Random Thoughts on Atheism

you could say 'hey ass hat why havnt you looked at the site?' and that would be more, and you could say that to many of us

anyway teh site said waht you said.

but i still dont see how 'true atheism' can claim that they believe that the belief in god is incorrect, yet they then do not believe that god is incorrect. you have to believe in atheism in order to be an atheist. being an atheist does not mean believeing there is not god, but not believing there is a god, therefor believing that a belief in god is wrong.

"Atheism is NOT a "belief." Atheism is derived from the Greek, atheos, and means simply "away from the belief in a god or gods." Atheists do not "believe," and it is incorrect to assume that the belief in a supernatural entity or entities is, somehow, equivalent to the "non-belief" in those same beings. It isn't. "

why is it incorrect to not only assume but simply know that a belief is the same as a non belief. its merely the settign down of how you percieve the world!

this has nothing to do with atheism now but this silly idea of belief. this makes out like belief in supernatural and what not IS differnet to non belief, which is really just filtering concepts from your perception of the world as opposed to defining them, which is belief.

how can you possibly not believe in got, but Not believe in no god? what do you believe? there is no difference between knowing and believing, except that you can believe things without evidence whereas you cant know something without evidence. but if you know something, you still believe it. belief encompasses everything, knowlege is one route for constructing belief, as is spiritual sense, or reading the bible every day as a child. you cant escape belief! if you excape belief then you cannot percieve your world besides what your 5 external senses percieve. for example, if you dont have a belief on what stars are, you cannot percieve them beyond them being visible specs on the sky. if you think theyre stars then there you go youve established one element of belief, you believe theyre stars(big fiery spheres in space), probably because someone told you or you read it in a book. perhaps you believe these balls are large nuclear reactions held into shape by their own gravity? youd believe this because you read about it in science magazine or at highschool. or maybe you believe theyre spherical entities representing dead heroes or gods because you saw lionking and took it seriously?


its all belief!!!

if you do not believe in god then you must believe that the belief in god is incorrect (otherwise your not believing something, that you believe is not incorrect, and therefor is correct)
if you believe that a belief in god is incorrect, yet at the same time believe that the belief that there is no god is also incorrect (as it is claimed) then that makes atheism define as 'lack of belief' because you dont believe in theism and you dont believe theism is wrong. so you have a lack in belief on the nature of reality. because if you did have a belief on the nature of reality, it would lead to believing theism is correct or incorrect. of course you cant claim that you dont know whether its correct or incorrect caus that would apparently make you agnostic.

so are atheists people who dont percieve the nature of reality beyond their 5 senses?

 

You again, eh?

You are like one of those "monthly" stalkers.
You seem to follow me around every so often just to disagree.

But, my arguments are all over this and other threads in this forum, and I am not about to repeat myself for the 1,000th time. So, feel free to check them or bash what you perceive to be my arguments. Have fun!

 

thats caus all you do is bring up silly arguements all over the place
anyway the point was that i layed out steps of logic that, without any intervention, must therefor be correct


mwahahaaahahaahahahaaha.

 

Billy Boy, Billy Boy...here is my position (in a nutshell)

From my dictionary of ETYMOLOGY:
1571, from Fr. athéiste (16c.), from Gk. atheos from a- "without" + theos "a god" (see thea.)

and another: French athéisme, from athée, atheist, from Greek atheos, godless : a-, without; see a-1 + theos, god; see dhs-

and as far as Wikipedia (which I use as well sometimes) and Webster's are concerned, yet another: FROM ATHEISTS.ORG http://www.atheists.org/faqs/atheism.html#what.it.is

 

Who cares? Stop labeling people. If she says she's an atheist, then she is, regardless of exactly how it manifests in her. You may be a strict materialist, and she may not be. So what?

And what's wrong with leaving the door open? Isn't that the mark of an open mind?

 

Well, now...we all want to have an open mind, but not so open your brain leaks out.

Which is the case with those who use Appeal To Ignorance and Pascal's Wager in order to insure themselves of Invisible Sky Daddy.

 

i've decided i still believe in god in some form. i just can't help it.

 

And even though I find that baffling...

I still like ya. I can't help it.

 

lol. how crazy. who can explain it?

 

Maybe Bog can.

 

Ugh... I'm not even going to bother with you. Oh yes, you can label me a materialist but I'm not allowed to have an opinion about how accurately she understands atheism How does that work?

 

The point of this thread was just to say I wish people would research more before assuming something about a particular religion, theory, etc.

There's always got to be someone to have their personal attack on another I see.... Can't create a thread without getting shit for it from at least one person.

How about instead of bashing me, and calling me a materialist, you take the stick out of your ass, calm the fuck down, and try to understand my point before assuming what sort of person I am. Have a grand day *leaves this forum*

 

I don't even understand the point of labels anyway beyond describing that particular belief or set of beliefs. So far as people I sincerely doubt anyone is so strict in their beliefs to genuiley fit within any label.

