Well, I can't speak for every athiest, but I can speak for me. To me, God is just something that people have created to help answer questions and give meaning to things that we don't know the answer to because people just aren't content at not knowing. I think life is just a sequence of random events that leads to everything. I am by no means arrogant enough to proclaim I know even a tiny bit about how everything came to be, where it all started, when it will end etc. But for me, religion is just more wishful thinking than anything else

There's really nothing to learn. Atheism is simply the absence of a belief in god(s). There is no way to consolidate the beliefs of a group of people with this one trivial characteristic. Just look at Boredasmustard's response. She immediately noted that she couldn't speak for anyone except herself.

Here's my second answer, after you clarified your stance in my first answer's comment box. So here are my own beliefs. On gods' existence: There aren't any arguments that are strong enough to justify believing in a god. Just because the universe seems infinitely complex and mysterious does not warrant arbitrarily attributing that to an invisible, intangible being, regardless of how old your religions' sacred texts are. On religion: Because there are so many, only one can be right. And for the claim that the globe's many religions essentially represent a single foundation for the praise of God, that belief would be blasphemous according to each established religion. It's obviously no coincidence that people overwhelmingly tend to be of the faith that they are raised in, so I consider the individual's choice of religion to be socially-mandated rather than reason-motivated. And I go where reason goes. On life: Atheists, like people of any religion, have consciences. Doing wrong to another person doesn't warrant punishment in an afterlife, but it still weighs on the conscience. Therefore their code of ethics is not unlike anyone else's.

My understanding of religions (and there are quite a few) is that they all have a common denominator - they all have some form of afterlife, be it Heaven, reincarnation, Nirvanha or whatever. They all promise a further existence after this one. As a famous British author Kingley Amis once said, "religion is for the immature" i.e. those who don't want to accept that when they die that's it. People invent or embrace religion with no proof of its reality because they need this belief.

technically, I'm not an aetheist, nor am I anything else. I have my own ideas and beliefs. I realize that everything has a beginning and an end. therefore there must have been something that created everything, some omnipotent being. You call it God, I see that as a title and not a name. I am still trying to find answers because I'm not the kind who is content with the whole ignorance is bliss crap. Yes I've been told by many people "you're going to hell, blah, blah, blah." In all honesty, I'd rather go to hell then to their boring heven. (or if the norse myths are true, then valhalla would be fun. (emphisis on IF.))

The secret word is "atheist"...not "aetheist". Belief that there is no God. Can't comment, as I am a deist.

Atheist, first off. And, as for me, I beleive that there is no God/deity of any form, that it was merely created by early man to explian all things. As for life... well, I'm afarid I don't understand enough of what you mean. It's concshisnouses(spelling is horrid, but it's twelve at night so smite me, please) it's... not death. o-o

Most Atheists believe humans created Deity in their image to explain things beyond their comprehension.

God does not exist. Life sometimes sucks. Deal with it.

I was over seventy before I could release myself from the guilt caused by being brought up a Catholic. I was a Catholic child because my parent's made me that way. I find it horrendous that my local C of E Church has a sign which says: "This church considers that all babies are born in sin and they must be baptised before they are whole." How dare they? The Jesuists say "Give me the boy till he's seven, and I'll give you the man." Exactly. This is child abuse in my opinion. I could not accept - at first - that a book called "The God Delusion" had actually been published. I read it and realised I had been deluded all my adult life. What a tragedy. What could I have achieved had I not been swamped with guilt? There is no god, no heaven or hell, no angels or devils. Human beings are all we have to save each other. My website has The Reality Quiz which you might like to try (www.freespiritwriters.me.uk). Answer correctly and I guarantee you will never need god (or even God) again. I bet my list of what is wrong with life (disease, poverty, wars, murder, rape etc.) easily outweighs claims that G/god loves us. Human beings must stop warring and learn to love each other, or as a race we die out. We seem to be doing our best on this score. I wish you peace and comfort in your life.

Atheists only have one viewpoint towards your god: that he/she doesn't exist. Other than that, there's nothing else to know except that we don't like having your voodoo shoved down our throats

Towards which god? I guess your parents also never taught you that there are hundreds or thousands of gods and that every culture claims that there is the real one and the bestest

It is amazing to me that so many apparently intelligent people feel they need to believe in a supernatural being which, having created them, controls their life and whom they have to worship - or go to eternal damnation. In the benighted Middle Ages the church made a nice living by exploiting this brainless attitude, which was based only on fear of the unknown and the 'unexplainable'. Whoever posed the question (above) in the first instance needs to be reassured that there are millions of good people living good lives, who have no need of religion and the nonsense it peddles. So join the club and enjoy your life!

