How can you be an atheist?

See, I think you're partly right. It's true God can't be disprove but at the same time by science He can't be concretely proven because of all the proof against. But science is not 99.99999999% because the ordered and controlled way we have been studying the world conflicts the chaotic way it functions - hence theories of stochasticity and quantum science which often doesn't reach textbooks. Thus, it doesn't make sense to rule out any option.

So you’re not ruling out santa, fairies, unicorns, hoccuspuccuism or the seven headed snakemonster that COULD benliving under your bed and be the creator of the universe?

Good. You spend your time on the infinite number of alternative explanations, none of which have any evidence backing them, while I spend my time basing my life on logic, reason and evidence, beacuse logic, reason and evidence (=science) is the method that has so far explained everything I’venever encountered.

You go drop a stone from the top of your roof. Perform it one trillion times. If, on even one of those one trillion times the stone falls on any other speed and acceleration than it should according to the laws of science, do tell me. You’re performing the important task of considering the possibility that science might be wrong and that the stone could, according instead to the laws of hoccuspoccuism(that’s the 2nd law of hoccuspoccuism) fly in the air and turn into a unicorn that’s going to send the whole world into nirvana.

most people have lost da wae thats why

You clearly don't properly know what an agnostic is, an agnostic isn't a solitary term to describe what you believe in, it's a term that's paired with either theism or atheism. For example, there are agnostic atheists and gnostic atheists, similarly there are agnostic theists and gnostic theists. And to answer your question, we lack the evidence to believe in a specific God. Simple as that.

The problem of evil is a real problem for me. I used to be a Christian but now I’m really not so sure due to the incohérences and constant contradictions. I respect your choice to be a Christian and have no problem with people believing in a God but it just doesn’t sit comfortably with me anymore

People tend to choose science because there has been more instances where religion has brought about dissatisfaction and intolerance than any other ‘belief’ system.
The existence of Holy Wars and the idea that religions such as Islam and Christianity have actively informed through spiritual reading the ideologies of men overpowering women, women being a product of ownership, rape/sexual coercion, children as gifts/products, intolerance of homosexuals (and even the stoning or torturing of them even though they claim peace), etc etc.
Science, although often balancing between scientific discovery and discovery of potential harm, does arguably not endorse such ideologies which have been the root causes of many crimes, criminal tendencies and incidences of warfare in the past.
For example, as much as people say those who partake in Islamic terrorism are not true believers of Islam, their fundamentals all stem from Sharia Law and the testimonies within the Qu’ran, which is a holy book central to the Islamic faith. So in that same sentence it could be argued that both their law and book of spiritual faith have root causes that DO lead to people acting on their ‘behalf’, whether it is somewhat distorted or not.
It has never originated from science however.

So few people seem to know what agnosticism is.

"Humans cannot know the existence of anything beyond the phenomena of their experience."

Cited from Encyclopaedia Britannica

Technically agnosticism doesn't exist as a category like Atheism and Theism.

Linguistics - that's a nice answer and makes sense actually. However, I do believe that there's less harm at the end to keep an open mind than to completely close your eyes as scientists should

The reasons I think people should have a genuine reason to be religious: having a symbolic connection to it (e.g. family and the religion are closely intertwined), using it to help give them a moral construct to feel more secure with their decisions on a day to day basis, using it as a recreational activity (e.g. going to church to socialise and unite a community), getting a sense of connection to another being (imaginary or not) while simultaneously reflecting upon oneself's day to day stresses and hopes etc...

The reasons NOT to be religious in the 21st century: to understand the universe and its workings. That was the main appeal of many religions in history, now that's not the case and in my humble opinion if you believe god created the Earth in a few days because the bible says then something isn't right. I'm not stereotyping, but that type of Christian is abundant - and in 1st world nations with good access to an education - I'd have some serious questions to ask from these individuals (except the ones sadly not fortunate enough to receive an education ofc).

When I read this I get the feeling people confuse their reasons for being religious and what the purpose of it is for in a modern day society. If you believe in a god, believe in him because it gives you hope for your life and future or take symbolic lessons from the stories they tell, not because you actually believe Noah built an arc that was filled with 2 of every species from across the world.

We need to stop confusing science (definite), scientific THEORY (not yet concrete) and the teachings of religious texts and their function..

This isn't to start fights, I generally want to know. I understand being agnostic but it doesn't make sense to me that anyone can be just plain atheist.

Until science proves everything concretely, it doesn't really prove anything. I'm not denouncing science - I love it! I'm a biochem a level student and I wanna study medicine.

But I don't think it has all the answers - personally, I think the bible has all the answers which get proved through science.

Anyways, I could go on forever but I actually wanna know opinions!

Okay. But see I like that. That's a nice stance to be - open to the idea of a higher power and not completely closed off. I'm not closed to science as a Christian as I believe that science is a gift of God. I do think that science can give proof to Christianity just as much as it disproves it but science isn't the almighty to me. Still I like your stance on things.

A lot of the things written in the bible were contextual - for example, wearing different fabrics had to do with the way they used to dress and ties with paganism. And womanly submission does not equate to sexism as we're all equally precious in God's eyes. However, even if you didn't believe in Christianity, surely just ruling God out is a bit much?

I'm also alarmed by that statement. I can confirm NOT ALL CHRISTIANS believe 'homosexuality is a sin'.


True, but you make it out as though science condones such a thing?!?! Science is science, it doesn't have a moral stantpoint and therefore people use religious texts to get one. Sorry but you have it all so confused by the looks of it.

scientists are the ones who must keep their eyes open at all times. They are the ones trying to find out new things about the universe and how it works; science is driven by curiosity and an open mind. That's how discoveries are made... closed eyes are completely detrimental to science !!

BTW thanks for this thread i love this kind of stuff!