Is Atheism a guilt response?

Rjr6,

The concept that an atheist takes an atheist stance as somehow an objection to God is embedded in the theist psyche; even the older dictionary definitions of atheist – one who denies God – implies that the atheist really knows there is a god but chooses to reject him deliberately. The theist raised from birth has great difficulty imagining how someone would not assume there is a god.

I believe the opening post somewhat reflects that theist perception.

Is Atheism a guilt response?
Click to expand...
The clear implication here is that “if I deny the existence of God” then I escape the feelings of guilt. The question has the theist assumption “well of course there is a god”, how could there not be, and proceeds from there.

In practice the answer is NO. While it still remains a fundamental issue to treat all atheists as a consistent group we can fairly safely assume that the intellectual atheist who understands the issues considers the atheist position as one of, essentially, the absence of credibility of the theist position.

Feelings of guilt for doing something wrong is entirely relative to ones value system and has nothing to do with gods as far as an atheist is concerned.
 
I'm an atheist, and I do feel guilty when I do something bad. I have a conscience, but no faith in a God.
 
Cris said:
The concept that an atheist takes an atheist stance as somehow an objection to God is embedded in the theist psyche...
Click to expand...
And this gives an interesting insight into the mind of many theists. Since they believe what they want to be true because they want it to be true, they assume that others opperate the same way.
 
Nasor said:
Although I can't cite any studies to back it up, my hypothesis would be that christians are more likely to have "unresolved guilt" than atheists; otherwise they wouldn't need to image that there's a magic father-figure in charge of the universe who is able to forgive them for all the bad things they have done. When you're an atheist and you do something bad, there's really no way to undo it other than trying to actually fix whatever harm you did. When you're a christian, you can just say "Oh well, god forgives me!" and move on. Thus people who felt a lot of guilt about things would likely be drawn to christianity.
Click to expand...

Nasor said:
Most people (except perhaps psychopaths) will feel guilt about various things. The main difference is that atheists are only likely to feel guilty if they believe that they have really harmed someone, rather than feeling guilty about "victimless sins" (like eating some particular food, having sex, etc.) that's are forbidden "because god doesn't like it" even though they don't actually harm anyone in any clear way.

Another difference is that atheists don't believe that they can be magically absolved of their guilt by getting forgiveness from god. Christianity appears to offer people who feel guilty a magic pass to feeling better again; just ask forgiveness from god, repent, and everything is better! I suspect that people who felt guilty would be more likely to turn christian, rather than the other way around.

(Apologies if I'm being narrow-minded by equating theism to christianity, I realize that of course there are other religion).
Click to expand...

Nasor said:
I agree that an atheist doesn't necessarily have to feel guilt, I was just trying to remind everyone that our hypothetical atheist who is able to stop feeling guilty about things generally doesn't really exist. I didn't feel any less guilty about doing things that I considered "bad" after I became an atheist, although the list of things that I considered to be "bad" got a bit shorter.
Click to expand...


atheism does address guilt, as you say it focuses the amount you must deal with and you must take sole responsibility for it. But that does not imply that the guilt is dealt with in a healthy way. It allows for that, apparently from your post, but if someone's internal moral code were bankrupt or conflicted by hypocrisy of human failings, how does atheism assist a person in dealing with guilt?
From some posts, atheism and guilt have no connection, others say atheists have no guilt at all, which the latter I believe to be just a misunderstanding due to sterotypes.
It seems like an acceptable and accurate answer, that atheism and guilt have no connection.
But my question could have been stated that becoming atheist is a guilt response, not necesarily the textbook definition of what an atheists would be living in a world without the concept of God.
 
geeser said:
What has that to do with unresolved guilt and belief in a god/gods.

But to give you an answer, are you suggesting that Atheist cant be moral or ethical, when no one else is around, as thats how it appears.

Yes I don't doubt that Atheist have hurt others and themselves, but it would be extremely rare, without a dogma to follow, Atheist have no reason to harm, there is nothing inciting them to do that. thus no need to reconcile anything. An Atheist does the right thing because it is the right thing, not because it is something required of him.
Click to expand...

Your statement implies that atheism comes with a moral code of conduct.
An atheist is someone who does not believe in God, and a theist is someone who does believe in God, there is no moral code of conduct that accompanies those positions.

jan.
 
I would feel guilty if I tried to make myself believe something I strongly suspected was false. The guilt for believers comes from feeling guilty should they reject the traditions of their community and ancestors.
 
JDawg said:
MW, I wouldn't bash on the guy/gal for asking a simple question. He's obviously curious about it, so why not give him a proper answer?

Cheski nailed it, by the way.

I don't think guilt has much to do with atheism. In fact, I would imagine (and this is just my feeling on it) that the particular type of guilt associated with something like religion (or lack thereof) would bring a person to religion, rather than drive them away from it. So much of religion is atonement, submission, salvation, it makes sense that religion would be a haven for those who feel they aren't living up to their potential, who have perhaps done bad things in their life, etc..
Click to expand...

