I don't understand why this is always such a question. In general, there is no one answer, though, because there are so many individuals. Just as you couldn't ask one Christian what all Christians believe and get the same answer for every bit for every person. Generally, though, atheism is just not following any organized religion. You know, anti-theism. Some might emphasize the act of rejection more, others could be more apathetic. What do you believe about Buddhism? Hinduism? Norse theology? That is what atheists believe, they just add one more religion than you do.
Atheism is merely "the lack of believe in god(s)"... which of course doesn't say much. The rest of an atheist's beliefs are not directly connected to atheism, although many atheists tend to also be skeptics as well as secular humanists (but neither of these are requirements for being an atheist) and others are objectivists and anti-theists (both things that I do not associate with). "Atheism" is a silly term, really, that has been compared to "a-golfist" for a non-golfer. It is silly since it is only focused on what one doesn't believe. And the term shouldn't be unnecessary, but it is... it's necessary because billions of people believe in a magical guy in the sky and wish to impact our politics, personal lives, and so on based on this belief. If people just kept their religious beliefs to themselves, I imagine fewer and fewer people would connect with the term "atheist". But until then...
Atheist checking in here. And yes, I own The God Delusion, God is Not Great, The Portable Atheist, The End of Faith, Letter to a Christian Nation, and some other older, less known classics. I've seen Dawkins talk in person, watched all those documentaries, and have participated in multiple atheists vs theists debates in front of large groups of people in real life (ie, not the internet). So there are my credentials. And I largely agree with the author of this piece. To say anything in a positive or neutral manner about any religion is to commit the ultimate crime to certain atheists. It is just ridiculous and is the reason I no longer "out" myself as an atheist and why I don't seek out other atheists anymore. Nothing, necessarily. Just that there is no God. From this, nothing must necessarily result. There are some (Objectivists, sigh) who try to merge this into their own Philosophy of Everything, but that is wrong. Your question would be similar to asking people who don't believe in the Loch Ness Monster to list out all of their beliefs based simply on that.
For real. Every ****ing thread that remotely touches on atheism gets this idiotic question re-hashed.
It's always the same people who ask it, too. It's because these people aren't interested in learning anything. They ask these questions with zero intention on listening to the answer. They pose questions as criticism, not out of genuine curiosity. This attitude is why 90+% of the D&D is garbage.
Actually, my parents never spoke of God. From a young age I decided to search for truth and seek anwers. I read ancient texts, studied paleoanthropology, astronomy, cosmology, read Leakey's works, Sagan's writings, studied with a Mayan shaman, lived with Rastafarians, learned to speak Nahuatl, did hospice work with dying people. Eventually, I became a believer in Jesus Christ. Now, I take my kids to church, take them to planetariums, star parties, read Sagan's books with them, talk about cosmology and play lots of reggae music. Simplifying faith by dismissing the Bible, Jesus Christ and the Holy Trinity because of a talking snake and a belief in a sky god is silly. Through MY personal experiences (and I can only speak from my own) and the things I have seen and witnessed, there is no way you could convince me that I am wrong. If you don't believe in God, keep searching for truth as you see fit. Most people of faith have spent lifetimes seeking the divine and have their own personal reasons for believing the way they do.
You guys are wasting your time with Rocket River, he's incapable of understanding how someone can be good, moral, and ethical and not believe in God (we've gone through this with him MANY times)...I guess he's the perfect example of why the world needs religion...not everyone can be good on their own, many folks have to be scared into acting and conducting themselves acceptably and politely in society. It's says a lot about the human race doesn't it?
Good stuff - I believe its 2 Peter 3:8 that says "a day to God is like a thousand of our days, and a thousand of our days is like a day to God" I for one believe in Theistic Evolution - in other words, God Created the heavens and the Earth in 7 days..but it was 7 of Gods days, not human days. I believe the more we learn about science..the more we know about HOW God did things. Remember, Georges Lemaitre, who first postulated the Big Bang Theory was not only a physics professor, but also a Priest. The problem I have is that most Atheists (other than the OP - thanks and respect goes to him) use a condescending tone in many of their posts. I'd would NEVER tell someone they are stupid, ignorant, or uneducated for Not believing in God - yet that is what we constantly get from Atheist I know I may be generalizing here, but it does seem that most Atheists on the internet (not so much in real life meetings) love to make fun of Christians..yet I rarely see it happen the other way around online. I don't think I've ever seen a bumper sticker making fun of Atheists..but I see ones mocking Christians all the time.
I love this post. I hate when people marginalize others' faiths and say stuff like "imaginary sky god." It's condescending passive aggressive bs.
