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niteowl
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Atheism as a religion?
#9923290 - 03/06/09 02:28 PM (14 years, 11 months ago) |
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I have heard several people claim that atheism is a religion? I truly don't understand how it can be called a religion.
Atheism is the disbelief in a god.
Religion is the belief in a god.
How can the two be lumped in the same category known as religion?
Atheism is a belief system but it takes more than just believing in something to make it a religion.
Calling atheism a belief system fits but calling it a religion is simply ignorant.
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Cameron
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Re: Atheism as a religion? [Re: niteowl]
#9923404 - 03/06/09 02:49 PM (14 years, 11 months ago) |
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It depends on what kind of atheist we're talking about.
Some people labels themselves atheists and firmly believe that supernatural deities do not exist. Atheism in that sense is like a religion: you've chosen an answer for an unanswerable question, and you've got blind faith in your answer, just like many religious people do.
If you're an atheist who simply disbelieves the established claims of deities but remains open-minded and inconclusive, then you can't be compared to the average religious zealot. I think the majority fall into this category, but there will always be the outspoken 'atheists' who just know that the supernatural is impossible.
Gotta watch out for those fellas. They don't even realize their own hypocrisy.
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Silversoul
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Re: Atheism as a religion? [Re: niteowl]
#9923529 - 03/06/09 03:08 PM (14 years, 11 months ago) |
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No. Atheism(or more precisely, materialism) is a belief system, but in order for a belief system to be a religion, there has to be a community aspect to it. Actually, in this respect, certain strands of atheism such as secular humanism or Objectivism could be considered religions.
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Edited by Silversoul (03/06/09 05:52 PM)
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learningtofly
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Re: Atheism as a religion? [Re: Silversoul]
#9923847 - 03/06/09 03:57 PM (14 years, 11 months ago) |
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It may be dogmatic but it's not a religion.
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DarkLikePoe
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a religion against religion
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niteowl
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Re: Atheism as a religion? [Re: Cameron]
#9924458 - 03/06/09 05:51 PM (14 years, 11 months ago) |
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Quote:
Cameron said: It depends on what kind of atheist we're talking about.
Some people labels themselves atheists and firmly believe that supernatural deities do not exist. Atheism in that sense is like a religion: you've chosen an answer for an unanswerable question, and you've got blind faith in your answer, just like many religious people do.
Thats kinda like saying that just because I strongly disbelieve in unicorns that I'm part of a religion.
Quote:
If you're an atheist who simply disbelieves the established claims of deities but remains open-minded and inconclusive, then you can't be compared to the average religious zealot.
Just because someone is a zealot doesn't mean that his zealotry is connected to a religious belief.
Anyone can be a fundamentalist (zealot)
Quote:
I think the majority fall into this category, but there will always be the outspoken 'atheists' who just know that the supernatural is impossible.
Kinda like I just know that unicorns don't exist?
Quote:
Gotta watch out for those fellas. They don't even realize their own hypocrisy.
Claiming that unicorns don't exist isn't hypocritical.
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niteowl
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Re: Atheism as a religion? [Re: DarkLikePoe]
#9924465 - 03/06/09 05:52 PM (14 years, 11 months ago) |
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Quote:
DarkLikePoe said: a religion belief system against religion
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deCypher



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Re: Atheism as a religion? [Re: niteowl]
#9924488 - 03/06/09 05:55 PM (14 years, 11 months ago) |
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Agnosticism is technically correct, but conveys nothing.
Pragmatic atheism about such things as the classically envisioned God or invisible pink unicorns is preferable, in my opinion.
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Cameron
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Re: Atheism as a religion? [Re: niteowl]
#9924650 - 03/06/09 06:22 PM (14 years, 11 months ago) |
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Quote:
Claiming that unicorns don't exist isn't hypocritical.
I don't think you see my point.
God, unicorns -- it's all the same thing: You can't know that invisible unicorns don't exist, just as you can't know that God doesn't exist. It isn't testable, so whether you say yes or no to invisible unicorns, you're putting faith in a belief built on zero evidence.
Have you explored the entire Universe first-hand?
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niteowl
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Re: Atheism as a religion? [Re: Cameron]
#9924787 - 03/06/09 06:51 PM (14 years, 11 months ago) |
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I'm not claiming that there isn't the chance of finding a pink unicorn but until I see evidence of one I mot gonna claim that it exists
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Epigallo
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Re: Atheism as a religion? [Re: niteowl]
#9924832 - 03/06/09 06:57 PM (14 years, 11 months ago) |
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That would make you a unicorn agnostic. If you were a unicorn atheist you would claim that there is zero chance of finding a pink unicorn.
what is this thread about?
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niteowl
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Re: Atheism as a religion? [Re: Epigallo]
#9924850 - 03/06/09 07:01 PM (14 years, 11 months ago) |
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Quote:
what is this thread about
weather or not my dis belief in the pink uniforms makes me part of a religion.
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Epigallo
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Re: Atheism as a religion? [Re: niteowl]
#9924953 - 03/06/09 07:20 PM (14 years, 11 months ago) |
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I think the difference between a fundamentalist and an open minded person is that the fundamentalist is hung up on a certain form of their object of zeal.
Pink unicorns exist. For example, was anything contained in the stories involving pink unicorns about whether they are strictly biological organisms? I bet an animatronic unicorn exists somewhere.
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niteowl
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Re: Atheism as a religion? [Re: Epigallo]
#9924966 - 03/06/09 07:22 PM (14 years, 11 months ago) |
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Does that make Pinocchio real?
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Silversoul
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Re: Atheism as a religion? [Re: niteowl]
#9924971 - 03/06/09 07:23 PM (14 years, 11 months ago) |
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Quote:
niteowl said: Does that make Pinocchio real?
Yes.
/nose grows an inch longer
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niteowl
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Re: Atheism as a religion? [Re: Silversoul]
#9924990 - 03/06/09 07:24 PM (14 years, 11 months ago) |
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