Do Atheists ever doubt their belief?

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I've got no hidden motives in posting this thread.
I just wondered if atheists suffer doubt the same way that religious people do.

Seems to me that atheists, or at least the ones on this forum,
don't have any doubts about atheism, and they don't regard it as a belief.

Am I right in thinking that?
 
"An Atheist is not something that you so much are. Rather, it's something you are from a Theistic perspective. Ultimately the word only says what you're not, that the term "Theist" is not applicable to you". Anon

So what's to belief and whats to doubt. Nothing!
 
I've been an atheist for over a half century and never had cause to doubt my lack of belief.

Here is why:

I came from a good scientific household and got a good education. I learned that the function of science is not to prove things do not exist! It is to take what can be demonstrated to exist and use it to find natural cause and effect explanations of things.

Not only that, but in the social sciences I found the first religions were primitive belief in millions of "spirits". In the polytheistic age in the mainstream, it got down to thousands of gods. Then, the next tier of religions were sort-of monotheistic. To me that is a trend, a trend to less need to use "spirits" to explain things with. So, keeping on the trend, we finally reach where I and all atheists are: there is no need for a "God," "gods," or "spirits" of any kind.

charles
http://atheistic-science.com
 
Captain Kremmen said:
I've got no hidden motives in posting this thread.
I just wondered if atheists suffer doubt the same way that religious people do.

Seems to me that atheists, or at least the ones on this forum,
don't have any doubts about atheism, and they don't regard it as a belief.

Am I right in thinking that?
Click to expand...

Suffer doubt??? What's that?
Seems to you that people on this forum who lack any belief in gods don't have any doubts about lacking any belief in gods???
We don't regard lacking any belief in gods as a belief because lacking belief in gods is not a belief.
1111
 
StrangerInAStrangeLa said:
Suffer doubt??? What's that?
Seems to you that people on this forum who lack any belief in gods don't have any doubts about lacking any belief in gods???
We don't regard lacking any belief in gods as a belief because lacking belief in gods is not a belief.
1111
Click to expand...
An atheist could wonder if perhaps there was something to religion, or that perhaps it might be good or correct to believe in God. An atheist could feel anxiety that perhaps they should investigate this or that religion more or wonder if they made a mistake when they left a religion. These could come as rapid flickering thoughts and feelings, or take up a few minutes of time, or be something that occurs now and then.
 
Flickering thoughts are not doubt. Even thinking something thru is not doubt. Doubt is significant wavering or uncertainty either in the absence of proper reasoning or after but not during the process.
If something new or possibly a new twist on something comes to my attention, I will think it thru. Then I will know whether it makes any difference & how much & whether it changes my view or causes any doubt.
1111
 
Captain Kremmen said:
I have recently read an article that says that Mother Theresa suffered great doubts in her belief in God for many years before her death.

Do atheists ever find themselves doubting their beliefs.
Click to expand...
Yes, all the time, or at least I hope I do.

But, in terms of religious belief I would say, for me, it's not really easy or even possible for me to entertain the notion there is a Xenu or Allah seriously. Oh, I have tried, but, it's just so stupid (again, to me) that I can't believe it. (I mean Xenu ... come on, it's a joke, and Allah, even more of a joke).
 
StrangerInAStrangeLa said:
Suffer doubt??? What's that?
Seems to you that people on this forum who lack any belief in gods don't have any doubts about lacking any belief in gods???
We don't regard lacking any belief in gods as a belief because lacking belief in gods is not a belief.
1111
Click to expand...


Read what I said again. That's precisely what I said.
But more clearly.
I accept that you don't call it a belief.

What do you call your acceptance of it by the way, a tenet, a philosophy?
What?
 
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StrangerInAStrangeLa said:
Flickering thoughts are not doubt. Even thinking something thru is not doubt. Doubt is significant wavering or uncertainty either in the absence of proper reasoning or after but not during the process.
If something new or possibly a new twist on something comes to my attention, I will think it thru. Then I will know whether it makes any difference & how much & whether it changes my view or causes any doubt.
1111
Click to expand...

It is fine if you want to define very short moments of what I would include in 'doubt' as not that, but I was presenting those as one end of a spectrum of possible kinds of doubt or reevaluation or self-questioning of a position an atheist could have. In fact, do have. An atheist can just like anyone else wonder if they are missing something, consider that they have made an error, or dismissed something incorrectly. Not all atheists are exactly like you.
 
You still haven't got it Simon.
For some reason, the word belief is like a red rag to a bull to them.

If you had, for example, someone who was an advocate of road safety,
you could safely say to them:

So you believe that children should wear cycle helmets.


