Atheist, are you one?? - Page 13

pechorin · April 15th, 2012, 09:14 PM

I have just recently accepted the Atheist worldview myself (in the past month) and I have the internet to thank for the enlightenment. Oh, I was already moving in this direction when I was younger( about thirty odd years ago) because of the constant hypocracy of those around me who considered themselves Christian.

I have no problem with someone believing as they do, it is their life after all, but when those views are forced on others, then I have a problem. For example, in North Carolina they are about to vote on a marriage amendment that defines it as one man and one woman, all because the bible says so. In my opinion, the bible has too many errors to be the word of dome all-knowing and all-powerful being.

Just throwing my two cents in.

**General Halsey** · April 15th, 2012, 09:26 PM

perfect religion?

that is not possible as most religions came from some old cultural needs (most of them) or were created by some too power hungry individual (mormons, scientology,..)

From my point of view as non believer (is that the same as atheist?) you could believe in what you think is best for you. Be it God, Ra, Spirits of the past, Big floating meatball, The Force.
I had friends that were from around the world (muslims, christians (roman catholic and other variations) and atheists. And there were no problems talking about all things including religinons. All you need is to have open mind and be polite to others.

For me the closest "faith" would be pre-christian gnosticism or some old greek philosophical school.

**cylnz** · April 15th, 2012, 09:50 PM

Atheist are you one.. Sorry, I dont believe in atheism....

**dbailey** · April 15th, 2012, 10:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by General Halsey

perfect religion?

For me the closest "faith" would be pre-christian gnosticism or some old greek philosophical school.

Try this one...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoroastrianism

The oldest monotheistic religion, pre dating Islam, Christianity and Judaism

I have personally known 2 people of this faith, both genetic Persians but from close to Bombay in India.

The most famous ones I can think of are Freddie Mercury of Queen (Farooq Bulsara) and Zubin Mehta

RowanMooreFan · April 15th, 2012, 10:39 PM

"May whatever god you believe in have mercy on your souls" Q in Star Trek The Next Generation.

"Atheists are the ones that say God does not exist"

I thought that is the point of being an atheist.

So if I follow this reasoning, in order to keep an open mind you have to believe in God, because people who do not believe in God, atheists are among them, don't have an open mind. That's some very dangerous reasoning and reminds me of "Wer nicht mit uns ist, ist gegen uns und wer gegen uns ist, ist unser Feind, und unsere Feinde vernichten wir."

Atheists do not believe in a superior being, at least not unconditionally, but I guess belief or faith has to be unconditional.

No one is born with faith or belief, which leads me to assume it is culturally shaped or defined.

I believe the moral values that are part of Christianity are largely the same values cherished by atheists, but without the need for a god.

I also think atheists are very tolerant and broad-minded, a true atheist will not condemn someone for his or her religion, they respect that religion, but do not adhere to it.

"Imagine no religion, nothing to kill or die for".

**CARLTON BROWN** · April 15th, 2012, 11:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TCO95

So is there a perfect or nearly perfect religion? Say for whatever reason you had to join a religion or church which would it be?

Once or twice, I've thought it would be fun to start something new, rather like the late Lafayette Ron Hubbard (not that I think his movement has ever been a proper religion).

I might be tempted to call my new religion The Holy Order Of Roswell (THOR) that would attract member of the UFO fringe and add some mysticism.

Does anyone know if there's any official requirement to justify a new religion and can you turn your home into a place of worship and get full exemption from Council Tax?

**howerd** · April 15th, 2012, 11:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CARLTON BROWN

Once or twice, I've thought it would be fun to start something new, rather like the late Lafayette Ron Hubbard (not that I think his movement has ever been a proper religion).

I might be tempted to call my new religion The Holy Order Of Roswell (THOR) that would attract member of the UFO fringe and add some mysticism.

Does anyone know if there's any official requirement to justify a new religion and can you turn your home into a place of worship and get full exemption from Council Tax?

Well since you are on this website dedicated to sharing data why not join the worlds newest religion: Kopism which believes in file-sharing as a holy act! I'm not making it up: it originated recently from Sweden:

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/technolo...174039450.html

All religions end up with schisms, so why not join the Kopimists & form a splinter group which claims that only sharing porn files is sacred? I'll follow that faith!

**dbailey** · April 15th, 2012, 11:28 PM

Accordingt to Wiki

Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities.[1] In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities.[2][3] Most inclusively, atheism is simply the absence of belief that any deities exist

So Atheists do not believe that there is no god as this would be a belief based system but in fact are actually missing the belief that a deity exists.

As I do not have any belief based logic, only what can be established by test and reproduced under controlled conditions then my absence of a belief in a god does indeed make me an atheist. I am not denying a god, please do not misinterpret my lack of belief as denial as denial tends to denote a lack of understanding or perspective, both of which I strive for.

Can we avoid the term that 'atheists believe there is no god' as this is a double negative and instead subscribe to the lack of a belief in a god ie a single negative viewpoint.

Thanks

added link to full wiki article

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atheism

**billybunter** · April 16th, 2012, 12:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RowanMooreFan

"Atheists are the ones that say God does not exist"

That with respect that is not true. Speaking for myself, I find the bible to be fiction or a fable. Why must there be a god? Everything on Earth is energy, our bodies are merely vehicles for this stage in our existence.