JDawg said:
Sorry I'm so late getting back to you...

Didn't I already address this in my previous answer?
Click to expand...

Rereading your post, I infer that guilt associated with religion is guilt caused by folks not living up to their potential or by harming another. What do you mean "associated"?

Do you mean that this type of guilt causes people to go to religion, or that religion causes this guilt in people?

Do you mean something altogether different?

Another question, in regards to the thread:
Do atheists not feel guilty when harming another person? Not living to their moral code?

I realize that you state that the tenets of atheism do not address guilt, and this is part of the reason for this thread.

Other posts have addressed this issue that everyone feels guilt, it being natural, of sorts, but I found it interesting in your post when you said "guilt associated to religion".
 
rjr6 said:
Rereading your post, I infer that guilt associated with religion is guilt caused by folks not living up to their potential or by harming another. What do you mean "associated"?

Do you mean that this type of guilt causes people to go to religion, or that religion causes this guilt in people?

Do you mean something altogether different?
Click to expand...

Ah, I see. I meant that in this society, that kind of guilt can lead to religion. I didn't mean that it resulted from religion.

Another question, in regards to the thread:
Do atheists not feel guilty when harming another person? Not living to their moral code?
Click to expand...

Of course they do.

I realize that you state that the tenets of atheism do not address guilt, and this is part of the reason for this thread.

Other posts have addressed this issue that everyone feels guilt, it being natural, of sorts, but I found it interesting in your post when you said "guilt associated to religion".
Click to expand...

Oh, OK. I get what you're saying. No, I didn't intend for people to take from it that I felt there was guilt that came from religion...although, on second thought, yes, I suppose there is, in some cases. Ask a Catholic, as the saying goes, right? But that wasn't my intention, however true it may be.
 
Jan Ardena said:
Your statement implies that atheism comes with a moral code of conduct.
Click to expand...
I beg to differ, I think it states that all men are the same, all have an innate morality.
Jan Ardena said:
An atheist is someone who does not believe in God, and a theist is someone who does believe in God, there is no moral code of conduct that accompanies those positions.

jan.
Click to expand...
But there is within man, for we are social animals.
 
Wait... So the implication is being made that atheists, generally, have no sense of guilt. Doesn't a sense of guilt require a person to see that they have done something they ought not? Is the implication that atheists should feel secretly guilty for being atheists? Why?

Let us stop side stepping things and dancing about. Atheism is not a cause for guilt. Headbutting an infant-good reason for guilt. Atheism is a lack of belief in _______. When it comes to Norse Gods, I join up with the Atheists. I am christian. My God is Awesome. It's real tough to show him off to people, he quit doing call-in talent shows way back when. I have a book about him, but I try not to hit people with it, I do hit flies with it, and the occasional spider. It's nice and heavy.

Atheism, from studying it, is like a thought process, or maybe a state of being. Like a state of undress. Being in this state does not detract from someone's ability to emote.
 
Wait... Are you suggesting that people feel that they have transgressed, and that God will put them on ignore, so they put him on ignore? This may have happened in some cases, but I seriously doubt that it has happened in a vast majority. Of course, I haven't done any studies into it. I think there's a "What brought you to Atheism" or something similar thread lying around in one of these trunks. :D
 
glaucon said:
guilt is specifically a machination of Religion.
Click to expand...
Oh, no. As you would say: I disagree.

I have one atheist parent, and this parent was quite capable of a hearty guilt trip. And eventually spent some time in therapy specifically to deal with guilt. 2 generation also.

I had a dog who clearly felt guilt - and I never tried to force any religious beliefs on him. He was free to choose himself.

I know every atheist's teeth will gnash when I say this but communist regimes and individuals also wielded guilt and shame.

Think of how many guilt trips come out of the 'godless left' as the more polite members of the religious right might refer to them.

(I do not contest and with enthusiasm note that religions have been very effective at systematizing guilt and shame. Again, it seems a human compromise based on relation dynamics.)

Do you really want to say that a necessary condition for guilt is belief in God?

but perhaps I am overreading 'specifically' in the sense of 'limited to'.
 
Last edited:
rjr6 said:
atheism does address guilt,
Click to expand...
does not!
theres no book of atheist rules telling atheists what is or isnt allowed.
how does atheism assist a person in dealing with guilt?
Click to expand...
imo everyone,(except a psychopaths maybe) knows the difference between right and wrong,how much guilt they feel for doing wrong depends on how they were brought up.
for example ,if your parents are criminals or thieves you'll most likely become a thief/criminal also and probably feel no guilt about stealing.
on the other hand, if youre brought up being honest you'll feel very guilty when doing something bad
But my question could have been stated that becoming atheist is a guilt response,
Click to expand...
guilt response to what?
I think its more of a logical conclusion in dealing with life as reality instead of fantasy,...
once you realize that god the way its defined is Imposible to exist .
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top