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Debate Info

71
100
Agreed. Disagree.
Debate Score:171
Arguments:152
Total Votes:177
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 Agreed. (60)
 
 Disagree. (83)

Debate Creator

Icarus(23) pic



Atheists should not be permitted to spread their beliefs.

It has already been established that Atheists have a shorter life span than their religious brethren.

If Atheists spread their 'plague' it will restrict the life expectancies of people like a disease, which is obviously a backwards thing.

Both Atheists and Religious people cannot be proven right or wrong at this time, but what is certain is that Atheism will make us die more quickly.

 

Agreed.

Side Score: 71
VS.

Disagree.

Side Score: 100
2 points

Well, if Atheist's beliefs involve proving people's religions to be fake or wrong, then obviously not.

Side: Agreed.
Icarus(23) Clarified
2 points

Both Atheists and Religious people cannot be proven right or wrong at this time, but what is certain is that Atheism will make us die more quickly.

Side: Agreed.
1 point

Actually Icarus, atheism, or at least nontheism, hols humanism as key. Religions with end times myths, like Islam and Christianity, actively support and look forward to the end times and will inadvertently support the fulfillment of the end times (see the war in Syria, or the support of the state of Israel). If one believes this life is all we have, they are far more likely to try to prevent something happening within this lifetime. If one believes that this is only a test before going to heaven (or some afterlife), they are less likely to be as attached to this lifetime, or this world. That would mean that Atheism would make us die less quickly.

Side: Disagree.
robag2000(65) Disputed
1 point

Some theists accuse atheists of having fake or wrong beliefs. What if I said that your religion shouldn't be allowed to be practiced?

Side: Disagree.
1 point

Almost all beliefs involve proving other people's beliefs to be wrong. Christians, Muslims and Jews are all "enlightened religions", in that they believe they have answers given to them from a higher power. Two of those, Islam and Christianity, have in their religion that they must spread this "truth" to others. So that would imply that you would also believe that "enlightened religions should not be allowed to spread their beliefs either.

Side: Disagree.
2 points

atheist have no beliefs to spread. if this is about spreading beliefs of dawkins, hitchens, sam harris and all the other "intellectuals" and "atheist activists" than yes, they should forever shut the fuck up because:

a. they're amateurs

b. they aren't intellectuals

c. atheism doesn't need activism

d. being a non-believer is difficult when people compare and identify you with brain dead morons like those mentioned above

and e. a lot of idiots want to be a part of atheist community simply because it enables them to focus their hate on someone like the religious and even the agnostics

Side: Agreed.
1 point

Not all Atheists compare theists to "brain dead morons". Almost everyone I know, especially my family, are religious. And they are no where near being "brain dead morons". I believe that religious people can be smart, their intelligence just isn't as focused on facts and science as atheists are MOST of the time. And I can't argue with E. Because you did say "a lot" although I would change that into a few, it is true their are some atheists who are like that, but for the majority we aren't trying to focus hate on anyone. We are simply trying to make people be more reasonable and understand what we believe is the more logical way to look at things.

Side: Disagree.
1 point

They spread like the flu!

Side: Agreed.
1 point

And Theists do not? Both sides would probably say the same thing regarding the other. We should be able to voice our opinions on our non belief just as you guys should be able to spread your opinion on your beliefs.

Side: Disagree.
6 points

Nah.... the world is over populated as it is.... die faster people! Die FASTER!

Side: Disagree.
3 points

I'd be interested to read the research that shows atheists have a lower life expectancy. I'd suggest historically this could be true because Christians would kill non-believers as heretics.

Side: Disagree.
Icarus(23) Clarified
1 point

Look it up.

Articles around all trusted news sites will have this information.

Irrelevant information about the heretic murdering- statistics say (in modern times) that Atheists have a shorter life expectancy and are less happy.

Side: Agreed.
Warjin(1577) Disputed
4 points

Bro if you are going to preach pro-religious nonsense then at least change your profile picture, dear god It looks like I am chatting with the devil from hell lol

Side: Agreed.
Atrag(5666) Clarified
3 points

No. Im not going to run a google search for a newspaper article. If you can present the actual research paper then we can talk about it. We'd need to look at the controls of the research to see what exactly can be deduced from it.

Side: Agreed.
Sitara(11080) Disputed
1 point

Either prove your claims or forfeit the debate. .

Side: Agreed.
1 point

Smart people tend to have shorter lives because intelligent people are more prone to depression, stress and pessimism.

