The Growth of Atheism and What it Means for Our Future

Originally posted by gentledissident
A dictionary would say you're not an atheist.

Wrong.

Atheist has one meaning. Lack of a belief in a deity.

Dictionaries are still affected by religious culture. Some are catching up - - but many are still lagging in doctrine.

What Is Atheism?

NOTE: Please do not confuse the definition of atheism with the philosophy of atheism. A lot of atheists do not like the idea of atheism only being a “lack of belief in gods,” but that is because they are placing the philosophy of atheism onto the definition of atheism. The two are different. If the definition of atheism qualified as the philosophy then we must accept babies in our numbers, which is obviously ridiculous. The philosophy of atheism ranges from one person to another, which is why I do not address it in this article. My concern is the definition of the word. I would encourage you to leave a comment on what you think the philosophy of atheism is!

Atheism is a lack of belief in gods, from the original Greek meaning of “without gods.” That is it. There is nothing more to it. If someone wrote a book titled “Atheism Defined,” it would only be one sentence long.

atheists.org...

Originally posted by gentledissident
A dictionary would say you're not an atheist.

Originally posted by Annee
Wrong.

Atheist has one meaning. Lack of a belief in a deity.

Dictionaries are still affected by religious culture. Some are catching up - - but many are still lagging in doctrine.

Originally posted by Annee
the Wars of the Gods - - - and the war in Heaven.

I believe they were actual events

Oh, so you're speaking of extraterrestrials being referred to as gods?

I think we're just canonizing our primates selves because we can't stand the thought of mortality.

Originally posted by gentledissident
Oh, so you're speaking of people being referred to as gods?

Yes - I guess so.

I personally refuse to use the word "god" - - except of course in the specifics I just mentioned.

I've been in online discussions for 20 years. I've found that if I use the word "god" - - even though I explain my meaning - - God believers grab on to it like it is the second coming - - and insist I am a believer because I used the word "god".

I changed "people" to "extraterrestrial" before you posted, as that seemed to closer to what you were referring to.

Originally posted by gentledissident
I think we're just canonizing our primates selves because we can't stand the thought of mortality.

I don't think I understand that.

Originally posted by gentledissident
I changed "people" to "extraterrestrial" before you posted, as that seemed to closer to what you were referring to.

I use "off planet beings"

Originally posted by Annee
the word "god"

It connotes belief without proof or even evidence. It indicates primitive superstition. It suggests a willful ignorance. Why not just describe where you think these life forms came from, their technology, and the evidence you have?

Originally posted by Annee

Originally posted by gentledissident
I think we're just canonizing our primates selves because we can't stand the thought of mortality.

I don't think I understand that.

Our frontal lobe allows us to contemplate death. The thought of not going on is a struggle for us. Obviously there is a fear of ceasing to exist and possible pain involved at that point. There also seems to be a fear of our ego not existing. We are advanced in our brain structure, but still primitive in our self centered viewpoint. William F Buckley Jr thought being self centered was synonymous with being religious, and promoted individualism. I think he was right, but I don't agree with the promotion of it

Originally posted by gentledissident

Originally posted by Annee

Originally posted by gentledissident
I think we're just canonizing our primates selves because we can't stand the thought of mortality.

I don't think I understand that.

Our frontal lobe allows us to contemplate death.

I wonder if the fear of non-existence exists in the same part of the brain where the love of non-existence resides in?

Originally posted by AgnosticWarrior

Originally posted by gentledissident

Originally posted by Annee

Originally posted by gentledissident
I think we're just canonizing our primates selves because we can't stand the thought of mortality.

I don't think I understand that.

Our frontal lobe allows us to contemplate death.

I wonder if the fear of non-existence exists in the same part of the brain where the love of non-existence resides in?

I think the "love of non-existence" comes from not being able to handle the knowledge of death of the body and the ego. It's definitely a brain hating itself and projecting. I studied biopsychology, but I couldn't draw the roadmap for this process.

