Atheist FAQs

[EvoUK]

After reading a sticky in IIDF, I thought it would be a good idea to include some of the questions here- so we can have a view of what atheists (honestly) think and how they define these terms.

Though it's kind of obvious seeing as this is an atheist forum- this is an atheist only thread, and any theist posts will be reported as off-topic.

Define God
What is your interpretation of God? What do you think of theistic Gods such as Yahweh and Jesus? If there was a god, what do you think it would really be like?

Omnimax
Define this.

Objective Standard of Morality
Does one exist even if there is no God? Is morality linked to God in any way? Do you think the Christian God is moral?

Free Will
Do you believe it exists? Does the existence of God preclude free will?

The Bible
Why don't you adhere to it (in general)? Why do you not think it is the word of God?

Atheism
What do you think this means?

[EvoUK]

What is your interpretation of God?

Can be anything from a deistic “power out there”, to defined gods such as Vishnu or the Christian god… The definition of god depends on the theist I’m talking to.

What do you think of theistic Gods such as Yahweh and Jesus?

I find Yahweh to be morally abhorrent and utterly illogical. With regards to Jesus, I’m apathetic towards whether or not he existed, and strong atheist towards the Christ myth sprung up around him.

If there was a god, what do you think it would really be like?

The only gods I give even a remote probably of existing are deistic ones, which for all intensive purposes, may as well not exist for all the difference it makes to us. I find the belief that a god would be even vaguely interested in us as a species to be the height of egotism.

Omnimax
Define this.

Omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, and omnibenevolent.

I.e. being able to do anything logically possible, knowing everything its possible to know, being everywhere all at once, and being as benevolent as it’s possible to be.

Basically, self-contradictory, and contradictory to the idea of free-will.

Objective Standard of Morality
Does one exist even if there is no God?

In the sense that there is a standard of morality separate from the species to which it applies- no. Its seems most all theists believe an objective or absolute standard of morality does indeed exist. Rarely it seems they can agree on what that standard is and never have I been offered actual proof of its existence.

In the sense that there are basic tenants of evolutionary instincts due to us having evolved as highly social animals, then yes.

Is morality linked to God in any way?

If you’re referring to the god of the bible then absolutely not. It’s a do-as-I
-say-not-as-I-do type of morality which is based on power- not morality.

Do you think the Christian God is moral?

Not in the slightest.

Free Will
Do you believe it exists?

Freewill is rarely adequately defined so answering the question fully is usually impossible. It doesn’t exist in the absolute sense- I could not freely decide to fly off my chair right now. I have the ability to make a set of choices within physical limits.


Does the existence of God preclude free will?

If an omniscient god existed, then freewill couldn’t, as shown by Newcomb's paradox.

Why don't you adhere to it (in general)?

I find the bible to be a literary non-event (terrible penmanship). What is written in the bible that applies to us now is dry and sterile, and self-evident regardless.

It’s the documented history and mythology of an ancient people.

Why do you not think it is the word of God?

None of the extraordinary claims of the bible have shown to be fact, and it doesn’t give the appearance of anything other than the works of man. There is no valid reason to think that the bible is the word of an omnimax deity.

Atheism

What do you think this means?

Not believing in gods.

Literally 'without theism.' It applies to any activity, philosophy or treatise that makes no reference to or consideration for theistic philosophies. My cook book is atheistic, for instance, and so is the owner's manual for my television, and my 'worldview'. But my worldview no more denies the existance of God than my TV manual does. It just doesn't enter into the picture. You might say it is "off topic."

[sandlewood]

Define God
This is better left to theists. I don’t have one definition that I presume. Theists give various definitions.

Omnimax
This is the application of the concept of infinity to the attributes of power (omnipotence), knowledge (omniscience), goodness (omnibenevolence), presence (omnipresence), and justice.

I think perhaps have a slightly different view of omnipotence then some other atheists. I don’t believe that omnipotence means the ability to do anything that’s logically possible. Rather, I believe omnipotence means the ability to do anything, period. And since some things are logically impossible to do (such as make a square circle), this shows by proof-by-contradiction that applying the concept infinity to actual physical attributes is nonsensical. For example, if I’m a carpenter, I can build a house so heavy I can’t lift it. There’s nothing illogical about that. But an omnipotent being could not do that.