What about all the people who had their lives shortened because Yahweh's or Alah's or Buddha's or Odin's followers didn't agree with what they were doing?

Side: Agreed.
2 points

That is a violation of freedom of belief rights, and freedom of speech rights. The right of the people to freedom of belief must not be denied.

Side: Disagree.
Icarus(23) Disputed
0 points

Because we want everyone to die faster.

Side: Agreed.
Sitara(11080) Disputed
1 point

You are stupid if you are denying someone's right to freedom of belief. How very communist of you.

Side: Disagree.

Something called... what was it? Oh yeah, freedom of speech goes against this.

Side: Disagree.
Icarus(23) Disputed
1 point

Freedom of speech has its limits when it comes to physical harm.

Side: Agreed.
2 points

No it doesn't. You still have the legal right to speak up even though your being tortured.

Side: Disagree.
Atrag(5666) Disputed
2 points

How does it cause physical harm? Even if it is true that atheists have a lower life expectancy, this does not mean that atheism caused harm that caused an earlier death.

Side: Disagree.
2 points

I'm sure the same argument can be made for any belief set.

Side: Disagree.
2 points

Its called create debate for a reason if you dont like it go to a christian religion site

Side: Disagree.
lupusFati(790) Clarified
1 point

On that note, I must recommend the often hypocritical "ChristianForums.com". I would love to see how some people here would react to the unique population there.

Oh and don't let being a non-Christian stop you, either. My icon over there is "Pagan".

Side: Agreed.
Icarus(23) Disputed
1 point

In no way have I indicated any bias against create debate.

I have only provided statistical evidence that Atheism includes lower life spans/ higher suicide rates/ more depression, which we simply cannot allow to spread.

Side: Agreed.
Delta(1348) Disputed
1 point

Not at all,being a atheist relieves the wheight on your shoulders because in religions they tell you cant do sin and if you do you start getting scared then go suicidal.

Side: Disagree.
robag2000(65) Disputed
1 point

Spread? You can't necessarily spread how some people have lower life spans than others. Atheism is not a "plague". Atheism is the choice to not believe in religion. If I said Christianity was a plague, then you'd be mad too, right?

Side: Disagree.
1 point

You actually have indicated a bias against debating, as you have said that you do not believe someone with a belief that differs from yours should be allowed to speak on it. You ignore any logical reason behind the correlations you assert, immediately assuming a causatory relationship (which is rather silly).

Side: Disagree.
2 points

I found an interesting article in the Christian Post whilst it agreed that Atheists living in a largely religious community suffered from more depression than the religious the same study found that in a secular society they were equally as happy, the article also felt that the results showing that Atheists are more prone to depression should be used to help treat people with depression by taking into account peoples religious beliefs not ban Atheism, pretty good I thought for an article I was expecting to have more of a bias towards religion. The two paragraphs that stood out to me follow:

"The article, however, warns against jumping to conclusions based on studies such as these, and says the statistics should not be used by people to force interventions onto others. It suggests that the best use of such information would be for clinicians making psychiatric evaluation of patients, who can take these results into consideration when noting the patient's religious or spiritual beliefs, or lack thereof.

Another study, which examined almost 200,000 people from 11 European countries, also showed that religious people are generally happier than their non-religious counterparts. The results, however, hold true largely in places that have a large religious presence. In more secular societies, happiness levels amongst believers and non-believers were mostly the same"

If anything all these studies prove is that living in religious societies causes depression in some Atheists whilst living in a secular society does not have an adverse effect on the religious so if anything we should have only secular societies as these are obviously the healthiest for everyone.

Side: Disagree.
1 point

I disagree because in the first place, without atheists beliefs, then debating with someone about religion would be nonsense. Besides, there is nothing wrong for believing that there is no God. I believe that they should also be able to spread what they believe, and let other people just judge on who would they choose to believe.

Side: Disagree.
Icarus(23) Disputed
1 point

There is something wrong.

I just said that Atheists have a shorter life expectancy, and that if everyone were to be Atheist, we would all die quicker.

That is bad.

Side: Agreed.
Sitara(11080) Disputed
1 point

You have got to be kidding me. .

Side: Disagree.
TheAshman(2299) Disputed
0 points

My grandad on my mums side was an Atheist and died of old age aged 92, my grandad on my dads side was Catholic and committed suicide before I was born, proof to me that your theory is rubbish.

Not being religious does not make you more prone to depression any more than being religious is any more likely to save you, if you suffer from depression badly enough and don't get help it can lead to suicide regardless of your beliefs.

