Who says there isn't?

It is true that Atheismis is not an organized and structured community, with dogmas or hierarchy. There's no need to be part of any collective in order to be an atheist. But atheism is growing. Many atheist feel the need to gather with self-minded people to share thoughts and express our opinions. There are atheist and secular communities, movements and associations almost in every big civilized city. And many other international ones, like The Out Campaign, the Atheist Alliance International, and many more. I'm a member of some of them.

You can find some of them here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_secularist_organizations

Atheism is not a lifestyle. It's not a dogma, a point of view or a philosophy. Atheism is just a rejection to a claim. It's only an answer to a question. No more, no less.

Therefore I don't think there are certain general or default benefits in atheism. I can say I find some personal benefits living my life as an atheist though: freethinking, living life based on reality not being deluded, humanist morals, etc. But that's my personal view and experience. I cannot speak for all atheists, eve though I think many of them would agree with me

My experience was pretty much the same story. I was born and raised in a catholic country, in a catholic school with catholic relatives all around. I was lucky I had agnostic/atheist parent who didn't tell me much about religion and who taught me science since early childhood. I started seeing inconsistencies in religion very soon. And when I was old enough to reason, I clearly realized the entire thing made no sense at all. I was calling myself and atheist by the age of 17.

There’s no intelligent person who hasn’t sit calmly to reason and question their religion honestly without rejecting it.

Abortion and Atheism are not necessarily related. Almost every believer are against abortion for religious reasons. That's why many atheists, who don't have this kind of arguments, are pro-abortion, or let's say pro-choice, which I like more. But not all of them. I know many atheist who are against abortion just like you and for the same reasons you have.

I’m personally pro-choice in the right circumstances. I think what happens in your body is only your business and you have the right to decide what to do about it, and about your own life. But not, for example, in advanced pregnancy state, or not to be used as a method of contraception. Always with responsibility.

But that's my personal opinion, which doesn’t com from my atheism, but for my personal way of thinking. Many atheists disagree with me, and that's totally fine.

You're not alone ;)

The word "spiritual" has many meanings. Most of them refer to things that are not physical, in a realistic or a philosophical way. Many believers likes to call themselves "spiritual" in that way, but it could also mean many things for an atheist, talking about feelings, connection to natures... things like that. But in general I think that word is understood by the common people as someone with a belief or a relation with something supernatural. I personally don't like to use it for myself, because I don't feel myself identified completely with any of its meanings. But I don't think it's a term that atheist should not use.

I know some atheists who use it, when they talk about a relationship with nature, or the complete feeling of being a human and the spirit of mankind or humanism.

Words are what we made of them. "Spiritual" doesn't have to be related with god, or gods, spirits or anything supernatural. I think you should use it naturally if it means something to you. Some people (believers mostly) could misunderstood it a bit, if you don't add an explicit explanation. But I wouldn't worry about it.

If you feel you're spiritual, you are spiritual. And you should express yourself that way freely.

Many people claim (theists most of all) that Albert Einstein was a believer because he used to mention "God" in many of his writings and thoughts. This is not accurate.

Many religious theists cite Einstein as an example of a smart scientist who was also a religious theist like them. This supposedly rebuts the idea that science conflicts with religion or that science is atheistic. However, Albert Einstein consistently and unambiguously denied believing in personal gods who answered prayers or involved themselves in human affairs, exactly the sort of god common to religious theists claiming that Einstein was one of them. From some perspectives his position would be seen as atheism or no different from atheism. He admitted to being a freethinker, which in a German context is much the same as atheism.

He often used the word "god" in some quotes when trying to explain his point of view as a physicist. Like the famous one: "God does not play dice with the universe". He just used the word as a metaphor and simile of another meaning.

He also said:
- "The word god is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honorable, but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish. No interpretation no matter how subtle can (for me) change this."
- "I have repeatedly said that in my opinion the idea of a personal God is a childlike one. You may call me an agnostic, but I do not share the crusading spirit of the professional atheist whose fervor is mostly due to a painful act of liberation from the fetters of religious indoctrination received in youth. I prefer an attitude of humility corresponding to the weakness of our intellectual understanding of nature and of our own being."
And when asked "Do you believe in God?" he answered: "Has Science found God?"

Albert Einstein didn't merely disbelieve or even deny the existence of the sort of god traditionally asserted in monotheistic religions. Albert Einstein went so far as to deny that such gods could even be moral, if religious claims about them were true. Gods which presume to reward good and punish evil would themselves be immoral - especially if they were omnipotent and thus ultimately responsible for every event. Belief in an afterlife and souls is a fundamental principle not only to most religions, but also most spiritual and paranormal beliefs today. Albert Einstein denied any validity to the belief that we can survive our physical deaths. According to Einstein, there is no punishment for misdeeds or rewards for good behavior in any afterlife. Albert Einstein's denial of the existence of life after death suggests that he didn't believe in any gods and is part of his rejection of traditional religion.

The point of living this life is exactly that: living this life. And the fact that we all know we'll die one day and this is the only real life we have and we can count on makes living this life simply more precious and worthwhile. Stop worrying about an afterlife makes living way better. Just be happy and enjoy while you breathe cause this is all you're gonna get.

That depends on what we understand by 'spiritual'. I don't believe that anything as the common meaning of the word 'spirit' (soul, supernatural being, etc.) exists.

