Why do atheists care what people believe? (Holy Spirit, reincarnation, pastors)

[Asheville Native]

If all the religions are like the different channels on TV, Atheism is "OFF".

[Old Gringo]

Originally Posted by TKramar

I would actually contend that "Allah" and "God" are the same entity.

However, let's go with some other things.

You might choose to belief in extraterrestrial life, or not believe it. If you do either of those, then you have a belief. If you say that I have no evidence to prove extraterrestrial life, and I have no evidence to disprove extraterrestrial life, then you are saying that you do not know one way or the other, and thus do not have a belief.

Atheism is a belief, agnosticism is not.

Another good example of "not knowing": when I was in the Navy, I could neither confirm nor deny the presence of nuclear weapons aboard my ship. I could not believe that they were there, and I could not disbelieve that they were there, as I had no way of knowing, one way or the other.

Depending on the type of ship you were on, you probably should have known if it was carrying nukes.

I also cannot confirm or deny the existence of Santa Claus, extraterrestrial life, ghosts, leprechauns, or a myriad of other things that I have no evidence for that either proves or disproves their existence.

...so, to simplify:

Christians believe in a god

Atheists don't believe in any god(s)

not believe =/= believe

[Melvin.George]

Originally Posted by Asheville Native

If all the religions are like the different channels on TV, Atheism is "OFF".

OK...if that's the case all the believers of the writings of ignorant, primitive mankind are "OFF!"

[Djuna]

If people cannot understand that atheism means a lack of belief and is not a 'religion' or a 'belief system', then they are simply not capable of understanding ANY subtleties or philosophical arguments.

I can't count the number of threads where this has come up. Time and time again simple concepts are just so way over some people's heads it's a wonder they can get up and get dressed in the morning

[Boompa]

That's a very good question, I saw the thread about the atheist billboard in New Jersey and was confused. Isn't being a radical athiest something like being on the rules committee of the Anarchists?
Of course the prospect of politicians who want to bring on Armageddon so they can be raptured is scary to a lot of people too

[Melvin.George]

Originally Posted by Boompa

That's a very good question, I saw the thread about the atheist billboard in New Jersey and was confused. Isn't being a radical athiest something like being on the rules committee of the Anarchists?
Of course the prospect of politicians who want to bring on Armageddon so they can be raptured is scary to a lot of people too

Ironically Israel is the worst on the planet. See how much longer we have to wait before they tear Iran's nuclear program all to pieces. It's just a matter fo time.

'Course when Bush said he prayed for two weeks and god told him to invade Iraq there's not a lot of difference...in my opinion.

[wade52]

Originally Posted by TKramar

To disbelieve, you need evidence that DISPROVES the matter in question. I could neither believe or disbelieve that we had nuclear weapons aboard our ship, because I never saw any sort of evidence to either prove it or disprove it.

Bad analogy. Nuclear weapons are not articles of faith. They're known to exist and there's no issue about their reality. If you had the proper access you could have gone to the storage compartment and confirmed their presence or absence. A very simple and unambiguous test of the nukes question on your vessel.

There is no simple test for proving the existence of something that has no trace of evidence. That's why belief is required for the god worshipers.

For some reason, you're really struggling with this belief issue when it's very straightforward. The term atheism is self-explanatory.

atheism: without theism

theism: belief in god

atheism is lack of god belief

Lack of belief is not belief, just as lack of wealth is not wealth. Lack of wealth is called, poverty. Lack of god belief is called atheism.

[Boompa]

Originally Posted by Melvin.George

Ironically Israel is the worst on the planet. See how much longer we have to wait before they tear Iran's nuclear program all to pieces. It's just a matter fo time.

'Course when Bush said he prayed for two weeks and god told him to invade Iraq there's not a lot of difference...in my opinion.

Israel is as much a theocracy as Iran, we shouldn't be aiding either of them. As for Bush I'm still convinced the invasion of Iraq was a spelling error.

Washington had the best advice, no involvement

[Missy.Rivers]

Originally Posted by Aconite

there's one church which tells its adherents that they won't get to Heaven if they don't take people with them. To me, that sounds less like a spiritual path and more like Amway.

I have to agree..Well said!

[Asheville Native]

Originally Posted by Melvin.George

OK...if that's the case all the believers of the writings of ignorant, primitive mankind are "OFF!"

But you fail to recognize that the OFF effects only delusional thoughts about deities. Religions, like TV channels are based on one form of fables, fabrications, superstitions to just downright absurdities, all based on which ever religion (channel) you follow.

But for Atheists, we choose to turn the idiot box OFF.

Not sure why you chose to offer an attempt to insult in retort, other than it was the only retort you could offer for an analogy that cut too close to the truth.