Three reasons why it pays off to be an atheist, and one why it doesn't

Being atheist is a state that leads to its own negation and destruction. Perhaps not in one lifetime, perhaps you'll die an atheist. But wait until you get born again!
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Not really a problem if there is no life after death, as most atheists believe.
 
swarm said:
A good god will not punish you for having the courage of your convictions.

An evil god like the xtian one, you are better off in hell.
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good point IF your God is rational like YOU... I was thinking of a Trelane -like God... which may be closer to the truth :)
 
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Beliefs can be founded or non-founded. Atheists here seem to be adopting a Page from Religion in assuming that Things are Exactly the way in which they have their Faith. But people need to be right about things, or their beliefs and faith are quite off to the side of it, no?

Anyway, as regarding Atheists, they can be perfectly RIGHT about having no Life after Death and still SUFFER for Eternity. Think of this, that the LAST LIVING MOMENT of the Brain CREATES an ETERNAL MOMENT of PERCEPTIVE TIME for the Person... well maybe not Eternal, but a Subjectively VERY LONG Time. Just read a bit about NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCES. These are from people who did not even die ALL THE WAY.

What if the DEATH EXPERIENCE for immoral sonofbitch atheists is qualitatively VERY BAD. What if the DEATH FLASH presents SUBJECTIVELY a VERY PROTRACTED EXPERIENCE of, well, VINDICTIVE GET-YOU-BACK- YOU-EVIL- ASSHOLE... where you experience again and again and again the moral repurcussions of having lived a greedy amoral existence.

James R said:
Not really a problem if there is no life after death, as most atheists believe.
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Even if there's no life after death, there MUST be punishment for those who don't believe in your absurdity.
Perhaps your last eternal moment will be the realization you wasted so much time, effort, emotion, etc in desperate, futile absurdity & influenced others to waste their lives hassling people.
Perhaps a million things but either the brain dies or it doesn't & we live on or we don't. If the brain dies & there's no soul to live on, there's nothing to suffer.
I've read more than a bit about NDEs & found nothing to indicate any possibility of your scenario.
What if a million things. What if it's evil immoral theists who go to hell? What if your mirror finally shows the true you?
Some atheists may or may not have faith concerning some things. Being atheist doesn't make 1 perfect. There is absolutely no faith involved in lacking a belief in your callous cruel shameless sadistic amoral abusive absurd god.
1111
 
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Leo Volont said:
What if the DEATH FLASH presents SUBJECTIVELY a VERY PROTRACTED EXPERIENCE of, well, VINDICTIVE GET-YOU-BACK- YOU-EVIL- ASSHOLE... where you experience again and again and again the moral repurcussions of having lived a greedy amoral existence.
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Not a problem if you're a moral atheist.
 
Pascal's wager is flawed. One reason is that it assumes you lose nothing by believing in a God who doesn't exist. Many would argue that in fact you are then spending lots of time and effort worrying about something that isn't real - which most people would put down as a negative.

Thus, Pascal's wager, properly evaluated, leads to two "wins" and two "losses", not 3 wins and 1 loss as commonly described.
 
James R said:
Pascal's wager is flawed. One reason is that it assumes you lose nothing by believing in a God who doesn't exist. Many would argue that in fact you are then spending lots of time and effort worrying about something that isn't real - which most people would put down as a negative.
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Science is guilty of worrying about things that aren't real too (e.g. plate tectonics, peak oil, anthropogenic global warming, etc). And religion doesn't have to be that way. The only time I waste on religion is defending the First Cause and "Big Bang" cosmology even though I'm beginning to have grave doubts about Big Bang cosmology. However I see plate tectonics preachers and oil salesmen waste more time on meaningless words than Muslims at prayer. And I hear atheists preaching more than theists.

Thus, Pascal's wager, properly evaluated, leads to two "wins" and two "losses", not 3 wins and 1 loss as commonly described.
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Can you say more please?
 