The idea of infinite attributes leads to contradictions.

Objective Standard of Morality

In don’t believe in an objective standard of morality. Morality is based on values. Many people can agree on certain morals since they share the same values. But many people disagree as well.

I think God is moral if you define morality as whatever god commands. But that’s just a tautology. If you mean do I think that God’s actions in the Bible agree with what me and most people today think of as moral, I’d say no.

Free Will
Do you believe it exists?
No, I don’t think free will exists. I think it’s an illusion resulting from the high complexity of cause-and-effect occurrences.

Incidentally, if we ever discover for sure that free will does not exist, I believe it may have huge implications and drastically change our ways of thinking in many areas. We’ll change our views about punishment, prejudices, economy and government (will we lean more to socialism or communism and away from capitalism?).

Does the existence of God preclude free will?

Only if that god is really omniscient as opposed to some form of qualified definition of “omniscience”.

The Bible
Why don't you adhere to it (in general)? Why do you not think it is the word of God?

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. There is no evidence that the extraordinary claims of the Bible are true. The Bible by itself is not enough evidence.

Atheism
What do you think this means?

Without a belief in a god or gods.

Ask the question, “Do you believe a god or gods exist?” The set of all people who answer “yes” to this question are theists. Everyone else left over is an atheist.

Atheism is not a worldview or philosophy. All that can be said of an atheist is that he lacks a belief in a god. That’s the only thing that all atheists necessarily have in common.

[flipper]

Define God
Greets...

What is your interpretation of God?

I see God as the creative force attributed by many cultures as a self-aware universal cause. In this sense, "God" includes pantheism and monotheism. In day-to-day debate, I consider God to be the Christian and/or Muslim God.

It is my suspicion that, because we are descended from primates who all share complex hierarchical structures, Gods and Goddesses were an inevitability once self-awareness began to shape consciousness. Not only would such speculation provide satisfaction to curious intellects, such beliefs could have evolutionary advantages. A primate that is less afraid of death because it knows of a better place where brave warriors are celebrated and cowards are punished is much more likely to sacrifice himself for the benefit of the clan or group. It allows a number of sanctions to be put in place that may improve group dynamics. The reflecting of worldly hierarchies in those of the divine also boost the status of the leader, perhaps minimizing the chance of harmful splits and division within the group. It also may even provide checks on bad leadership, as religious tradition may act as a force of control. All somewhat speculative, but it makes sense to me.

What do you think of theistic Gods such as Yahweh and Jesus?

I think that if such Gods existed, it would be of little use in judging them or having opinions on their actions. After all there are inherent difficulties in finite beings accurately judging the intents and actions of infinite beings. And rebellion would certainly be absolute in its futility.

Nevertheless, personally I would have some difficulty reconciling the God of the OT with Jesus as they appear to be quite different characters.

If there was a god, what do you think it would really be like?

Impossible to answer such a question.


Omnimax
Define this.


It's a big movie theater. Or, I suppose, the qualities of omnipresence and omnipotence.


Objective Standard of Morality
Does one exist even if there is no God? Is morality linked to God in any way? Do you think the Christian God is moral?

Free Will
Do you believe it exists?

Yes. I have heard arguments made that the universe and therefore our actions within it are entirely deterministic. If we were able to know all conditions, then all actions would become predictable. However, quantum mechanics shows us that it is not possible to have complete information about any system. Therefore, on the most fundamental level, things are non-deterministic. Unless it can be shown that quantum effects are too neglible in all cases to affect outcome on a macroscopic scale, then I would conclude that free will remains possible although because of our genetic inheritance, our cultural milieu, our learned behavior and our circumstances, it is certain that our options for free will are actually channeled through these filters. Nevertheless, thoughts may be entirely the result of certain chemical interactions. Chemical interactions are the result of molecular interactions which are, in turn, atomic. And at this level, it is not possible to be purely deterministic.

Does the existence of God preclude free will?

No more than the existence of security cameras do.

The Bible
Why don't you adhere to it (in general)? Why do you not think it is the word of God?

It fails at the most fundamental level - that as a descriptive key to our creation and man's development. Furthermore, personal experience has never provided any evidence of a personal creator.

Atheism
What do you think this means?

The absence of belief in the supernatural.

[flipper]

Missed one:

Objective Standard of Morality
Does one exist even if there is no God?

