Atheist Clubs in High Schools

Atheism: Just look around you, science can explain absolutely everything around you. Accept that all of this can and does exist without a creator.

reply to post by ChaoticOrder


Thats not atheism. See for me science provides the best explanations of the things we know and the beauty of science is that it can be proven wrong, with scientific proof a theory can be disproved. It's an ongoing pursuit for truth and knowledge about everything, not a set of defined answers. If science proved through scientific study that a creator did exist then I could accept that. Which would then make me a believer. Until that scientific data can be proven. My brain will only let me go along with the assumption there is no such thing as god. Thats just how my thought process is. I dont know why it seems to rile so many of the religious as I am a good person without God in my life.

reply to post by woodwardjnr

My brain will only let me go along with the assumption there is no such thing as god.

See, you've just made an assumption and turned it into a conclusion. Atheism makes the assumption that God doesn't exist, and concludes that religious people are wrong. Assumptions are all good and well, but when it comes to something like the creation of our Universe; assumptions don't quite cut it I'm afraid. No one really knows the truth, and so I will remain undecided/agnostic.

reply to post by ChaoticOrder


That's fair enough. I guess I call myself an atheist because I dont want to have any connection with the organised religions conception of a creator. I mean as far as we know we are just living out an ancestor simulation program created by advanced humans.

Most atheists treat it like a non-religion religion.

reply to post by woodwardjnr


Sounds like you might be agnostic, not atheist.

Originally posted by iamaperson

Originally posted by NeverSleepingEyes

your statement seems to lack some logic as it logically says: only religious people can have meetings.

Only religious people can have religious meetings. What part of atheism are you going to discuss in an atheist meeting, I thought that atheism was the belief that there is no God, so then you could discuss about the ways in which God doesn't exist?

my comment referred to your previous statement; that statement mentioned "meetings", not "religious meetings".

so how about me going to a meeting by catholics, invited by them, to share opinions? Is that possible?

and why should a discussion among atheists being limited to discussions "about the ways in which your imaginary friend doesn't exist?

How about atheists meeting to discuss the dreadful impact of stupid beliefs on politics? and how we can open people's eyes for them to see how they are being screwed over in the name of religiion?

How about us atheists meeting to discuss the abuse of "religion" to deal with an ethnical issue?

I strongly support criticism, as long as it's being done using a fair way of reasoning

I suspect these demonic athiest clubs would discuss things like the religious lobbyists and their interference, in the name of their particular religion with aspects of non-religious, or other religion's people's lives. eg A public swimming pool had to have its windows darkened because of Muslim women's sensitivities. Euthansia would be another example. One's pet may have a dignified death, but you can't, God does not agree with suicide.

They may also wish to consider whether blind faith is actully an attribute or delusion. Should someone who displays dlusional traits such as blind faith be considered fit to have a job with significant responsibilitie, bearing in mind they imay consider acting 'blindly' on other issues.

Originally posted by Partygirl
This is the beginning of satanic infiltration into the schools in earnest, we can really see the walls crumbling now. Not that it wasn't happening before of course. But the first step was to erase God from the classroom. This was accomplished in the 80s for the most part, with mop-up operations in the 90s. Now we see the actual Satanic groups sanctioned by the establishment and enshrined in the same seat that used to belong to God. Sure they will start with the "athiesm" song and dance but just you wait the true Satanic colors will be shown in a short while, perhaps as soon as only a few years the way things are going.

"djeez"

are you being ironical or do you really buy this satanic crap?

reply to post by Lynda101


Most people's faith doesn't just spring from nowhere. Also, religious belief doesn't actually seem to fit the textbook psychological definition of delusion in many cases.

Also, I'd hardly call Atheist clubs demonic, especially since I'm a non-Christian. I know it's a shocker, but it turns out that there are more varieties of Theism than conservative Christianity.

Originally posted by gnosticquasar
reply to post by NeverSleepingEyes

 

I assume that there is no set of ethics to debate because there's not. Religions have books or precepts that unite them; they have some unifying set of rules or overarching concept whose interpretation and application can be debated. Atheists don't have this.

well, I don't share that assumption as I do debate ethics with other atheists. One of the dreadful things "religions" established is the wrong assumption that a religious framework is needed to have ethics and deal with it.

Originally posted by gnosticquasar
reply to post by Lynda101

 

Most people's faith doesn't just spring from nowhere. Also, religious belief doesn't actually seem to fit the textbook psychological definition of delusion in many cases.

