What being an atheist means in practical terms

Discussion in 'Religion & Philosophy' started by Greenleft, Jan 6, 2022.

  1. Injeun

    Injeun Well-Known Member

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    Considering that there are four thousand religions in the world. And that each of those is divided into legions of sects, with Christianity alone having about forty five thousand different denominations. An Atheist then would be someone who looks at that and says, "Eh, no thanks. I have other things to do."
     
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  2. Kokomojojo

    Kokomojojo Well-Known Member

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    Oh and here I thought they would come on political forum and evangelize how correct intelligent and reasonable their religion is and how ****ed up any theistic religion is. I have never met an atheist that claimed other things to do.
     
  3. Injeun

    Injeun Well-Known Member

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    Well, theism is pretty messed up. When a teenager named Joseph Smith wanted to join a Church. There were too many from which to choose. So he prayed and asked God which one was right. And God appeared and told him that none of them were right. That they drew near to him with their lips, but that their hearts were far from him. So God told Smith that he would restore his Church and authority thru him. It became the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints(Mormons). Now that's a religion. In my experience, Atheists critique of religion is either for sport or self defense. Not for proselytizing or anyone's rescue.
     
  4. Phil

    Phil Well-Known Member

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    How do you know Joseph Smith wasn't just trying to become America's best fiction writer and discovered that some fools believed him? I think God would have directed him to a nearby Congregational Church to start a reform movement.
     
  5. Injeun

    Injeun Well-Known Member

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    God does what he will do. Anyway, my point was to show Koko the difference between true religion and Atheism, which Koko says is a religion.
     
  6. Phil

    Phil Well-Known Member

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    Yes Injeun, I know I'm just sniping in a thread on my periphery. However the fact a thread like this can run this long with so many pages proves that atheists and even agnostics are as passionate about their faiths as the average member of the forum who visits the religion section. Just as you declare your unique faith here they interject their faith. They tend to be more annoying though. That comes with religious arrogance. Those equally arrogant for their sects tend to keep their arrogance within the community.
     
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  7. Kokomojojo

    Kokomojojo Well-Known Member

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    I dont think you will find anyone on the planet that witnessed God 'do' anything.
    I call and raise you 'secular religion'

    Secular religion

    From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
    A secular religion is a communal belief system that often rejects or neglects the metaphysical aspects of the supernatural, commonly associated with traditional religion, instead placing typical religious qualities in earthly entities.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secular_religion


    Furthermore any given 'religion' is true ONLY to its adherent, not to anyone else on the planet.
     
    Last edited: Jan 18, 2022
  8. yardmeat

    yardmeat Well-Known Member

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    That's because Koko equates "There are atheist religions" with "Atheism is a religion." Not the same thing, but that's always his go-to argument. Every time someone says that atheism is a religion, he responds be presenting examples of atheist religions. Anyone who can draw a Venn Diagram can see why this is bull ****.
     
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  9. Injeun

    Injeun Well-Known Member

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    That is to say that life is religion. It isn't. It is life. In life, there are religions. In life are those who reject religions. They are called Atheists. Those who embrace those religions are Theists. Those who are uncertain about the religions in life are called Agnostics.
     
  10. Dirty Rotten Imbecile

    Dirty Rotten Imbecile Well-Known Member

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    I watched a doc on Prime about a time capsule that was opened that surprised people because it showed the original Mormon Church differently than it is portrayed today. I can’t remember what was different. Maybe it was just click bait
     
  11. Kokomojojo

    Kokomojojo Well-Known Member

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    One of the 4 horsemen, harris, I was listening to a lecture and he claims atheism is a religion. Maybe you should consider taking a moment to figure it out LOL

    What is the root word of religion?
    It is commonly accepted that the word “religion” originates from the Latin word “religio”, and the verbs “ligare” and “religare”, which mean respectively
    “bind” and “connect”.Dec 18, 2019


    Understanding religion - Our World: 100 thought leaders ...

    Neoatheists are definitely bound to their beliefs

    Not sure how you came to that conclusion?

    BUT it is:


    Eruditio et Religio LLC

    Duke University | Durham, NC

    Religio
    means “to bind back.” More precisely, it means a set of practices
    that aim at nurturing a sense of belonging and obligation to a
    place, a people, a way of life.
    On this account, any number of events
    are “religious,” even though they do not take place in a sanctuary:
    harvest festivals, state fairs, homecomings, and Independence Day

    parades, for example, all serve this kind of function.


    yep pretty much!

    Why do you think neoatheists are building churches for themselves!??

    Atheist 'mega-churches' undermine what atheism's supposed to be about

    Sadhbh Walshe

    A so-called godless church wants to establish more US congregations.

    These 'places of worship' come across as a joke

    [​IMG]
    Around 12,000 people in the Christian Fraternity of Guatemala evangelic mega-church near Guatemala City. Photograph: Orlando Sierra/AFP/Getty Images
    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/nov/15/atheism-contrary-to-mega-churches

    How embarrassing it must be to wear the label of atheist now days LOL
    No wonder real atheists are pissed off.
    LOONEYS at the helm!
    Steady as she goes! :roflol:
     
    Last edited: Jan 18, 2022
  12. Kokomojojo

    Kokomojojo Well-Known Member

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    Last edited: Jan 19, 2022
  13. Durandal

    Durandal Well-Known Member Donor

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    Interesting that you bring up terrorism. Seems to me that most terrorists are either religious or believe in and act on some other ideology in a religious fashion. Based on this, I reject the notion that religion offers any kind of moral superiority or standard worth aspiring to. In fact, it seems to do the very opposite since people use religious ideology to justify evil acts, replacing their innate sense of morality with an artificial one that invariably serves some strict system of social control.

