101 Atheist Quotes

I believe in the pastafarian haha

 

"Religion is sort of like a lift in your shoes. If it makes you feel better, fine. Just don't ask me to wear your shoes."

"If churches want to play the game of politics, let them pay admission like everyone else."

"Trillions and trillions of prayers every day asking and begging and pleading for favors. 'Do this' 'Gimme that' 'I want a new car' 'I want a better job'. And most of this praying takes place on Sunday. And I say fine, pray for anything you want. Pray for anything. But...what about the divine plan? Remember that? The divine plan. Long time ago god made a divine plan. Gave it a lot of thought. Decided it was a good plan. Put it into practice. And for billion and billions of years the divine plan has been doing just fine. Now you come along and pray for something. Well, suppose the thing you want isn't in god's divine plan. What do you want him to do? Change his plan? Just for you? Doesn't it seem a little arrogant? It's a divine plan. What's the use of being god if every run-down schmuck with a two dollar prayer book can come along and f*** up your plan? And here's something else, another problem you might have; suppose your prayers aren't answered. What do you say? 'Well it's god's will. God's will be done.' Fine, but if it gods will and he's going to do whatever he wants to anyway; why the f*** bother praying in the first place? Seems like a big waste of time to me. Couldn't you just skip the praying part and get right to his will?"

~George Carlin

 

Too bad we can't get rid of them both in the real world. I also believe "happiness is a belt fed weapon", cool sig Belt fed weapon religion anyone???

 

Didn't read the entire thread but I consider myself a free thinker (atheist as it may be). I believe everyone has and deserves the right to believe what they wish to believe and for that I would put my life on the line for that right to believe. Working in my line of work I sometimes have to do just that. As long as no one pushes their own personal belief system on another I have no issue. Live and let live. I don't concern myself with what others think about me nor do I concern myself with what others believe. That is their right.

My "personal" opinion is that man created God.... Not the other way around. Faith (to me) is a means to explain away the unexplainable. This is just my opinion... I think as time moves on that religion and God for that matter will be forced into a ever smaller corner until God doesn't exist any longer since there will be no proof (not that there is much proof to begin with). Science is my passion and the great leaps and bounds we have made in such a short period of time will eventually bring answers to the questions we have always asked.

Being a Captain on the only fully staffed Hazardous Materials unit on the largest Fire Dept in our state I have degrees in chemical engineering, atomic structures, radiological / nuclear science etc... We (and I actually mean everything that exists in the universe) are all made of the same material.

Decipher my signature and you will see what I subscribe to.

 

I just realized I am VERY late to the party lol... But this post caught my attention. I was brought up in a very Christian family. Needless to say I'm the black sheep of the family. I'm married and although my wife pretty much subscribes to the same belief system that I subscribe to she is a little more spiritual than I am. Nothing wrong with that. My daughter is 11 and every other weekend she goes and spends the weekend with my parents who are very religious and attends church every other Sunday. I've got no problem with that either. She is aware that I do not believe in God and my parents do. But... I don't push her either way. We've had many conversations about belief and my answer to her has always been "Baby... only you can decide what you wish to believe" It's not my place to tell her what to believe and not to to believe. If she grows up and wishes to be a Christian I have no issue with that. If she grows up and decides that she doesn't believe I have no issue with that either. Either way that is her choice alone. Not mine.

 

I have always had an issue with the concept that God is simply the answer to what we don't know, dwindling as we learn more and more. Sure, for many that is the case, but I try not to consider how "some" define God or Christianity affect my personal belief as to what's true. After all, it comes down to that one instance right before the universe began to expand from a singularity- Was it created by something greater or not? This answer is not affected by any event after that moment, including the plethora of problems caused by "religion" (Or the solutions) although these problems and solutions can help direct us toward an educated guess as to what makes the most "sense".

Back to what I was saying, if God exists, would he be limited to only performing miracles that lay outside the realm of reality or science? Why can't an act of God be explainable and totally possible? Consider the second law of thermodynamics; entropy. This states that the entropy (chaos or disorder) of a system will continually increase until acted upon by an outside force (this is why your house gets messy and your truck breaks down regardless of use). At the risk of oversimplifying it, an example of entropy is pieces of sand in a sandstorm. Although it is entirely possible that this sand would come together in such an orderly arrangement as to form a sand castle, we "know" it will never happen because it is so unlikely. However, even though we know it will never happen naturally, we cannot call it impossible (and to do so would require an infinite amount of tests, if my logic is correct?)