This would be a rash course of action when discussing the matter with an atheist. They would reply: (though they'll probably disagree with this as well)

"Believe? Are you saying that wearing cycle helmets is like believing in Leprechauns?"
"Of course I don't believe in wearing cycle helmets"
 
Captain Kremmen said:
You still haven't got it Simon.
For some reason, the word belief is like a red rag to a bull to them.

If you had, for example, someone who was an advocate of road safety,
you could safely say to them:

So you believe that children should wear cycle helmets.


This would be a rash course of action when discussing the matter with an atheist. They would reply: (though they'll probably disagree with this as well)

"Believe? Are you saying that wearing cycle helmets is like believing in Leprechauns?"
"Of course I don't believe in wearing cycle helmets"
Click to expand...

:eek:
 
Don't worry SAM, I'm not suggesting that children shouldn't wear cycle helmets.
Everyone should.
 
Captain Kremmen said:
You still haven't got it Simon.
For some reason, the word belief is like a red rag to a bull to them.
Click to expand...
I understood. I was describing the real experiences as told to me by atheists I know. I mean, my Dad is an atheist. An atheist can certainly deny every wondering if there might in fact be a God or have experiences where they briefly considered the words 'sacred' or 'holy' might have some real meaning beyond be used as secular strong adjectives. I absolutely believe that many atheists do not have such experiences. But others do. I was objecting to the generalizion.

Many people do not drive a Euclidian straight line their whole lives, theists and atheists alike.

I think many people confuse their official belief with what actually happens in them.
 
Captain Kremmen said:
You still haven't got it Simon.
For some reason, the word belief is like a red rag to a bull to them.

If you had, for example, someone who was an advocate of road safety,
you could safely say to them:

So you believe that children should wear cycle helmets.


This would be a rash course of action when discussing the matter with an atheist. They would reply: (though they'll probably disagree with this as well)

"Believe? Are you saying that wearing cycle helmets is like believing in Leprechauns?"
"Of course I don't believe in wearing cycle helmets"
Click to expand...

Tho I certainly don't think all atheists are exactly like me, I doubt very much the above applies in the least to any atheist. Seems to me an extreme kneejerk reaction to things you don't/can't/won't understand and/or accept.
1111
 
Captain Kremmen said:
I've got no hidden motives in posting this thread.
I just wondered if atheists suffer doubt the same way that religious people do.

Seems to me that atheists, or at least the ones on this forum,
don't have any doubts about atheism, and they don't regard it as a belief.

Am I right in thinking that?
Click to expand...

StrangerInAStrangeLa said:
Suffer doubt??? What's that?
Seems to you that people on this forum who lack any belief in gods don't have any doubts about lacking any belief in gods???
We don't regard lacking any belief in gods as a belief because lacking belief in gods is not a belief.
1111
Click to expand...

Captain Kremmen said:
Read what I said again. That's precisely what I said.
But more clearly.
I accept that you don't call it a belief.

What do you call your acceptance of it by the way, a tenet, a philosophy?
What?
Click to expand...

Tho I read it well enough the 1st time, I read it again. Perhaps you'll do the same.
No. I stated it more clearly for your sake in the vain hope it would help you see atheism is not a belief.
Instead of "Suffer doubt??? What's that?", I guess I should have said "Suffer doubt??? WHAT do you mean by suffer???"
Atheism isn't the acceptance of anything. It's not a tenet or philosophy.
It's simply NOT believing in any gods. That's NOT a belief or tenet or philosophy or acceptance.
1111
 
StrangerInAStrangeLa said:
Tho I read it well enough the 1st time, I read it again. Perhaps you'll do the same.
No. I stated it more clearly for your sake in the vain hope it would help you see atheism is not a belief.
Instead of "Suffer doubt??? What's that?", I guess I should have said "Suffer doubt??? WHAT do you mean by suffer???"
Atheism isn't the acceptance of anything. It's not a tenet or philosophy.
It's simply NOT believing in any gods. That's NOT a belief or tenet or philosophy or acceptance.
1111
Click to expand...
In terms of philosophy, what do you think transpires when an atheist becomes a theist?
 
Suffering doubt. Then suffer in bold with three question marks.
Is that something else that atheists have no experience of?

Do they never have doubts that they are doing the right thing,
or whether they did the right thing, and suffer regret, anxiety and all the other things that spring from that doubt?

Men are from Mars, Women from Venus.
What planet are atheists from?
 
Do you believe in Odin, Thor, Zeus, Hera, Jupiter, Juno, Isis, Astara, IPU, Quetzalcoatl & the Great Wolf Spirit? If not, do you ever doubt your lack of belief in them?
1111
 
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