Dare To Ask Talk And News About Our Differences - This topic has 5 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 23 years ago by
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- I don't really understand a lot about religion. I have never been to church a day in my life and was never taught anything about it. I do believe there probably is some sort of God, but I really don't know what I would consider that God to be like. Does this make me an atheist? What exactly is an atheist? Is it someone who just doesn't practice their religion, or someone who doesn't believe in any form of an afterlife or anything beyond earth itself?
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Name : Katie-A, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 15, City : Syracuse, State : NY Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Education level : Less than High School Diploma, Social class : Middle class,My husband considers himself an atheist, by which he means he does not believe in a god or an afterlife. I know people who do not 'practice' a religion, but do not consider themselves atheists because they do believe in deitie(s). So belief seems to be the main component, rather than actions.User Detail :
Name : Kerry, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Bisexual, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Pagan, Age : 29, City : Ventura, State : CA Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class,An atheist is one who believes in no God, and that man stands on his own.User Detail :
Name : Christopher D., Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Atheist, Age : 24, City : Dallas, State : TX Country : United States, Occupation : Customer Service, Education level : High School Diploma, Social class : Lower middle class,Atheists tend to disagree a lot about what an atheist actually is. Some say an atheist is someone who disbelieves in a God. Others say it's someone who lacks a belief in a God (a subtle semantic difference). Then you get into the whole hard atheist/soft atheist type of thing. A hard atheist is someone who is absolutely, positively emphatic that there is no God. A soft atheist is almost more like an agnostic, with a general attitude of 'I don't believe in God(s)(ess) right now, but I'm open to ideas.' Generally though, someone who doesn't believe in any dieties is considered an atheist. That's all that's required. It has nothing to do with afterlives or anything, though I've never heard a convincing argument for an afterlife that didn't involve a diety. Another good one to be aware of is a Deist. A Deist is someone who believes in a non-interventionary God, i.e. a God who created the earth (and possibly its inhabitants - again, this depends on the person) but doesn't intervene in human affairs. In a lot of ways these people are a lot like atheists in the way they function in their day-to-day lives; because they believe in a non-interventionary God, they also tend not to believe in afterlives and prayer and things of that sort. So Deists tend to get along fairly well with atheists, philosophically.User Detail :
Name : Laura26061, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Bisexual, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Atheist, Age : 18, City : Baltimore, State : MD Country : United States, Occupation : College Student, Education level : High School Diploma,I think you'd be better classed as agnostic - someone who is questioning but hasn't made any decisions.User Detail :
Name : Kerry, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Bisexual, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Pagan, Age : 29, City : Ventura, State : CA Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class,The simplest but somewhat erroneous definition of an atheist is one who does not believe in the existence of some divine entity. Atheists may be strong or weak; strong being the stereotypical atheist, or that person who says 'God does not exist.' A weak atheist, often mislabeled as agnostic, would be likely to say 'I don't believe God exists, but I suppose it could be possible.' This is just in general, and as not all Christians agree, not all Atheists agree. Believing in a divine entity puts you somewhere around 'Deism' in the spiritual spectrum. If you are curious about someone who is an atheist, the best way to find out his or her exact beliefs is to ask them.User Detail :
Name : Marissa, Gender : F, Age : 17, City : A city in Michigan, State : MI Country : United States, Social class : Upper middle class,
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