The Athiest Agenda

I don't see the "attraction" of Atheism. Sure I see the "logic" thing tossed around all the time. But like another poster mentioned, logic cannot prove or disprove a God or Gods.

There is nothingness. Nothing to believe in, nothing to look forward to after death.

I have spent my life questioning everything spiritually. I dabbled in atheism for a spell....... but that was many years ago. Atheists often argue that religion is a crutch, and only for the weak minded. Perhaps for some, but spirtuallity does not need to be bound by the bonds of some deities/religions. You are free to accept god or a higher power or whatever you want at your own pace and level.

There is huge and varying degree of "believers". It is not bound by the constraints of science but quite the contrary.

to each his own

Originally posted by LiveForever8
reply to post by hyperion.martin

 

Religion is no laughing matter. Its the root of all evil (along with money) and will be the death of us all.

Its an embarrassing topic really, deny ignorance......?

Come on people! Wake up and smell science!

Peace.

Are you being serious here because I wouldnt exactly call that a strong arguement for your point.

The reason that an atheist has a hard time admitting to being an atheist is because down deep in their heart they know God exists. And atheism is a religion. All that a religion needs to be a religion is a focus for that belief and text to go by to support that belief. In the case of atheism it is a matter of "anti-theism" or opposition to the belief of God with a committed belief that there is no God, and then to spread the anti-gospel to others for the purposes of de-conversion. Atheism sees itself as an opposite and equal force and therefore constitutes a religion.

Originally posted by PowerSlave


There is nothingness. Nothing to believe in, nothing to look forward to after death.


There is huge and varying degree of "believers". It is not bound by the constraints of science but quite the contrary.

to each his own

It is an easy thing, to say that there is nothing to believe in when referring to atheists. I, however disagree.....atheists are in fact doing something very unique in out history.....we put faith in our fellow man. We believe in each other, in our planet, we take full responsibility for our actions because nobody can forgive us for them. This is not to say religion does not have the ability to do these things, quite the opposite actually. Religions in their own right do many things for their fellow man....but each seems to have an ulterior motive. Also, being an atheist does not mean that you are not, or can not cope with death. It just means you focus on the now, how can I make this world a "Heaven" for the future people.

Originally posted by Fromabove
The reason that an atheist has a hard time admitting to being an atheist is because down deep in their heart they know God exists.

Well, deep down in your heart, you know that God is a ridiculous lie and Jesus never existed.

How does it feel to be told by a complete stranger what you believe? It's kind of rude and offensive, isn't it? I advise you to avoid such mindlessly ignorant statements in the future. It makes you look uninformed, sanctimonious, and rudely presumptuous.

Originally posted by Fromabove
And atheism is a religion.
Atheism sees itself as an opposite and equal force and therefore constitutes a religion.

I tend to disagree. I will not bring out the old dictionary rhetoric, but I would point out that a religion is a way of life....atheism is just a response to an answer, a reaction to something. For instance, to paraphrase "Letter to a Christian Nation" by Sam Harris " There is no word for a person who does not believe that Elvis is still alive, they simply don't believe"

And to comment on the second quote, to say that opposite and equal forces must inherently derive from the same makeup is absurd. It is like saying a hot fire being drenched by snowfall means that they are both made up of water...

reply to post by hyperion.martin

It is an easy thing, to say that there is nothing to believe in when referring to atheists. I, however disagree.....atheists are in fact doing something very unique in out history.....we put faith in our fellow man.

Having faith in your fellow man is hardly a new concept. It's called morality, knowing right from wrong, doing the right thing etc. This is something people of faith share with Atheists, only difference is when all hope for an evil or immoral individual is lost, a person of faith may suggest that god will deal with them ultimately.

Watching this world spiral into oblivion makes me actually lose faith in my fellow man and push me further into spirituality.

What difference does it make if atheism is a religion or not? You can call atheism a batmobile if you want, that doesn't change what we believe (or don't believe.) I tend to think of it as a description of religious beliefs, rather than as a straight up religion. "Monotheism" is a description of types of religion with one god, or "polytheism" describes a belief in multiple gods. Neither monotheism nor polytheism is specific enough to be described as a religion on its own.

I know atheists who believe current scientific theories. I know atheists who believe alternate scientific theories. I know atheists who are somewhat agnostic because they don't know what to believe in, but they don't believe in God or the supernatural. I know some atheists that believe in aliens, and others that don't.

Also, religion is often meant to refer to a system of believing in and worshiping a specific deity. Since atheists don't worship anything, then it doesn't meet that definition of religion. But on the other hand, if I'm filling out a questionnaire that asks my "religion," I check "atheist." And if somebody says my "religion is atheism," it doesn't bother me because I know what they mean, so it doesn't matter.

In the end, it's all just splitting hairs over nothing. And that, in turn, prevents the real issue from ever being addressed.

[edit on 21-10-2009 by mattifikation]

reply to post by mattifikation


Doesn't bother me a bit. Atheists tell me all the time that I'm delusional and nuts to believe in God. So I think I can offer a rational reason as to why atheists are afraid to admit that they are atheist. It's because they know God exists.

And how do you know what we "believe in our hearts?" Are you a mind reader? I don't know that God exists, and I believe that He doesn't. I think that you believe deep in your heart that nobody could ever possibly be different than you. That leads me to question your ability to objectively discuss anything with such a limited world view.

