Is atheism beneficial? If not is God a necessity?

Question

Nietzsche tells us that its not the truth that is of most significance, but whether it is of benefit to the individual and/or the species that counts.

Answer 1

God is an opiate.  Atheism is actually what's beneficial for most.

Answer 2

NO it is not beneficial, although every person must be able to judge freely for themselves, religion is a very personal belief.

God is a necessity, i used to go to church every day until i was about 20 and for whatever reason i stopped, i still made a sunday service but i was drawn towards another non-christian religion but i have always prayed to God, sometimes openly and others silently.

I no longer remain attached to the alternative religion and have been  seriously considering joining the 'mormons.org' church as i can relate to their teachings and simple way of life, however i still have reservations about joining because my family say they are eveil and i have been g*y for many years, also i dread having to give up 2 cups of coffee a day but meanwhile i have my beliefs, God truly means a great deal to me.  

Answer 3

There are so many religions that believe that their God is the one an only God and that all other religions Gods are false Gods.  Who's right?  To each religion, all other religions Gods are not neccessary.

Atheism is probably as relevant.

Answer 4

i love nietzshe, and i have every book he ever wrote, but bear in mind he died in a mental institution lol, i dont think god is a necessity for everybody, as god is something weve created, its a concept tht allows us to defer blame and gives us something to believe in.if we are above this need to believe in something other thn our selves thn god is insignificant. atheism allows us to become more, to be ourselves rather thn a slave to society. we are effectivly above any social constaints, just like Nietzsches superman concept. but, god is necessary for the "herd" as he liked to call thm, if not god, thn somthing similar...hence the idol worship of hitler and stalin, both of whom had greatly restrained religious worship. some ppl have the need to follow something, to have rules placed on thm by another, that way, nothing is ever really thre fault, life is easy tht way, kinda like orwells 1984. everything is controlled by a higher power....

Answer 5

Oh man i love this question. Heres my view. Atheism is just as bad as religion. Religion separates people, and atheism is just another religion. My definition of religion is the absolute belief (faith) in something. If you are an athiest, you are absolutely sure that there is no god. And you consider anyone who tells you otherwise to be wrong. Therefore, atheism is just another religion.

Religion is both beneficial and harmful for obvious reasons. My preferred "religion" is spirituality. That is where i believe (have faith) in not having faith. I know i am wrong. And i like it. I do not want to be right. I think there might be a higher power, there might not. I don't care what it has to do with us. I dont need to know that "Jesus loves me", if he does, great. If he doesn't, i haven't missed much. If i'm going to h**l for saying so, i would rather say so then go to heaven.

Answer 6

God is only a necessity for those who cannot live without him .. they have not yet understood that what one is taught in childhood does not have to last for the rest of their lives . They fear and they worship the nonexistent one .. they think themselves right and those who do not conform with their views are labelled  agitators and enemies .. how sad .

I am an Atheist and I love Humanity .. I spend some of my time helping others ..  doing voluntary work .. when I can . I care for everyone .. even the ones that committed offenses against their brothers and sisters .

Is Atheism beneficial ? Of course it is .. atheists care about everyone and everything .. although sometimes we are guilty of criticizing Theists .

At the same time I understand the ones who cannot live without their Gods .. I am not better than them .. just different .. and I care about them .. for some are my friends and have a golden heart .  

Answer 7

There is no truth, only perception.

Answer 8

Religion is for the afraid. Atheism is for the headstrong.

If there's one thing we know in this world, it's that we know nothing. Throughout the times, people have tried to pinpoint where we come from, why we're here, and they've made up fairy tales and called them religions. Think about it. There's hundreds or maybe thousands of religions. They can't all be right, can they?

Atheism is beneficial to those who can live with hierarchy or a "Greater Being." God is needed by those who must co-exist. They need to have a reason for life stuffed in their heads or they will not know what to do with themselves.

Hope that helps.

Answer 9

In terms of biological success the concept of god is useful as it creates hope and social bonding which enhances the chances of survival. Communism replaced god with the state. The success of this philosophy in China is evident, although it is interesting to reflect upon the resurgence of spirituality now taking place .

Answer 10

Perhaps, but atheism can be just as dangerous as belief in God.

Often the major problem with a belief in God is that we all believe He is on our side when we do things; so it doesn't matter how evil we go because since its God "telling" us to do these things, its not evil.  God gave us the right; or so the reasoning goes.

But it does also provide a "watchdog" of sorts; in hopes that even when we are about to fail morally because the benefits for us outweigh the moral complications in our mind, the thought that God remembers and will "remind" us in not so pleasant ways can also be beneficial to the species overall.  In addition to fear of reprisal, there is also someone to continue doing right for even when we don't want to do it ourselves.

God is both a agent of fear and an agent of love, depending on how you look at Him (whether real or not).

With atheism, there is no one else.  If no one is there but the one person having to make the decision, they may fail since they are the only ones there to care.  They may go ahead and do wrong, since they don't expect consequences.  Of course, it does also mean they don't have that pesky belief that no matter what wrong they do God is backing them up (this shows up most often in war and in genocide); so fear the other side is strong enough just on a man-on-man basis may be enough to stop war.

Both have benefits, both have detriments.  Overall, if people actually followed God's commandments (regardless of religion, they all preach peace but almost none follow it to a T), belief in God would be better.  But since they don't, either one has its good points and its bad points.

Of course, there is always the possibility that our belief is wrong; God's existence will continue if He does exist, whether we believe in Him or not.  His absence will continue whether we believe in Him or not.  Our belief is technically irrelevant to anyone but us.