I'm never sure how one defines "objective" in such cases. Is it the same as an absolute? Can something be objective to an individual and if not, why not? To a particular ethnic group or religion? Is something objective if it is only objective to humans?

Suffice to say, there are certain actions that I would say were always immoral; in that I can conceive of no instance when such an action could ever be seen as morally acceptable. That says nothing about whether it is actually an objective standard; rather it says more about my own beliefs and the limitations of my knowledge.

Is morality linked to God in any way?

Whose God? Clearly, religious people seem to think so. This question appears to presuppose the existence of God.


Do you think the Christian God is moral?

I thought he existed, obviously I would.

[EvoUK]

Does the existence of God preclude free will?

I suppose this depends if you believe god is omniscient or not.

[Gilgaron]

Define God
What is your interpretation of God? What do you think of theistic Gods such as Yahweh and Jesus? If there was a god, what do you think it would really be like?There are many definitions of gods whose overlap is probably limited to 'stronger than us.'

Omnimax
Define this.That's the catch-all omnipotence et al pun used around here.

Objective Standard of Morality
Does one exist even if there is no God? Is morality linked to God in any way? Do you think the Christian God is moral?Objective to an individual, I suppose. Societies do seem to act on their own logic like an anthill or an organism with independently controlled cells.

Free Will
Do you believe it exists? Does the existence of God preclude free will?To a degree. It would depend upon the God.

The Bible
Why don't you adhere to it (in general)? Why do you not think it is the word of God?If the Bible is truly the foundation of the laws of the United States as various pro-10 Commandments everywhere groups say, then I do follow it in general. Of course, I'm not so sure they are right. I'd say it is more likely the shared components of law and the Bible are derived from the more objective societal needs for behavior of individuals.

I don't think it is the word of a god because it really doesn't seem to be an effective means towards the purported end.

Atheism
What do you think this means?Lack of belief in gods.

[W. Whateley]

Define God
What is your interpretation of God? What do you think of theistic Gods such as Yahweh and Jesus? If there was a god, what do you think it would really be like?

Anything that I would be willing to call God would have to have a personality and the ability to make concious decisions. For some reason I get really bothered by people who call the universe or some "energy" or whatever God, it seems like a really cheap use of the word.
Apart from personality, all I would require to call something a god is superhuman powers and an interest in being worshipped. The degree of superhuman-ness matters, but I'm not sure where the cutoff point would be. I'd probably have to decide on an entity-by-entity basis.

Objective Standard of Morality
Does one exist even if there is no God? Is morality linked to God in any way? Do you think the Christian God is moral?

I'd like to say that there is an objective standard, and that it's "don't cause harm", but this isn't really helpful (particularly since 'harm' can't really be objectively identified). I don't think it can be accurately said there is, how would you measure such a thing?
Is morality linked to God in any way? Couldn't really say.
Do I think YHWH is moral? Depends on the conception of him. If you take a liberal interpretation (rejecting Hell and the Old Testament), certainly. I don't think that I could call a god who calls for genocide moral, though.

Free Will
Do you believe it exists? Does the existence of God preclude free will?

I don't think it's a relevant question. It sure seems like we do, but how can we possibly know either way? It's like asking whether the universe we live in is simulated or not; assuming it's not, how would it differ if it was (and vice versa)? Would it really make any difference if we knew the answer?
Does God preclude free will? It seems to me that a god who can see the future in a guaranteed way would (because if it told you you would do one thing I see no reason why you couldn't choose another), but a non-omniscient god poses no problems here.

The Bible
Why don't you adhere to it (in general)? Why do you not think it is the word of God?

It's pretty darn crazy, that's why. To me it just seems like a bizarre collection of folktales. If God really wanted to get His word out, He could do a much better job of it.

Atheism
What do you think this means?

I like the a-theist definition (not theist, does not believe in gods), myself. The agnostic/weak atheist/strong atheist system of categorization covers more ground and is more specific than agnostic/atheist, and makes more sense from the word roots too.

I'm a weak atheist, BTW. Show me convincing evidence for the existence of a god, and I'll believe you.

