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I find this as useless and subjective a topic as one on any particular religion (Christianity, football, etc.). – richardtallent Jun 3 '10 at 6:12

Wouldn't a "skeptic of a higher power" be an agnostic? I thought an atheist is someone who has decided there isn't one. – Benjol Jun 3 '10 at 7:20

I'd like to see a general rationality/skepticism stack which could include some of these questions. – monorailkitty Jun 3 '10 at 10:58

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60 Example Questions (10 closed)

active newest votes

up vote 29 down vote

added by herzmeister Jun 3 '10 at 9:27

This is one of my favorite theist talking points: it is simple fallacy: it takes a belief not to believe; and, stems from a conflation of "I do not believe in X", and "I believe there is no X". – Evan Carroll Jun 19 '10 at 15:51

Somebody said - "Atheism is a religion in the same way that not collecting stamps is a hobby" – talonx Jun 24 '10 at 4:20

@talonx: but stamps non-collectors usually don't promote not-collecting stamps! – Lorenzo Jun 28 '10 at 22:20

@Lorenzo: But some of them laugh at stamp collectors and talk about how stupid they are to waste time on collecting stamps! – talonx Jun 29 '10 at 12:33

I would say that an agnostic is more of a non-stamp collector. Since an atheist acts on his knowledge that there is no God or god etc, it sure seems like a belief system. I guess it could be called a thought system. BTW, belief system != religion. – d-_-b Jul 22 '10 at 7:06

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up vote 22 down vote

added by Rex M Jun 26 '10 at 3:58

up vote 21 down vote

added by Peter Coulton Jun 18 '10 at 3:19

Er, what? atheistfaq.com/2008/02/… – Robert Harvey Jun 23 '10 at 3:04

Does something have to have a meaning for it to occur? – Matthew Whited Jun 24 '10 at 14:37

Again, this isn't a question he's looking for an answer for...the poster is looking to define the kind of questions that are appropriate for the site. – Beska Jun 28 '10 at 21:13

Maybe it's easier to get up in the morning if we don't think we're someone's puppets. – luiscubal Jul 11 '10 at 22:19

This is not a "great example" as it is a loaded question, and therefore argumentative and flame bait. It's not off-topic, but as it stands it is just a poorly written question. I hope to not see it in the banner of example questions. – mfg Oct 26 '10 at 20:54

up vote 19 down vote

added by Wikis Jul 14 '10 at 20:16

Very interesting question. Best one here, in my opinion. – Beska Jul 15 '10 at 13:00

@Beska - wow, thanks! – Wikis Jul 15 '10 at 13:21

In much the same way people must have faith that there are [no] aliens? – Nerdling Jul 25 '10 at 1:42

@Nerdling - right, so if you believe that do you accept it on faith? Or do you always carry an element of doubt? I'm wondering if it impossible to be an atheist (or believer) without always having some level of doubt. Kind of related to Witek's question, "Shouldn't sceptics be agnostics instead of atheists?" – Wikis Jul 25 '10 at 7:29

i think "faith" and "belief" get, in this case, more or less intentionally confused with "reasonable assumption". the belief that fairies exist simply doesn't have the same credibility as the reasonable assumption that they don't, just because i can't ultimately prove the latter does not mean one has to take it "on faith" in order to overcome the last 0.0001% of reasonable doubt. in fact one doesn't even have to (or even could) be 100% sure of anything, 99.9999% is a perfectly reasonable degree of certainty to justify a firm position, because this is as certain as it could possibly get. – hurz Aug 12 '10 at 22:45

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up vote 17 down vote

added by sth Jun 8 '10 at 1:54

But in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy it says "Always have your towel handy", why doesn't that convince you to carry your towel to work? – talonx Jun 24 '10 at 4:15

I always carry my towel with me >_> – earlNameless Jul 22 '10 at 2:16

@sth - Long after I switched my computer off I was still chuckling to myself thinking of your question. Very funny, thanks. – Wikis Aug 6 '10 at 21:42

up vote 17 down vote

added by Binoj Antony Jun 24 '10 at 9:41

They didn't happen, they were coincidences, we don't know enough about them to classify them or somebody already explained them. – luiscubal Jul 11 '10 at 22:17

This, after I've thought about it, is certainly the type of question that will be good, but by itself is unanswerable. What's a miracle? Who is defining it? Which miracle, since they may have different explanations? I think a better question would be something specific, like "How can the 'miracle' of [example] be explained?" – Beska Jul 15 '10 at 13:03