Applying that to "miracles," I do not believe that God is simply the answer to that which we do not know, or the explanation for things we cannot explain (yet). On the contrary, it seems much more logical that an omnipotent creator would be well aware of the laws of physics and matter etc, and would have no problem manipulating them to "his will" whatever it may be. It would be an insult to God to assume he couldn't act within the constraints of the universe which he created, not to mention illogical.

In summary, any act by God can be totally explainable with enough scientific understanding, and simply being aware of how this act was carried out does not mean there was never an act at all, and that it was just coincidence. Even the miracles performed by Jesus, I believe could one day be explained if mankind achieved that level of understanding before destroying itself. This does not mean that he wasn't divine, just that he had been given what we had not - perfect understanding of the universe. This is all of course is just my perspective and theory. I'm not claiming it to be fact and if Craig came and blew it all down with his scientific literacy, I can't say I would be surprised. I've been wrong before and I'll be wrong many times again.

And don't get me started on quantum entanglement!

As a side note, I appreciate the civility in this thread. Discussing these matters is like walking a trapeze line - extremely difficult to sustain, but if managed to stay on topic without personal insult or derailment, the results can be pretty great!

 

That is exactly how I am raising me daughter. Difference is both sides of her family are not church goers but she has close friends since preschool who are burn in hell bible thumpers. The kind that told her she would burn in hell because she didn't attend their particular church. That really caused her some mental anguish. But I taught her that is wrong to try and change someone's spiritual, or lack thereof, beliefs. What people believe is what gets them through the day. If someone were to turn the tables on them they would call it the work of the devil. Don't play their game, don't be evil, let them figure it out. Or not.

But damnit I wish they wouldn't vote. LOL.

 

Devin,

Thank you for a very well written thought out post. You bring up a lot of good points and although I don't subscribe to some of the points it is still thought provoking nonetheless. If I read it correctly (forgive me we just got back from our 12th run of the day at 4:59am so I'm a little groggy) it seems that you attribute "miracles" to a act of God (I hope I didn't get that wrong)? Being a non believer I don't subscribe to miracles per se. I believe in timing for lack of a better word. I believe that time controls all things. For a believer I can understand that working in the constraints of a all powerful being IE: God could do what he wanted anytime he deemed fit to intervene. But I have never witnessed it. Time on the other hand is just that. Timing of even the most mundane to the most powerful things "I" believe controls everything. I suppose what I mean by this is an example of misplacing your car keys (not to simplify it too much). Say that you misplace your keys thus prompting you to be a minute or two late to what you were going to do. You get into your car and on the way was involved in a fatal car wreck? Morbid I understand. If you had not misplaced your keys you wouldn't have been in that situation because the timing wouldn't have been correct. Again I hope that isn't oversimplifying but that is chaos in life to me. It's all about timing and if you are in the right place at the right time or the wrong place at the right time. Life is just a random series of events that you have no control over.

The point that you bring up about the singularity is one that I think of often and quite honestly I don't have the answer at this point. It is a very good question though. Did a supreme being create that point or was it just the way the universe works in the grand scheme of things? I tend to subscribe to the latter though I have no actual proof. I base my hypothesis by the way everything works after that single point in time.

Again I hope I didn't misread what you posted and if I did maybe I can explain myself a little better after I've had some sleep which I'm obviously not getting while on duty lol.

Yeah brother that's a tough situation. I'm lucky with my daughter and the way she handles things.

I'll give you a little history of how I came to be where I am. I was brought up in a Christian family. Not so much a family of "Bible Thumper going to hell types" but very Christian nonetheless. When I was 14 I started asking questions because what I was being taught just didn't add up in my mind. So I studied. I've read the bible cover to cover multiple times and many other books that I suppose would be considered secular. Even as a young kid I knew that there was no such thing as a talking snake, that Lot's wife didn't turn into a pillar of salt because she looked the wrong way, that Jonah didn't survive in the belly of a great fish for three days, that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego walked around in a furnace and not burned after King Nebuchadnezzar saw fit to throw them in, etc.... That was my point of view at the time and over time I suppose it hasn't changed.
I started looking for the "truth" as it pertained to me. This, of course, strained my Mothers and my relationship but over time she has accepted it. There isn't much she can do otherwise. On a side note... I can still recite all the books of the bible which is a shock to all my friends that are Christian. They always ask "but you're an atheist how do you know all of that?" I studied.