[C. D. Ward]

Define God
What is your interpretation of God? What do you think of theistic Gods such as Yahweh and Jesus? If there was a god, what do you think it would really be like?I have no "interpretation" of God. I am essentially a non-cognitivist with respect to "god" in that I believe the word serves as a placeholder for disjunct sets of moral values and abstracted "ideals" of human behaviors and qualities. IOW, everyone seems to know what "god" is and yet everyone's definition seems to vary in some way or another. I think theism is, in general, an anthropomorphic response to the numinous sense encumbered by the contemplation of human experience within the vast impersonality of the universe. If there is any entity that we might rightly call "God", I would imagine that its true reality would be beyond human comprehension; that it would be so different from us as to be beyond understanding or description. In that respect, I would see the "true" relationship of God to the universe as pantheistic or perhaps panentheistic.

Omnimax
Define this.I can't; the concept would seem to be incoherent. It is logically impossible for any entity to be maximized with respect to every characteristic. This would necessitate a being that was both the shortest and the tallest, the most existent and the most non-existent, etc.

Any attempt to evade this problem necessitates the use of value standards that would then necessarily be "imposed" upon the "god" conception being evaluated. Since the concept of a theistic god demands its non-contingency, this would seem to invalidate the attempt.

Objective Standard of Morality
Does one exist even if there is no God? Is morality linked to God in any way? Do you think the Christian God is moral?I believe that moral values are grounded in objectively existing reality, but moral values themselves cannot be anything but subjective. If God exists and He is in some sense perfectly moral, objective morality could exist only as an expression of his nature, not his whim or will. The Christian God as portrayed in the Bible is moral in the sense that He appears to be a moral agent and operates according to a moral system, but He does not appear to be "good" in any way consonant with a non-question-begging objectively grounded system of morality.

Free Will
Do you believe it exists? Does the existence of God preclude free will?Yes. No (I am a compatibilist with respect to the existence of free will and omniscience).

The Bible
Why don't you adhere to it (in general)? Why do you not think it is the word of God?What does it mean to "adhere" to the Bible? I read the Bible to gain greater understanding of the people who wrote it and because it does, in parts, contain great wisdom. I don't regard it as inerrant or inspired in the sense of being a revelation from a divine being. I don't believe it to be the word of God primarily because I don't see any reason to believe that a "god" exists (and a non-existent being obviously can't have a "word.") Moreover, were a god to exist, I find it completely beyond reason that it would use such a problematic method to transmit such an important message.

Atheism
What do you think this means?It can mean either non-belief in a god or gods, or denial of the existence of a god or gods (sometimes described as "weak" or "strong" atheism).

[Soundsurfr]

Define God
I have no definition for god. I leave it to the theists to define the term.

Omnimax

Incomprehensible blather.

Objective Standard of Morality

Morality is a value judgement. There is no objective standard for any value judgement.

Free Will
Do you believe it exists?
Not enough data.

Does the existence of God preclude free will?
Define God.

The Bible
Why don't you adhere to it (in general)?
Why would one *adhere* to a book?

Why do you not think it is the word of God?
Define God.

Atheism
What do you think this means?
Absence of belief in any deities proposed to date by man.

[Nicholas]

Define God:
Like the other's said, that all depends on which one, but the way the world is now I would have to describe any possible deity as being rather apathetic towards us.

Define Omnimax:
The most powerful cheat code in the universe, but has the effect of making your mere existence a contradiction.

Objective Standard of Morality:
Well, it's objective isn't it? The only thing that I can say is that the idea of morality evolved because being social animals we have to get along, because if you treated others unfairly they would get revenge. Just follow this simple rule: "Do not commit an action that will infringe upon another persons right to life and liberty unless in defense of your own life and liberty."

Existence of Free Will:
The only things that inhibits our actions are the laws of physics.

God Precluding Free Will:
That depends on the god and the characteristics attributed to that god.

The Bible:
I don't adhere to it because it is possibly the most violent book in the history of the human species. I could never worship any Deity that commits the actions attributed to him in this book.

The Bible as the word of God:
See the reasons above.

Atheism:
The non-belief in gods. Which reminds me of a quote:
"I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours."- Stephen Roberts

[zorathruster]

Excellent thread, maybe needed several.

I concur with Nicholas. Morality is what Society says it is. In the New Guinea society that the British found, it was moral to whack a member of the neighboring village but not moral to whack a member of the same village. What is moral in one society may be immoral in another. Members of society at large should interact and debate and show their foundations for specific moral behavior.

