fingers crossed that this theist can.
So here are my answers.
1. If there is NO God, then their is no Measurement or Standard for morality? Then what will define morality?
I get my morality from the same place you do, but you don’t get yours from where you think you do. All human beings get their moral views from the society and culture in which they live. It doesn’t get handed down from on high by some deity, clearly just looking at the way morals change over time, even within a particular religious community, should be enough to prove that’s not true. After all, the overwhelming support for things like slavery and against things like women’s and civil rights were religious. We also find that the groups that tend to lag behind the social moral curve are the religious since, as a little research will show, the groups that are still pro-racism, anti-woman and anti-civil rights tend to be the religious. They are coming along though, slowly but surely, dragged kicking and screaming by society into the 21st century. In all reality, I’d say religion tends to hinder morality, not help it.
2. If there is NO God, then there is NO meaning or purpose to Life; So not everything meaningless since there is no God? So what will the purpose of living? Without God, does the Atheist have purpose?
You make the same mistake here. You don’t get a meaning to life from a god, you get it from the same place everyone else does, yourself. An imaginary friend can’t give your life meaning, can’t give you purpose and certainly can’t think for you. Many theists blindly attribute ideas to a god but there’s no evidence whatsoever that they actually come from there.
3. Are you an advocate of New Atheism and Darwinism? If so then the most extreme and logical form of Darwinism is Eugenics, Survival of the fittest. Would you support this? Why or Why Not?
Evolution applies only to biological systems, not to social ones. The most fit species to survive in a particular ecological niche will survive. This doesn’t apply to social settings and anyone who told you otherwise was lying to you. That’s not surprising because religion doesn’t have a vested interest in the truth. They gain by keeping you ignorant and afraid. They keep you coming back to them for answers and they discourage you from going out to look for opposing views on your own.
4. If we are ancesoters/descentdents of Apes, then why are there no transitional fossils or species to support this theory?
Humans and apes share a common ancestry, humans did not come from apes. This betrays a distinct ignorance of evolution, which I suppose is hardly surprising. There are also a wealth of transitional fossils that support it, your ignorance in this area is proof that you know nothing about what you speak, you’re just parroting creationist nonsense.
In fact, this seems like a good time to address it, a lot of these questions are just parroting religious ideas that anyone who has spent 10 second thinking about it ought to have seen through. Take the first question about morality. If you look at prison populations, you find that Christianity is represented there at a much higher rate than they are in the outside world, while atheists are represented in the prison population far lower by percentage than they are in the outside world. So who has the best morality again? Then with this question, it’s clear the author doesn’t have the slightest idea what evolution says, yet they have no problem asking the question? It comes back to Christian fear. You have no idea what you’re talking about with regard to these topics, you just “know” they can’t be true because they disagree with what you already believe. It’s about as absurd as someone telling you “The Bible says Jesus turns into a door, explain that!” It’s an idiotic question, based on an almost complete ignorance of the source material, ripped out of context from John 10:7. You shouldn’t have to answer it because it’s a dumb question to begin with. Just like what you’ve asked here.
5. Do you believe in Human Nature? It is Human Nature to believe in God, if so, why do you go against human nature and not believe in God?
Do I believe in human nature? You’d have to explain what you mean. I do entirely disagree that it is human nature to believe in a god, that’s a by-product of what actually happens. The human brain is hard-wired to seek out the answers to questions. We have evolved to be problem-solving creatures. In the past, when the answers have been beyond the ability of the human brain to find, man has simply invented “place-holder” answers. One of those answers was “God”. Today, most of the questions that we’ve applied “God” to have been answered rationally. We should have outgrown the “God” answer by now, but many people cling to it because it’s tradition. It’s passed down from one generation to the next and frankly, most people don’t bother to think about the “God” answer, they just accept it blindly.
6. Can Nothing come from Something? Doesn’t that violate The First Law of Thermodynamics?
I’m sure you mean “can something come from nothing” and I’m further certain you’re talking about the Big Bang, which certainly isn’t “something from nothing”. That’s basic cosmology. In fact, the only case of “something from nothing” I’m aware of is the Biblical creation story. So, why does your own belief violate the First Law of Thermodynamics?
7. It seems that a society of Atheist are immoral and self-destructing. Why would anyone want a Godless Society, just look at our examples, North Korea, Maoist China, Stalin, & Pot Pol?
None of which are atheist societies because such a thing doesn’t exist. Atheism is a lack of belief in a god, nothing more. Those may be non-theistic societies, but they didn’t fail because of atheism, but because of their political actions. There are many nations today which are secular which are doing just fine. In fact, Norway just separated itself from it’s national religion, on it’s way to being a wholly secular nation, and it’s doing much better financially than the U.S. is. In fact, if you look at the most irreligious nations, you find that they are much better socially than the most religious nations. Certainly they’re not out killing people for believing in the wrong imaginary friend in the sky.
8. If you were to die, and you were before God. And he was getting ready to pass judgement on you, What would be your reaction or thoughts? What plea would you give him so he does not judge you harshly?
That’s about as ridiculous as asking you if you were to die and stand before Krishna or Enki, what would you do? Oh wait, you don’t believe those things exist, any more than I believe your God exists. If I was standing before your God, I wouldn’t make excuses or beg or anything of the sort. God should have known what kind of evidence it would take for me to believe and God withheld that evidence. That makes God a dick. Sorry, I have more self-respect than to prostrate myself before an obnoxious God so I can spend eternity with his mindless sycophants. So, if in that situation, I’d tell God he was an ass and happily go to hell. Of course, I’m no more worried about that than you are about being judged by Zeus.
9. What would convince you atheism is wrong? And that Christianity is Right?
Objective, demonstrable, verifiable evidence for the factual existence of God and nothing else. Got any?
See, that’s really a silly question, what would it take to convince you that Christianity is wrong and another religion is right? I’m willing to bet that you didn’t provide the same answer that I did. In fact, I’m willing to bet that your answer was “nothing”. There is nothing that could ever convince you that Christianity is wrong, or that any other religion is right. You’re not open to examining your faith, you’re holding it blindly. Certainly correct me if I’m wrong, but I can’t help think that I’m right.
One of us is actually concerned if what we believe is factually true and one of us is not. Which one is the better, more rational position?
10. Why are you an Atheist? Why do you NOT believe in God? Why do you reject God? (You can be as detailed as you want.)
I don’t believe in God for the same reason I don’t believe in unicorns. There is no evidence for either. Originally, I was going to say “I don’t believe in God for the same reason you don’t believe in Vishnu”, until I realized that you’ve never given a second’s thought to the existence of Vishnu or any other deity. You reject them out of blind faith, not because you’ve fairly evaluated the evidence, examined the claims and decided that there was no good reason to think they were true.
I’m an atheist because there is no reason to be anything else.
See, there just isn’t a whole lot there. This certainly isn’t a credible way to open a detailed dialog with atheists and, although I think the author wants to know the answers, it doesn’t show that a lot of thought or research has gone into the questions themselves beforehand. So why did I bother? Because this might be a gateway to a better, more critical understanding. Asking simplistic questions may lead to more complex questions and asking others what they think can lead to asking the same kinds of questions of oneself. Instead of asking atheists “why don’t you believe in God?”, it might also lead to them asking themselves “why do I believe in God?”
Of course, most theists are terrified to ask those kinds of questions and just about every church forbids it, but ask yourself, if these beliefs are really true, what harm can come from an honest examination of them? Ask that to the many, many, many atheists who used to be Christians, who weren’t afraid and who realized that Christianity is a load of nonsense when evaluated fairly and openly.
So what is more important? Your comforting faith or the truth?