Usually, a good cure for the condition is to befriend the killer in one's dreams. This is often a dark figure. It is usually both fear and knowledge in one representation. It's said these repressed feelings come from the opposite side of the brain.

Originally posted by gentledissident
Why not just describe where you think these life forms came from, their technology, and the evidence you have?

God believers don't hear anything but the word "god".

You say religion brings intolerance, but atheists are just as intolerant. Ive had atheists look down on me, and push me out of groups of friends, because im a Christian. And most atheists will* look down on you if you believe in a God. Some look at religious people as if theyre a disease. The difference is, atheists dont have a moral code. Religions do. Whether the 'followers' of said religion follow that moral code or not, unfortunately defines the religion in some peoples view(rather short sighted, no?).

Originally posted by isaac7777
You say religion brings intolerance, but atheists are just as intolerant. Ive had atheists look down on me, and push me out of groups of friends, because im a Christian. And most atheists will* look down on you if you believe in a God. Some look at religious people as if theyre a disease. The difference is, atheists dont have a moral code. Religions do. Whether the 'followers' of said religion follow that moral code or not, unfortunately defines the religion in some peoples view(rather short sighted, no?).

I have no idea what a "moral code" means to you. As you can see, it means different things to different people, Moral Codes. I don't go around with a set of rules, as treating animals fairly, not hurting animals, and helping animals when I can feels natural. I think my "moral code" just describes what I do naturally.

If I ran off all my religious friends, I wouldn't have any friends Seriously, why would an atheist not be able to get along with the religious? I feel like I understand why they're religious. I don't think they do it to spite me. My friends don't think that I'm an atheist to spite them. We have plenty to laugh about without the subject ever coming up. The big problem is when we try to regulate each other. Lets base our laws on fairness, helping, and not hurting. These seem to be the oldest religious/law themes anyway.

I could say, and have said, that those who believe in an afterlife may trivialize life. However, there are definitely lazy atheists out there too.

Originally posted by gentledissident

I could say, and have said, that those who believe in an afterlife may trivialize life. However, there are definitely lazy atheists out there too.

How can people who believe in an afterlife find life not important?
How can those who don't believe in an afterlife actually find life important?

Seems backwards to me.

To me no afterlife or any conscious postmortem existence "cpe" any form means there is no point in caring about anything. It was horrible feeling at first for years, but then it got better once I stopped caring about everything.

It actually kind of helped me. I used to be really shy in public and had no friends. I feared what other people thought about me because I cared too much about everything including their possible non-existent opinions. When I realized there was no cpe I was like well why should I care what they think, it's not going to matter anyways. I started talking and I ended up finding friends and having fun. Then I stopped talking to them because it I realized it never happened anyways therefore it's pointless, which is a good thing otherwise I might get upset about non-existence again. The only way to enjoy life is to stop liking it.

Now I'm having problems again because of some things I learned which opens up the possibility of some form of cpe. Idk if I should like life or not because I don't know if there is cpe or not.

Originally posted by isaac7777
You say religion brings intolerance, but atheists are just as intolerant. Ive had atheists look down on me, and push me out of groups of friends, because im a Christian. And most atheists will* look down on you if you believe in a God. Some look at religious people as if theyre a disease. The difference is, atheists dont have a moral code. Religions do. Whether the 'followers' of said religion follow that moral code or not, unfortunately defines the religion in some peoples view(rather short sighted, no?).

Where do you live where there are so many atheists that they can group together and look down on religious people?

Originally posted by AgnosticWarrior
How can people who believe in an afterlife find life not important?
How can those who don't believe in an afterlife actually find life important?

Seems backwards to me.

To me no afterlife or any conscious postmortem existence "cpe" any form means there is no point in caring about anything. It was horrible feeling at first for years, but then it got better once I stopped caring about everything....The only way to enjoy life is to stop liking it.

