Drop Prism

Drop Prism

Do you think we hate god?

Usually Atheists want to believe in a life after death. It's not our vendetta against christians to prove god doesn't exist. We want answers and truth. When one asks "why do we have rainbows", we don't want "because god made them". We want answers like "because the little water drops create a prism from the refaction and reflection of the suns light". We can accept that a divine being created the universe and what's in it but we cannot accept pety answers with little or no supporting information.

That is the point of atheism; Knowledge.

Actually, I applaud most atheist because it is their quest to seek the TRUTH.

As a Christian, I believe the Truth to be that God exists, but I didn't just wake up one day and say to myself "okay, I think I will believe in God because my difficult questions are to hard to answer, so, I am just going to go on "faith" and believe a God exists." If only it were that easy....

The spiritual life, despite what many say, is a CONSTANT struggle and by no means an easy path. Similar to atheism, we too are seeking Truth. There are many people who go on blind faith alone, and for some, it works for them. But for others who have the thirst to know more, it is through constant discernment, education and philosophy that we seek God.

It would be foolish to think that a devout person never doubted their faith. In fact, by doubting, it can lead the way to more spiritual growth because that person has the desire to learn more and is unsatisfied with a trivial answer.

I think the animosity (as sometimes seen here on yahoo answers) stems from people NOT being open to the truth or really listening to the "other sides" argument.
If one truly has a strong belief, whether it be there is a God or isn't, all the more reason they should be open to hearing the other person.
I also think the animosity stems from not being secure with themselves and their beliefs. There are still millions of questions out there on both sides of the spectrum that have still yet to be "answered." When one is challenged against their belief and they are not secure themselves, a lot of times their reaction is to get angry and upset at the opposition because they feel threatened.
This isn't to say someone who gets angry is not on the right path, because it can be many years before one becomes secure and/or mature enough to handle a debate or challenges.

I agree by just saybg "because God made it" is a very weak argument. So, when it comes to questions like "why do we have rainbows," the logical answer is "well, when sunlight hits the raindrops, it creats a prism, etc..." There is a logical answer to everything that exists, but is there more to what exists than simply its physical presence? And what about proof? Proof is very important for many people and when it comes to spiritual beliefs, the proofs can be very different for each individual. For example:

Let's say we are having a conversation in a park together and no one is around. You go an tell someone I said "XYZ." How do you prove that I said "XYZ?" There is no way to prove it. You know the answer and you firmly believe it because you were there and you heard me say "XYZ" but no one else heard it, so, for anyone else, you telling them I said "XYZ" is just hearsay. You cannot make anyone else believe for a fact what you experienced and no one can make you change your mind that I said "XYZ."

This is often what faith is like. For me, I have very specific and personal reasons why I believe God exists. I could tell someone the reasons until I am blue in the face, but I can never make them experience or believe what happened to me. I can also use logic and reasoning to explain why I believe in God, but unless the person listening is open to hearing the reasons, it is futile. So, likewise, I can say, "the point" of religion is to aquire knowledge - the knowledge of God.

So, what is "the point" of my long winded spiel? I honestly feel saddened that you, and other athiests, feel that all of us "believers" think you hate God or feel we dislike you in some way. Actually, it would be impossible for a true atheist to hate God because they don't believe He exists. You can't hate someone who doesn't exists. I also think it's great that you are not satisfied and you seek answers that makes sense. It means you have a strong will and a desire for knowledge which are both great things. The trouble comes in when people (again on both sides) become arrogant in their beliefs and start thinking that one is better than the other. That's the trap that both sides can easily fall into and is also the trap that leads to a LOT of problems.

So, again, believer or atheist, the goal is the same - Truth