As an Atheist there is likely nothing you can do to PROVE a deity exists.

That's not a bold statement but the truth the issue is the bar is high and would demand for me and I suspect lots of other Atheists two things:

1. You would need to ,using the scientific method, demonstrate the supernatural with hypothesis which can hold up to many tests from multiple reputable scientists those with solid credentials in fields of study. That would lead to the possibility of a divine beings called deities and without it you have no sound case.

2. Then prove a divine being was indeed god or if multiple deities gods and goddesses. This bar is high since how can you prove a being is not just an advanced alien being if say someone showed up like your anti-Christ who did signs and wonders I would first think its either an alien or some human supported by alien technology or imprinted powers not a devil made flesh. The same for any being claiming to be god or a goddess I would not think this being is a deity but an alien with amazing technology. For a comparison say a modern man in a combat helicopter in modern body armor with modern weapons traveled to the bronze age and with tactical nukes took out masses of troops facing the Spartans in their stand against the Persians would they think the flying machine and man were mortals or a divine power smiting the infidels and defending Sparta perhaps Ares or if a woman Artemis firing her divine arrows? So you see the problem. How could this being prove its claim and your mere humans trying to prove it to me?

I'm not trying to be harsh I know many of you depend on faith or simply were raised in places since children to believe in whatever your faith tradition is, I don't personally hold faith as any kind of moral virtue and is a poor means to see the world as I use reason and try to be reasonable. Faith is truly nothing its a knowledge claim without evidence the knowledge claim is true aside from old books in most cases coming down to what your faith tradition teaches. That for me is no way to seek the truth but evidence based on scientific rigor if needed leading to theories which are always up for testing and to be challenged replaced at some point with new truths. Its the only means proven to give results in the world from advanced in medicine to sending devices to planets to study them to landing humans on the moon. Reason will lead our species to the stars, allow us to further our ability to heal and to grow and prosper. I don't see how religion and faith will give us those hopes.

Atheism is simply a demand for the extraordinary claim there is a deity that extraordinary evidence be given, but in turn such evidence I'll admit would be likely impossible to give me.

Question for the theists here how can you counter this since your the one claiming a deity or deities exist?

 

The religious have no intention or desire to scientifically examine their Gods. This would entail the destruction of it and the faith they require for happiness.

 

I have no problem with the OP. This is a reasonable & logical position, imo. We are rational creatures (sometimes!) & we need some kind of mental convincing of the things we believe. Sometimes it is the authoritative testimony of others.. we 'trust' those we esteem as wise or authoritative.

IMO, there are 2 basic options for our existence:
1. Natural processes
2. supernatural processes

It seems to be impossible to 'prove' either of these options, so we are left with belief systems.. the things we think are the most plausible, based on the information we have. Some of the information can be flawed, or false, but if we believe it, we stick with our conclusions. That is the human way. We are not purely logical, & do not have the knowledge base to make informed conclusions on the universe, so we fill in the gaps, trust those we esteem, & reject the alternatives.

You seem to have faith in the credibility of your information.. that is the basis for your conclusions, as a rational human being. But i see others in much the same light. I do NOT see some people as 'bigoted, stupid, & superstitious', & others as 'wise, scientific, & rational'. There are obviously BOTH elements in all humans. Merely aligning oneself with a particular philosophical camp does not make you one or the other.

 

Ultimately, all religion/faith is wishful thinking. It came about in man's early days of sentience when panic ensued (understandably) as to what the hell was going on around us. But as science progressed, we have a very good understanding of how the Earth was formed, why it came to be, and how we came to look and be as we are.

There isn't much the Bible has to offer in 2016 that is rooted in logic or necessity.

 

Since you seem to be a pragmatist, you must believe that stone-age people built the pyramids, or the incredible megaliths around the world, and even the Nazca lines. I think there is plenty of evidence that ET has been here before.

 

And atheists have no desire to search for one. Either way, neither knows any more than the other about God or the lack thereof.

 

The one thing science has never been able to prove is how all life on Earth evolved from some primordial soup...All of a sudden (millions of years) a single cell organism leaped into existence, and from this single cell organism evolved into all the great biodiversity that is Earth. When some scientist recreates this primordial soup and a new single cell organism pops into existence...Then evolution moves from theory to fact, until then there are just too many holes.
And no I am not religious, I don't believe there is one higher being that created everything...Color me confused and that the truth is probably somewhere in between.

 

I noticed there is a significance difference between Western atheists and Eastern atheists (former Soviet block, the later years).

Eastern atheists are objective in what they say as well as concerning God.
They believe in historical Christ and have no negative personal bias against him, generally speaking.
Smart and open-minded. They see Christianity as a culture that benefited humanity and have no problem performing classical Christian music at their opera houses.

Western atheists are very different. Most of them are extremely sensitive and display a clear personal dislike towards Christ. They do not try evaluate the evidence, they try disproving anything concerning Christ. It is clear to anyone.
So the Western atheists are not really atheists but more of anti-religious group - similar to the early Communist leaders.
Most are ex-Catholics or ex-Baptists or had unpleasant experience concerning religion.

