Atheists err when asking for material evidence to prove God's existence

[racrguy]

Why do athiest spend so much time trying to disprove something that they believe does not exist?

Nobody in this thread has tried to disprove god, I've personally never tried to disprove god, and I'm sure maddhattter has done the same. Keep in mind, calling bullshit on your reasons for belief is not disproving something, it's calling bullshit.

[Gqsmash]

Not in a rude way but in a atheist point of view are people just here for no reason or is there a point to life? And does one believe in anything after death?

[Maddhattter]

There will be a day when it is proven that there is a God or not.

Incorrect. It cannot be proven, in any traditional sense, that something does not exist. Only that the likelihood of something existing is too small to consider it a viable option.

Should it be proven that a god/gods exists, I will be more than willing to admit that it does/they do. It would not necessarily follow that I would be willing to worship said entity/entities.

I just hope and pray each one of you is on the right side.

So, if you are wrong, you hope and pray that a god/gods do not exist? That would make the whole praying thing kinda pointless, even from your implied position.

Why do athiest spend so much time trying to disprove something that they believe does not exist?

We, as a general rule, don't. If you'd have taken the time to read my posts in this very thread, you'd already know this. As I've already stated, there is nothing to "disprove" until the theists can provide proof. Until then, no one can even attempt to "disprove" anything. Not to mention the fact that nobody can "disprove" anything with certainty. No matter how crazy the option, it is still a possibility. We could be delivered by storks rather than birthed from a womb. Even though all of the current evidence supports the live birth theory, there may be evidence that can overturn that theory. The chance of that happening, however, is so astronomically remote that it is not worth consideration.

I would also like to note that you shouldn't confuse verbosity with effort. None of the posts in this thread have taken much, if any, real effort on my part. Nor are they any attempt to "disprove" anything. All I've done in this thread is deconstruct fallacious arguments and pointed out some of their flaws.

[Maddhattter]

I can generalize the answers to these questions, but first I need to point out that the answers can vary greatly from atheist to atheist. Atheism only covers one issue, and one issue alone. It is a stance on a truth claim. It is the position that one feels that the theist has not met their burden of proof in regards to their theistic claim. Any other belief, outside of that, atheists can believe anything else. There are atheistic religions, such as some sects of Hindu and Buddhism, there are also atheists who believe aliens created life on earth, such as the Raëlians.

Now, to answer your questions the best I can.

Not in a rude way but in a atheist point of view are people just here for no reason or is there a point to life?

As a general rule, most atheists would state that, from a biological perspective, we exist to pass on our genetic material to the next generation in order to proliferate our own genes.

From a more general "What is the point of my life?", most atheists would probably state that there is no external point. We accept that we make our own. We find meaning in our lives, typically in our friends and family. Our husband's/wife's/children's/friend's happiness and safety give purpose to many. Others see duty, like the military, or charity, like Doctors without Borders as their purpose. Still, others see reincarnation into a better being to be their purpose.

And does one believe in anything after death?

Again, I can only give you fairly generalized answers as atheists can believe a great many things about what occurs at or after death.

I think most would state that our individual existence ends at brain death. From there, our body will feed other life, which in turn will feed other life. We simply will not be able to be aware of it.

As stated earlier, there are atheistic religions. It's my understanding that Scientology is atheistic. Mind you, I am no expert on Scientology. Whatever they believe happens after death is, to my understanding, atheistic. Again, atheism only covers one issue; the belief of a god/gods. Anything other than that is fair game.

[Gqsmash]

Fair enough...I ask cause I've never known anyone like that and I like learning things I know little about

[Maddhattter]

Fair enough...I ask cause I've never known anyone like that and I like learning things I know little about

No need to explain your questions. I was just trying to be clear about not being able to speak for all atheists. If you have any other questions, I will continue answer them to the best of my ability.

[jdgregory84]

Mankind's attempts to pigeonhole God into his own rules and limited understanding will be forever a failure.

Praise organized religion!