I think it's sad that a mind can be as hopelessly closed as yours. It makes me wonder why you would even come to a website dedicating to learning the truth about things, when you are so convinced that you already know everything.

reply to post by mattifikation


I think I said it before. I was an atheist and now I am a believer in God. I am not saying what it is that you actually believe but offering my opinion as to why I think atheists are often afraid to say they are atheists. You say you have no problem telling everyone what you believe, fine. However, I still think the jury is out on the majority of atheists who still have conflict of conscience when it come to God or no God.

I would consider those people agnostics, not atheists.

Originally posted by Fromabove
reply to post by mattifikation

 

Doesn't bother me a bit. Atheists tell me all the time that I'm delusional and nuts to believe in God. So I think I can offer a rational reason as to why atheists are afraid to admit that they are atheist. It's because they know God exists.

I'm confused. Being an atheist is kind of a big indicator that the person does not believe in God. Why would somebody who believes in God say they did not believe, is that not a no-no in the scheme of their own beliefs? I'm not trying to make waves or anything, could you elaborate?

Originally posted by PowerSlave
reply to post by hyperion.martin

 

Having faith in your fellow man is hardly a new concept. It's called morality, knowing right from wrong, doing the right thing etc. This is something people of faith share with Atheists, only difference is when all hope for an evil or immoral individual is lost, a person of faith may suggest that god will deal with them ultimately.

I agree that having faith in your fellow man is not a new concept, perhaps I misspoke. But I would strongly disagree that doing so is called morality. Most of the time, making a moral decision involves a tinge of self sacrifice..usually because of your own willpower not that of others. (not in all cases of course)

As for the second part, my very point IS that believers and non believers both make moral decisions. It illustrates a misconception that most people have, which is; the BEST moral guides are religious texts.....one can reason that they are the best because a creator of the universe will punish you if you do not obey them. But I ask, how can you base your morals on a system that condones murder, rape, slavery, etc.?

Religion has some good morals but that is as far as it goes. If you are an open minded person you can see right through religion. It's the one and only thing that separates all of humanity. Its almost crazy to worship something that we aren't 100% sure of. Live a good life, be good to other people and don't waste your time worrying about what happens after. We know the way ourselves. We don't need some out of date book to tell us what to do. Religion has slowed down the evolution of humans as a race, along with other things of course e.i. governments, and others. why don;t we just all agree that we don't really know and just get on with our lives. Live happy and free

Religion is olden day laws, 10 commandments? 10 laws - same difference.

I think its wrong for a person to look down on you if you are not the same religion. I have a free mind, my mind has not been influenced by ANYBODY - no man knocking on my door, no guy preaching on the streets, no leaflets - NOTHING. And thats why i believe that there may be something, but its not something i want to dedicate my life to, my life is short and if there was really a god, i dont think he would be wanting me to war with other religions just so they can hear he is the all creator.

Religion is to cause war
Religion is to keep the people in your pocket
Religion is money
Religion can be wound into anything in life to adapt round a group of certain people, and there needs.

Maybe there were divine gods that created the universe and came to earth, but because of the corruptness throughout history - Men of earth have wound it to what they want to get into power the way the want. The god didnt want this no? I think if there were a god he would come down from that heavenly place and slap a few high ranking religious people right round the chops in all fairness for what they have done in his name.

People need to look forward instead of looking back. 40% of stuff we are taught through are childhood is false, and is implemented into our minds from nursery.

I think, or HOPE that in 100 years religion will be on its way out.

Science is life.

Leon thanks for reading, and good thread

reply to post by hyperion.martin

Atheism is another ism attempting to categorize and shelf Self. I read a book, "The Little Book of Atheist Spirituality" and ironically it moved me from agnostic leaning towards atheist to Spiritual Being. Beliefs are such a low level of consciousness.

De Sade said: "Nothing is true - everything is allowed." So everthing is true and nothing is allowed. It's a dreadful exercise to chew on but it will Wake you to your divinity - our divinity. That which is above beliefs.

Star to you for the thread.

reply to post by hyperion.martin


Wow, death threats because you're Atheist? Wow, I am not coming near where you live, I'll be fresh meat.

But I understand where you're coming from, I do the same. "No offense" after I say something that I think may offend them, but I have no idea if it will.

I believe the problem is, we as a society have been drilled with religion, for ages, that to have a group of people who have defined themselves away from religion puts actual religious folks on edge, because they fear that Atheism will result in people leaving the church etc.

In my opinion, they're just a bunch of haters. Some to the extent of violence, which is ironic since according to these same people "we're all gods children no matter what we believe".

There's a lot of hypocrisy in religion and in people who spread the "word".

My fellow Atheist, all I can say is let them glare at us, let them threaten us, let them do what they do, because a while ago, for example religions like Christianity, was looked upon the same way when it started off.





[edit on 29-10-2009 by Tomis_Nexis]

reply to post by Lichter daraus


So when I step outside and my cat runs up and mewls at me with a hungry look in her eye, is my subsequent belief that she is hungry actually the foundation of a new religion?

Am I a Feedthedamncattist?

Originally posted by hyperion.martin

atheists are in fact doing something very unique in out history.....we put faith in our fellow man. We believe in each other, in our planet, we take full responsibility for our actions because nobody can forgive us for them.

Exactly, we are here, we're the ones doing what we're doing in this life time, on this planet. We work together to make a better place no matter the race etc. This life is our responsibility and only ours.