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Leo Volont said:
Atheists make out like Bandits and CRIME does PAY.
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Xtians make up 76.5 - 78.5% of the general population and 80% of the prison population.

Atheists make up 9% of the general population and 0.21% of the prison population.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_the_United_States http://www.adherents.com/largecom/com_atheist.html and report from Denise Golumbaski Fed. Bureau of Prisons)

Xtians are over represented in the criminal population.

Atheists are very under represented in the criminal population.

Xtians like you Leo.
 
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swarm said:
Xtians make up 76.5 - 78.5% of the general population and 80% of the prison population.

Atheists make up 9% of the general population and 0.21% of the prison population.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_the_United_States http://www.adherents.com/largecom/com_atheist.html and report from Denise Golumbaski Fed. Bureau of Prisons)

Xtians are over represented in the criminal population.

Atheists are very under represented in the criminal population.

Xtians like you Leo.
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Doesn't that assume that all atheists are "out"?


Other, more qualitative, indicators of prejudice also point to widespread hostility towards atheists, even as compared to other relatively unpopular groups. For example, despite considerable antagonism towards homosexuals in many quarters, there have been quite a few openly gay members of Congress, including even some conservative Republican ones such as Rep. Jim Kolbe and Rep. Steve Gunderson. By contrast, there has never been, to my knowledge, even one openly unbelieving congressman or senator, despite the fact that atheists and agnostics are roughly 3% of the population (about the same as the percentage of gays, and a bit larger than the percentage of Jews). Nor has there ever been an openly atheist president, vice-president, governor, Supreme Court Justice, or member of the Cabinet. While I certainly would not argue that justice requires proportional representation of atheists in these bodies, the absence of even one open atheist in high political office is still striking.
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http://volokh.com/posts/1144075320.shtml
 
SAM said:
Doesn't that assume that all atheists are "out"?
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Only the specific numbers, not the general observation.

It's demographically biased, though, by race, family income, and mother's education.
 
So if there are no atheists in politics, does that say anything about the inability of athiests to govern?
 
OilIsMastery said:
Science is guilty of worrying about things that aren't real too (e.g. plate tectonics, peak oil, anthropogenic global warming, etc).
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You're heading off on your usual tangent here. You're off topic.

Can you say more pelase?
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I thought you knew what Pascal's wager was. Are you asking me to explain it to you?
 
SAM said:
So if there are no atheists in politics, does that say anything about the inability of athiests to govern?
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In the US, it says quite a bit about the inability of professed atheists to get elected.

What that has to do with the ability to govern, I leave to you. I've noticed even the dictator of Korea has found deity to be a very handy concept for those in his line of work.
 
And the low percentage of professed atheists in prison? What does that tell you?
 
S.A.M. said:
And the low percentage of professed atheists in prison? What does that tell you?
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1. Atheists are good people who don't commit many crimes.

OR

2. Atheists turn to god when they go to prison.

OR

3. Atheists in prison pretend to be theists.

OR

...?
 
All of the above :)

In 2003 Lawtey Correctional Institution in Lawtey, Florida, was transformed from a regular prison to one welcoming inmates who seek a religious life. (AP/Wide World Photos)

Inmates seek religion in prison for various reasons. Some hope to gain a sense of direction and purpose in their lives, peace of mind, a safe haven from the rest of the prison population, to meet other inmates with similar interests, have access to prison resources or special privileges, or to influence parole considerations. Because of the last reason, prisoners involved in religious activities are frequently met with skepticism or distrust from prison staff and other inmates.

Indeed some inmates have used the religious activities as an opportunity to pass contraband (forbidden items) in prison, such as weapons, foods, or drugs. Many skeptics believe some inmates are simply looking for an early parole. Instances where former inmates who were active in religious activities while in prison commit further offenses after release add further support to these feelings. However studies have shown that the more active an inmate is in religion in prison, the less likely he will be a repeat offender after release.
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http://law.jrank.org/pages/12108/Moral-Religious-Influences-Practicing-religion-in-prison.html
 
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