You may become an atheist for various reasons. One, you might go through a lot and you might conclude that God isn’t real. Also, you might not be interested in religious beliefs or any other factors that made you into an atheist. With this absolute certainty of denial of God, atheists always get excited to question theists or God believers.
So, here are a few questions you could ask theists without getting into an argument. This article also answers the questions from certain perspectives. Even if you are a theist who needs answers to questions that keep you awake at night, this article may be for you.
It is always good to share opinions with people, it develops knowledge and wisdom on the matter of the subject. However, when sharing opinions, if it turns into an argument or quarrel, it is always unhealthy. Especially while sharing knowledge through questioning one’s beliefs, people could be vulnerable and may pull you into an argument. Here are a few questions to ask a theist that might not draw you into a quarrel.
While asking, make sure your approach is polite and willing to learn things from them. During this conversation, there are possibilities of theists questioning you about the perspectives of atheists as well. In case, if you need any clarification or to share your point of view, feel free to comment below.
1. Do theists think atheists hate God?
Starting with the lenient question to ask a theist, many theists do believe that atheists hate God. Few theists who had got into an argument with an atheist before would surely say that the atheists hate God. This is because some atheists desperately want to break the beliefs of others.
Some theists know the fact that a good atheist just denies the existence of any omnipotent life and consider the beliefs as myths. Anyhow, some theists claim that atheists’ disbelief in anything is the root of their hatred for God.
However, as the well-known spiritual guru, Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev says, “Both atheists and theists believe in something they do not know”
Atheists and theists are the same kind of people, pretending to be different. Both of them believe something they do not know. #SadhguruQuotes
— Sadhguru (@SadhguruJV) May 28, 2019
2. Why do rituals matter to Theists?
Rituals are the way of worshipping God in the form of activities, repeated mantras, postures, etc. Apart from a simple way of praying to God, the religious people believe that rituals get them further closer to God. Additionally, theists believe that the rituals teach us how, why and the discipline to pray to God. Thus, rituals are indeed valued by the religious people.
In addition to that, rituals give religious people confidence that God will take care of them hearing their valuable wishes. So, it helps them to move on with their life confidently.
3. Can God answer for the deaths of innocents?
This is the question to ask a theist that every atheist is longing for. As religions would say, the Gods are the protectors and inspirers for humans. Then, “why would he let innocent people, kids, animals die?” will be the question from the atheist side.
According to religious beliefs, God doesn’t have a concern or take responsibility for people’s death. God remains detached from humans and functions the vastly spread universe. The creator acts as a nature that functions detached from human beings or other lives.
So, the death or calamity that happens in this world is uncontrollable and inevitable. You can resemble this from the sayings of Lord Vishnu from Bhagavad Gita
While resorting to Prakriti,
“Nature is my own power
I send forth, again and again,
These multitudes of beings that do not have freedom,
Owing to Nature’s sway over them,
These activities do not bind me in any way because I remain detached and unconcerned in their midst”
4. Why do theists care about the afterlife?
On the point of myths that were created for good, the myth of the afterlife may be created for the people who feared death and were obsessed with living forever. On the other hand, the belief in the afterlife holds the people to not go in a wrong way and it guides them to do good in regards to getting into a good afterlife, say heaven.
People always seek results for their actions in their life, only a very few care for others without expecting anything in return. To acknowledge such people and their good deeds, heaven is created. Hell is created for the people who interact with malicious actions that hurt others. These are the reasons why theists care and give more attention to the afterlife more.
5. Why do bad people have luxurious life than good ones?
Evil and corrupted bad people do not have a luxurious life, they pretend to have them. In other words, bad people’s life is full of facade and drama. They gain all this wealth and power only to gain control over others. At last, they wouldn’t have the fruit of luxury even if they had everything.
For instance, according to the bible Mark 7:21-22
“For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness.”
This defines evil people. They are filled with desires and are soulless. They desire to get something with their power but never get satisfied. Their hollow minds will never get filled even if they possess everything.
So, as the quote from the bible forthrightly mentioned in Isaiah 48:22 that,
“There is no peace,” says the Lord, “for the wicked.”
6. Why can’t God exterminate evil?
If God is an omnipotent who have the power to create and destroy, then why can’t he just vanish the evil from its existence? If God can’t, does that mean that evil is superior to God?
This must be an absolute question to ask a theist.
Anyways, theists propose that until humans have the “choice of living” which is given by God, there will always be evil. It is not that evil is a creature or something, evil lives in the people’s actions, minds, and souls. One who chooses the wrong path will almost end up possessing evil qualities.
7. Will atheists go to heaven?
According to the majority of theists, people who have disbelief in God will not end up in heaven. A person who ultimately believes and serves God will only have a place in heaven, they say.
However, if a person is empathetic, caring, and does good deeds will always be a child to God. If you are an atheist who was a virtuous and kind person, you surely deserve a spot in heaven.
8. Why do theists see atheists as evil?
Theists believe that God watches every sin they are uttering in this world. The state of being restricted to do sins has been indented to their mind naturally. Being an atheist lacks that as they do not believe in God and religious laws. Thus, they possess a free will of choice.
So, theists assume this as an easy path to go in a wrong way. Even though there are courts and laws to condemn evil people, anyone can intend to hurt others covertly. This causes theists to vision atheists as evil.
Wrapping up
There are certainly both good and toxic people on both theists and atheists. We define people with their personalities and morals, not by their beliefs. But it is always good to share and discuss people’s beliefs to learn about its pros and cons. A healthy conversation is an essential thing to share our knowledge. Keeping that in mind, this article is presented with questions to ask theists and explanations that could assist you to have a healthy conversation with people.