Morality is what a specific society says it is. A person's ethics embraces some but maybe not other specific parts of a society's ethical code. Just because a Moslem man brings his family to DisneyWorld doesn't mean he embraces our ethic of one husband, one wife. While rolling down Thunder Mountain, that Moslem man is not immoral because he has two wives.

[EvoUK]

In the New Guinea society that the British found, it was moral to whack a member of the neighboring village but not moral to whack a member of the same village.

That same standard applies to our societies also. Notice how it isn't considered immoral by many people to kill members of another society during wartime? I say "kill" because it isn't defined as "murder", which is an unlawful killing.

[EvoUK]

I feel I need to expand on my original questions- which are meant only as starters anyways.

"omnimax" is a word which is often used as slang to mean all-loving, all-knowing, and all-powerful. Those are the attributes normally associated with the term, and I should have stated this in the OP.

Whilst some made a fuss over the "define God" question, the broad question wasn't very specific, making it very hard to accurately define the term. However, the sub-questions under it gave an idea of what I was going for.

Like many here, I have been brought up in a largely Christian society (despite what fundamentalists and even my own government thinks), so the first thing that comes to my mind when I mention god is the god I've been told about the most being brought up- regardless of the fact I place no more faith in it than I do Thor or any other.

Now- I'm going to highlight some of the questions in the OP, as I feel they didn't get enough of an airing.

Does an objective morality exist without a "lawgiver"? For simplistic purposes, we may as well assume a hypothetical lawgiver, as portrayed in the bible.

Does the existence of an all-knowing god preclude free will?

What caused you to reject the bible (or any other holy book if you've read them) as the word of god?

[Mentalist]

Hello EvoUK (fellow-brit) and others.


Define God
What is your interpretation of God? What do you think of theistic Gods such as Yahweh and Jesus? If there was a god, what do you think it would really be like?


I don't think I have an interpretation of God, classifying entities which we do not know of doesn't really serve any purpose. If we do discover an entity that might be considered God, is it God because it fits within our abritrary definition of a God and is it not God if it doesn't?

Yahweh and Jesus both share impossible characteristics, futhermore, if the characteristics were possible the supposed actions of both entities is truly baffling. While I may only have limited cognotive abilities why an "omnimax" being would act in the ways described in the bible and to produce the effects which we experience in the universe makes no logical sense. Such things as

What reason would God have for creating a universe?
What reason would God have for creating anything in his own image?
What reason would God have for meddling in that universe after it's creation?
What reason would God have for meddling more in some parts of the universe than in others?
etc.

That a thiest suggests that a universe without God is purposeless (which I agree with) a universe with this God seems ultimately purposeless also, and this doesn't fit with that God.

If there were a God, the one I could best conceive of would be something akin to a technologically superior alien species bounded by similar constraints as to us humans (eg. finite knowledge, power, etc.) whom for reasons of entertainment or experimentation have created this universe. I'm unsure whether this alien could then really be classified as a God though.


Omnimax
Define this.


I believe you've already done this :)

I do however agree with sandlewoods definition of omnipotent as far as I've understood his position. To me, something that is all powerful should not be constrained by logic, if something is contrained by logic then I conclude that it's not omnipotent. I do not believe that anything omnipotent could exist.


Objective Standard of Morality
Does one exist even if there is no God? Is morality linked to God in any way? Do you think the Christian God is moral?


I'm unsure as to what morality is really, if it is used to mean a system of right and wrong I do not believe there is such a thing as right and wrong and therefore the system is as far as I can tell is meaningless to me. I shall maybe have to research this topic further and possibly ask for some guidance on the issue.


Free Will
Do you believe it exists? Does the existence of God preclude free will?


I believe we make conclusions based on the inputs we receive. I don't believe we have any possibility of reaching a different conclusion to that one we eventually do come to. I presume this does not fit with the idea of free will.

If there is a God that is transcendent of all confines then I see no reason why free will could be precluded from being either allowable or disallowable.


The Bible
Why don't you adhere to it (in general)? Why do you not think it is the word of God?


I see no reason to live by any one elses principles, especially principles of people I don't respect.

I find the Christian God described in the bible an impossible entity. I believe the Christian God described in the bible is not compatible with the universe as I can experience it. I believe the Christian God described in the bible would not reveal itself in the way described in the bible. I believe the bible describes phenomena (eg. genesis) which have been proven to be false.

