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Question: If the belief in the supernatural is human nature!.!.!.!?
!.!.then how can Atheism exist!?
I have some Agnostic and Atheist friends who claim one of the reasons they're not religious is because they believe that belief in a God or other entity is merely part of human nature, meaning that it's something we do naturally, and something we have to have!.
This does make sense, since every civilization in the world has had, or has a religion!.
However, if this is true, then how could a person become an Atheist!? If faith is something that they're dependent on because of human nature, how then could they completely drop belief to not believe in an entity!?
So is it really human nature for a religion to exist!? I don't think so!.
It pretty much contradicts itself!.
What do you think!?Www@QuestionHome@Com
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
I think you friends are right, I wouldn't think atheist would think so!.
The same can be said about marriage, yet people choose not to get married!. Atheism is a kind of rebellion, and has been connected with relationship issues with the father in psychological studies (see Feuerbach)!. Most atheist I personally know admit to bad relationship with the father figure!.
I think you are right as well, but you don't back up you opinion!. I would say that organized religion isn't in human nature, but the spiritual teachings and principles that the religions are based off are apart of human nature!. Kindness, forgiveness, consideration, love, compassion, humility, peace, are not only taught in religion, but an intuned knowingness of our original nature!. That Is why it feels good when we do a good deed for someone else!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
yes that is the essence of hypocrisy inherent in Atheism, the whole idea is to not believe in a god but then they get together and meet about how they don't believe in god!. I consider myself atheist in that I don't believe in any god that has been written about before by man, but I don't try to convert people to my beliefs because thats where the hypocrisy starts and where atheism becomes almost no different than christianity or any other religion!.
I think the whole idea of religion to begin with is to have people believe what you believe, why else would you write about it and convert people!? So when you start to do that, you're essentially becoming what you became to be against in the first place and thats just sillyWww@QuestionHome@Com
Religion in the Western sence involves a deity!. That is not the case with Buddhism, so you can't say that every civilization has, or had ,a religion!.
To assume it is part of human nature is an unfounded assumption!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
I do not believe it is necessary to believe in religion to exist!. I think most people have issues of self-worth and need to believe that there is someone who is better than them and powerful that can take away their pain!. They are afraid to live and die so they hold on to the thought of an after life to get them through this life!. also religion is big business !. So they sell you a bag of wishes!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
it is not human nature per say it is a want to explain the unknow!. atheist can see past this and turn to science!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
I think YOU'RE contradicting yourself, because you're making some poor leaps of logic here, and interchanging concepts that are not interchangeable!.
Here's some thoughts on it:
"merely part of human nature" -- "something we do naturally" do not mean that it's something we HAVE to do!. Where are you getting this interpretation!? This is a false leap of logic on your part!.
"merely part of human nature" -- "something we do naturally" just means that we have the natural potential, the proclivicity, maybe even the desire to do it!. So it DOES make sense!. It's part of our nature, as is murder, but it doesn't mean that NOT killing "doesn't make sense"!.
A person becomes an athiest because their brain is wired in a way that they are able to override the part of human nature that wants to create a reason for our being here, e!.g!., the supernatural!. Both ways are true!. Both ways are authentic!. Nobody's trying to pull anything over on anybody by being an athiest!. They are wired for that to work for them!.
A person may not even "become" an athiest!. They may never have believed, despite all the religious education they had, or they may not have come to any conclusion earlier in their life and when they did, they choose logic over faith!. There's no contradiction there!. We generally are raised in homes where we are taught religious concepts vs!. logic & non-belief, so most people who arrive at atheism do so after having been raised with religious instruction!. Just because that was the order of learning doesn't mean that it's a contradition!. Your logic is faulty because your assumptions are faulty here; you're leaving out too many possibilities for a person's experience and choices, and you're missing some important pieces of the puzzle!.
Hope that helps!.
** peace **Www@QuestionHome@Com