**BigBucket** · April 16th, 2012, 04:08 AM

Here is something worth thinking about. A chap I know, very religeous he really believes in all the Bible stuff, to a literal level. i think hes a bit nuts but who am i to judge hes happy.

Aaaanyway... he is a very well travelled man hes been all over the world. Yet he said to me the other day that he always gets depressed when he returns to the UK because he has never know a nation not only devoid of God, but plain lacking in any kind of spiritual or even scientific interest.

You start talking about spiritual or even scientific things and people look at you as if youve fallen out of the loopy tree. All people seem to believe in here in the UK is where the next tax hike is coming from or that ugly bloke will make it through to the next round of X Factor.

have we in the UK totally lost all sence of spirit or scientific progress? What do you think?

April 15th, 2012, 09:50 PM	#123
cylnz Vintage Member Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 3,140 Thanks: 26,068 Thanked 39,693 Times in 3,122 Posts	Atheist are you one.. Sorry, I dont believe in atheism.... __________________ To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. "How'd you like the my foot in your ass experience"

April 15th, 2012, 11:28 PM	#128
dbailey Veteran Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Wharfedale, Yorkshire, UK Posts: 2,298 Thanks: 137,964 Thanked 24,965 Times in 2,218 Posts	Accordingt to Wiki Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities.[1] In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities.[2][3] Most inclusively, atheism is simply the absence of belief that any deities exist So Atheists do not believe that there is no god as this would be a belief based system but in fact are actually missing the belief that a deity exists. As I do not have any belief based logic, only what can be established by test and reproduced under controlled conditions then my absence of a belief in a god does indeed make me an atheist. I am not denying a god, please do not misinterpret my lack of belief as denial as denial tends to denote a lack of understanding or perspective, both of which I strive for. Can we avoid the term that 'atheists believe there is no god' as this is a double negative and instead subscribe to the lack of a belief in a god ie a single negative viewpoint. Thanks added link to full wiki article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atheism Last edited by dbailey; April 15th, 2012 at 11:35 PM..

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April 15th, 2012, 09:14 PM	#121
pechorin Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Posts: 6 Thanks: 16,967 Thanked 22 Times in 6 Posts	I have just recently accepted the Atheist worldview myself (in the past month) and I have the internet to thank for the enlightenment. Oh, I was already moving in this direction when I was younger( about thirty odd years ago) because of the constant hypocracy of those around me who considered themselves Christian. I have no problem with someone believing as they do, it is their life after all, but when those views are forced on others, then I have a problem. For example, in North Carolina they are about to vote on a marriage amendment that defines it as one man and one woman, all because the bible says so. In my opinion, the bible has too many errors to be the word of dome all-knowing and all-powerful being. Just throwing my two cents in.

April 15th, 2012, 09:26 PM	#122
General Halsey Vintage Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Czech Republic Posts: 3,396 Thanks: 1,624 Thanked 82,867 Times in 3,592 Posts	perfect religion? that is not possible as most religions came from some old cultural needs (most of them) or were created by some too power hungry individual (mormons, scientology,..) From my point of view as non believer (is that the same as atheist?) you could believe in what you think is best for you. Be it God, Ra, Spirits of the past, Big floating meatball, The Force. I had friends that were from around the world (muslims, christians (roman catholic and other variations) and atheists. And there were no problems talking about all things including religinons. All you need is to have open mind and be polite to others. For me the closest "faith" would be pre-christian gnosticism or some old greek philosophical school.

April 15th, 2012, 10:39 PM	#125
RowanMooreFan Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Posts: 155 Thanks: 13,852 Thanked 7,286 Times in 151 Posts	"May whatever god you believe in have mercy on your souls" Q in Star Trek The Next Generation. "Atheists are the ones that say God does not exist" I thought that is the point of being an atheist. So if I follow this reasoning, in order to keep an open mind you have to believe in God, because people who do not believe in God, atheists are among them, don't have an open mind. That's some very dangerous reasoning and reminds me of "Wer nicht mit uns ist, ist gegen uns und wer gegen uns ist, ist unser Feind, und unsere Feinde vernichten wir." Atheists do not believe in a superior being, at least not unconditionally, but I guess belief or faith has to be unconditional. No one is born with faith or belief, which leads me to assume it is culturally shaped or defined. I believe the moral values that are part of Christianity are largely the same values cherished by atheists, but without the need for a god. I also think atheists are very tolerant and broad-minded, a true atheist will not condemn someone for his or her religion, they respect that religion, but do not adhere to it. "Imagine no religion, nothing to kill or die for".

April 16th, 2012, 04:08 AM	#130
BigBucket Vintage Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: The United Kingdom of Oppressed Peoples. Posts: 783 Thanks: 5,453 Thanked 11,405 Times in 770 Posts	Here is something worth thinking about. A chap I know, very religeous he really believes in all the Bible stuff, to a literal level. i think hes a bit nuts but who am i to judge hes happy. Aaaanyway... he is a very well travelled man hes been all over the world. Yet he said to me the other day that he always gets depressed when he returns to the UK because he has never know a nation not only devoid of God, but plain lacking in any kind of spiritual or even scientific interest. You start talking about spiritual or even scientific things and people look at you as if youve fallen out of the loopy tree. All people seem to believe in here in the UK is where the next tax hike is coming from or that ugly bloke will make it through to the next round of X Factor. have we in the UK totally lost all sence of spirit or scientific progress? What do you think?