On to my daughter. My parents have kept her every other weekend since she was a baby. So in essence she has been exposed to church. As she got older I set down with my Mother and asked her to please keep an open mind when taking her to church. For some reason I still flinch when I see small children being indoctrinated and force fed dogma that I clearly don't believe. That said, my Mother and I have grown to accept each other for what we believe. I don't tell my daughter that my parents are wrong for what they believe. Who am I to say that they are wrong? I asked my Mother to do the same. So we have kept it on a even keel. My parents tell her what they believe but they also do not tell her that I am wrong for what I believe (or don't for lack of a better word). So when my daughter asks me questions about how things happened I give her both sides of the story and depending on the subject matter, if I can prove how something happened or why things react the way they do I'll do just that. But I'll never discount what my parents believe. Nothing good can come of that.

 

Something I just thought of... I've stated I'm a atheist but that is a label that I don't actually put on myself. I would consider myself more agnostic than anything. Yes I do not believe in God but to me (and this is just a general statement) an atheist (or at least the ones that I know well) tend to go out of their way to try and "prove" there is no God. That doesn't interest me in the least. I find it troubling the lengths that some go to, to remove parts of society that have been ingrained for a very long time. Not long ago a group of atheist sued (and won) to either have the nativity scene removed from the State Capitol grounds during Christmas time or at the very least be allowed to erect a "winter solstice" monument on the grounds also. This seems like a huge waste of time and resources for something as trivial as having the baby Jesus laying in a manger. Was the nativity scene really that big of a issue??? Was it actually hurting anyone? So yes that annoys me.
We as a society can not say "Merry Christmas" without someone getting offended. Now we have to say "Happy Holidays". When I'm shopping during Christmas time and someone says "I hope you have a very merry Christmas" I don't get offended. Why should I? They are being nice and thoughtful. So I politely say "I hope you have a merry Christmas also". Even though I don't believe doesn't mean I have to be a dick.

 

RVM, thanks for resurrecting a very interesting thread... hadn't seen this one before.

 

I actually never even saw it before and I accidentally came across it last night because it came up on my homepage for some reason? But I enjoy hearing and learning about others beliefs. We all share this world and everyone's view is valid. Well everyone except the zealots that try to kill in the name of their God.

 

Finally had a chance to peruse entire thread...

One of my favorite posts.

Perhaps in the end, the most important aspect.

While I'm not religious and believe in the power of science and logic, and believe these tools will eventually unlock more mysteries; I decided many years ago that one of the true keys to happiness, equanimity, ataraxia, et al. is to reconcile oneself to the distinct possibility that some questions regarding the meaning of life, the universe, and everything, are forever beyond resolution for 3 dimensional corporeal beings such as ourselves.
Call it ignorant bliss if you will.

 

I am actually surprised at how civilized this thread has remained for a discussion on atheist/religion. Pretty rare in religion / political talks.

While I find religion very interesting (from a historical perspective and from a human belief perspective), I guess if you had to label me, I'd be a agnostic atheist that grew up in a religious family.

 

Sounds as if your life paralleled mine to a certain extent.

 

Thanks @RearViewMirror, pretty civil discussion, even though it's 6 years old.
I just want freedom from religion! Please believe whatever you like, just don't tell me or try to force those beliefs into my life, and I'll do the same.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxN1LWWE5zY

 

I love Jim Jefferies but I figure that will get this thread shut down quick.

 

I agree, some people can talk and walk away not mad and wheel fine the next day. @Chopper678 and I had a long discussion and we are complete opposite. It is rare for people being able to talk about it and not get upset. Great talk Devin hope to see you in hot springs.

 

I mean, what is there to gain by 'only' talking to those who think like us? It's important to branch out and consider other perspectives.

I think a lot of tension can come from not wanting others to believe what they believe for the wrong reasons. An atheist would surely be disappointed to discover a Christian only believed in God because he didn't want to question anything. If I show that I've analyzed the matter to come to the most logical and realistic conclusion for me, even though that isn't the same conclusion you come to, I feel you'll respect my belief more, no?

And I don't want anyone discounting belief for something as silly as the existence of the theory of evolution or the big bang. And this is why it's important that we explain ourselves and the reason we believe what we believe(when invited to).

*Note: I'm not calling those things silly. Just not proof of nonexistence.

You're right, that was a good example of accepting differences and being okay with it. When is hot springs??

 

Reserved