NoBull.ws - Frequently Asked Questions

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On the Origin of Species

by Charles Darwin

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Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Since you're an atheist and atheists have no morals, will you be posting some dirty jokes on this site? Or don't you have a sense of humor either?
A. No, there will be no "dirty jokes" on this site. I've just begun a joke page, though. See Giggles. But the jokes will all be "clean" enough for your grandmother or your granddaughter.

But where did you get the idea that atheists have no morals?

Q. Obviously atheists have no morals, since morals come from God, and atheists reject God.
A. What evidence do you have that morals can only "come from God?"

Q. Because without God's commandments and a fear of punishment, there would be no reason for people to be moral.
A. I disagree with you. Many people are moral because we choose to be moral. We choose to be moral because we see that it is good for those we love, for society in general, and (at least in the long run) even for ourselves.

I'll admit that my moral code may be a little different from yours, because it's based on what I see as good for people. Yours may be based on what you think your god wants. But we can probably agree that morality includes such things as honesty, kindness, loyalty, and thoughtfulness, while avoiding such things as murder, stealing, slavery, cruelty, and greed. Just for a few examples.

Q. Where do atheists go when they die.
A. Most of us go into a hole in the ground. Personally, I hope to be cremated and used to fertilize some wild flowers by a Texas roadside.

Q. No, I mean where does your soul or spirit go?
A. What soul or spirit?

Q. Never mind. What proof do you have that god does not exist?
A. None.

Q. Then why do you claim there is no God?
A. I don't.

Q. Then why do you call yourself an atheist?
A. Because I don't believe in any god.

Q. Aren't you contradicting yourself?
A. Of course not.

Q. Then what do you claim about God?
A. Actually, I try very hard to remember not to claim there is no god; although I admit I've occasionally slipped up on this. What I intend to claim is this:

I know of no convincing evidence that any god of any kind exists or ever existed.
There seems to be plenty of evidence the god described in either the Bible or the Qur'an was never more than a figment of the imagination. Like Zeus or Quetzalcoatl. See To Save a Mockingbird and Saved in the Nick of Time! for more.
If any other god worthy of the name exists, he/she/it seems to stay pretty well hidden and aloof from humanity.
So if there's a god, it doesn't seem to matter. For all practical purposes, he/she/it does not appear to exist.

Q. So, basically you're just saying it's your opinion there's no God?
A. Exactly, and I explain the reasons for my opinion on several pages of this site.

Q. Haven't you heard that opinions are like armpits? Everybody has one or two, and most of them stink.
A. Yes, I've been told that before.

Q. Then why do you have the stinking opinion that God isn't real?
A. Why do you have the stinking opinion that he/she/it is real?

Q. Why do you hate God?
A. I don't hate God. How could I hate your imaginary invisible friend?

Q. If there's no God, where did the universe come from?
A. It beats me! Did I ever claim to know everything? I have a friend who once told me, "A lot of things happen that I can't understand, so I just figure God did them." Well, a lot of things happen that I don't understand, either. But I just figure I don't know enough to understand them yet. Maybe I'll understand some of them sometime. One of the questions that bothers me is, where did your god come from?

Q. Did you make up these questions yourself?
A. Certainly not! Well, not all of them, anyway.

This page was last updated 08/21/09 04:43 PM.

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