Side: Disagree.
xBetzy(123) Disputed
0 points

Still no evidence provided.............................................

Side: Disagree.
1 point

Yes, but if we're talking about causing shorter lifespans, don't you think that we should ban smoking, drinking, doing drugs and other things that cause shorter life spans? Those cause more harm than being an Atheist.

Side: Disagree.
timber113(796) Disputed
1 point

Yeah, they should all be banned. Doing those kind of drugs should be illegal because smokers and strong drinkers are a burden to society.

Side: Agreed.
sauh(1106) Disputed
1 point

I am giving you the benefit of the doubt that you mean:

'in general strong drinkers are a burden to society'

Because I am fairly sure I drink (significantly) more than you and I net more benefit to society than you do.

Side: Disagree.
Icarus(23) Disputed
1 point

Are you saying that Atheism will not make it worse?

Is the word 'worse' even in your vocabulary.

Side: Agreed.
hannah165(523) Disputed
1 point

Are you saying that Atheism will not make it worse? Is the word 'worse' even in your vocabulary.

I'm a little confused as to what you mean. Could you clarify?

My point is that those are all things that shorten life spans, but the government allows because it's our own bodies, our own brain, and our own choice.

Side: Disagree.
1 point

We have far too many people on this globe to worry about shortening life-spans.

Side: Disagree.
Icarus(23) Disputed
1 point

Atheism also includes higher suicide rates and more depression.

Also, is doing something that shortens life-spans not a backwards action against humanity and the human experience?

Side: Agreed.
Warlin(1213) Disputed
1 point

is doing something that shortens life-spans not a backwards action against humanity and the human experience?

Apparently you've never heard of drugs, sex, and rock-and-roll, not to mention sky-diving, extreme sports, or... living.

Either way, my point is, if more people start dying at younger ages, I'm not going to personally be all that upset by it because there's too many people on this globe anyways. It was kind of a joke.

Either way, you can't stop people from spreading their beliefs because the truth they've accepted is bleak. Just like they can't stop a christian from spreading their beliefs because their beliefs are crazy.

Side: Disagree.
1 point

Sorry but they have as much ability to state their mind as the rest of us. Natural Selection would actually be better applied that eventually, due to shorter lifespans, atheists would eventually 'die out', while those who lived longer would continue to exist.

Side: Disagree.

I am catholic, but as an American i believe in the first amendment right of freedom of religion, which includes the right to choose atheism. trying to censor them hurts the perception of Religions such as my own by presenting followers such as myself as having a blatant disregard for others personal rights and freedoms.

Side: Disagree.
Icarus(23) Disputed
1 point

Is it as worse as higher suicide rates/ depression and shorter lifespans?

Side: Agreed.
1 point

I do not beleive that forcing someone to believe someone will lift their spirits. Likely it would have the opposite effect and make them feel even worse.

Side: Disagree.
1 point

Do you understand that the connection between atheism and shorter life span/suicide/depression is missing link called intelligence?

Atheist are per capita more intelligent than strongly religious people. There is genetic connection between higher intelligence and depression/suicide.

So; your argument would boil down to "The intelligent should not be permitted t read their beliefs".

If your argument is that only non-intelligent beliefs should be spread; you should relax, because you are close to winning.

Side: Disagree.
1 point

This is an overly extremist view.

If it indeed is true that theists live longer, than it obviously hasn't got anything to do with belief in God. It must have something to do with lifestyle, etc. Whatever makes theists live longer, atheists can replicate.

Side: Disagree.

First of all, it isn't a plague. And if anything, it is good that we spread it. People need to learn how to think for themselves more and stop depending on a god that isn't going to do anything for them. People place all their hope and trust in "god" instead of being independent and actually working for what they want/need. And I have yet to come across significant proof that atheist die faster, and even if we do, is that really a bad thing? We all die anyways, and at the rate we populate it is fine. So I don't see the big issue here. But then again, I am a realist, where as most religious people are not, so I don't expect you to fully understand that. We have the same rights to spread our NON beliefs as Theists have the right to spread their beliefs. Equal rights, freedom of speech. Plus, you clearly aren't an atheist, so you personally have nothing to worry about anyways.

Side: Disagree.
1 point

Being Athiest isn't what is lowering their life expectancy. Athiests just don't live their lives according to a religious book, so they tend to take up more unhealthy habits... and they also tend to be more intelligent, which can make them more prone to depression.

