In other words, since it is hard and uncomforting to believe in a God that could condone horrific acts of violence, exact eternal punishment (or any for that matter), do atheists believe that 'perhaps’ there is some God of some sort, but this God is nothing as portrayed in any religion… therefore the 'atheist’ perspective?
Posted: February 4th 2009
George Ricker www
Always allowing for individual variations, I think most atheists have no belief in any sort of a god. I suppose, technically, one could be an atheist and still hold out the hope that some sort of benign force might be in charge of the universe. In such a context we would not be talking about any sort of affirmative “belief” but simply a bit of wishful thinking. However, none of the atheists with whom I am familiar hold such a view.
In my own case, my lack of belief in any sort of deity is based on the essential incoherence of the concept and the absence of any kind of convincing evidence for the existence of such an entity.
Frankly, one of the reasons I don’t believe in any kind of a god is that I have found no compelling reason why one should exist.
Posted: March 6th 2009
SmartLX www
In the absence of a decent ontology for gods, an atheist is without belief in any hypothetical entity that can be reasonably designated a “god”. If a person believes in the existence of a god whose nature is not correctly represented by any religion, that person is a theist in the most general sense (i.e. not a Christian, a Muslim, a Hindu or any other specific type).
I suspect you misunderstand the reasons behind atheism. The idea that a particular god is evil or destructive says nothing directly against or in favour of its existence, it just implies that it’s better if it doesn’t exist. It makes one happier as an atheist, but it doesn’t actually cause atheism.
What causes atheism is comparisons between god concepts and reality, not comparisons between god concepts and an ideal world. Many people compare the concept of a perfect, benevolent god to the reality of a world that contains suffering, and decide that they’re incompatible. The idea that the god might be less than benevolent may actually increase the perceived likelihood of its existence in this case.
Posted: February 5th 2009
Eric_PK
Specific beliefs depend on the atheist, but in general, atheists don’t believe in any god.
For a long time, I was in the so-called “weak atheist” camp – I didn’t believe that Gods existed, but I didn’t believe that they didn’t exist, either. Though I made an exception for some gods who seemed to violate physical laws.
Recently, I’ve come to realize that when theists talk about God, they really don’t have a coherent definition for what they mean by that term.
If you ask me whether an okapi exists, I’ll need to have a description of what it is before I can make a rational determination.
Given that, my position is that until theists are able to produce such a definition that it’s a waste of time to spend much time discussing whether god exists.
Posted: February 5th 2009