I believe the bible is written by humans which makes them fallible to collective hallucination, communal reinforcement, confabulation, divine fallacy, magical thinking, pareidolia, positive-outcome bias, post hoc reasoning, pragmatic thinking, retrospective falsification, selection bias, self-deception, shoehorning, wishful thinking, limits on memory, non-objective use of anecdotal evidence etc. Futhermore, that the document was written by humans and not God allows for a considerable scope for interpretation, editing, censorship, limited comprehension, deliberate deception etc. I believe the difficulty in dating and determining authorship of the bible allows for considerable room for many of the fallibilities listed above be exacerbated over time and allows for important evidence to be lost and unavailable at the time of writing.


Atheism
What do you think this means?


It means a lack of theism :)


Does an objective morality exist without a "lawgiver"? For simplistic purposes, we may as well assume a hypothetical lawgiver, as portrayed in the bible.


I'm again not sure what morality is.


Does the existence of an all-knowing god preclude free will?


Yes


What caused you to reject the bible (or any other holy book if you've read them) as the word of god?


I've read very little of the bible and I don't believe I've read any other "holy" book at all. I've listed a few of the reasons I've rejected the bible as the word of God and some or all of these reasons might be some of the reasons I would reject other holy books.

[bandecoot]

After reading a sticky in IIDF, I thought it would be a good idea to include some of the questions here- so we can have a view of what atheists (honestly) think and how they define these terms.

Though it's kind of obvious seeing as this is an atheist forum- this is an atheist only thread, and any theist posts will be reported as off-topic.

Ah yes, but they do look in at the zoo from time to time. If only to study our behaviour.

Define God
What is your interpretation of God? What do you think of theistic Gods such as Yahweh and Jesus? If there was a god, what do you think it would really be like?

As I dont believe in gods I have not given this a lot of thought. ( there is an honest answer for you) But a god would be that which exists in another frame of reference is powerful and rules his worshippers.

Omnimax
Define this.

All everthing. All things to all people all-loving and all-vengeful, all powerful and self limiting. Likes both Death Metal and Boy bands.


Objective Standard of Morality
Does one exist even if there is no God? Is morality linked to God in any way? Do you think the Christian God is moral?

The only objective standard is that people find some things acceptable and other things not. The Things themselves may vary.

It could be argued that the various legal systems are objective, but this is not the place for a sysnopsis on Bastiat's "The Law".

Free Will
Do you believe it exists? Does the existence of God preclude free will?

As soon as someone tells me what it actually is, Ill have a stab at defining it.

The Bible
Why don't you adhere to it (in general)? Why do you not think it is the word of God?

I do adhere to it in general. It forms an integral part of European culture. Which is hardly surprising since the Church ruled Europe from about AD 380 onwards in one form or another. It is not the word of God because God does not exist and cannot have a word.

Atheism
What do you think this means?

One without gods.

[Jimmy Higgins]

Define God
What is your interpretation of God? What do you think of theistic Gods such as Yahweh and Jesus? If there was a god, what do you think it would really be like?
Omnipotent being who began the beginning.

Yahweh is allegedly an omnipotent being who controls the show in one form or another. Yahweh is nothing but fiction.

If there was a god, they'd be like they wanted.

Omnimax
Define this.
Large elliptical screen where they show movies.

Objective Standard of Morality
Does one exist even if there is no God? Is morality linked to God in any way? Do you think the Christian God is moral?
There are very few rules in the universe that are standards. There is no standard for morality. However, doing justly is in the best interest for survival!

God(s) and his/their followers have never had problems going against their moral code when it suited them.

Depends on what standard you use for morals. It also depends on the limits one believes that the Christian God has interacted on the planet. These limits vary widely depending on what Christian you talk to.

Free Will
Do you believe it exists? Does the existence of God preclude free will?

Free will exists. If you choose you can't choose, you still have made a choice *bass solo*.

The existence of god wouldn't preclude free will seeing that god can give people free will if they want.

The Bible
Why don't you adhere to it (in general)? Why do you not think it is the word of God?
The Bible is a fictional work. I don't follow Moby Dick either.

There is no god to inspire the bible in the first place!

Atheism
What do you think this means?
Belief that there is no god(s).