I agree, this is not a good example, it's impossible to answer because it is too general. – Juan A. Navarro Jul 26 '10 at 7:56

Who's up-voting these vague questions? – mfg Oct 26 '10 at 20:55

up vote 16 down vote

added by jschroedl Jul 2 '10 at 14:20

up vote 14 down vote

added by Wikis Jul 15 '10 at 13:30

This is added to help define the border of this forum - if you expect discussion, this is on-topic; if you expect closed questions and specific answers, this is off-topic. (And there's a third box for if you just think this question is stupid... =:-) ) – Wikis Jul 15 '10 at 13:31

this is a good question because it might yield different opinions among atheists, not the usual atheist-vs-theist-setup. - - - personally i have come to the conclusion that there would be nothing that could turn me into a theist, mainly for logical and moral reasons (occams razor: if i saw a truly astonishing thing defying natural laws, the assumption that i have gone crazy would require much less explanation than the assumption that a divine being was responsible | even if the universe was created by a concious designer, it can hardly be considered ethically perfect and worthy of worship). – hurz Aug 9 '10 at 17:52

@hurz - thanks for the feedback & support hurz. I'm sure that this question can be discussed, as you say, amongst atheists without fear of anyone trying to convert. – Wikis Aug 9 '10 at 20:06

up vote 12 down vote

added by Binoj Antony Jun 24 '10 at 9:45

No, but the reasons are different. People "become" (un-conversion) Atheists for rational reasons, people seem to only revert to Theism for social reasons: "$drug helps me when I'm feeling down" etc. This is a generalization that I simply find holds true all of the time. – Evan Carroll Jun 24 '10 at 16:02

Please do not answer the sample questions in the comments. – Beska Jun 28 '10 at 12:50

@Beska - But it's fun! – talonx Jul 13 '10 at 8:05

@talonx: Can't argue with that...I just would hate to see people spend too much time commenting, and not enough time promoting the site so it can eventually go live. – Beska Jul 13 '10 at 12:52

this question might yield an uncomfortable answer: it has to be more common for atheists to become theists than the other way around, simply because there are theists. newborns don't believe in god(s), because they couldn't possibly know the concept. thus they lack any belief in god(s) and are therefore atheists (although, by the same argument, not strong atheists). – hurz Aug 13 '10 at 15:51

up vote 10 down vote

added by JustinStolle Jul 12 '10 at 15:22

Self. They come from accepting that we are each capable of behaving in any way we choose. If we choose harmful acts, so might anyone/everyone else. So it would be most productive to choose beneficial acts and encourage the same from others. It might benefit some to destroy others but unless you'd accept being in the group being destroyed, maybe it wouldn't be wise to choose that path since, if it's possible for you to destroy, it's possible for others to destroy you. Mutually assured destruction isn't optimally beneficial. Working together is so make it possible by treating others well. – nicerobot Jul 25 '10 at 16:43

@nicerobot, it's not time to answer questions, but to discuss and produce some great examples of on- and off-topic questions. – Juan A. Navarro Jul 26 '10 at 7:53

@juan-antonio LOL I know. My comment was kinda me thinking aloud whether this was on or off topic. I ran out of space to explain that. I suppose i should have added another comment like this one to do so. – nicerobot Jul 26 '10 at 15:34

up vote 9 down vote

added by AndrewR Jun 19 '10 at 4:34

ie 1. If there are objective moral values then God exists. 2. There are objective moral values. 3. Therefore, God exists. – AndrewR Jun 19 '10 at 4:35

It isn't called objective morality it is called absolute morality: and the response should be there is no such thing, and you don't want one - you want a well reasoned agreed upon morality that maximizes happiness. – Evan Carroll Jun 19 '10 at 15:41

why happiness in particular? – Juan A. Navarro Jun 24 '10 at 6:25

Please, do not use comments to answer the question. – Lorenzo Jun 28 '10 at 12:32

i think a question about rebuttals for one specific argument should only make it a good example, if the argument itself is sound (this one is, if 1. and 2. aret true, 3. follows) and not as obviously fallacious as this one is: neither of the premises (1. and 2.) are true (or rather shown or obvious to be true), therefore the conclusion (3.) doesn't follow. 1. how so? why do objective (or rather absolute) moral values require a specific supernatural entity? 2. you haven't shown there are objective or absolute moral values and history teaches us there might not be. – hurz Aug 15 '10 at 9:36

