Are atheists afraid of judgement?

Yeah, atheism is simply non-theist/non-theism (like atypical is non-typical). Beyond rejecting theism it's pretty much a choose your own adventure. An atheist can still have beliefs regarding alien abductions and gremlins. Personally, I don't have any belief in anything supernatural as there hasn't been any evidence presented to suggest that supernatural agency exists. From Ahura Mazda to Odin to Zeus and everything in-between. Provide empirical evidence of a leprechaun with supernatural powers and rainbow transportation and I'll consider the proposition.

Originally posted by Q99
Right. There's a bunch of punishments- Judas, for example, pretty much just tripped and *exploded*- it's just most of them aren't even hinted at to be eternal.

A lot of our conception of hell came from Dante's Inferno, which is basically the most popular Bible fanfic that didn't make it into the bible.

Lol, indeed.

Originally posted by MF DELPH
How often do Christians worry about the judgement and wrath of Kali?

thread in a nutshell right here.

Originally posted by Surtur
I've also had people tell me you can't be an atheist yet believe in ghosts.

This is an interesting line of thinking, and I've encountered it as well. I think it's very hard to be an atheist and still justify beliefs in supernatural phenomena. But it's not impossible. I did it for a time, for example.

So, for me, there wasn't one moment where I became an atheist. But I distinctly remember the time I came to the conclusion that I rejected basically anything that would be considered supernatural, at least as anything other than natural phenomena that we didn't yet understand. And it was a very different realization, and months (years? I forget, tbh) later than when I became an atheist.

There was also a time when a prophet was being harassed by a mob of kids, so a pair of 'she-bears' attacked and mauled them.

What I'm saying is, per the bible, I may explode or get mauled by bears, but I'm not going to get eternally punished as long as I'm good to the poor.

I mean that mob of kids died the coolest death ever created, that has to count for something.

Now I don't like the bible but I do love me some hilariously violent cartoons based on it. Do not f*ck with Samson:

YouTube video

Seriously don't, he will murder you for your clothes just to settle a bet.

Originally posted by The MISTER
Glad I could at least make you laugh!

Maybe you think that the question was dumb but that's just an opinion of yours..You're entitled to it of course, but when I originally asked the question it was a sincere query. It's possible that someone exists that used to be an atheist and isn't anymore.

Maybe what I've done that is dumb is expecting to get a response from somebody other than people who are currently atheists, because it has become obvious that the majority of the people who post in the religion forum don't have much respect for religions in general. I've seen a lot of cynicism and mocking but maybe that's the nature of the beast. I've still enjoyed discussing this with you guys! At least you're not calling me things that I'm obviously not, slamming me with walls of heavily opinionated text, and misconstruing my statements until they're not mine anymore.

Thanks for not doing that! Seriously! 😮‍💨

Yep. "Know-it-all" atheists love to troll religious threads here on the forums. Just ignore them that's what I do.

Originally posted by Surtur
I mean that mob of kids died the coolest death ever created, that has to count for something.

Now I don't like the bible but I do love me some hilariously violent cartoons based on it. Do not f*ck with Samson:

YouTube video

Seriously don't, he will murder you for your clothes just to settle a bet.

You dare mock a Holy man who kills in God's name?!

Originally posted by Star428
Yep. "Know-it-all" atheists love to troll religious threads here on the forums. Just ignore them that's what I do.

If you think we're trolling, that's fine. But ignoring other ways of thinking makes understanding impossible. You don't have to agree with someone to understand their views or reasons for them. Adding such perspective is never a bad thing.

It's futile, Digi. He just doesn't give a shit about what others believe.

He's too busy fighting windmills.

Originally posted by Adam Grimes
It's futile, Digi. He just doesn't give a shit about what others believe.

He's too busy fighting windmills.

Well, probably. But where actually going point by point has failed, perhaps a more general appeal will help to to broaden the scope of his understanding. I don't see him post much anymore except to snipe like that, so I try to meet it with as much gentility as I can muster.

Originally posted by Digi
So, for me, there wasn't one moment where I became an atheist. But I distinctly remember the time I came to the conclusion that I rejected basically anything that would be considered supernatural, at least as anything other than natural phenomena that we didn't yet understand. And it was a very different realization, and months (years? I forget, tbh) later than when I became an atheist.

This sound like you reading Mr. Terrific on JSA comics.

Originally posted by The MISTER
Maybe what I've done that is dumb is expecting to get a response from somebody other than people who are currently atheists

You asked a question about what atheists specifically believe, but then want answers from people who aren't atheists? So what you really wanted was for people who share your personal religious views to just parrot your claims about a group they aren't even a part of? Basically you were hoping for some religious people to come in here and say "Yes, those damn atheists. All just in denial about their own fear of judgment", instead of wanting to hear what they actually believe.

I'm not even an atheist (I'd probably fall closer to agnostic myself. Humanity is way too damn stupid to ever discover a genuine answer about higher beings IMO, and I am 100% ok with that), but this thread was flat-out dumb.