Side: Disagree.

"It has already been established that Atheists have a shorter life span than their religious brethren."

No, it has not been established that atheists have a shorter life span than their religious brethren, and it takes only a few minutes on Google to see this. Any study which leads to such a conclusion is narrowly short-sighted and fails to address the most important variable; society itself.

I'll demonstrate:

First off, lets look at the life expectancies of some of the most religious countries, and compare with some of the most non-religious.

demographics: WIN-Gallup International Poll

life expectancy

Religious:

United States: 78.6

Ghana: 64.2

Nigeria: 51.9

Armenia:73.9

Non-religious:

Japan: 82.6

Czech Republic: 77.9

Netherlands: 81.2

France: 81.7

With very few exceptions, the non-religious countries tend to beat out the more religious countries overall in life expectancy.

From this data, one might come to the opposite conclusion. It would seem atheists have the longer life span while theists live poor, uncivilized and rather short lives. Maybe theists shouldn't be allowed to spread their beliefs?

But, of course, this sort of comparison isn't exactly apples to apples here. Obviously members of a poor, uneducated society will have harsher, more difficult, stressful lives than those in richer, more developed ones. And, as most any health study will show, high levels of stress lead to higher rates of ailments such as heart disease and depression, which, in turn, lead to a shorter life span. To put it in simple terms, more stress generally equals shorter life.

This is important and becomes evident when you do an apples to apples comparison, looking at religious and non-religious people of the same country. Almost all of the data comes from U.S. studies but, in general, religious people have a health advantage when they are part of a majority (like in the U.S.) and lose that advantage if they are in a society where they are in the minority.

It is obviously more stressful to live life as an ostricized and hated minority than it is to live as a member of the socially accepted majority. As many studies have shown, atheists are the most distrusted minority in the United States; in some cases, distrusted even more than rapists. Atheists are also almost completely excluded from participation in politics in the U.S. with some states even having laws specifically prohibiting them from running for public office. Atheists receive little to nothing in the way of public support, and thus, it is not surprising at all to see that they have higher rates of stress and depression as compared to the religious majority. Studies concerning homosexuals will show similar results; I'd say for similar reasons.

The problem is that some societies are too concerned with social cliques and stigmas and not as supportive and accepting of diversity as they may think they are. Look again at places such as Denmark or The Netherlands. These cultures are not entirely atheist by any means, but they place almost no importance on religion at all in society. Religion is a private matter and is rarely mentioned in everyday talk. They're very secular societies and people simply don't care what religion you are; and I think it's no coincidence these countries tend to rank very high in terms of overall happiness and life expectancy. NY Times article on religious culture in Denmark/Sweden.

The issue is not just whether or not you are atheist or theist, the issue is how does society treat you for being atheist or theist, and how does that effect your health.

Supporting Evidence: Do Religious People Live Longer? Psychology Today Article, 2013 (www.psychologytoday.com)
Side: Disagree.

Id say blowing yourself up will shorten your lifespan faster than being an atheist .

Side: Disagree.
Icarus(23) Disputed
1 point

Stupid argument.

I thought we would of gotten over the extremist part of religion where people are misinformed and often mentally ill.

Side: Agreed.
1 point

It spreads on it's own all the time. Every time a child gets kidnapped or murdered, or someone gets cancer after living a modest life, or anytime someone is about to commit suicide and asks for one last sign.

Side: Disagree.
1 point

What...

I just...what?

Okay, post the statistics of athiest and christian life span before you make a claim as bizarre as this. At least then I'll know you aren't talking out of your behind.

Side: Disagree.
Icarus(23) Disputed
1 point

You should of known this as common knowledge.

http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/article.aspx?articleid=177228

Side: Agreed.
FreeWill(120) Disputed
1 point

Alright, fair enough.

But this only applies if those listening to the athiests choose to join them, correct?

Side: Disagree.
1 point

Atheists should be allowed to voice their arguments for a number of reasons.

1) Everyone has freedom of thought, and should have equal right to voice those thoughts.

2) If the atheist has a concern or objection to the existence of God, it's important that believers know what that objection is, so we can examine it on it's own merit, and reply thoughtfully.

3) If eternity really is riding on this, then it's critical that atheists bring their concerns to the table.

Side: Disagree.

I get annoyed with Religion on the media. It'd be quite unfair to prohibit us from talking about our beliefs

Side: Disagree.

Atheists have a right to their opinions just as Christians do. Both sides should not force their opinions on others.

Side: Disagree.