 

"If you look up 'atheism' in the dictionary, you will probably find it defined as the belief that there is no God. Certainly many people understand atheism in this way. Yet many atheists do not, and this is not what the term means if one considers it from the point of view of its Greek roots. In Greek 'a' means 'without' and 'theos' means 'god.' From this standpoint an atheist would simply be someone without a belief in God, not necessarily someone who believes that God does not exist. According to its Greek roots, then, atheism is a negative view, characterized by the absence of belief in God."
[Michael Martin, "Atheism: A Philosophical Justification", p. 463.
Temple University Press, 1990.]

The average theologian (there are exceptions, of course) uses 'atheist' to mean a person who denies the existence of a God. Even an atheist would agree that some atheists (a small minority) would fit this definition. However, most atheists would stongly dispute the adequacy of this definition. Rather, they would hold that an atheist is a person without a belief in God. The distiniction is small but important. Denying something means that you have knowledge of what it is that you are being asked to affirm, but that you have rejected that particular concept. To be without a belief in God merely means that yhe term 'god' has no importance or possibly no meaning to you. Belief in God is not a factor in your life. Surely this is quite different from denying the existence of God. Atheism is not a belief as such. It is the lack of belief.

When we examine the components of the word 'atheism,' we can see this distinction more clearly. The word is made up of 'a-' and '-theism.' Theism, we will all agree, is a belief in a God or gods. The prefix 'a-' can mean 'not' (or 'no') or 'without.' If it means 'not,' then we have as an atheist someone who is not a theist (i.e., someone who does not have a belief in a God or gods). If it means 'without,' then an atheist is someone without theism, or without a belief in God. [Gordon Stein (Ed.), "An Anthology of Atheism and Rationalism", p. 3.

The word `atheism', however, has in this contention to be construed unusally. Whereas nowadays the usual meaning of 'atheist' in English is 'someone who asserts there is no such being as God,' I want the word to be understood not positively but negatively. I want the originally Greek prefix 'a' to be read in the same way in 'atheist' as it customarily is read in such other Greco-English words as 'amoral,' 'atypical,' and 'asymmetrical'. In this interpretation an atheist becomes: someone who is simply not a theist. Let us, for future ready reference, introduce the labels 'positive atheist' for the former and 'negative atheist' for the latter. [Antony G.N. Flew, "God, Freedom, and Immortality: A Critical Analysis", p. 14.
Prometheus, 1984.

 

Yeah and that wasnt supposed to be the point of the thread, but apparently that's how people are taking it.

 

I still wonder that if you dont believe in "god" then why is it such a large part of your life? You define yourself through NOT believing in someone elses beliefs.

Rather than not believing in a god, why not just not even think on it, not
let it be a part of your life at all.

For god not exist, you sure let nothing make a big impact on your life.

Thats just me, but what do i know, i believe in them all.

 

Well--- I guess I just like a good discussion. And although I don't believe, I'm VERY intrigued by what others think/believe and I like learning about it, and discussing it... *shrugs* I just find differing opinions/beliefs on any subject intriguing...I think it's essential to learn about the world, and people around you...Don't you think?

 

Personally, here's how I define things--

(I am not assuming that these are the best or universal definition)

Atheism: There are no gods whatsoever, and this statement is a perfectly conclusive fact, even though it is arrived at through our "limited" mental faculties

Theism: There is a God (or god(s)(ess(es))) and it's existence is perfectly knowable/deducible, or if not, then pure faith is all that is needed and rational understanding is unecessary.

Agnosticism: We cannot determine if god exists or not, because our mental faculties are limited (our implies "the human race" and not just the person making a statement. Thus the fundamental statement of agnosticism is an assertion, and not an opinion (as the speaker is making a general claim that applies to everybody) and not a n acknowledgement of the speakers ignorance (because the speaker puts himself at par with everybody and not below anyone)

That being said, I think that I am an agnostic, perhaps because of the fact that hypotheses such as (God exists) and (God doesn't exist) are unfalsifiable, and I'd rather not waste my time trying to grapple with the question.

If an atheist is defined as somebody having doubts about God's existenece, and not the way that I have described it above, then according to such a definition, I am an athiest.

But however, throughout histiory, the concept of god has led to several important things, it has allowed mankind to weave great mythologies and write great hymns and poetry, and engage in elaborate cermonies, and is thus a very pragmatic concept.

While people, may think that a godless view of the world is the viewpoint that leads to the most productive lifestyle, I believe that seeing many gods as metaphors for forces of nature helps me to live a "poetic life" that I enjoy very much.

One of my hobbies is comparitive mythology, and it is very interesting to see different subsets of the forces of nature and society deified by different civilization and given different heirarchies. ?If interpreted properly, I believe that it can reveal a great deal about the civilization in question...

My point is: although I am an atheist, I love to study about gods and act as if there were gods behind natural forces. My situation is not unlike that of a professional wrestling enthusiast who knows that pro-wrestling is fake, but enjoys it anyway

 

Didn't Atheism come about around the time of the renaissance? I'm sure there were people who didn't believe in god before then, but It became cool during that great time in history when mankind shed it's skin of the dark ages.

 

Atheism became cool when Civilizations reached puberty.