up vote 9 down vote

added by Binoj Antony Jun 24 '10 at 9:43

	Possibly ambiguous: as just a man? – Nerdling Jul 25 '10 at 1:39
	I think that would have to be fleshed out in the description. – earlNameless Jul 25 '10 at 13:48
	I looked at the description but there was nothing there. – Nerdling Jul 27 '10 at 16:07
	an atheist could believe there was this man, but rejects his "divine" nature. it's ambiguous, as Nerdling says – tanathos Aug 4 '10 at 21:09

up vote 8 down vote

added by luiscubal Jul 16 '10 at 22:45

up vote 7 down vote

added by jschroedl Jul 2 '10 at 14:23

More accurately, your neighbour has probably taken it upon himself to introduce you to his Redeemer, not become yours! – Wikis Jul 15 '10 at 13:26

You could listen to him... Maybe he isn't as annoying as you think. Evangelism is a sign of him loving you, and wanting you to be saved – Randomman159 Nov 13 '10 at 14:08

up vote 7 down vote

added by Chris Huang-Leaver Aug 9 '10 at 21:20

duplicate of area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/2732/atheism/… – warren Aug 11 '10 at 20:41

up vote 6 down vote

added by jtyost2, edited by Gelatin Jun 20 '10 at 15:18

Desire for a rational solution – Evan Carroll Jun 16 '10 at 16:18

What answer could be accepted for this question? – Nerdling Jul 25 '10 at 1:43

Nothing brought me. I was born like this. Like you and everybody else. – CesarGon Oct 5 '10 at 22:25

up vote 6 down vote

added by AndrewR Jun 20 '10 at 10:29

up vote 6 down vote

added by Akhil Mathew Jun 24 '10 at 15:43

up vote 5 down vote

added by HoLyVieR, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around Jul 13 '10 at 20:03

People shouldn't force their beliefs on anyone. As an atheist I don't like it when religious people push their views on me... so why should I do the same to them. There is no reason to use coercion when you could have a ration discussion over the topic. – Matthew Whited Jun 24 '10 at 14:36

@Matthew: It doesn't necessarily matter whether you would choose to persue this action. The question is "is this question on-topic?" The answer, I think, regardless of whether it is a good or moral idea, is yes. – Beska Jun 28 '10 at 12:52

Just keep in mind that a "not a good example" question is something that is unrelated and will most likely not going to be asked. If you think the question isn't something that should be discussed and has strong chance of being asked, it's "off-topic". In my opinion this question is for sure going to be asked. Please read this, before you vote : area51.stackexchange.com/faq#questions – HoLyVieR Jun 29 '10 at 12:25

@HoLyVier: It's not just that it's likely or unlikely to be asked..."not a good example" could be a number of other things as well. For instance, even if something is likely to be asked, but is worded poorly or is perhaps inflamatory or insulting, it would not be a good example. There are only 5 "great on-topic examples" or "great off-topic examples" per proposed site, and they should ideally represent an excellent cross section of what is relevant and desired (or not desired, as the case may be). A question can be on topic or off topic, and still not be "great". – Beska Jun 29 '10 at 13:02

Again, I think this is a good question. A great deal of the doctrine in theism (in most of the western religions, anyway) is about persuading non-believers to become believers. Discussing the same issues (i.e. persuasion) from atheist grounds, and using rationality and good manners, seems to be a fair thing to do. In addition, it places atheism in the social/cultural sphere, where it belongs. – CesarGon Sep 26 '10 at 9:11

up vote 5 down vote

added by Beska Jun 28 '10 at 21:17

common sense ... – HoLyVieR Jul 8 '10 at 12:36

Common sense? Sadly, not always common and not always sense. – Kramii Jul 8 '10 at 13:29

Can the bible really be considered an objective source? – luiscubal Jul 15 '10 at 16:28

I was intending "objective" to have a slightly different meaning than that...but I see your point. Let me try to change the wording. – Beska Jul 15 '10 at 18:19

I do not think this is a good question because I see religious texts split into 2 parts: how the world was made/works and ethics. These are often intertwined, but the distinction can be made. The ethics do not necessarily define the "religion" (I could be an atheist, but subscribe to Christian ethics). Based on the description "skeptics of higher power", this Q&A would be about the "how the world was made/works", and not ethics. Therefore I think this question would not fit. – earlNameless Jul 22 '10 at 2:14

show 3 more improvement suggestions

up vote 4 down vote

added by Louis Rhys, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around Aug 30 '10 at 23:44

