Do you believe in god?

[jp1]

You answered your own question. They are chemical reaction. Honestly I do not know the science behind them. Humans are animals and other animals have them to whatever degree. Try to take a baby from a mother in the wild, try to snatch some food away from them. You will see anger, hate, love, sadness, etc...

And some animals do rape. Ducks for one.

You believe that love is only a chemical reaction? So, do you believe you can have a meaningful loving relationship with someone? What is the point then?

As far as animals having emotions I don't see how that factors in. Assuming any set of beliefs we still came from the same place as animals. Either evolution or God. It stands to reason as another living creature they would have emotions as well.

It seems like that is the big rift between atheists and christians. Atheists ask how and Christians ask why. I have no doubt that a chemical reaction occurs to help me feel emotions but I certainly can't accept that it is just a coincidence. Somehow I keep straying from my own question though.

EDIT: A better phrasing of the question at hand to avoid confusion. If you don't believe in god, what do you believe in? As an atheist do you believe there is any purpose in life?

[Octopod]

Purpose? Not imposed by an external source. I do not believe I was put here on this earth for a particular reason if that is what you mean.

[Octopod]

Here's something I was always curious about...

For the non-believers, what do you think causes us to have a conscience? I mean if you don't believe in some kind of afterlife then why not go full primal ape shit and live however you want? Rape, murder, pillage, whatever. Besides the laws that have been put in place by fellow man and those consequences of course.

In Judges 21 the Israelites put to death every man, woman and child in a city except for the virgins whom are to be the spoils of war, given to men as brides. Murder, pilliage and rape. Why did they do that believing in god?

[Limewater]

I mean animals kill eachother, but even they just do it to survive. Most animals go through mating rituals too, which means that even animals don't try and rape eachother

I do not think that observation of nature supports this statement.

It seems like that is the big rift between atheists and christians. Atheists ask how and Christians ask why.

I don't believe this is a terribly accurate statement, either. One criticism I would expect an atheist to level at a Christian would be that they don't ask "why" when it comes to Christian doctrine and morality.

[Merz]

Terrible thread, hard to believe anyone on any forum or in the world for that matter knows whats up in the cosmos. You say you believe in truth? Well I believe in nothing, I just know!

Gauranga!

[AppleQueso]

You answered your own question. They are chemical reaction. Honestly I do not know the science behind them. Humans are animals and other animals have them to whatever degree. Try to take a baby from a mother in the wild, try to snatch some food away from them. You will see anger, hate, love, sadness, etc...

And some animals do rape. Ducks for one.

You believe that love is only a chemical reaction? So, do you believe you can have a meaningful loving relationship with someone? What is the point then?

As far as animals having emotions I don't see how that factors in. Assuming any set of beliefs we still came from the same place as animals. Either evolution or God. It stands to reason as another living creature they would have emotions as well.

It seems like that is the big rift between atheists and christians. Atheists ask how and Christians ask why. I have no doubt that a chemical reaction occurs to help me feel emotions but I certainly can't accept that it is just a coincidence. Somehow I keep straying from my own question though.

EDIT: A better phrasing of the question at hand to avoid confusion. If you don't believe in god, what do you believe in? As an atheist do you believe there is any purpose in life?

This entire post illustrates exactly the problem I have with religious views on atheism. Through logic such as this, they gain this misconception that atheists are all cold, depressed, and amoral. They so often can't even fathom how any atheist can claim to have "morality". They love to claim that any good an atheist does ultimately has selfish motivations.

I suppose I could ask this to such a person: Do you only do good because you expect to be rewarded for it in the afterlife? If so, wouldn't that ultimately be a selfish motivation as well?

These aren't questions or accusations I'm necessarily directing towards you, but I'm sure you've done good without giving a single thought to your afterlife before, have you not?

Humans are social creatures, we depend on each other to survive. Morality is beneficial to the race as a whole because of this.

As for the question of purpose, I don't worry about whether I have a purpose. Your question seems to imply though that religion offers an answer for that question, while I don't really think it does. Why did god create life? I suppose atheism avoids such a question, there is no "purpose" to existence as a whole, it simply is.

Terrible thread, hard to believe anyone on any forum or in the world for that matter knows whats up in the cosmos. You say you believe in truth? Well I believe in nothing, I just know!

Gauranga!

agnostic theist
agnostic atheist

Neither of these claim to know an absolute truth. I fall under the latter.

[Limewater]

This entire post illustrates exactly the problem I have with religious views on atheism. Through logic such as this, they gain this misconception that atheists are all cold, depressed, and amoral. They so often can't even fathom how any atheist can claim to have "morality". They love to claim that any good an atheist does ultimately has selfish motivations.

I think you're reading more into jp1's post than is really there. He isn't starting from the assumption that atheists are amoral. He's asking why they aren't amoral or why they occasionally act unselfishly. It's not really fair to take the crap other people have said and then apply it to jp1's post.

And I don't mean anything by the "occasional" bit except that I believe that most of us, regardless of religious affiliation or the lack thereof, behave selfishly more often than not.

If you've been raised in a Christian home and continue to believe in it, you've pretty much lived your life with an externally-imposed moral system based upon a higher authority. You've never really faced the world and morality without those assumptions. I think that's the reason he asked the question.

I'd like to post more, but now I have to get back to work.

[jp1]

Yes, it seems my questions have somehow offended some people. They certainly weren't intended to. There was no implied meaning or hidden agenda. I was genuinely curious.

I ask about morality not because I think it is singular to Christianity but because it is something that I can understand from the viewpoint of a Christian but did not understand from the viewpoint of an atheist. Not if they have morals but what they believe about them.

Thank you Limewater for recognizing that my questions were not an attack on atheist beliefs. It is very hard to phrase any of those questions without treading a line that can be interpreted as trying to convince someone of my beliefs. All I was trying to do was determine if there is an atheist belief about that aspect of life and what it was. The defensive response leads me to believe I wasn't successful in conveying that.

I don't believe this is a terribly accurate statement, either. One criticism I would expect an atheist to level at a Christian would be that they don't ask "why" when it comes to Christian doctrine and morality.

I suppose it is a generalization. I meant more when it comes to questions about life and what it is meant to be. It certainly wasn't specific enough to convey that though.

[s1mplehumar]

Here's something I was always curious about...

For the non-believers, what do you think causes us to have a conscience? I mean if you don't believe in some kind of afterlife then why not go full primal ape shit and live however you want? Rape, murder, pillage, whatever. Besides the laws that have been put in place by fellow man and those consequences of course.

In Judges 21 the Israelites put to death every man, woman and child in a city except for the virgins whom are to be the spoils of war, given to men as brides. Murder, pilliage and rape. Why did they do that believing in god?

Did you read verse 25 of chapter 21? 21:25 In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

The Israelites turned their backs on God throughout the majority of their Biblical history. Followers of God, and those who deny God alike share a choice. The Israelites (past) did what was right in their own eyes. People today (present) do whatever seems right in their own eyes.

The Israelites CHOSE to ignore God's presence and follow His divine instruction, even though they were still sporadically abiding in the Mosaic Law.

[DerekG52]

I was raised Catholic but am now atheist since I've been able to make my own decisions. I see modern mythologies as having serious downsides, and generally feel that the world would be a better place if none of them existed. As for defining and living with morals, that certainly isn't granted by religion. My brother said it best when he said that he believes in the golden rule. Seriously, follow the golden rule and all of that other stuff becomes unnecessary.