Atheism as a religion

The Learned Joined: Jun 08, 2006 Posts: 104

Again and again and again and again. Do you ever get tired of yourself not making sense?

Your mother is a patient woman.

A-theism. LACK of belief. NOTTTTT a belief. Are we clear on that? Please. I feel like we have to explain things to you WORD BY WORD because their concepts elude you otherwise.

Though I think this, what I'm saying right this instant, is also eluding you...

Edit: "You're" to "Your"

Posted: Fri Dec 01, 2006 5:07 pm

CENTEROFBAPTISTWORSHIP wrote:

How is this not a belief?

It is a belief (with regard to positive atheists, at least), but something being a belief certainly doesn't make it a religion. I believe I have ten fingers too. Does that make me a member of the Church of Ten Fingers? I believe I'll wake up tomorrow. Is that my religion? Do you see what you're doing to water down the definition of religion by simply equating it with "belief?" Religion involves belief in the supernatural, which most atheists don't have, and those that do don't have those beliefs as a function of being atheists.

CENTEROFBAPTISTWORSHIP wrote:

Skeptism is not scientific.

I beg to differ. Science demands empirical evidence. If your claim doesn't have any to support it, there's no reason to give it any serious credibility.

CENTEROFBAPTISTWORSHIP wrote:

It's opinionated belief just as much as those who create religions such as L. Ron Hubbard, Elijah Muhammad, George Baker, Joseph Smith, Noble Drew Ali, Eddy Baker, etc etc.

Actually, you're wrong here. Skepticism is not in itself a belief or set of beliefs. Skepticism is a method, which asks for evidence in order to support claims. Unfortunately, all of the people you named made claims that were not based on empirical evidence (though one of them made up some ridiculous evidence, but I won't name him, since I might get sued Laughing

).

Posted: Fri Dec 01, 2006 5:09 pm

Yeah, I should add that negative atheism is not even a belief.

Posted: Sat Dec 02, 2006 1:32 am

CENTEROFBAPTISTWORSHIP wrote:

AntJ313 wrote:

Atheism is a "religion" as much as baldness is a "hair color".

Anton Batey

That's your perception. Perception is not truth though. Atheism is the belief that there is no "God". So how can this not be a religion?

BECAUSE, having a belief or an opinion and being religious are not the same thing. No one ever uses the words that way unless they want to turn people into things that they aren't.

That you want to change 'religion' to mean anyone who has any kind of belief says more about YOU than it says about religion.

Posted: Sat Dec 02, 2006 1:39 am

a-theism = without belief.

a-symmetrical = without symmetry.

CENTER, do you believe in Loki, Poseidon, or Allah? no? then you are atheist towards those deities. you too are an atheist.

Posted: Sat Dec 02, 2006 5:04 am

Allow me to reiterate:

Atheism = LACK OF BELIEF in ANY GOD.

Atheism is not a belief system, it's just a statement that says, "I don't believe in God". If the concept of "God" didn't exist, we wouldn't even need a word for "atheist". Think about that. The word shouldn't even be a topic of discussion, except that theism is popular! Religion, though, would exist even if the concept of "God" didn't. See any non-theistic religion for evidence of this.

Posted: Sat Dec 02, 2006 6:01 am

Moloth wrote:

a-theism = without belief.

a-symmetrical = without symmetry.

CENTER, do you believe in Loki, Poseidon, or Allah? no? then you are atheist towards those deities. you too are an atheist.

all together now:
"And I disbelieve in only one more god than you do. Yours!"

Intern Joined: Feb 02, 2006 Posts: 205

Brights are people who believe in living non-religious and non-superstitious lifes. They believe one can live a moral life without religion And they believe you can live a happy and fufilling life without a belief in God. Just like religious people, They are often intolerant to those who do not believe and live like they do.

Intern Joined: Feb 02, 2006 Posts: 205

Mr_C wrote:

Allow me to reiterate:

Atheism = LACK OF BELIEF in ANY GOD.

Atheism is not a belief system, it's just a statement that says, "I don't believe in God". If the concept of "God" didn't exist, we wouldn't even need a word for "atheist". Think about that. The word shouldn't even be a topic of discussion, except that theism is popular! Religion, though, would exist even if the concept of "God" didn't. See any non-theistic religion for evidence of this.

It's more complicated then that, otherwise how do you explain the whole bright movement. Why attempt to redifine atheism when it quite simply is a lack of belief in God and nothing more. Brights believe in a naturalist world view for starters.

Grand Poster Joined: Jan 28, 2006 Posts: 2274

People (On both sides) seem to forget that there are TWO (2, II) types of atheism.
Weak: lack of belief
Strong: belief in no god.

Posted: Mon Dec 04, 2006 6:04 am

Anubis wrote:

People (On both sides) seem to forget that there are TWO (2, II) types of atheism.
Weak: lack of belief
Strong: belief in no god.

true. for me, one builds up to the other.

I am atheist because i am agnostic.

The Learned Joined: Feb 27, 2006 Posts: 110

madoba wrote:

Why attempt to redifine atheism when it quite simply is a lack of belief in God and nothing more.

I agree. Atheism = no belief in god, Theism = belief in god.

There are qualifications, though. Theists aren't all the same, and Atheists aren't all the same. We distinguish between christians, muslims, evangelicals, unitarians, deists, etc. And we can distinguish between strong and weak Atheists. We can also talk about secular humanists, brights, etc. But, Atheists/Theism is a mutually exclusive and exhaustive categorization of everybody: you either believe in god or you don't believe in god.

Resident Joined: Jan 31, 2005 Posts: 372 Location: Canada

I like your last post JFAgnostic, but I am not so sure of the last line...

Quote:

But, Atheists/Theism is a mutually exclusive and exhaustive categorization of everybody: you either believe in god or you don't believe in god.

I don't like that kind of black and white. What if you don't know or are not sure if you believe in God?

The Learned Joined: Feb 27, 2006 Posts: 110

Leszek wrote:

I don't like that kind of black and white. What if you don't know or are not sure if you believe in God?

Okay. I'd make the allowance that some people are teetering between the two. They'd find themselves to be atheists at certain times and theists at other times, as they get confused about their faith in god upon hearing the evidence against, or as they shed the superstition of their youth, or as they cower in the face of disease or disaster and look for solace in a perfect protective father figure in the sky.

If you do not believe, though, you are an atheist by default. If you believe, you are a theist. I think at all times, you'd have to fall into one of these two categories (notwithstanding ideas like non-cognitivism). How could someone neither believe nor disbelieve simultaneously? That's what it would take to be neither atheist nor theist.

Posted: Wed Dec 06, 2006 3:32 pm

Some people do get WAY to attached to their opinions and begin to treat them like dogma. In that case, some atheists treat atheism like a religion.

Too, Michael Newdow suggested we try to treat atheism as a religion simply to gain recognition.

On a side note, this is the Christianity forum, and this is not a Christianity thread . . .


Create an account	Home · Articles · Downloads · Video Library · Forums · Chat Room · aStore