There is a difference between the two groups.

Western atheism is based on a denial and disproving that what they do not personally like.
They are incapable of objectivity, hence they cannot be called atheists.

Thanks,
Ed

 

Actually, most Atheist already did search....we found nothing to say it is there and much to say it is not.

 

Scientific method is not be all, and end all of knowledge. That is your problem, you are a true believer in the cult of Science.

 

Proof is most likely gonna have to come from that deity, itself

Or perhaps a slightly less long shot, a scientist who "breaks through" to the other side and reveals the existence of the supernatural plane.

I have no problems with belief in a god. My problems with religion all stem from the man made dogma accreted around that belief.

 

Nobody talks so constantly about God as those who insist that there is no God. ~Heywood Broun


He was an embittered atheist (the sort of atheist who does not so much disbelieve in God as personally dislike Him). ~George Orwell

 

In science no one makes such a claim...and there is no cult, just people who like fact.

 

Belief and faith does not require scientific proof. Because of this I never try to prove that God exsists and am amused by other theists who do attempt that exercise in futility.

 

Yeah, it sucks being all rational & stuff. I guess that's our cross to bear - lol.

 

Wonderful quotes.
Thank you.

 

I'm not a native english speaker and I'm not a theist. The word "theist" makes for me personally not a big sense. I'm a Catholic and I believe in god. That's easy. God was/is for me everywhere - also in the every possible situation where we can recognice nothing else than only nothing. I think for example god made the whole universe out of nothing and he''s everywhere in the middle of your eyes all around you.

My problem now is: I don't understand your problem. I don't understand why you think god should be part of natural science and show to you his existance with the methods of physics because you like to have a prove. What has this to do with the belief in god? The "supernatural" - I prefer the word "metaphysics" - in case of physics is for example mathematics. (Meta-physics were in former times the books beyond physics in our libraries). Without the words, the logos, mathematics tells us no one is able to do physics. But mathematics is not science - it's a meta-science. So why need human beings a metascience to do science? Why need we words and formulas to explain something in physics. And why are the natural laws - described in the language of the metascience mathematics - are existing since the creation is existing? Is it not a wonder that human beings are able to do physics? Is this not a direct expression of the spirit of god itselve? Let me ask you: Why existed the logos, the spirit, of physics and mathematics since ever while we know only since some centuries something about?

 

Imo belief/faith are incompatible with scientfic proof. Belif/faith are irrelevant if something is demontrably true. It is pointless to say you belive in gravity.

If god were to make itself as obvious as gravity, then faith in god is irrelevant
The sgnificance of Faith is inversely proportional to gods obscurity
The charcter of jobe's faith was likely different than for donald trump, or ted cruz for that matter

 

Because science is the one and only reliable tool we have as human beings to find truths about the universe which appears cold and mechanical, material and can be however investigated.

Why would I consider other realms when no demonstrated evidence exists in a way that can rule out fraud or one-off odd events that could have been a natural event?

I gave a clear modern example if a miracle worker showed up and did do what Jesus did heal the sick and raise the dead I would not consider him divine I would consider him either an ET or some agent of ET's using very advanced technology to trick people.

But there is one proof I would accept dying and finding out you were all right about it, once I shook off the whole this is not some very livid delusion or dream, then would apply my reason and curiosity to the new existence like I live in this one.

All an Atheist is in simple terms we look at the available evidence of reality, examine it and determine there is no evidence sufficient to demonstrate divine forces, I enjoy the storytelling and the fantasy of the supernatural, but for me its fiction. The creation of humans to explain things not explained at the time. How many mentally ill people were deemed possessed by demons and now we know its an illness that drugs and therapy can correct as are seizures for epilepsy not signs of Lucifer but something medical science can treat.

 

It is not up to us to prove anything. I have no mission statement to save you and I don't care if you come with me to heaven or not. The proof is there if you seek it but if you do not....we'll be an unbeliever then and enjoy your time in hell.

 

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While I can agree with this, I would like to point out an addition.
We should also take consensus into account when formulating opinion, as this is a valuable tool in the process. If 10% of a population believes one thing as opposed to 90% believing another it makes sense to add more credence to the later in evaluation.

 

Atheists such as myself are not at all immune from irrational thinking. At the end of the day there is no truth, only conjecture based on experience, but so does science, albeit to more realistic ends.

I'm happy to leave them alone in their faith if they permit me the same courtesy.

 

Why is it that so many from either side seek to consign others to castigation
Believers are descibed as irrational idiots
Unbelievers are ethically unbound and stupidly bound for damnation

I do not want to play on either team

 

It doesn't really matter what you want because you will be on one team regardless.

You should pick the one that promises you eternal bliss and not eternal torture but that is up to you.

 

Most brilliant men were irrational and stuff