    As for the question of purpose, I suppose some people find this harder to reconcile than others do, though I think it's really the fear of mortality that drives people to religion, as well as the social benefits, as you've pointed out, that organized religion so often provides. It is hard to find something comparable to church outside of organized religion, and leaving such a religion will likely bring problems with family and friends. I've certainly endured my fair share for coming out as atheist, and my family isn't even all that religious. They just adhere to a conservative form of Lutheranism and sometimes feel compelled to try to get me back into it, but fortunately not so much now that several years have gone by. About a decade, in fact.

    Anyway, to those who claim that atheism is a religion, I say it's funny that they feel compelled to make that comparison in the first place, because it indicates to me that they know deep down that religion is BS, and that is why they want to attack atheism as a religion. It puts religion on the same level as the various religions to which they do not personally subscribe and gives them an excuse to ignore atheist arguments in favor of focusing on atheism as an object to attack as a whole in a straw-man fashion.
     
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  14. Kokomojojo

    Kokomojojo Well-Known Member

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    So you liked the post citing the atheist church?
    yeh, I bet thats a bit difficult to find the shoe on the other foot.
     
  15. yardmeat

    yardmeat Well-Known Member

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    Feel free to actually quote him (which I doubt you will do). Sounds like you are falling for the same nonsense you always do: "There are X people who are religious, therefore X is a religion." You constantly repeat this argument, sometimes run away from it, but always run back to it. It all comes back to your failure to be able to draw a Venn Diagram.

    There are atheists who are religious, therefore atheism is a religion.
    There are black people who are religious, therefore being black is a religion.
    There are baseball players who are religious, therefore playing baseball is a religion.
    There are people missing a toe who are religious, therefore missing a toe is a religion.

    It is as pathetic as it is irrational as it is wrong.

    But this is, of course, coming from the same person who claims that EVERYONE, including himself, is a theist in one breath, while also claiming to be agnostic, while also claiming that theism and agnosticism are mutually exclusive. Let us know when you are done spinning on the merry-go-round and actually have arrived at some kind of conclusion. Maybe next decade?
     
    Last edited: Jan 19, 2022
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  16. Kokomojojo

    Kokomojojo Well-Known Member

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    Never happened, the false unvalidated claims you people make purposefully with no quote never cease to amaze me.
    Venn diagram?

    Get serious!

    [​IMG]

    If the best you can do can is venn, I have my doubts you will understand a TT even though I not only drew a picture I also crayola'd it for those that have difficulty comprehending text.

    NEVER HAPPENED!
    WOW again, you are so incredibly confused! If you want to quote me so we can all know wtf you are talking about Im sure we can get it sorted out.
     
    Last edited: Jan 20, 2022
  17. Kokomojojo

    Kokomojojo Well-Known Member

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    I never said or implied by any stretch of the imagination ANY of those premises or anything remotely related to such imbecilic nonsense. Its hard to imagine anyone could even cook up that level of stupidity. Its generally assumed and correctly so that those who post on forums without direct quoting are lying. I cant imagine that you would stoop so low to lie to us, so quote it, Im sure everyone would like to see validation so you dont default.
     
  18. The Ant

    The Ant Well-Known Member

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    Incorrect. Gnosticism is about knowledge, not belief…
     
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  19. The Ant

    The Ant Well-Known Member

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    Bolded part is incorrect. Atheists do no assert that god/s do not exist. They simply don’t believe that they do exist…
     
  20. Kokomojojo

    Kokomojojo Well-Known Member

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    so every dictionary on the planet is wrong huh?
     
  21. Polydectes

    Polydectes Well-Known Member

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    Knowledge of God which is a belief so it's really semantics at this point.
     
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  22. The Ant

    The Ant Well-Known Member

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    Every dictionary…?

    OXFORD:

    “a person who disbelieves or lacks belief in the existence of God or gods.”

    DICTIONARY.COM:

    “a person who denies or disbelieves the existence of a supreme being or beings.”

    CAMBRIDGE:

    “someone who does not believe in any God or gods:”

    MERRIAM-WEBSTER:

    “a person who does not believe in the existence of a god or any gods : one who subscribes to or advocates atheism

    In fact, the ONLY one that I could find that defines the active claim that gods do NOT exist was Collins:

    “An atheist is a person who believes that there is no God.”

    This last position represents the so-called “strong” atheist. About 25% of atheists fit into this category; ie, they assert categorically that no gods exist. I take issue with their position, as skeptical thinkers should always hold open the possibility that evidence might be produced to alter their understanding.
     
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  23. The Ant

    The Ant Well-Known Member

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    No. Like me, you probably know many theists who were inculcated into their beliefs as young children, but who are honest enough to concede that they have no knowledge of the existence of their god; ie, they have no evidence to support their belief and have no means of attaining that knowledge, but continue to believe nevertheless. These are agnostic theists…
     
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  24. Jolly Penguin

    Jolly Penguin Well-Known Member

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    Again, there are multiple meanings for these words, and that is not a problem so long as speakers and writers are clear on what they mean when they use these words.
     
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  25. The Ant

    The Ant Well-Known Member

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    Correct.
     

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