Considering the state of the world, Deism is the only theology that could make sense: God created the world and then left it alone to go do something else. Probably play poker. For some inexplicable reason, he likes Razz. And forget about bluffing him.

Posted: June 17th 2009

See all questions answered by Dave Hitt

An atheist might actually follow the rules of a religion if it appeared that the rules were beneficial in and of themselves. I don’t know any religion for which that’s the case, because without the support of a real deity many rules of the religions I know seem pointless.

Posted: June 14th 2009

See all questions answered by SmartLX

Um…

None of the above?

Why would an atheist follow any religion?

Posted: June 14th 2009

See all questions answered by Eric_PK

I find the idea of any sort of god actually existing to be totally improbable. Consequently, I would not follow any theistic religion.

Beyond that, there is no religion I think would be better than any other. Certainly, none of the major theistic religions, like any of the various Christian sects, would have any appeal. They are all delusional.

Posted: June 14th 2009

See all questions answered by George Ricker

Well, if I lived in India, Hinduism might be fun. That’s a “party religion” if ever there was one. I don’t know if I could “follow” it, though; maybe tag along for a bit, try and have some fun, until I got bored and drifted away to do something else.

The question makes religion sound a bit like supporting a sports team. After all, there are far more Manchester United fans outside Manchester than in it. What happens if your chosen team gets relegated to a lower league – would you still follow it?

Posted: June 14th 2009

See all questions answered by brian thomson

I wouldn’t choose to follow any god-based religion because, as an atheist, I don’t believe in gods and therefore don’t believe any theistic religion to be true. This was why I stopped being a Christian: I saw no good reason to believe its claims.

This seems so obvious that I’m wondering whether there’s something else behind your question. Are you asking whether some religions are more appealing than others?

If so, I would have to say that, for all the outward variations, all the theistic religions I am at all familiar with strike me as pretty much as bad as each other at heart. All are oppressive in their different ways (being a woman or a gay or a follower of a different religion or of none guarantees you second-class citizenship at best, persecution at worst); all encourage acceptance of injustice and suffering in this world on the basis of reward in a fictional afterlife; all make claims (claims for which some of their followers are prepared to kill) based on no evidence whatsoever; all demand the suspension of the very quality that makes us truly human – our ability to reason. Most importantly of all, there is no reason to think that ANY of them are true.

If you were hoping I’d say that Christianity strikes me as better than the others, I’m afraid I’m going to disappoint you. There is as little reason to believe the claims of Christianity as any of the others; and Christianity adds the repugnant notion of substitution, vicarious atonement; the idea that forgiveness can only be attained through savagery inflicted on someone ELSE; it also asks us to believe the disgraceful idea that all humans are wicked and corrupt – not as a result of anything they have done, but inherently so. So much so, in fact, that even a newborn baby – the epitome of innocence – deserves to burn in hell for all eternity.

This is a DISGUSTING notion, a truly foul notion, one that deserves to be roundly condemned by anyone with a sense of decency. And it is made no better – not even a little bit – by the Christian claim that REALLY Christianity is a religion of love because through Jesus we can be saved from the consequences of our wickedness and corruption. The concept of INHERENT human evil is still there – the idea that humans all deserve an eternity of torment.

When I look around me I do not see vast numbers of people who deserve to be tortured for ever. The vast majority of the people I see are doing their best under often very difficult circumstances: showing kindness, compassion, empathy; bearing up with humour and dignity; living decent lives; caring for their families and friends; doing their best. Far from thinking they deserve to be tortured unless they happen to believe a particular set of Iron Age claims, I admire them enormously. Christianity’s claim to be a religion of love is a sham because it is based on one of the most warped, repugnant and utterly immoral ideas that anyone has ever come up with.

Posted: June 14th 2009

See all questions answered by Paula Kirby