It is important to realize that 'Atheist' is not a grouping of near identical thinking people. There is no set of dogma about what Atheists believe. There is really only ONE thing atheists have in common, they do not believe in God(s). Every other opinion or belief we may have is irrelevant to the label 'Atheist' So any answer I give here is personal, MY viewpoint towards God and life, rather than: Atheists viewpoint towards God and life, that generic Atheist simply does not exist. What i think: Any anthropomorphic God raises 100 times more questions than it answers. eg: How could a sole and single god have emotions like anger. pride, love and jealousy ? All of these emotion needs somebody else to exist and to be the target of the emotion. In Genesis God even talk to himself, where did he get the idea of communication ? how could he possibly invent a language to talk in without first having a notion of 'somebody else' ? regards JakobA

I am an atheist. I know there is no god, no life after death, no magical intervention to create or sustain any life form. Control freaks invent gods as a tool to bend people to their will for their benefit (look how much better the pope and bishops live than the rest of the believers).

My lack of belief comes from too many contradictions in life. For instance, we're all god's children right? So when it comes to judgement day, and for arguments sake we say that Christians are right, does that mean that all Muslims, Buddhists, Mormons, etc are destined for hell? Is that a godly way to act? Also contradictions in the bible. 'Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth' or 'Turn the other cheek'? I also think that it's somewhat coincidental that the Christian religion developed as the Roman Empire imposed itself on the world. Religion is a great way to control masses saying "If you don't follow us, you'll go to hell". It wouldn't suprise me if the romans created christianity purely to impose their control over people. If I was going to follow any kind of religion, I would be looking Paganism where they worship real things like the sun and the moon and focus energies that are also real.

Do your own research and read up. Here's a good start, http://www.whywontgodhealamputees.com/ I happen to agree with the vast majority of it, but in no way does it cover all of how I believe.

My own belief is that most religions were invented by ignorant men (and we are all, and always, ignorant men) in order to get a leg up on even more ignorant men. That is, if I can make you believe that I have "special knowledge" that you don't have, and that you need, then all of a sudden I have gained some power over you and anyone else I can so convince. This is why, for example, most religions are surrounded by mystery and why they have often eschewed science, literacy and the study of logic: these things impinge on the mystery. The deeper and more mysterious the religion, the more powerful the priest. It's that simple.

Atheism is the default state. Every baby is born with no knowledge of gods, devils, ghosts, or other invisible spirits. Such nonsense comes from well-meaning parents and preachers who think they're doing the right thing and saving the kid's "immortal soul," whatever the hell that is.   As a consequence, we continue to produce ignorant, gullible, quasi-adults who hold their faith (a euphemism for collective hallucination) above knowledge.   Atheism, therefore, is not the rejection of an existing god. It's an acknowledgment that there never was a god in the first place.  

I was born an atheist -- back when I was a kid, religion simply wasn't brought up or discussed.

My view towards god is similar to your view of the Easter bunny. cute story but pure fiction.

Religion is learned. (or brainwashed into you) Period.

I am an atheist because my grandmother abhorred vanity in all it's forms. What could be more vain than declaring some omnipotent being capable of creating the universe has nothing better to do than to watch to make sure you don’t touch yourself down there?

I am an atheist because I have never seen any evidence for deities. If anyone can show me even a single example of any event which absolutely violates the natural laws of the universe, I would be willing to re-evaluate my position. However, that has never happened. As far as life is concerned, I live my life with the assumption that it is the only life I will ever have. I try to treat people well, cause no harm, and enjoy myself to the best of my ability.

Simple really. Atheists don't believe in gods. Think of how you probably feel about Thor, Ahura Mazda, Quatzecoatal, and any of the thousands of other gods currently or once worshiped and you'll know how we feel about Yahweh. As for life, I'm not sure what you are asking. Life certainly exists while god(s) almost certainly doesn't. It began in some process that we can only theorize about looking for evidence to support those theories. Maybe we will find out with high confidence how it began and maybe not. In either case, it was a natural process that didn't need help from magic of any kind. +5

No God, know Peace. Life is what you make of it.

Mine is basically this..Religion=fake nonsense Atheism=Real world Atheists don't normally go around telling anyone they will burn in hell or anywhere else and don't promise anything other than god(s) don't exist. Religions on the other hand promise the moon, stars and sun as heaven. Now which makes more sense?

If you were taught about religion as you were growing up, then you should already know enough to be atheist.

I am an atheist and against a superman God. Most of the time perception of God is making people not to believe it. God is omnipotent, omnipresent and formless. It resides within you and understanding the self or self realization will make you believe in this concept. Seeking truth is life and gaining knowledge to understand the ultimate truth. There is only one God and it is formless, so visualize it in whichever way you want. Be it Sun (energy) or Moon (light) or whatever. Get help from enlightened people (say Budha, Muhammed, Jesus, or a Guru or swami or many others) if you need to understand more about it. The right master understood God better than you...