For the same reason that theists (i.e. religious people) are not worried that their fridge will turn into a carnivorous alien that will suck their brains out after midnight tomorrow. – CesarGon Sep 29 '10 at 9:33

hey this is a question sample, it's not necessary to answer it :) – Louis Rhys Sep 30 '10 at 7:16

I know; I just could not resist... :-) – CesarGon Sep 30 '10 at 23:49

up vote 3 down vote

added by talonx Jun 24 '10 at 4:18

	Maybe better with a more general request for comments on NOMA, rather than just looking for confirmation of an existing opinion. – Jivlain Jun 27 '10 at 13:54
	OK, but it is still an in-topic question – Lorenzo Jun 28 '10 at 12:29

up vote 3 down vote

added by Ether Aug 7 '10 at 19:34

off-topic: as science and atheism are not synonymous, so also religion and science are not mutually exclusive. re-word? the core question "how is x different than y?" alone is not a good example, as it only allows for subjective/argumentative responses. – mfg Aug 13 '10 at 19:09

@mfg: I disagree. Questions of the form "how is x different to y" make a lot of sense, and they are often valuable. They not always lead to subject or argumentative responses; for example: "how is 5 different to 4". In discussing atheism (the focus of this Q&A forum), I think that comparing it to other ideas and positions is a very valuable resource that we should not dismiss. – CesarGon Sep 29 '10 at 9:37

@CesarGon Sorry. My response is terribly worded; as is the question. The word 'belief' in this question is too vague and could be misconstrued between its two different meanings, 1) an irrational belief such as faith or urban myth or gossip, and 2) a rational belief based on physical/empirical confirmation/validation. At any rate, with the simplistic wording allotted to this question it is at best a poor example of an on-topic question that would allow only for argumentative responses that talked past each other because some people would be replying to definition #1, other to #2. – mfg Oct 12 '10 at 20:48

@mfg: I see your point. I think this question would be clearer if the first part ("How is faith different than belief?") were omitted, and only the second ("Isn't science just another religion?") were left. Asking about the difference between science and religion is a better question, I think. – CesarGon Oct 15 '10 at 16:19

up vote 2 down vote

added by jtyost2 Jun 3 '10 at 5:40

closed as off topic by Gelatin, Kevin Harder, random, murgatroid99, Ivan Cherevko Aug 17 '10 at 15:12

This question does not relate to the topic of the proposal.
It was closed as part of an automated migration of off-topic to close votes on September 29, 2011.

Subjective & argumentative – Gelatin Jun 20 '10 at 15:19

@Simon Brown: Maybe, but it's not an uncommon question/concern someone new to atheism may have. – Peter Coulton Jun 20 '10 at 16:00

That would make it a question that people would want to ask, but not one likely to have any useful answer in this context, so it is off-topic. – murgatroid99 Aug 5 '10 at 20:51

up vote 2 down vote

added by JustinStolle Jul 12 '10 at 15:22

	Too much Snow Crash? – Adrian Aug 24 '10 at 8:43
	The question stems from the ideas put forth in "The God Virus: How Religion Infects Our Lives and Culture" by Darrel W. Ray, Ed.D. – JustinStolle Aug 26 '10 at 22:53

up vote 2 down vote

added by JustinStolle Jul 12 '10 at 15:23

closed as off topic by Beska, Witek, serg, Wikis, Nerdling Jul 25 '10 at 1:46

This question does not relate to the topic of the proposal.
It was closed as part of an automated migration of off-topic to close votes on September 29, 2011.

I think this is a great question. Atheism is not just an inner conviction and way of life; it is also a social and cultural process, and we need to discuss its social and cultural ramifications if we want to address the whole thing. This question tackles a relevant issue that is often taken for granted and not many people question. – CesarGon Sep 26 '10 at 9:08

up vote 2 down vote

added by Witek Jul 14 '10 at 13:41

this is similar to the question 'Is atheism merely a belief system, too?', in that it assumes that atheism means 'belief in the nonexistence of deities'. in fact atheism is merely the absence of belief in deities, there is no "active" or "concious" element required and this definition includes many of the agnostics. however, there are numerous "strong atheists" (including me) who actively reject theism for logical and moral reasons. a skeptic should judge a point of view based on the reasoning behind it and withhold judgement until there are convincing reasons for any side. – hurz Aug 9 '10 at 18:15

