Atheists and Agnostics .. Also see Atheists Dilemma

The following quotes represent some of the many famous people who have supported Atheism and/or Agnosticism. I randomly selected a few. Some were solid devotees of Atheism while others were uncertain or lacking evidence and prefer the title Agnostic.




From the extreme Atheist to the moderates there is a common thread among Atheists and Agnostics. They are angry at religion and in general, a great deal of their anger would appear to be reasonable.

Root Cause Analysis of Religious History

“What Is Life is All About?” does something that potentially could have changed the view of many who advocated these “no-God” positions. One reason this may be possible is very simply these individuals or groups did not do a root cause analysis on the subject of religion. You can see from some their quotes (and I have read hundreds of similar quotes) that there is a critical emphasis on certain vicious actions of religious groups in terms of cruelty, supremacy, ridiculous doctrines, mysticism, complication and just many disturbing practices. Also in the other direction the beauty and simplicity of the truth is seldom if ever understood by these groups.

WHAT many atheists, agnostics and many others have missed

Your conclusions can be no better than your assumptions and most of the Atheist, Agnostic fundamental assumptions are incorrect. One of the important incorrect assumptions was thinking the things they observed regarding religion had something to do with God. As I have read the life’s of many of the “famous” Atheists and Agnostics there is an amazing effort expended to confirm that God does not exist. Atheists / agnostics seem to be driven by the following things:
> Religious behavior they observe now and over history
> The rules of God as seen in the bible
> The severity of God as seen in the bible
> Many scientists are unable to prove God’s existence – therefore He does not exist
You will see in many cases there is not much difference in atheists, agnostics and many of the people claiming allegiance to God. Among these atheists / agnostics there is usually also considerable arrogance especially in relation to their wisdom compared to God. That is, they assume they are much wiser than even God. God resists the proud, the wise of this world! They are failing the test simply because of there attitude. God is sorting out those to spend eternity with Him exactly the way He planned. Strangely, those who reject God with ALL THEIR WISDOM fail to see the obvious, they never even consider the possibility of God’s wisdom, God’s power and where He placed that power – His Word!

God, no God, Religion, No Religion and we have our symbols. We have our rallying points, rallying symbols. Turns out the truth does not have any symbols an there is a reason. Some may know why and it is because the truth is not from man. The truth is spiritual as God planned since Christ. Man has always wanted it to be physical. Indeed “physical” is seen in mankind’s church buildings, representations of God, ideas of physical victories, and many various symbols such as crosses, statues, and “the physical” dominates in terms of practices. It must be terribly confusing especially to those who want the truth.
Why are people Atheists?

I have read a great deal about the reasons for a person becoming an atheist. There were usually some bad religious experiences and concerns about religion’s history. On the other hand there were some good experiences and logical much less condescending discussions with atheists, agnostics. Many people look at religious groups, their strife and never-ending variations and it just does not make sense. I would have to agree.

Some standard reasons for being an Atheist are:
1) So many religions, so confusing
2) Religion equated with fear, specifically God taught as one to be feared
3) The idea of hell
4) Historically many if not all the wars and cruelty have been associated with religion
5) The seemingly never ending self-righteousness and judgmental nature that is core to so many religions.
The list is very long and generally logical.

Atheist Numbers and Growth

The first individuals to self-identify as “atheist” appeared in the 18th century although there has been much disbelief in God over mankind’s existence. Today, about 2.3% – 4.4% of the world’s population describes itself as atheist, while between 11.9% to 16.9% is described as non-theist. I will lump them to give a high of 21.3% – quite a large number.

The bar charts below show the % of Atheists, Agnostics, non- theist by country. Some countries have a high belief in God, religion like Portugal, Argentina and Kyrgyzstan with a 6% disbelief while Vietnam has the highest level of disbelief at 81%.

As usual I glean the numbers from various sources and that includes from within the ranks of disbelief as well as general sources and then do some analysis. There is quite a variance but for this “work” the numbers show a large and growing number of people who either are basically Atheist, Agnostic, or secular humanists. Interestingly the data for countries was more consistent than the overall worldwide numbers claimed especially by some Atheists. Additionally it was hard to find multiple sources reporting for all countries. One source had Italy at 6% instead of 11% as shown in this chart. That should not be surprising because people at various times admit to the disbelief and other times may not. In general this segment is growing and it may be as mentioned before that more people are openly stating they do not believe in God and others now feel more comfortable with their own admission.

