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    KatieH's Avatar
    KatieH Posts: 39, Reputation: 1
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    #1

    Mar 29, 2009, 02:31 AM
    Do athiests believe we have souls?
    I was just curious to know.

    I know there is no actual proof of souls, but I know that many atheist believe in ghosts. And ghosts are lost souls trying to pass over right?

    I just wanted to see what their thoughts were on this subject.
    stevetcg's Avatar
    stevetcg Posts: 3,693, Reputation: 353
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    #2

    Mar 29, 2009, 04:32 AM

    I doubt that many true atheists believe in ghosts, since the general idea (I think) of atheism is that they only believe in what can be proved and there is no proof of ghosts.
    NeedKarma's Avatar
    NeedKarma Posts: 10,635, Reputation: 1706
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    #3

    Mar 29, 2009, 05:30 AM
    Steve is on the mark. I'm an atheist and whether there is such thing as a "soul" makes no difference to my life or the way I live.
    Choux's Avatar
    Choux Posts: 3,047, Reputation: 376
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    #4

    Mar 29, 2009, 11:25 AM

    Soul is a theological word, a religious word. There is no such thing as a soul except in the world of BELIEF/FAITH.

    The way many people look at that now is human beings have consciousness and all the aspects thereof.

    I'm an atheist(Secular Humanist) and I have never heard that atheists believe in ghosts... quite the contrary! Lol

    Atheists are ALL ABOUT rationality and not about blind faith in anything.

    Best wishes, :)
    N0help4u's Avatar
    N0help4u Posts: 19,823, Reputation: 2035
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    #5

    Apr 16, 2009, 03:54 PM

    Atheists do not believe in a soul but basically soul means the non physical attributes of you that makes you who you are... your thoughts, your beliefs, your conscience, your free will, emotions, intuition, etc...
    Watchman Nee teaching.
    kiragira's Avatar
    kiragira Posts: 40, Reputation: 2
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    #6

    May 1, 2009, 08:53 PM

    :P I was an Atheist, but because of the ideas of most people I now call myself Pagan.

    Atheism is the absence of a belief in a deity. A spirit/soul/ghost/whatever is not a deity--or, at least, not in any religions I've heard of. In other words, saying "an Atheist can't believe in a soul or spirit" is completely untrue.

    I was an Atheist believing in ghosts/spirits for a while, so I'm sure there are a lot of us out there. I used to be the "proud Atheist" type, though, and wouldn't admit a belief in anything I couldn't prove existed. XP So a generalization like that... well, the answer should be obvious. Some: yes. Others: no.
    KatieH's Avatar
    KatieH Posts: 39, Reputation: 1
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    #7

    May 4, 2009, 12:37 PM
    I only said that many athiests believe in ghost believe in ghosts is because I went to a college where I had some atheist friends. And they told me that they believed in ghosts because of the whole energy never stops, or dies subject. And they told me that many atheist believed this. So I just assumed.
    TristaNicholle's Avatar
    TristaNicholle Posts: 75, Reputation: 9
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    #8

    May 4, 2009, 12:54 PM

    Does atheist not mean denying the existence of (a) god? If so, where is it said that an atheist cannot believe that one goes on to another plane of existence after the body dies? Also, if one cares to research the subject, there are instances of evidence such as EVPs, etc that may lead one to believe there is some credibility to "life after death." I don't see how this belief contradicts an atheist's position on a God or Supreme Being...
    Ren6's Avatar
    Ren6 Posts: 539, Reputation: 121
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    #9

    May 6, 2009, 11:54 AM
    When I think of "soul", I think of an immortal personality- something that never dies and moves on to other levels of being in other places. In other words, a fictional thing.

    I believe we have personalities, the part of us that makes us who we are. I believe that when the body ceases to live, the personality dies with it.
    ScottGem's Avatar
    ScottGem Posts: 64,966, Reputation: 6056
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    #10

    May 6, 2009, 01:11 PM
    Quote Originally Posted by stevetcg View Post
    since the general idea (I think) of atheism is that they only believe in what can be proved and there is no proof of ghosts.
    Actually that is agnosticism. An agnostic does not believe in anything that can't be proven to their staisfaction.

    Atheism is the absence of a belief in a deity.

    Whether there are ghosts or not has little to do with whether there is a deity.

    The concept of soul has many definitions. People believe or don't believe in a soul depending on their definition of it.
    itsamor's Avatar
    itsamor Posts: 196, Reputation: 12
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    #11

    Oct 4, 2009, 01:52 AM

    No I don't.
    TUT317's Avatar
    TUT317 Posts: 657, Reputation: 76
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    #12

    Oct 4, 2009, 03:23 PM
    Not being an atheist this is a difficult question to answer. However, I will do my best.

    Atheism is a theory which contends there is no God, or if there is he cannot have any influence in the material world. Atheists see the difficulties in proving the existence of God as a reason for not believing in God.

    It is also helpful to understand the history of atheism. As science developed over the last couple of centuries more and more of the natural world was given over to a scientific explanation. It has now reached a stage where some people believe that science can explain everything, so God has been completely forced out.

    As to whether atheists believe in souls; well I guess that depends on the atheist.
    I tend to think that the majority of atheists do not because they don't or won't entertain any metaphysical arguments.
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