But there's somehow a part of another definition of 'spiritual' that I could feel identified with:
I can be deeply moved in my human essence by music, art, compassion... I can feel deep breathtaking love. I can be profoundly inspired by nature, science, human relations... I can feel the shake of passion, the sublime awe of joy...

So I guess in this way the answer is YES. Ruling out the supernatural and the superstitious, I could say in a way that atheist are spiritual too.

Believing in a single invisible all-powerful capricious deity makes little sense to me. But that intricate useless concept of the trinity is even worse nonsense. I couldn't find a single theist who believes in the holy trinity able to explain to me what it is or what it means. Three gods that are one? One god that is 3? Does he decide to be 3 (so he could be 6 or 1, or 23 if he will) or he has to be 3 and only 3 cause that's how he was created (by who)? If so, why? I never spent more than a few minutes to try to figure this out, cause there's no point on this. They end up saying something like "only god understands".

We could study the historical and sociological premises and reasons of the origin of the trinity aspects of mysticism and superstition, but it seems to me that, at this point and moment, the more complicated and twisted religious concepts are, the more easy they find it to believe, for they feel only god can understand the complexity of their own essence (or things like that), what makes it more acceptable for them.

In a nutshell: BS

I'm not specifically scared of muslims. I know good people who are moderate muslims, and some of them are good friends of mine. What scares me is fundamental believers. Muslims or from any other religion. Fundamental theists of any belief are dangerous and are the ones who worries me most.

There's no god who could stop existing tomorrow because no god exists today.

As an atheist I don’t think any god of those that theists believe in exist at all. So I never had de need to wonder what I would ask any of them.

But if it happened that one god exists and I had the chance to ask something, my question would be: “Why? Why if you’re the only god didn’t you ever show yourself? Why making this world look like if no god ever existed? And why letting all humans believe wrongly in so many different cults and religions and even fight and kill each other for who’s right when you could have just showed yourself and finished this terrible damage that superstitious believes and religions have done to humanity?”

About 7900 miles (Madrid - Hawaii)

That’s a very difficult thing to do in many cases. For someone fundamental who bases their lives in a set of supernatural believes, who deeply, strongly and truly feels the need to believe in the existence of a particular good to give sense to their lives, it’s almost impossible to even think of the possibility of god not existing. Trying to convince them that god may not exist sometimes makes them close themselves and reject any conversation about it.

But what we can do, if we really care about this person and need them to see that other points of view are possible, is not trying to convince them, but trying them to understand us. We think they’re wrong as well as they think we’re wrong. But probably we understand them way better than they understand us. A first step in the right direction would be to try them to understand why we think what we think, what kind of things made us change our minds, how we came to our conclusions. How good we understand the way they feel and why we think there are other options. Not only about god not existing. Also making them see there are other religions, other opinions, not just atheism.

If we can make them open their minds enough to understand other sets of beliefs they could come to the pint of seeing they’re not the only ones who have the same reasons they have to think they’re the only ones who are right. That way they can start to relax the psychological bounds that prevent them to even doubt about what they’ve been indoctrinated to believe.

It’s not easy, it could take time and we have to be patient and careful. And the way to atheism is a lonely one: you have to get to the finishing line on your own, without anyone forcing you, indoctrinating you or giving you any answer. They have to walk that path alone once they’re brave enough to question things. But it’s always a great thing to help free a mind and let it fly on their own.

Free thinkers and scientists like Isaac Asimov, Carl Sagan, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris or Christopher Hitchens.

No. Obviously not.

I see no weakness in Atheism.

We recomend:
http://lolgod.blogspot.com
http://www.atheistcartoons.com
http://www.freethunk.net
http://godisimaginary.com/comics
http://www.sydneyatheists.org/node/1052

Indeed, Atheism is the lack of any belief in any god. But many atheists also feel the need to show their worries about the consequences of what the beliefs that others have in god, and the problems that organized religions cause to our society.

Active atheists claim that it's important in every nation to keep the separation of religion and state, for example. Some of us also think that religions have provoked an important obstacle in science advance, we think religions detriment human rights in many cases with intolerance, bigotry sexism, homophobia, racism and even use people’s hopes and fears to get money and power.

Religion affects us all when influence on our educational systems (it’s unacceptable to teach creationism instead of evolution in schools), on people’s health (some religious communities don’t accept blood transfusions or organ transplants) when the pope recommends not to use condoms in Africa, in our lives when they indoctrinate young children in what we consider nonsense ideas with guilt and fear, and force people into non free thinking attitudes, clothing, etc., or when commit threaten freedom of speech with absurd laws.

In general atheists don’t care and even respect everybody’s personal beliefs. We think we all the right to believe what we want. But those religions from others affect us in many ways and we also feel the right to fight for what we consider is a curse for the modern world and mankind.

The most acceptable explanation of the beginning of the known Universe right now is the Big Bang theory. And cosmology and physics explain how our Solar System and planet came to be what they are now. Abiogenesis is the science that explains how life started on the Earth. And Evolution is the explanation of how all life evolved from then until what is now.

Science doesn't require a god to explain anything. In fact science is not afraid to say "I don't know" to something we still don't have the explanation for. Religions take the "I-don't-knows" and call it god. That's not how science works and of course it's not a way to find the truth.

As Isaac Asimov use to say: "To surrender to ignorance and call it God has always been premature, and it remains premature today."

If there's something you don't understand or any question you don't have the answer to, keep searching and investigating until you get it. Don't give up saying god is the answer.