Answer 11

God is not a necessity, just a nice, quick, and easy answer to what we don't know.

Answer 12

Voltaire (1694 - 1778)    

`If God did not exist, it would be necerssary to create Him`

Answer 13

1.  No.

2.  No.

Answer 14

I think imaginary friends usually are beneficial to the individual and atheism is also a benefit for those confident enough to be without

- god is not an overall necessity.

I cannot think of any societies that are better for having a god.

I guess people who fight in gods name woudl have to own their own self-interest if it were not so universal which might make a few think.

Bush got a few brownie points saying god told him to go to war.

My vote would be to keep gods at a personal level and not encourage people to claim a spurious higher power over others.    

Answer 15

It's religion that has benefits, ... as well as draw backs.

It's an admittedly delusional system that comforts, regulates behavior

for both the individual and the community, and attempts to spread its

influence.

It's a crutch. It can support you. It can slow you down.

If you don't need it, why carry it?

Answer 16

...YES...

...YES...GOD makes believers of the faithful ...

Answer 17

You are the god if you are an atheism believer.

You have to learn how to live the god you believe if you believe in god.

What do you think.  You want to be the god or you want to follow one.

For the god believers, they mostly have a way to learn faster in life as much things or rules are out there to learn.  It's faster and easier...

Answer 18

Atheism benefits none. The Almighty Father, Supreme Universal Spirit, he who is known as is attained by diligent endeavor, stealth and a lifelong quest. The receiving of Gods Spirit, and the incumbent faith and wisdom are the greatest gifts accorded to man, the highest goal of accomplishment.

Atheism is a modern day subversive anarchy.  Atheists having observe the receipt of God’s grace by ordinate souls, feel they have a right to *demand* evidence of Gods existence. ‘Evidence’ is actually the spiritual awakening and self realization of the world and its creator and is gained by arduous striving than demanded.

God is not a necessity to live life well. Rather love and goodness are essential virtues of living well. God is found where there is love, peace and understanding, therefore he is a necessity. It is the definition of God requiring clarification with precision prior to the declaration of essentialism.

Esoteric belief in man requiring sufficient knowledge to acquire peace of mind and to live harmoniously is fitting.

It is based upon the premise and principle line of thinking that mans need of sciences, religion and philosophy is to gain him the knowledge to facilitate the mastery of his own mind and world about him, towards a control of the same said resulting in liberation from the mercy of worldly elements.

Ultimately man seeks physical comfort, emotional security and to live in loving peace. Thought, thinking, contemplation of the world is the journey towards that still deep universal silence and release.

Answer 19

Sigmeund freud said that religion was needed to give mankind hope that there is an afterlife, otherwise we would all go insane realising that our death was the inevitable end. so technically God or a sort of God figure is necessary  

Answer 20

I don't think that atheism is innately harmful, although I do find that most atheists have anger issues, and it seems to me that being enraged at the tooth fairy or her apprentices seems monumentally silly.

Science has found that we have sections of the brain specially set aside for faith and for god as experiences, similar to the way we have a section of the brain designed for face recognition. This suggests that there was at some point an evolutionary advantage to being a believer.

If believers do so because they have a biological imperative, why do so many atheists act as if believing is stupid or dangerous. Some things we are hardwired for have become obsolete, like eating bone marrow, a remnant from our scavenger-hominid days; who can say that eating the marrow out of your chicken is now inappropriate? Same for belief.

By the way Nietzsche was an idiot and a lunatic and his writings were hopelessly mangled by his sister after his death to exaagerate their appeal to angst ridden teenagers and sell more books. So you would do better to base your ideas on Holden Caufield or 90210.

Answer 21

Certainly God - or any other deity, come to that - seems to be a necessity for some people. They seem to need the sense of security that imagining some benign being watching over them brings.

God is not "necessary" in my life. I can cope with the knowledge that I'm alone, have no particular significance in the scheme of things and that when I die I will cease to exist.

So, I think God is necessary for some, and not for others.

Answer 22

contraversial...

God is a necessity to people who need the 'security blanket' of an easy unquestionable answer. It is also of benefit to comfort our egos to suggest that when we die we go to a heaven, rather than just disappear from existence as if we never existed.

Atheism is beneficial in terms of meaning there is no easy unscientific answer blocking scientific discovery and progression. We are free to think, develop, and create and debate over new theories.

However, atheism and science are to some extremists what God is to Christians-followed religiously, they do not account all to often for presence of anything other than matter, and so the world becomes very materialistic, and spirituality and philosophical answers remain unanswered or unquestioned properly as we always ask it from the science point of view.

You need a balance between atheism and being open to new ideas.

If proof of ghosts for example laid out infront of you... i.e. you saw a ghost, would you really doubt it?

Answer 23

God Is........ God is Truth.....whether you believe in Him or not does not negate the Fact that He is......atheism cannot be beneficial because it says that God doesnt exist. that is not the truth. Jesus is the Way The Truth and The life and none comes to the Father except through Him. how can truth not be beneficial, truth is good, truth and love together

Answer 24

yes but i feel like without faith/spirituality...in something...you forced to justify being apathetic. i went from southern baptist to an atheist to agnostic. baptists are a joke, atheism was too depressing - if not enlightening and freeing, but atheism allows me to choose my own individual spirituality which is much more comforting than the other options. what if spirituality is beneficial to the individual/species? look at christianity...has it not been one of the most powerful forces in mortal history?