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Poid
Shroomery's #1 Spellir




Registered: 02/04/08
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"Atheism is a religion."
#14231853 - 04/03/11 04:17 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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Why do some people think this?
-------------------- Well I try my best to be just like I am, but everybody wants you to be just like them. -- Bob Dylan  fireworks_god said:It's one thing to simply enjoy a style of life that one enjoys, but it's another thing altogether to refer to another person's choice as "wrong" or to rationalize their behavior as being pathological or resulting from some sort of inadequacy or failing so as to create a sense of superiority or separation as yet another projection of a personal fear or control issue.
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xFrockx


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Re: "Atheism is a religion." [Re: Poid] 3
#14231863 - 04/03/11 04:18 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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Because one who is an atheist admits knowing something they cannot possibly confirm.
Then some people say that no, the possibility of God is ridiculous, I can clam the title atheist just fine.
Then others say "Yeah but that's not a rational argument towards the fictitious entity's non-existence"
Then the atheists say "Non-belief is not the same as belief, religion is belief and I do not believe"
Then the religious say "But you believe that God is absent, surely this also requires faith"
Then the atheist goes back to the God is ridiculous argument, and the cycle begins anew.
Edited by xFrockx (04/03/11 04:23 PM)
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Poid
Shroomery's #1 Spellir




Registered: 02/04/08
Posts: 40,372
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Re: "Atheism is a religion." [Re: xFrockx] 1
#14231874 - 04/03/11 04:20 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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No they don't.
Atheism
Quote:
Most inclusively, atheism is simply the absence of belief that any deities exist.
Even if they do, since when does belief necessarily = religion?
-------------------- Well I try my best to be just like I am, but everybody wants you to be just like them. -- Bob Dylan  fireworks_god said:It's one thing to simply enjoy a style of life that one enjoys, but it's another thing altogether to refer to another person's choice as "wrong" or to rationalize their behavior as being pathological or resulting from some sort of inadequacy or failing so as to create a sense of superiority or separation as yet another projection of a personal fear or control issue.
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Dutchbrewed
Metaphysical



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Re: "Atheism is a religion." [Re: Poid]
#14231876 - 04/03/11 04:20 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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It's your choice as to the way you view existence... I wouldn't say it's a religion. That's just a poor choice of word that people will confuse with the word "belief".
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Poid
Shroomery's #1 Spellir




Registered: 02/04/08
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Re: "Atheism is a religion." [Re: Dutchbrewed]
#14231879 - 04/03/11 04:20 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
Dutchbrewed said: That's just a poor choice of word that people will confuse with the word "belief".
QFT
-------------------- Well I try my best to be just like I am, but everybody wants you to be just like them. -- Bob Dylan  fireworks_god said:It's one thing to simply enjoy a style of life that one enjoys, but it's another thing altogether to refer to another person's choice as "wrong" or to rationalize their behavior as being pathological or resulting from some sort of inadequacy or failing so as to create a sense of superiority or separation as yet another projection of a personal fear or control issue.
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xFrockx


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Re: "Atheism is a religion." [Re: Poid]
#14231892 - 04/03/11 04:23 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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see my edit
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Poid
Shroomery's #1 Spellir




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Re: "Atheism is a religion." [Re: xFrockx]
#14231912 - 04/03/11 04:26 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
xFrockx said: Because one who is an atheist admits knowing something they cannot possibly confirm.
Then some people say that no, the possibility of God is ridiculous, I can clam the title atheist just fine.
Then others say "Yeah but that's not a rational argument towards the fictitious entity's non-existence"
Then the atheists say "Non-belief is not the same as belief, religion is belief and I do not believe"
The absence of a belief is not the same thing as a belief.
Quote:
xFrockx said: Then the religious say "But you believe that God is absent, surely this also requires faith"
Everything that doesn't have a belief in God is by definition atheist; this would include creatures besides humans.
-------------------- Well I try my best to be just like I am, but everybody wants you to be just like them. -- Bob Dylan  fireworks_god said:It's one thing to simply enjoy a style of life that one enjoys, but it's another thing altogether to refer to another person's choice as "wrong" or to rationalize their behavior as being pathological or resulting from some sort of inadequacy or failing so as to create a sense of superiority or separation as yet another projection of a personal fear or control issue.
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Dutchbrewed
Metaphysical



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Re: "Atheism is a religion." [Re: Poid]
#14231958 - 04/03/11 04:35 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
this would include creatures besides humans.
I like that.. but I think we can safely assume it would be impossible to know what other creatures believe.
I've always kind of thought that they were better than us because their existence appears to have much more purpose than ours.
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xFrockx


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Re: "Atheism is a religion." [Re: Dutchbrewed]
#14231986 - 04/03/11 04:41 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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How do you measure how much purpose a life has?
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xFrockx


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Re: "Atheism is a religion." [Re: Poid]
#14231999 - 04/03/11 04:44 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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"The absence of a belief is not the same thing as a belief."
While I would tend to agree, because we live in a world where people often believe in God many people view the non-acceptance of these beliefs as an action in itself, and to some degree I can see where they are coming from. At least initially in my doubts of religion as a child, I did sortof see the rejection of belief in God as the acceptance of the belief that there is no God.
I don't know, but there is the question, how much different is not believing in god from believing that there is no god? Could one not say that they believe there is no god? Would that person still be an atheist?
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Poid
Shroomery's #1 Spellir