[mustangguy289]

I


As a general rule, most atheists would state that, from a biological perspective, we exist to pass on our genetic material to the next generation in order to proliferate our own genes.

.

So now even the Atheists are against homosexual marriage!


Please don't take this seriously. It is merely a smartass remark.

[mustangguy289]

Incorrect. It cannot be proven, in any traditional sense, that something does not exist. Only that the likelihood of something existing is too small to consider it a viable option.

Should it be proven that a god/gods exists, I will be more than willing to admit that it does/they do. It would not necessarily follow that I would be willing to worship said entity/entities.

When that happens it will be too late according to our views.

So, if you are wrong, you hope and pray that a god/gods do not exist? That would make the whole praying thing kinda pointless, even from your implied position.

.

Not at all what I meant.

In otherwords I hope and pray that atheist change their beliefs before that time. Am i pressing you or anyone to do this? No, but I as a believer hope and pray that others will follow.

[4.6coupe]

John 3:16

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."

[Maddhattter]

So now even the Atheists are against homosexual marriage!


Please don't take this seriously. It is merely a smartass remark.

Being fair, I'm against all marriage. No body should even be allowed to suffer like that.

When that happens it will be too late according to our views.

So, your deity demands that you follow in ignorance?

We have a word for people who believe in something with no evidence. It's gullible. That is, of course, assuming that schizophrenia is not the problem.

Not at all what I meant.

In otherwords I hope and pray that atheist change their beliefs before that time. Am i pressing you or anyone to do this? No, but I as a believer hope and pray that others will follow.

Then you shouldn't have stated anything about wanting people to "be on the right side". You should have just said what you meant and stated that you hope people are on your side regardless as to whether it's right or wrong. Otherwise, my previous statement would have been correct.

John 3:16

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."

Death in service to the Emperor is its own reward. Life in failure to Him is its own condemnation.
- Epistles (Verse 93) of the Imperial Creed.

Nice thing is, both are equally likely to be true.

[The King]

So, your deity demands that you follow in ignorance?

We have a word for people who believe in something with no evidence. It's gullible

Sounds like those who believe that a "singularity" magically appeared from nothing out of nowhere and initiated a "Big Bang" to me.

[Maddhattter]

Sounds like those who believe that a "singularity" magically appeared from nothing out of nowhere and initiated a "Big Bang" to me.

Sounds fair. Anyone who believes that stuff happened magically would be ignorant. Fortunately, I've never met an atheist who believes that anything happened magically. I have no doubt that they exist (I've already conceded that there are atheistic religions), but there's no indication that they are anywhere near a majority.

This puts atheism in another stark contrast with theism. As, any deity enforcing it's will upon reality through it's will alone would be doing things magically, by definition. So, it is theists, by overwhelming majority, who believe everything started by magic.

[The King]

So,how would those who believe that a singularity existed explain its origin

[Maddhattter]

So,how would those who believe that a singularity existed explain its origin

It's an unknown factor. Considering the current big bang model has time starting with the big bang, the concept of before (considering that for it to come into existence would require a point in which it which it did not exist) may not even be a valid concept as there might be none. If there is no before, this still does not invoke magic, nor preclude it being a natural process. Hawking’s hypothesis that M-theory allows for a multiverse could keep the event as a natural phenomenon and still have its beginning the start of our reality, should it prove to be accurate. However, scientists are still investigating several hypotheses regarding that very question. No mention of magic has been made except by "intelligent design scientists" who want to throw their god of the gaps into every gap in our scientific knowlege. So, the best explanation would be “I don’t know, but scientists have some ideas that their looking into.”

Regardless, the big bang model is currently accepted as the model that best represents the evidence we have. The experts who use independently verifiable evidence agree that this is the best model that they have available to them. Could they be wrong? Of course, but when the facts don’t match the theory, they retool it to match the evidence.. As of yet, there is no legitimate reason to assume that they are wrong.

Dismissing the experiments and results of the experts in lieu of an estimated 2000 year old collection of books is akin to telling the aerospace engineers to go home and let the neanderthal take care of the space shuttle repairs.