The Sad Conclusion

There is much more than a difference of opinion. Of course for each individual the question of God is very important but the battle also pulls down the country. In studying the life of Hitler it was apparent that there had been an on-going hatred of the Jews among the Germans for centuries and there was much defamatory language. It was not hard for Hitler or as I mention in my book a person of another name (many people held deep hatred for the Jews) to rally non-Jewish Germans to mistreat, imprison and then murder Jews. The battle lines are drawn today and America is fighting over moral issues. Many religious groups are involved in politics instead of their mission where they could be effective. On the other side many things are exaggerated to make the Atheist points. There are claims of privilege for religion, discrimination against Atheists and threats of violence to those who challenge Christian privilege. The Christian side believes there is an attack on the principles that made America great.
The following chart provides the % of people who are of the atheist, agnostic, secular humanistic or just indicate they are non-religious.In general God is not in the equation for these people or at best could potentially be for some.

% Disbelief in God by Country

About the Chart

As usual I generate the numbers from various sources and that includes in this case from within the ranks of disbelief as well as general sources and then do the analysis. The trends and actual numbers are pretty much typical. One source had Italy at 6% instead of 11% as shown in this chart. In general the atheist segment is growing and it may be that more people are openly stating they do not believe in God and others are beginning to feel more comfortable with their own admission. Thus it can be expected atheism will continue to grow. There can be much conjecture from the data and one common conclusion is that the poorer countries have a greater belief in God than the more affluent and educated countries. This would then imply that educated people know that there is no God and superstitious people in deprived countries just accept the teachings. Of course the United States with a very low 9% is an exception. I abhor that reasoning because it is very elitist although the influence of religions admittedly has kept people to some extent in poverty and certainly in superstition. The United States had a strong religious belief in its beginnings and this has continued but has in recent decades declined.

Here is the point

People are atheists because of religion as much as any other reason. Science has not helped because they favor THEORIES that support a godless world.
As I have mentioned, winning the battle has become more important than the truth for both sides.

The sign below, “Freedom From Religion” represents an attempt to present the case for Atheism. If this helps as I believe it did in this case to get issues out on the table it is a good thing. My credo has always been the truth has nothing to fear. It is good when people debate matters and do it in a dignified manner. There is truth and there is error and some people will never change yet there is no hope of change from silence.

The real issue many times is that the fundamental problem of belief in God is related to the limitations He places on the actions of humankind – in the case of the bible. The outcome of the religious mess is often stated as, “no one tells me what to do especially some unlikely fabrication of mankind – the Bible.” In this area there is real agreement between “Christians” and Atheists in that Christians have modified what God in the Bible has taught because it caused some particular problem for them. That is one reason we have so many different groups of “Christians.” You can find a Christian church that does not cause a problem for you – well an earthly problem. I don’t know any way to say this except, “if atheists knew the real truth, many would strongly reconsider their position.”

What If?

Well what if God were real and He demanded obedience and very much limited your actions under serious eternal consequences. If you really found God to exist and let’s say be the God of the Bible would you obey Him? Most of the religious world does not obey Him. Of course as mentioned the belief that God was behind the many cruelties, wars since the first century is incorrect. It has been the religions of men who claim to speak for God. There is a big difference. The religionist weakness is that 99% do not have the truth. Just believing in God’s existence is a very long way from “having God in a meaningful way.” I would suggest the truth about life and God is needed to solve the problems of Atheists as well as the problems of Christian groups. Regardless of your belief system you need to have a deep love of the truth and be unselfish and humble.
Isn’t the Internet wonderful, I can say things like I am about to and might not have to face the projectiles of a live audience.
Here it is, I think that most every Atheist would like to believe in God; I think all men would like to know there is something better but it is not inherently a lack of evidence; everyone can see God in creation, it is not that hard. It is other “stuff” that makes someone an Atheist, Agnostic, secular Humanist and without making a list I will just suggest it is man and not God that has driven you to select your belief system.

How much do we really know for sure:

• Well we die, we know that!
• As I said I think most all people see “God” in creation – they may even say it is mother nature
• We know theories are here today and gone tomorrow like the scientists that conceived them
• Most people know that in their lifetime or even in anyone’s lifetime science will never truly (evidence) understand life or creation
• Most people know science cannot provide evidence that man is an eternal being. Science also will never prove man is NOT an eternal being.

It turns out there is a real reason for your existence.
You may never know the reason if you are an atheist or if you are a person of religion ALL BECAUSE OF RELIGION.