Registered: 02/04/08
Posts: 40,372
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Re: "Atheism is a religion." [Re: xFrockx]
#14232028 - 04/03/11 04:50 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
xFrockx said: Could one not say that they believe there is no god? Would that person still be an atheist?
Yes, because they would lack the belief that there is a God.
-------------------- Well I try my best to be just like I am, but everybody wants you to be just like them. -- Bob Dylan  fireworks_god said:It's one thing to simply enjoy a style of life that one enjoys, but it's another thing altogether to refer to another person's choice as "wrong" or to rationalize their behavior as being pathological or resulting from some sort of inadequacy or failing so as to create a sense of superiority or separation as yet another projection of a personal fear or control issue.
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andrewss
precariously aggrandized


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Re: "Atheism is a religion." [Re: xFrockx]
#14232029 - 04/03/11 04:50 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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the real issue is to attempt to qualify what the religious sensation is and if it is wholly contingent on conceptions
insofar as we pick sides or something atheism is a stance like religion is a stance....
but I suppose it is moot really... the people that say atheism IS a religion are probably better to just say this:
humanism is religious
or something
-------------------- Jesus loves you.
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xFrockx


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Re: "Atheism is a religion." [Re: Poid]
#14232039 - 04/03/11 04:52 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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Lets say I believe God does not exist. And I don't budge from that position, that I have a belief there is no God. Can't I be atheist in a religious way by doing that?
Edited by xFrockx (04/03/11 04:53 PM)
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Poid
Shroomery's #1 Spellir




Registered: 02/04/08
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Re: "Atheism is a religion." [Re: xFrockx] 1
#14232063 - 04/03/11 04:57 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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Sure, you can be religiously atheist, I suppose; this does not make atheism a religion, though.
-------------------- Well I try my best to be just like I am, but everybody wants you to be just like them. -- Bob Dylan  fireworks_god said:It's one thing to simply enjoy a style of life that one enjoys, but it's another thing altogether to refer to another person's choice as "wrong" or to rationalize their behavior as being pathological or resulting from some sort of inadequacy or failing so as to create a sense of superiority or separation as yet another projection of a personal fear or control issue.
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xFrockx


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Re: "Atheism is a religion." [Re: Poid]
#14232067 - 04/03/11 04:57 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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But it can be. Right?
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Poid
Shroomery's #1 Spellir




Registered: 02/04/08
Posts: 40,372
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Re: "Atheism is a religion." [Re: xFrockx]
#14232077 - 04/03/11 04:59 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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I think it really depends on how you define religion.
-------------------- Well I try my best to be just like I am, but everybody wants you to be just like them. -- Bob Dylan  fireworks_god said:It's one thing to simply enjoy a style of life that one enjoys, but it's another thing altogether to refer to another person's choice as "wrong" or to rationalize their behavior as being pathological or resulting from some sort of inadequacy or failing so as to create a sense of superiority or separation as yet another projection of a personal fear or control issue.
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Dutchbrewed
Metaphysical



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Re: "Atheism is a religion." [Re: xFrockx]
#14232080 - 04/03/11 05:00 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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Personally, and I do mean personally, I kind of view humanity as a bunch of confused creatures claiming to have some form of higher intelligence that they haven't even done really anything with.. Humanities greatest leaps have been in the form of how we entertain ourselves. Seriously, at the end of the day you can have your ipads, smart phones, and facebook; but none of that will TRULY matter when we finally hit the wall (and we will) environmentally and in other ACTUAL struggles.
The way I see an animal with the sole concern to survive and exist. Well I would pick that over all of our melodramatic and shallow "struggles" we engage in day to day.
If you don't believe that, that's cool. But I really think that my point could be proven by watching one episode of Jersey Shore or any other garbage show we spend more time watching than doing anything constructive.
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xFrockx


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Re: "Atheism is a religion." [Re: Poid]
#14232090 - 04/03/11 05:02 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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Semantics then.
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millzy


Registered: 05/12/10
Posts: 12,404
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Re: "Atheism is a religion." [Re: xFrockx]
#14232153 - 04/03/11 05:12 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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militant atheism functions similar to religion in that it's evangelized and has, to some extent, a congregation. i have a "secular student" organization at my school that makes the rounds in an attempt to recruit in the same way that the christian organizations do. these particular ones at my school spoke to my philosophy of religion class under the presupposition that any of us even held religious beliefs.
it's insulting. i don't need to be solicited to join a group based off of my deepest personal convictions, or lack thereof. i would tend to think that anyone, religious or not, seeking social interaction based on such would have no problem finding either on their own.
-------------------- I'm up to my ears in unwritten words. - J.D. Salinger
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Poid
Shroomery's #1 Spellir




Registered: 02/04/08
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Re: "Atheism is a religion." [Re: xFrockx]
#14232186 - 04/03/11 05:17 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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-------------------- Well I try my best to be just like I am, but everybody wants you to be just like them. -- Bob Dylan  fireworks_god said:It's one thing to simply enjoy a style of life that one enjoys, but it's another thing altogether to refer to another person's choice as "wrong" or to rationalize their behavior as being pathological or resulting from some sort of inadequacy or failing so as to create a sense of superiority or separation as yet another projection of a personal fear or control issue.
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