Also, I'd hardly call Atheist clubs demonic, especially since I'm a non-Christian. I know it's a shocker, but it turns out that there are more varieties of Theism than conservative Christianity.

edit on 22-6-2011 by gnosticquasar because: (no reason given)

Most people's faith springs usually from indoctrination and if you get them during the informative years as Ignatius Loyola said, 'Give me a child till he is 8 and he's mine for life'. you have programmed religious belief into their heads. At that age they accept and don't challenge. That is why parents are encouraged to get their kids into faith asap. Although not Catholic I was educated in a convent, its taken years to get rid of my family faith and Catholic dogma and start afresh.

Calling the Athiest Club demonic was sarcasm I would have though when I mentioned Euthansia etc others would have realised that. I am all for Athiest Clubs.

Psychological delusion? What about Joan of Arc?. So are you saying that someone who believes in an invisible being, whose instructions through an old book contradict themselves and who flies around with beings playing harps and occasionally, if the mood behests him, throws people into fire pits and keeps them alive to suffer there, is not a delusion, we disagree again because I think that is not a belief its a delusion.

reply to post by gnosticquasar


You know, I never understood why atheists would meet, but your post got me thinking about it and I came up with plenty of things they could discuss. I kind of wish I had had an atheist group when I was first coming around. It actually sounds like a good idea to me, now. Especially for young people who are dealing with pressures from all sides.

Maybe they discuss how to avoid and/or deal with the onslaught of attacks from theists. Maybe they talk about how to tell their family and deal with pressure from parents. Maybe they read and discuss 'Origin of the Species' or discuss philosophy or spiritual atheism or perhaps they read and discuss the works of famous atheists. Or maybe it's just for fellowship with people of like mind.

"The church says the earth is flat, but I know that it is round, for I have seen the shadow on the moon, and I have more faith in a shadow than in the church." — Ferdinand Magellan

Come to think of it, there are LOTS of things they can do.

Science clubs meet to be with people who are interested in science.
Religious clubs meet to be with people who are interested in religion.
AV clubs meet to do AV things...
Glee clubs meet to sing.
Atheists clubs meet to be to be with people who are interested in atheism...

Thanks for making me think about this.

Originally posted by gnosticquasar
I'm genuinely curious as to what exactly one discusses in these clubs and what goes on in them. Please enlighten me.

Perhaps, rather than discussing anything specific to theism or atheism, the club is intended to be theist free, so that a group of students can get together and fraternize without another individual trying to push their theistic beliefs onto them.Sure, they could have named their club something else, but without specifying that the club is "atheist" there will always be that one person who feels it is their obligation to go "testifying" or recruiting; or generally being preachy.

A few points of levity in a toxic topic such as this.

1) Atheism is not and never will be a religion. Period. You can twist it or figure it any way you like but I will personally crush any argument that supports the notion and have for years.

2) Being an atheist in America is not easy despite how "normal" or "mainstream" or even "cool" people like to make it out to be. I am personally met with hostility, disbelief, sarcasm, and a slew of other unfavorable dispositions at the mention that I am an atheist (which apparently is not mentioned in polite conversation).

3) Any group of people that have similar views on one or more topics tend to create groups for obvious reasons. People can and will always think the best or worst of anything depending on their position, but there will probably be a bit of both in any case.

4) I don't know why anyone cares about atheism anyway, especially enough to postulate ridiculous generalities about us that mean nothing and are normally more incorrect than correct.

5) In reality, atheism is really defined as one saying there is no compelling evidence that any religion is true or believable. One can not really say if there is a creator or not and if there is if he is a god or something else. But if we are talking about who professes knowledge they can not have, I think religion generally has the most counts against it so let's stop trying to one up each other.

Peace
KJ

Originally posted by reesie45
reply to post by gnosticquasar

 

I wish they had that when I was in school. All they had was bible studies. Id have joined. I think they do that because the Christians have their clubs, so why not?

I agree. I live in Ohio, and was reading about this in the Columbus paper. The kids that started the club had to jump through hoops to get their club established, while it is easy as pie to establish a Christian or Bible club. Everyone has the same rights here, and Christians do not have a lock on anything. The truth of the matter is, kids, and everyone, are finally waking up to the fear based religious dogma that takes all the fun out of life, and teaches them not to seek knowledge. I say congratulations to the kids!

Originally posted by NeverSleepingEyes
my comment referred to your previous statement; that statement mentioned "meetings", not "religious meetings".

so how about me going to a meeting by catholics, invited by them, to share opinions? Is that possible?

and why should a discussion among atheists being limited to discussions "about the ways in which your imaginary friend doesn't exist?

How about atheists meeting to discuss the dreadful impact of stupid beliefs on politics? and how we can open people's eyes for them to see how they are being screwed over in the name of religiion?

How about us atheists meeting to discuss the abuse of "religion" to deal with an ethnical issue?

I strongly support criticism, as long as it's being done using a fair way of reasoning

I thought that an atheist meeting would inevitably be a religious meeting, since it would be a meeting of people with the same belief about God. Ok, I guess you could have atheist meetings on the impact of religion, and how you can open peoples eyes. Interesting meeting topic.

Originally posted by cLOUDDEAD

Originally posted by Nobama
reply to post by AnotherYOU

 

That makes no sense, Atheism isn't a religion, it's people that have no belief in a higher entity, so they aren't pushing a belief or trying to convert people, if anything it's quiet the opposite

edit on 22-6-2011 by Nobama because: (no reason given)

Agreed that it isn't a religion. Conversely, theism isn't a religion either. Although, a lot of self-described atheists are just as -- if not more -- fanatical about their non-belief as religious people are toward their religions. The fact that there are "atheist clubs" is evidence of this. I don't believe in a lot of things, but I'm not going to join a club dedicated to my belief in it's non-existence. =| Also, atheists do attempt to convert people whether you believe it or not.

edit on 22-6-2011 by cLOUDDEAD because: (no reason given)

There are many types of atheists. There are some, known as "weak atheists" who just don't believe in a higher power and that is it. They don't worry about the influence of religion on society, nor do they care much. Then there are the "strong atheists" (aka New Atheists) who, of course, do not believe in a higher power, but as well do everything they can to point out the hypocrisy, contradictions, out right lies, and the horrible acts committed in the name of religion. We can go even on step further and be anti-theists.

Originally posted by gnosticquasar
reply to post by NeverSleepingEyes

 

I assume that there is no set of ethics to debate because there's not. Religions have books or precepts that unite them; they have some unifying set of rules or overarching concept whose interpretation and application can be debated. Atheists don't have this.

It is called logic, something that many religions are missing.


We didn't have an atheist club at my high school, but we do in my college. We regularly invite the Christian/religious clubs to have discussions with us, and we've managed to enlighten a few people.

Originally posted by iamaperson

Originally posted by NeverSleepingEyes
my comment referred to your previous statement; that statement mentioned "meetings", not "religious meetings".

so how about me going to a meeting by catholics, invited by them, to share opinions? Is that possible?

and why should a discussion among atheists being limited to discussions "about the ways in which your imaginary friend doesn't exist?

How about atheists meeting to discuss the dreadful impact of stupid beliefs on politics? and how we can open people's eyes for them to see how they are being screwed over in the name of religiion?

How about us atheists meeting to discuss the abuse of "religion" to deal with an ethnical issue?

I strongly support criticism, as long as it's being done using a fair way of reasoning

I thought that an atheist meeting would inevitably be a religious meeting, since it would be a meeting of people with the same belief about God. Ok, I guess you could have atheist meetings on the impact of religion, and how you can open peoples eyes. Interesting meeting topic.

I appreciate your approach although I don't subscribe to its premise as i use the word to refer to a sociological category of people/phenomena.
While I do acknowledge the intrinsic issue with the word I tend to refrain from debating that intrinsic illogical aspect by using another approach.

Oversimplified:
I'm an atheist in the sense that i appreciate the sociological reality that shows that heaps of people turn to a mental concept (god), give it the status of something more than just a mental concept and act as if it is indeed real (this implies that I can accept there are religions, as a result of human constructs).
My position then is pretty simple: I don't buy the mental construct (i think there are better ways to deal with the consequences of self-aware brains and the daily encounters with fundamental uncertainties) and i don't accept others trying to impose their stuff on me or in the public. In private, if someone wants to believe the universe was created by a flying dog's dropping, that's fine, go ahead, just don't bother others).
Does this mean I don't suffer from the root causes that make heaps of people belief weird stuff? Of course not! Every day I encounter the marvels of the universe, every day I'm silenced by the confrontation with things I can't explain. The difference might be that I don't feel the need to come to any other conclusion than: "the universe is a place of marvel and it will take a lot more before we start to understand how it really works")

That's why is systematically refuse to give in to the invitations of believers to prove them wrong. I don't have to prove anything as I'm not claiming anything but stuff others can perceive for themselves.

does this make sense?

reply to post by SG-17


I'm a strong atheist, in this case
thanks for suggesting that label, sounds great :-)
at last there's something that makes me strong

tnx

They would do better to form logic, reasoning and philosophy clubs. Better than turning atheism into some kind of pseudo religion.