1. use to be an agnostic .. . i got better 2. Not religious . . more spiritual 3. Sure people can be good . . for goodness sake Athiest are to religion what Climate change deniers are to Global Warming -- Deniers need not beleive anything . . they just don't beleive in Global Warming LOL Rocket River
If that floats your boat, more power to you, but I find that to be a convenient interpretation of things. Science has a funny way of turning biblical truth into metaphors. Not really sure what the last thing is about, but the burden of proof still lies on the theist. You need to consider a few things. 1) It's nearly impossible to not sound like a dick when you're demonstrating to somebody their sacred theology that they have based their entire world-view around is a lie/wrong, or at the very least, incredibly improbable. 2) A lot of the people whom speak the loudest amongst the theists are usually the most ignorant, uneducated, and stupid (and coincidentally, the most powerful). It's a harsh truth, but people who are educated usually don't turn out theists. The scientific/academic community is overwhelmingly non-theist. There is a proven inverse relationship between level of education and theism. So, as much as it may bother you to hear it, there's a great deal of truth to this. 3) Of course you wouldn't describe someone else's beliefs as "stupid". You have a common thread with those people, belief in something without evidence, so why would you go full hypocrite and bash them for doing exactly what you're doing? Going further, there really isn't a way to describe belief in the improbable/supernatural to me other than silly, stupid, ignorant, etc. Sorry, there's just not really a nice way to put it. I'm guessing you haven't been around the internet much then. Every sect of society has a circlejerk that bashes on them somewhere. The internet has a disproportionate number of atheists though, and young people (whom tend to be more nontheist). The other factor is congregation. Want to go chill with other theists and talk about theism? They do that once a week in person, sometimes twice, so I hear. Want to chill with atheists and talk about atheism? Well, you've got the internet and that's about it. In addition to not getting around on the internet, I'm also guessing you haven't driven around much in the American South, either. A pissing contest about who has it worse gets us pretty much nowhere, but it's important to have perspective, and I think you may be a little lacking in it.
Many foundations of literature and western thinking can be attributed to those religions. Look up the origins of humanism... Glass half empty. Grass half full....
While I submit that telling someone they're ignorant for faith may be overly harsh, it's not that much worse than telling someone they're going to burn forever in a fiery pit for not thinking the way you do. I really dislike threads like this nowadays because it does seem a lot like what the OP lamented...but...the christian/faithful pity card still seems absolutely ridiculous to me.
I think from now on if i get the fiery pit threat, I'll first ask then if they believe in fire insurance. Then I'll reply that it's more likely that they believe in a God of Fear than a God of Love.
Atheists on Reddit aren't assholes because they're atheists, they're assholes because they're 15 year olds on the internet. However, most of them have religion thrust into their face every day, all day in their communities and even on Facebook, and need an outlet. Their angst will subside as they get older, and people that are really bothered by them should probably just ignore them. It does strike me as hypocritical, though, that reasonable, intelligent Atheist posts are taken as confrontational or offensive, but my Facebook newsfeed can be filled up with bible verses, "Like if you love Jesus," and other vapid horse **** that belongs back on Myspace. Most people ignore those posts, but in mass quantities, they're just as annoying as anything r/atheism has ever put out. That being said, r/atheism has been ablaze with Chik Fil A posts lately, and with good reason. When the religious seek to deny others rights by imposing their views on others, it irks nonbelievers, gay or not.
Using biblical verses to base my interpretation of the bible is a bad thing? I used a biblical reference to back up my belief. Its actually a fairly common view. You just proved my point - but there are ways to debated without being condescending Actually, this is not really the case - I'll give you the scientific community part, but not the rest of the educated. This has turned out in several studies to be proven false. The truth is, they become less fundemental, and more mainline..ie..they leave the Pentecostal or Baptist Church for a Methodist or Episcopal Church. http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/...d-tend-to-be-more-religious-by-some-measures/ from the article: Schwadel used data from the highly regarded General Social Survey, a cumulative and nationally representative survey conducted by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago biannually since 1972. Social scientists rely heavily on the “gold standard” General Social Survey, which provides cumulative data collected regularly between 1972 and 2010. Schwadel found that with each additional year of education: – The likelihood of attending religious services increased 15%. – The likelihood of reading the Bible at least occasionally increased by 9%. – The likelihood of switching to a mainline Protestant denomination - Episcopal, Lutheran, Presbyterian USA or United Methodist - increased by 13%. so your saying the reason I wouldn't call you stupid is because we have a common belief? But your calling me stupid in the same post. yes, I've seen that about once for every 7-8 times I see the Darwin fish. But the truth is the Darwin fish is mocking an ancient Christian symbol..not too cool at all...and I believe in Evolution.
