Is It “un-atheist” For An Atheist To Set Goals In Life And Want To Be Successful?

The only distinguishing characteristic of atheism is lack of belief in the supernatural brought about by a corresponding lack of evidence to support such beliefs.

He’s confusing atheism for anarchism, it is a not uncommon mistake. There is no unifying philosophy among atheists, they just don’t believe in a god or gods. Anarchy is the belief that government is undesirable and they promote its elimination.

Your cousin is wrong.
Atheist just means that you don’t believe in any “higher power”.
I have lots of goals like get straight A’s all year ( I usually get a B in math).
Save the life style change for relgion.

he is wrong, plain and simple.
the point of life is to enjoy yourself and to help out the rest of our species. The best way to do that is to be successful

My dad is from Liverpool too and he’s also stupid. Maybe it’s in the air or something.
Atheism just means you have no belief in any god/s or goddess/es, nothing more, nothing less.

It sounds like he’s so anti-american that his other views are tainted. He seems also to be an atheist because it appeals to his deep depression.

Atheism is simply non-belief in any god. Your cousin is full of it.

He’s talking BS. atheism is just the acknowledgment that there are no God(s). It’s not a lifestyle

lol no he’s just an idiot
I hate to be brutally honest here but there’s a lot of people in the uk who are like him these days. They just want the government to give them free hand outs

Your friend sounds like a moron who knows nothing.

No, he’s an idiot

there pretty busy ….for anything else …think about it

You’re right, he’s so very wrong. And there is no logic in what he’s saying.

No. Religion has nothing to do with one’s goals in life.

No. Not believing in God just means that, it doesn’t mean anything else about our lives.
Why are you so dense?

What does setting goals have to do with not believing in God?

I didn’t read it all.
But your cousin is an idiot who sounds like he just wants to get drunk or something because there’s not consequences at the end of life.
He also makes more Atheists look bad ’cause he says we have no goals. D:
He has a point, but it’s a very bad point. It’s what a lot of the trolls on here say. “If you don’t have a God, how can you have morals?”
And yes, Atheist just means you do not believe in a higher being.

you seem to be an intelligent individual, I want to make my 1st million by the time I am 40, and I am an atheist, not sure how that all works out here, never heard of anything like you are describing. Call it ‘secular humanist’ we all want more, just some are afraid to try, never give up, that’s my advice.
There are leders and followers in this life, you an guess what side of the fence that most atheists are on. Yup, we clear our own path, in my opinion we are more of a force to be reckoned with.

Uh. No. He doesn’t have a point.
Being an atheist means different things to different people, but I’ve never heard of it meaning you can’t have goals or life ambitions.
The rejection of god or gods is something completely separate from caring about the future. If we’ve only got one chance at life, what’s the point in spending more of it than is necessary in a dole queue?

i think your cousin is just making sh!t up.
being an atheist means lacking a belief in gods. Everything else is up to you. Hell you can be religious if you want.
You can tell your cousin he’s just a lazy sod.
I’m from the UK and neither I or any of the atheists that I know personally think the same way as your cousin.

Your cousin is wrong. Perhaps he has no goals for himself, or he doesn’t care about the future. That’s HIS problem. Most people I’ve met (atheist or otherwise) have goals for the future, and it has nothing to do with whether you follow a religion or not. If anything, he sounds like some religious people who think God will provide and take care of everything. And like them, he’ll be in for a rude awakening.

No, an atheist is simply someone who worships no god.
I am no current religion as of today. Religion is mindlessly blindly believing in a twisted book made by the churches 300 years after jesus was teaching people that the kingdom of god is pure honest unbiased love for all humans regardless of wealth or race.
I ask you not to invest in a religion, but learn and accept the kingdom of god in your heart. The kingdom of god is, like I said. Honesty, honor, kindness, caring, all the good virtues fill your heart. Especially loving thy neighbor and peer, regardless of how much of an @$$ he or she might be.
For having these good qualities inside your heart, is the kingdom of god. Not heaven or hell or any sacred beings. Simply having a good heart. That is what I recommend everyone should follow. Ignore christian idealogies, accept jesus’ true teachings.

It is true that american atheism is different to the Europe flavor because although it does not accept a God it is still comprised of people saturated in Christian culture and subsequently wears some of the virtues. You really have to be outside the US to see it but US atheists are nicer people than ones from purely secular countries. You probably need to be a Christian like me at the receiving end of it to notice the difference as well. In general an east block atheist is a far colder personality than your typical american, but some of that is the harder life, not just Christian influence.
Having said that, the goal setting thing is ridiculous and has nothing to do with the issue at all.