I see, you say It's better to fantasize than face reality. I agree. Fantasy is a lot more fun, but we should stop woolgathering long enough to set up reality to work in our favor. Because my time is limited and pointless, I'd like to stretch my free time and fill it with meaning. I feel that people who have started to believe the comforting fantasy of the afterlife have given themselves the go ahead to go with the status quo. That seems like a small sacrifice when they've got eternal bliss coming up next. The bigger sacrifice is to face reality, undo the spells the charlatans have on us, and build our automated utopia so we can enjoy being alive. However, I think that sacrifice would diminish greatly the further we progress. It would become as easy as religion. However, we can't avoid the ultimate sacrifice of admitting we're mortal.

reply to post by gentledissident

Most certainly, people should believe what they want that makes them feel good. You only live once as far as I know, and it's incredibly short. Dwelling in "reality" or "fantasy" isn't going to change a thing. The only thing that should be avoided is thinking your subjective reality can exist objectively.

Who's to say that it's an absolute solid indisputable fact that subjective reality can not exist independently of objective reality? Mainstream science? The same mainstream science that tells us fluoride is good for us?

There is no "credible" scientific evidence of cpe therefore some people don't believe in it. I understand completely why those people wouldn't believe in it. Although I wouldn't go so far as to say because there is no hard evidence for it, that it must mean that it's absolutely positively false. That's just arrogant.

I accept that there may be a good chance that there is nothing, but it's not set in stone. If you believe only what is proven then back before Columbus discovered America you probably would have thought the earth was flat and there would be no way it could be round, until the evidence presented itself.

When you say face reality, you're speaking as if you know for a solid fact what that reality is.
Hypothetically if we were in a dream, or even a computer simulated matrix, how would you prove it? I'm not sure that you possibly could. Maybe unless you wake up, which probably means death.

I was watching this youtube clip "Cosmos - Carl Sagan - 4th Dimension" a few days ago and it made me think. Maybe it's possible there is another world where our consciousness can exist and it might be in the 4th dimension. There is absolutely no evidence for that, but who know.

I still think it's possible there might be something more to our world than just this material stuff. That's why I consider myself agnostic. I think it's healthy to have some skepticism but also with an equal dose of open mindedness to other possibilities.

reply to post by AgnosticWarrior

You demonstrate my point.

Originally posted by gentledissident
Our frontal lobe allows us to contemplate death. The thought of not going on is a struggle for us. Obviously there is a fear of ceasing to exist and possible pain involved at that point. There also seems to be a fear of our ego not existing. We are advanced in our brain structure, but still primitive in our self centered viewpoint. William F Buckley Jr thought being self centered was synonymous with being religious, and promoted individualism. I think he was right, but I don't agree with the promotion of it

Originally posted by AgnosticWarrior
The only thing that should be avoided is thinking your subjective reality can exist objectively

Yes, let's realize that wishful thinking and paranoia are just fantasies. I'm all for scientific discovery.

The Earth being spherical was a scientific theory, as there was much evidence; water beads, the horizon moves with travel, the sun and moon are disks suggesting they are balls. Earth was accepted as spherical by the Hellenistic Greece period, 323 BC - 146 BC.
Spherical Earth
Columbus only got the size of the Earth wrong. He never sailed around the world. It was Magellan who 1st circumnavigated The Earth leaving in 1519. Well, the small portion of his crew who survived had to finish the job.

Whether Earth was considered a ball or a parabola, it made little difference to earlier homo sapiens. However, how we view the nature of life makes a big difference. It determines how our societies are conducted.

Live for today - - or live for a reward at the end.

For me - putting responsibility on me - to live each day - to make each day count - to provide for and leave a legacy to following generations is the reward.

For me - living for a reward at the end is false commitment to life. Doing/being "good" in the name of God to collect your reward at the end is really kind of pathetic.

Now - I personally do believe that consciousness is energy and eternal. So technically I do believe in some form of after life.

But to live for that - - - rather then give 100% to this life - - - is sad.