Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
How can you possibly get these things (life view, frame of conscience, lifestyle, way of being, etc.) from a word that only (be definition) means a lack of a belief in any deity. Nothing more.
What thought processes did you go through to arrive at such high-level descriptions from virtually nothing?
In my view, a lifestyle is first a way of thinking that incorporates into a way of living. Atheism is a way of thinking that incorporates into a way of living. Lifestyle influences how we think and talk; how we choose our mates, how we vote, how we raise our children and how we formulate our decisions and so on.
These are the thought processes that I went through to arrive at that discription.
You left out a few, such as the Crusades (and the slaughter of thousands of Muslims), the Inquisition, the Salem witch trials, the Holocaust, the Arab-Israel war, the Catholic/Protestant killings in Ireland, the Russian purge under Joseph Stalin, the attacks on the World Trade Center, the genocide in Rwanda, the invasion of Iraq in 2003 (God told Bush to do it), and probably a whole lot more that I didn't think of today.
See thats history, and I don't deny it. Conversely, Atheist cannot deny the good that religion has undeniably done. And is still doing. It may hurt, but the good it has done is still just as real as the evil it has done.
No, no, no; Religion is a lifestyle, so is Atheism ; these are ways of being, ways of conscious living and thinking. Although they can be taught in classrooms, they cannot be condensed to just that forum, because they are bigger than that, too big for just that. They would be the " Elephants in the room", as they are the elephants on discussion boards.
Look at it this way and try to remove your predjudice for a moment; no matter how someone may dislike Atheism, they cannot remove it from history or deny it exist; so it is with religion. All emotions aside, this is just a dual fact! (No religious person can condense Atheism to just being taught in a class; its too big. And conversely, no Atheist can condense religion.)
Atheism doesn't need to be condensed, because it only consists of a single tenet-No belief in a god(s). Nothing complicated about that.
Arguing about religion on this board is super irritating, but I'll say I do see the OPs point, and understand his example. I can see someone persevering through hardships, abuse, bullying because they believe in a religion and I can see others quiting and killing themselves due to the struggles since in the end, nothing means anything (if that's what you believe).
Seems like a lot of kids are giving up and killing themselves, and sometimes others, over what seems like silly things. Maybe the news media just never covered it before, or maybe the numbers are increasing.
I'll say there is nothing wrong with religion when it is practiced by non fanatics. you can't use the holocaust as a basis for why religion is bad, the guy was a madman behind it. And if you think without religion, manhinds history would be spotless and everyone would love each other, you're wrong. hindsight is 20/20, it seems clear to you now, but if there was no religious vessel to start wars and eliminate people, there would be other causes.
See thats history, and I don't deny it. Conversely, Atheist cannot deny the good that religion has undeniably done. And is still doing. It may hurt, but the good it has done is still just as real as the evil it has done.
This is a good point. Terrible things have been done in the "name of religion", but great things have also been done, and you can't honestly deny that. Maybe its a utilitarian approach.
Atheism doesn't need to be condensed, because it only consists of a single tenet-No belief in a god(s). Nothing complicated about that.
Religion does not need to be condensed either. It is far more complicated than Atheism, but thats because it is more populated than Atheism, more historical than Atheism, more defined than Atheism, more feared than Atheism, more disputed than Atheism, more political than Atheism, more powerful than Atheism;
I can see others quiting and killing themselves due to the struggles since in the end, nothing means anything (if that's what you believe).
Here's the core problem with JD's premise: I don't know of a single atheist who believes that "nothing means anything."
For some theists, the idea of a life without god is so perplexing that they just assume (or have to think) that the godless live without any hope, love, ambition, morals, etc.
That is simply not the case, no matter how vehemently JD try tries to pigeonhole atheists or declare what atheists believe. Are there atheists who are true nihilists and believe that nothing is of worth? Probably. But they are so few and far between that it really isn't an issue with atheists in general.
In my view, a lifestyle is first a way of thinking that incorporates into a way of living. Atheism is a way of thinking that incorporates into a way of living. Lifestyle influences how we think and talk; how we choose our mates, how we vote, how we raise our children and how we formulate our decisions and so on.
These are the thought processes that I went through to arrive at that discription.
Unfortunately, atheism is not a way of thinking, a lifestyle or a way of living. Any attempt to define it that way is an attempt to force individuals to fit a group mold. There absolutely are no generalities that apply. Of the few atheists that I know, only one ever mentions it in conversation. My belief is that there are a lot more in society that never say a word. You can't recognize them. You can't fit them into groups. You probably can't even tell which one is going to church to please the spouse.
No, no, no; Religion is a lifestyle, so is Atheism ; these are ways of being, ways of conscious living and thinking.
Atheism is not a "lifestyle"! It is just a label given to represent one of the various things that I do not have a belief in. So, please tell me exactly how your non-belief in Big Foot (for example) is considered to be a lifestyle?
Quote:
Although they can be taught in classrooms, they cannot be condensed to just that forum, because they are bigger than that, too big for just that. They would be the " Elephants in the room", as they are the elephants on discussion boards.
Look at it this way and try to remove your predjudice for a moment; no matter how someone may dislike Atheism, they cannot remove it from history or deny it exist; so it is with religion. All emotions aside, this is just a dual fact! No religious person can condense Atheism to just being taught in a class; its too big. And conversely, no Atheist can condense religion.
There would be nothing to teach in an "atheism" class since atheism does not espouse or claim anything. It is a lack of belief in god! A class on atheism would take like ten seconds to conduct:
Teacher: ok class, today we are going to learn about atheism. Atheists do not have a belief in god.
Unfortunately, atheism is not a way of thinking, a lifestyle or a way of living. Any attempt to define it that way is an attempt to force individuals to fit a group mold. There absolutely are no generalities that apply. Of the few atheists that I know, only one ever mentions it in conversation. My belief is that there are a lot more in society that never say a word. You can't recognize them. You can't fit them into groups. You probably can't even tell which one is going to church to please the spouse.
Case in point: my grandfather was highly involved in his church, went every Sunday, even become a deacon in the Presbyterian Church.
He was also a lifelong atheist.
But society at the time (North Carolina in the 20s through the 90s, when he died) wasn't conducive to being an openly atheist person.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
It is just a label given to represent one of the various things that I do not have a belief in. So, please tell me exactly how your non-belief in Big Foot (for example) is considered to be a lifestyle?