Hello Pat,
An unusual question, I’d not seen the one of Darwinist’s you linked to, might go and answer it if I have time later.
I’m an atheist but I accept that anyone is entitled to their religious opinions and I would never knock anyone for them. For me it’s about evidence and I’m sorry but I haven’t seen anything to back up the claims made by the different religions, I do however see a lot of evidence for things such as the big bang and evolution.
One thing that kind of annoys me is the way religion keeps changing it’s mind. For example, when Darwin first published his theory of evolution it was widely accepted by Christians, they stated that it provided more evidence for the existence of God as only He could have engineered something so incredibly complicated. What they did reject was the idea that animals could be locked in a battle for survival, their argument being that God wouldn’t allow animals to fight, to starve, to suffer etc.
As for why an atheist would care about global warming, I fail to see the connection here.
From my own personal perspective, then global warming isn’t something of much concern, I live in a country that would benefit from a bit of warming (right about now would be nice). I’m far more concerned about the impacts on other people. I spend a lot of time in parts of the world that are most affected by global warming, where it is having a massive impact on the lives of millions of people – I’m much more concerned about them than about me.
Might come back and edit this, but for now, got to go.
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You already go wrong in your very first sentence. Do you reject any theory of human existence simply because you do not believe in Zeus, Thor, [fill in any god you do not believe in]? Of course not. There is a Scientific Theory (not to be confused with a normal theory) of human existence; where we come from, how life evolved, etc., etc. That is more than sufficient 'theory' for me, much more satisfying and above all convincing than any of the often laughable claims in religious books.
Atheism simply is the rejection of the existence of a god; any god.
Though it is not a particular condition for being an atheist, you'll find that more often than not atheists 'put more faith' (pun intended) in Science than in deities.
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You profoundly misunderstand Science Pat and how it works. Unlike religion, Science does not claim it knows everything; there's still large holes in our scientific understanding of lots of things, among them how 'something could have been created out of nothing' which is how theists regularly describe it.
As an atheist and a person with a fully functioning brain, I prefer decades of testable and repeatable science from multiple disciplines to answer the Big Questions of life, despite the fact that there are still big chunks of info missing, over the things described in some old book, how appealing the latter may be.
Returning to your original question "Why does an Athiest care about Global Warming?":
Because it is Science, decades of it, with multiple lines of evidence which all point that a) the world is warming at an increasing rate, b) that it is mostly man-made and, last but not least, c) that something needs to be done about it to avoid climatic changes with profound effects on all we have dear.
Google to get the correct definition and correct spelling of "atheist."
People have all sorts of reasons for caring or not caring about global warming (the scientific truth about the significance of fossil fuel burning to it, and the risks to our economy of not diversifying to other energy sources OR the anti-science lies about it spread by the fossil fuel industry and its fronts).
There have been a ton of past questions here that fairly well establish that GENUINE religion or its absence (e.g. atheism) are not very good predictors of views on or feelings about climate science.
In "genuine" Christianity, for example, the bible does not say "thou shalt worship ignorance," or "blessed are those who bear false witness against scientists."
To use your roulette wheel analogy, you can't know the result of an unbiased spin of a perfectly-balanced roulette wheel. However, you can doctor the wheel to favor the house and predict the general trend with a great deal of accuracy. The same way, you can't keep loading the atmosphere with greenhouse gasses and expect that the climate will continue its natural slow change.
To answer your initial question, atheists care about climate change for the same reason that unbiased, thinking people do, even if they be theists.
Actually, you can have "faith in the goodness of life" without needing a creator deity to be involved in the equation. Your personal parameters have little to do with the belief systems of others, in short your perspective could use some widening.
Isn't it great to be at the top of the food chain; to be born a member of such a successful species at a time of plenty, in which all of the usual survival pressures have been consigned to history!
Food, shelter, friends, family, good health and broadband; I am truly most fortunate!
Why do I care about global warming and other issues? It's due to my particular combination of genes and 55 years of living in interesting times. No other reason; it's the way I am.
It's great to be alive and it's great to be free to contemplate these questions. I hope you are as fortunate as I am; if you are, you should consider yourself blessed.
My thanks to those who answered in support of the Atheist position.
Atheism is indeed a religion as defined by the SCOTUS.
Religion is a "belief" system. Some of it is "provable", some of it is taken on "faith"
Contrast that with Climate Change. One "believes" it's "real" but doesn't have 100% proof, so "faith" must be used to fill in the gaps.
An atheist is only someone that does not believe there is evidence of a supreme being. I really have no idea what else you are going on about. Your arguments are beginning to make less and less sense.
To those stating atheists reject the theory of God, that is not entirely true. A theist is one that has a belief in a powerful supernatural being. An atheists is one tat does not have a belief in a supernatural being, different from a 'disbelief'. I am an agsnotic atheist meaning that, though I do not reject the existence of a God, I do acknowledge that there is no proof of one and have therefor chosen to not put my faith in something there is no proof for.
Atheists don't believe in God, but that doesn't mean they don't care about Global Warming. They are also not rejecting human existence? That is not the definition. They do reject the theory that god created human existence, if that's what you mean.. You can be an atheist and still see the damage being done to the planet and care. Atheists are people too. Faith and global warming are kind of unrelated actually.
"Why does an Athiest care about Global Warming?
By definition he or she rejects any theory of human existence. "
Atheists reject the existence of a god, not the existence of humans.
On the other hand, it actually is difficult to believe you exist.
By definition he or she rejects any theory of human existence. I hope there is a true faith in something here.
They don't believe in God but they believe in AGW and ironically its their religion.
When I had HBO Bill Maher would go crazy and say the USA must cut their emissions
by 80% this year or We will die.
AGW is a secular religion I guess they Worship Barbra Boxer and Henry Waxman
Anyone who lives on the planet and has intelligence should be concerned about the world that they live in regardless of their religious views or lack thereof.
Your question is absurd. The implied subtext is that atheists care only about themselves. Judging by those that flaunt their religious beliefs on YA, it's the religious people that don't care about others.
By definition an Atheist rejects the existence of God, so are you lying or stupid? Either way anything else you have to say is invalid
I think humans have a built-in need internally to believe-in and have faith in something. As atheist they reject true faith so they need to replace it with something, some pick secular 'faiths' like evolution or AGW or both and then they defend those faiths like their lives depend on it. But really it's just their pride that depends on it.
If they don't keep the faith that man is in charge of his own destiny then their worldview crumbles.
I can't help but feel sorry for them. And I really do, I'm not just saying that.
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They care about pollution i wouldn't know ask one you know :)
Global Warming has nothing to do with Religion
Well it is only natural. If you don't have a belief in God, then you have a fear that man can control the climate.
