Quebec enacts legislation to prohibit government employees from wearing religious items at work. (Mormon, preaching)
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OK, perhaps I do not want to call myself an atheist because new atheists tend to be militant. I would rather be an old fashion atheist that keeps his views to himself. Does that makes sense?
That's fine. If you want to be what you call 'old school' and sit down, shut up and be quiet when Christianity tell you to then you be 'old school'. The rest of us will fight the battle whilst you hide in the corner, playing with an elastic band.
The important thing is to accept what you are, atheist, and not only be proud of it but be proud of your fellow atheist who are NOT prepared to sit down and shut up but who are fighting against people who, if they could have their way, would at best, prohibit you from holding any job more important than road-sweeping and at worst, would have you hanging from a tree or burning at the stake. So you go ahead and hide in your corner if that's all the fight that you have in you, but don't you dare get in our way.
That's fine. If you want to be what you call 'old school' and sit down, shut up and be quiet when Christianity tell you to then you be 'old school'. The rest of us will fight the battle whilst you hide in the corner, playing with an elastic band.
The important thing is to accept what you are, atheist, and not only be proud of it but be proud of your fellow atheist who are NOT prepared to sit down and shut up but who are fighting against people who, if they could have their way, would at best, prohibit you from holding any job more important than road-sweeping and at worst, would have you hanging from a tree or burning at the stake. So you go ahead and hide in your corner if that's all the fight that you have in you, but don't you dare get in our way.
I have known there is no God since I was a young teen. This was a simple logical conclusion I made on my own. This discovery was never a big deal to me. I lived my life and never discussed the issue with family members. We are cultural Christians and nothing more. I sent my kids to parochial schools, did the Christening, weddings, etc. I even prayed at Thanksgiving and Xmas dinners when my family asked me to say a few words. It is mostly a feel good meditation as there was ZERO talk about God or religion afterwards. This is basically nothing more than rituals and it makes no difference to me.
I cannot relate to this pride you feel. And I do not feel oppressed either. However, I will admit Evangelical true believers are VERY SCARY. To me they are no different than Islamic fundamentalists.
I have known there is no God since I was a young teen. This was a simple logical conclusion I made on my own. This discovery was never a big deal to me. I lived my life and never discussed the issue with family members. We are cultural Christians and nothing more. I sent my kids to parochial schools, did the Christening, weddings, etc. I even prayed at Thanksgiving and Xmas dinners when my family asked me to say a few words. It is mostly a feel good meditation as there was ZERO talk about God or religion afterwards. This is basically nothing more than rituals and it makes no difference to me.
I cannot relate to this pride you feel. And I do not feel oppressed either. However, I will admit Evangelical true believers are VERY SCARY. To me they are no different than Islamic fundamentalists.
Pity. Perhaps if there had been more people like us 'evangelicals' as you like to think of us, Christianity's blood-sucking stranglehold on humanity could have been broken a long time ago. But as I said. If you would rather sit in your corner playing with your elastic band then fine. We've tried your way and it didn't work. Now it's our turn. Just keep out of our way.
OK, so perhaps he was a bit like me. However, I do not call myself an atheist I prefer the term agnostic and nothing else. There is nothing wrong with philosophical arguments. I have no interest in proving there is a God as it is likely there is none. Furthermore, whether God is real or not is a moot point. Nothing changes!
Certainly not your mind However, the thread is about a particular piece of legislation and discussion is probably academic or at least speculative. What it gets through and in what shape and whether it works will have to be seen. So you may as well do a derail
Quote:
Originally Posted by Julian658
OK, perhaps I do not want to call myself an atheist because new atheists tend to be militant. I would rather be an old fashion atheist that keeps his views to himself. Does that makes sense?
No, but it is something that you can do rather than avoid the 'atheist' label altogether. You can say that you are actually atheist but not a 'new' Atheist - certainly not Militant. You are far from the only one. As usual, we don't demand that you to work with us, but would prefer that you don't work against us.
Ps.
You take the view (as i recall) that our efforts aren't necessary - the decline in religion was bound to happen anyway. I'm not so sure. i have a theory. That if Muslim doubters came out as strongly as new Atheism has done, you'd see that problem suddenly start to deflate rapidly.
Last edited by TRANSPONDER; 06-30-2019 at 02:36 PM..
Certainly not your mind However, the thread is about a particular piece of legislation and discussion is probably academic or at least speculative. What it gets through and in what shape and whether it works will have to be seen. So you may as well do a derail
No, but it is something that you can do rather than avoid the 'atheist' label altogether. You can say that you are actually atheist but not a 'new' Atheist - certainly not Militant. You are far from the only one. As usual, we don't demand that you to work with us, but would prefer that you don't work against us.
Ps.
You take the view (as i recall) that our efforts aren't necessary - the decline in religion was bound to happen anyway. I'm not so sure. i have a theory. That if Muslim doubters came out as strongly as new Atheism has done, you'd see that problem suddenly start to deflate rapidly.
I think religion needs to be stopped, particularly evangelical Christians and Fundie Muslims. But, the cultural component is totally harmless. A couple of militant atheists said they sing in a Christian choir.
OK, perhaps I do not want to call myself an atheist because new atheists tend to be militant. I would rather be an old fashion atheist that keeps his views to himself. Does that makes sense?
No, it doesn't. Forget new/old/amateur/Level 3/etc. Just use the term that is well defined and understood. If you don't believe that any gods exist, you're an atheist. If you believe that the existence of God cannot be proven, you're an agnostic. One is a knowledge position (agnostic/gnostic). One is a belief position (atheist/theist). When you call yourself agnostic, you are not saying what you believe about the existence of God. You are only saying that the existence is not proveable.
Pity. Perhaps if there had been more people like us 'evangelicals' as you like to think of us, Christianity's blood-sucking stranglehold on humanity could have been broken a long time ago. But as I said. If you would rather sit in your corner playing with your elastic band then fine. We've tried your way and it didn't work. Now it's our turn. Just keep out of our way.
Forgot to add:
You guys are a bit late to the party. The men of the enlightenment took care of the most serious issues. Even Luther fixed a lot of crappy things. We need activist Arabic Atheists, they would be gold.
Lastly, the need for religion was universal among primitive cultures. It was a necessary evil. What is astounding is that some religious people in the planet are stuck in medieval times.
Last edited by Julian658; 06-30-2019 at 04:03 PM..
OK, perhaps I do not want to call myself an atheist because new atheists tend to be militant. I would rather be an old fashion atheist that keeps his views to himself. Does that makes sense?
Herein we get an admission that a 'militant atheist' is merely one that doesn't hide in the atheist closet.
Every third corner has a church. Jesus fish and myriad other religious affirmations adorn cars. Crucifixes hang from necks with regularity. There are entire channels on television devoted to Christianity. Yet an atheist has the temerity to merely acknowledge his or her atheism, and it's militancy.
Tom: "I go to church every Sunday."
Julian: [silent]
Dick: "God bless America."
Julian: [silent]
Harry: "I'm an atheist".
Julian: "Militant! Militant! We got a militant here!"
But, yes, I must agree that your phobia of self-applying the label atheist is likely rooted in a fear of being associated with your strawman caricature of atheists.
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