👆 @ Vault. I don't mind the initial question, but even after receiving answers from numerous people that debunked his views, he continued with his pursuit of a single narrative.

Originally posted by Bentley
This sound like you reading Mr. Terrific on JSA comics.

Lol. I'm a big (pre-DCnU) JSA fan. Terrific was a great character. But the fact that he and I have similar stances on the supposed supernatural is coincidental. There's also the huge difference in our experiences. Whereas Mr. Terrific lives in a universe with explicitly supernatural phenomena, making his stance a touch more curious, we live in one where evidence for the supernatural is sketchy at best, nonexistent at worst, and everything we do know is based on a causal understanding of the physical forces of our universe.

The MISTER
Glad I could at least make you laugh!

Maybe you think that the question was dumb but that's just an opinion of yours..You're entitled to it of course, but when I originally asked the question it was a sincere query. It's possible that someone exists that used to be an atheist and isn't anymore.

Hm, sounds like you might be looking for lapsed or formerly lapsed religious people....

To the people who were never religious, you'll mostly get answers like you've seen here. The 'fear of judgement of god' simply isn't part of their framework. And a number of formerly religious people similarly don't currently have it as part of their framework.

Originally posted by Digi

Lol. I'm a big (pre-DCnU) JSA fan. Terrific was a great character. But the fact that he and I have similar stances on the supposed supernatural is coincidental. There's also the huge difference in our experiences. Whereas Mr. Terrific lives in a universe with explicitly supernatural phenomena, making his stance a touch more curious, we live in one where evidence for the supernatural is sketchy at best, nonexistent at worst, and everything we do know is based on a causal understanding of the physical forces of our universe.

Though it's not that he rejects the existence of the Spectre, magic, etc., he just thinks there's physics-based explanations.

And considering science has things like Green Lanterns (powers: Pretty much whatever you can think of) in the universe, there is an argument there.

Originally posted by Digi
👆 @ Vault. I don't mind the initial question, but even after receiving answers from numerous people that debunked his views, he continued with his pursuit of a single narrative.

Lol. I'm a big (pre-DCnU) JSA fan. Terrific was a great character. But the fact that he and I have similar stances on the supposed supernatural is coincidental. There's also the huge difference in our experiences. Whereas Mr. Terrific lives in a universe with explicitly supernatural phenomena, making his stance a touch more curious, we live in one where evidence for the supernatural is sketchy at best, nonexistent at worst, and everything we do know is based on a causal understanding of the physical forces of our universe.

For instance we know in the comic world there are Universe creators and beings that can create and destroy life on a whim.

Therefore religion is a much more rational thing to engage in because there really is a self proclaimed god that can unmake you if you don't follow their tenets and doctrines.

Are atheists afraid of judgment?

Yes. But only the ones who post on KMC. peaches

Originally posted by Q99
Though it's not that he rejects the existence of the Spectre, magic, etc., he just thinks there's physics-based explanations.

And considering science has things like Green Lanterns (powers: Pretty much whatever you can think of) in the universe, there is an argument there.

Yeah, I think Terrific is technically sustaining a reasonable position. Sure there are absurdly powerful entities out there that claim to be gods, but power doesn't make things right.

I can see how most atheist wouldn't be as deeply convinced of a physical explanation to everything if miracles were abound though.

Originally posted by Digi
👆 @ Vault. I don't mind the initial question, but even after receiving answers from numerous people that debunked his views, he continued with his pursuit of a single narrative.

I agree. The topic itself would be fine if the OP was genuinely interested in discussing the question and hearing and acknowledging various viewpoints. But it does not seem to be the case at all. Seems more a case of them pushing their own interpretation of things, regardless of what other people say.

It'd be like me creating a thread titled "Do people start believing in a higher power and afterlife because they fear their own end?" and then pushing my personal opinion on the matter while refusing to consider other points of view.

Originally posted by Bentley
Yeah, I think Terrific is technically sustaining a reasonable position. Sure there are absurdly powerful entities out there that claim to be gods, but power doesn't make things right.

I can see how most atheist wouldn't be as deeply convinced of a physical explanation to everything if miracles were abound though.

They can casually go through time, go faster than light, or just create matter from nothing in some cases.

Of course the simple explanation I guess would be that their universe is governed by different physical laws than our own. Or the there is the tried and true method of explaining all of it as science we do not understand yet.

Originally posted by Newjak
The problem is that most of these insanely powerful beings can break the laws of physics as we know them to point where it doesn't make sense.

They can casually go through time, go faster than light, or just create matter from nothing in some cases.

Of course the simple explanation I guess would be that their universe is governed by different physical laws than our own. Or the there is the tried and true method of explaining all of it as science we do not understand yet.

And to boot, a number of these powerful beings don't claim to be gods or magic.

So there's mixed messages.

I wouldn't try to read into it too much, interesting as the discussion might be. It's comics, after all. Inconsistencies abound. While there is definitely some nuance to his position, if I were in DC, with Terrific's experience, I probably wouldn't be calling myself an atheist.

Also, lol, screw you Dudemon. crackers