Shouldn't Christians be Catholics instead of Protestants? – Joe D Nov 8 '10 at 18:55

up vote 2 down vote

added by Noldorin Jul 27 '10 at 8:17

up vote 2 down vote

added by Noldorin Jul 27 '10 at 8:18

	A good example (pantheism). – Barton Aug 18 '10 at 14:39
	@Barton: Good point, it indeed fits best with pantheism, I would say. Still, it's worth discussing whether it corresponds to any belief in God at all. – Noldorin Aug 18 '10 at 22:45

up vote 2 down vote

added by Wikis, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around Aug 7 '10 at 15:03

closed as off topic by Chris Huang-Leaver, Robin Vessey, Gaurav, Bristol Skeptics, Lololol Sep 13 '10 at 20:19

This question does not relate to the topic of the proposal.
It was closed as part of an automated migration of off-topic to close votes on September 29, 2011.

	Question inspired by CS Lewis' famous "trilemma": en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis%27s_trilemma – Wikis Aug 6 '10 at 9:27
	Interesting - the first vote is "off-topic" yet I intended it to be on-topic. Comments? – Wikis Aug 10 '10 at 7:45
	Not exactly to do with atheism, if you had phrased it more as "Who do atheists believe Jesus was?" than it would probably have gotten more on-topic votes. – Joe D Nov 8 '10 at 18:54
	@Joe D - good point - that helps to clarify the border of this proposal! Thanks. – Wikis Nov 8 '10 at 19:39
	@Mark Robinson: Unrelated, but about that "raptors" proposal, that wasn't me on my account (I don't know who it was) - so I've deleted the proposal and changed my password. Sorry about that. – Joe D Nov 8 '10 at 22:29

show 4 more improvement suggestions

up vote 2 down vote

added by Chris Huang-Leaver, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around Aug 23 '10 at 23:25

more about culture/politics than atheism itself: maybe re-word as a question like "what inherent problems does atheism have that inhibit active participation in culture/politics"? – mfg Aug 13 '10 at 19:13

I don't dislike the wording of the question. I think that atheism is much more than a personal position; it is also a cultural and political stance, and therefore this question makes sense as it is. – CesarGon Sep 29 '10 at 9:34

I think there is a huge range of politics & policies which stem from religion / no religion, so it's an important question. I'm not sure how you could have an 'accepted' answer, but that will be a problem with most questions on this site, doesn't mean you can't have fun asking the question! – Chris Huang-Leaver Oct 2 '10 at 21:52

up vote 2 down vote

added by Rising Star Sep 14 '10 at 21:33

up vote 2 down vote

added by Rising Star Sep 14 '10 at 21:35

up vote 2 down vote

added by DaveDev Nov 7 '10 at 20:09

"Atheist", as "Atheist" simply means disbelief in any deities whereas "None" implies lack of any belief whatsoever. – Joe D Nov 8 '10 at 18:52

up vote 1 down vote

added by SilentGhost Jul 21 '10 at 16:10

up vote 1 down vote

added by warren Aug 4 '10 at 18:30

im trying to wrap my head around the real issue of your question, could you re-phrase? as it is it only asks for subjective, argumentative responses. – mfg Aug 13 '10 at 19:15

@mfg - perhaps rephrasing would help, "if atheism is right, why do there need to be arguments for it?" If theism is inherently wrong, and the atheist is correct in his understanding of the world, it's irrelevant to argue for his viewpoint. Not trying to be disrespectful of anyone here, this is an honest question I have. – warren Aug 14 '10 at 0:07

I might rephrase as: "What is the best way to argue that the burden of proof is on Theists to prove that <supernatural deity> exists?" – mfg Oct 12 '10 at 20:51

@mfg - nice reword, I've incorporated it – warren Oct 13 '10 at 13:01

up vote 1 down vote

added by igelkott Oct 6 '10 at 21:53

up vote 0 down vote

added by Robin Vessey Jul 29 '10 at 4:30

	Example: Theists talk about community and belonging where as atheists are focused on proof and reality, – Robin Vessey Jul 29 '10 at 4:30
	Who said Theist aren't focused on proof and reality? A better example might be Creation vs Evolution. or a less heated topic, they have different motivation for things they do in everyday life. – Jack C Buel Jul 30 '10 at 16:15