A religion an Atheist can subscribe to...

Originally posted by SquirrelNutz

My religion is truth, logic, reason, and empirical data.

I agree, mine is as well.

To OP: "Atheism" is a belief in itself.

reply to post by NOTurTypical


It sure is!!!!!!!

Originally posted by IamBoon
reply to post by NOTurTypical

 

It sure is!!!!!!!

I commend you then Sir, 95% of the Atheists I discuss my faith with outright deny that Atheism is based on faith too.

atheism = not a belief.
atheism = observation of lack of evidence for deities

Some people may use the phrase "I believe there is no evidence for deities" similar to someone saying "I believe people are generally turds." But people who say this are not considered to be members of a religion or belief system founded on the concept that people are turds - they are generally just referred to as "misanthropes." In this instance, the word "believe" simply suggest "notice" or "observe" or "think" and not a declaration of a refusal to believe in a god ... which actually kinda implies there is a god(s) in whom one should decide to believe or not. (of course, an atheist, by definition, when presented with evidence for a deity would believe in the deity.)

some people may use their atheism to reject others' specific deities. that's their option, not every atheist's.

reply to post by Hadrian


I'm sorry, but whatever term you wish to use is still based on faith, you have faith that you're correct in stating there is no God, or you don't think God exists. that conclusion is based on faith.

For you to know it as a fact, you'd have to verify it. And to verify it you'd need one of the attributes of God... omnipresence. You'd have to be everywhere in the universe simultaneously and in every dimension known or unknown simultaneously to verify that no God exists.

the most anyone could claim and still maintain intellectual honesty is "to the best of my knowledge God doesn't exist.."

But it's still a statement of faith/belief.

Some people indicate their zealotry by neglecting to comprehend the clearest concepts.

You just told me I had faith that I'm correct in stating there is no god or I don't think god exists. But I just told you that atheism is an observation of a lack of evidence for deities. I did not say there is no god. I did not say god does not exist. There is no evidence for a god. Based on this, I may determine that because of the lack of evidence, I don't think there is a god. But don't confuse atheism as a belief system that rejects your personal god. It isn't.

I don't know anything is a fact. THAT's the point. Atheism = observation of the lack of evidence for deities. If it was a fact that deities existed, there would be no atheists! But it's not the case!

It is not a statement of faith or belief. It is an empirical observation. Do you believe you will turn into an egg salad sandwich tomorrow? If you do not think that, you are likely using evidence that indicates you will not turn into said sandwich. Does that mean you belong to the People-Who-Reject-Turning-Into-Egg-Salad-Sandwiches religion?

But I must move on since this thread is supposed to be about atheism as it relates to Buddhism (or the other way around) and everybody knows there's eight million atheist versus deist(s) threads on ATS.

Regards

reply to post by Hadrian


Lack of evidence to WHOM? Because I hold to plenty of 'evidence' of God's existence which ADDS to my belief.

Originally posted by Hadrian
Some people indicate their zealotry by neglecting to comprehend the clearest concepts.

You just told me I had faith that I'm correct in stating there is no god or I don't think god exists. But I just told you that atheism is an observation of a lack of evidence for deities. I did not say there is no god. I did not say god does not exist. There is no evidence for a god. Based on this, I may determine that because of the lack of evidence, I don't think there is a god. But don't confuse atheism as a belief system that rejects your personal god. It isn't.

I don't know anything is a fact. THAT's the point. Atheism = observation of the lack of evidence for deities. If it was a fact that deities existed, there would be no atheists! But it's not the case!

It is not a statement of faith or belief. It is an empirical observation. Do you believe you will turn into an egg salad sandwich tomorrow? If you do not think that, you are likely using evidence that indicates you will not turn into said sandwich. Does that mean you belong to the People-Who-Reject-Turning-Into-Egg-Salad-Sandwiches religion?

But I must move on since this thread is supposed to be about atheism as it relates to Buddhism (or the other way around) and everybody knows there's eight million atheist versus deist(s) threads on ATS.

Regards

Atheism is the stance that there are NO theist deities , not a lack of evidence for them... The lack of evidence precludes the observation of Atheism. Atheism by definition rejects the idea of a personal god. That is why there is an alternative word for those that are still undecided called Agnosticism.

Using your same argument as follows.

"But I just told you theism is an observation of the evidence for god. I did not say there is a god . I did not say god exists. There is evidence for a god. Based on this, I may determine that because of the evidence, I do think there is a god. But don't confuse theism as a belief system that rejects your personal opinion . It isn't. "

And another poor argument .... again your words not mine (well I changed a few)

"I don't know anything is a fact. THAT's the point. Theism = observation of the evidence for deities. If it was a fact that deities didn't exist, there would be no Theists! But it's not the case!"

LOL! The thing is your best evidence is just as contrived as a theists when commenting on an IDEA of Metaphysics and is just as much a belief.

Some deities can be proven false but not the idea of the deity as an entity.Which is why you never see an Atheist debate Deism with anybody , both claims are equally valid based on evidence for them.


[edit on 30-7-2010 by IamBoon]

reply to post by NOTurTypical


Sorry bout my previous post .

Please keep discussion related to the topic in the OP !!!!:bash: