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At any given time, I'm a bit confused as to what I am in the realm of religion/spirituality/theism/Christianity/etc. So I'll admit up front; I have a hard time describing what I am. I think I'm a Christian... right up to the point where my born-again-religious-zealot-Southern-Baptist-from-Florida brother gets ahold of my ears. I'm sober in A.A... and we get into a heated debate about what alcoholism is.
But in my... spiritual program of choice...which bashes no one... be you Christian, Infidel, Muslim, Atheist, Agnostic, etc., has been accused of being too religious or too Christian. But within this wonderful melting pot of spirituality, I've come across a few atheist who I can see eye-to-eye with on some level... not always the same level.
See... the atheists I've met vary greatly from one to the next. I'm sure that's not news here. One guy says atheist means this world needs no Deity to explain it, but thinks the bible is a great history book with much culture. Another guy says it means to him that he always believed there was a God, but just not One that would have anything to do with him. Another guy says he believes in a Supreme Being, but just not One that has a willy. Another just says the human realm is the top of the heap.
But what I ask is this; what is YOUR experience of being an atheist? Or even an agnostic for that matter? Not the Wikipedia definition of the thing as they say... "Writers disagree how best to define and classify atheism" Well I'm sure "writers" disagree on the thing. But what about your experience on the thing. I aim to learn something about it with an open mind.
There is only one kind of atheist....Those of us that do not believe in gods.
If evryone on the planet was an atheist, the only difference in our conditions of existence would be than groups of people would have to find other excuses to mistreat each other. Nationalism/tribalism would be unalloyed with religion. However, not having a particular god's imprimatur to commit atrocities might make it a bit better.
Looks to me like you didn't come to ask a question and get answers, you came to make judgments.
I get it.
Oh really? I thought it started off pretty cordial and perhaps... civil.
Let's see where it started to derail into judgements and snarky remarks;
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I'm an athiest because I don't believe in all that non-sense.
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Good and bad is a value judgment and not applicable in this issue.
The world will never be a mythical land of milk and honey.
Some judgement is starting to get flung around here. I'm indulging in it a bit and at one point, a comment was made in response to my comment.. but I'm sort of being agreed with;
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The statement on letting the “non-atheist kill each other” is sadly one way religions have controlled the expansion of other philosophy or views for the last 2000 years.
Then some more "theists are destroying the planet" type "arguments" or "judgements" ensue... I respond to them... someone or a couple of posters come in to defend my motive...
Say what you may. I wanted to learn some things about atheism and I did. But we get a little more here such as explanations why some of you are atheists. Hey, that's great. Icing on the cake... so to speak.
If some of you want to hammer the point that there are only one type of atheist and you all stand on the same principle or thought, that's great. But I'm just not seeing that with f2f atheists I know or meet on the street.
In otherwords, there's some people I know who call themselves atheists, but it wouldn't match the standard of atheist as all of you in here. Same thing as what I've seen in religion. Not my point here, just an observation.
[quote=McGowdog;11530847]
From cncracer, I've learned that yet another form of atheist is the extreme left... or educated hippie. Am I right? No pun intended!
How do you aim to combat this religious right... and the other religions that they've provoked or been fighting with?
Maybe you guys have the key to world peace. I come from an era where the good guy wears the white hat (Roy Rogers) and he shoots the bad guy in the black hat. Is there a better way?
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I think I need to reintegrate the only think Atheist have in common is the lack of belief in any god. We can be liberal, conservative, or like me on the fence. We are not a new breed of Atheist, we just now have a voice and will get back in the face of those who are not accepting of our right to think and believe as we want. Your concern is we are speaking out at last, and you recognize this movement is growing and removing the myths you live by from any logical environment.
Education and knowledge are the only tool needed to fight the ignorance and fear used by religion to control their sheep. In time, I hope in my life time, the world’s population will be knowledgeable enough to break the choke hold religion has had on man for the last 2000 years. I suspect what bothers you about the out spoken atheist, is this knowledgeable group who no longer will accept the BS being forced down their throats by religion, and now are answering the absurd myths with real science. You see enough change to fear you will lose you comfortable hiding place from responsibility religion has ignored. Myths and fairy tails just won’t work anymore.
As for the educated hippie statement I think I might need to thank you for the complement, and to end this post, I think if I were you, I wouldn’t use the color of a persons hat to make a decision on their character.
Us Bush loving redneck God-fearing Christains just want to blow up all the bad people and we're well on our way to doing it unless the atheist hippie comes along and does what? Educates the Far Right or murders the far-right? Am I over-simplifying this?
Just to be clear:
I'm from the mid-west.. maybe south, depending on how you figure it.
I grew up in the cold war.
I joined the Marine Corps right out of highschool. I played football in highschool.
I'm a career prosecutor.
I'm not a Democrat.
And I'm an Atheist.
That's simply because I don't see any evidence that there is a God. In fact, the evidence I see tells me he is a fairy tell.
So this stereo type that all atheist have goatee's and eat granola is just wrong. We come from all walks of life. Most Atheist are simply educated people who have seen through the charade of religion. We share very little else in common besides that.
I'm from the mid-west.. maybe south, depending on how you figure it.
I grew up in the cold war.
I joined the Marine Corps right out of highschool. I played football in highschool.
I'm a career prosecutor.
I'm not a Democrat.
And I'm an Atheist.
That's simply because I don't see any evidence that there is a God. In fact, the evidence I see tells me he is a fairy tell.
So this stereo type that all atheist have goatee's and eat granola is just wrong. We come from all walks of life. Most Atheist are simply educated people who have seen through the charade of religion. We share very little else in common besides that.
Agreed.. I'm from the Bible Belt (Kentucky), I'm a stay at home mother, my oldest child plays soccer and gets good grades in school. I'm opposed to elective abortion and the death penalty. My husband is a hard worker doing a labor intensive job that he loves. He does have a goatee, but you'd have to pry the venison out of his cold, dead hands before you could get him to eat granola. Annnnd we're atheists.
Most Atheist are simply educated people who have seen through the charade of religion...
So... are you saying that atheists are smart and non-atheists believe in fairytales?
Thank you for the mention of stereotypes because... they exist.
I went to one of my "meetings" this morning and we talked about... the dreaded G word.
That's nothing I should bring up in this here thread, but I think I can make some relevance out of my experience this morning. I wouldn't mind attaching to some form of "religion" or another, but once I do, then someone else comes along and tells me I'm going to hell anyway because my belief is wrong or my "God" is the wrong one and not like theirs. In fact, my "Program" has been accused of being too "religious" lately and even been accused of being a cult. All I know is that it saved my life. I'm sober almost 6 years now and that surprises the hell out of me.
So... I found a guy to talk to after the meeting as I relate to him. He, like me, says he is sort of a chronic agnostic. I know, I know, agnostic is not the same as atheist. But we can relate to you on some level. There will always be some "religious" person who comes along and think it's their duty to convert us. So I asked him how he gets along in this crazy world.
He told me he's learned the gift of "Live and Let Live". Wow, what a concept.
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Annnnd we're atheists.
