Atheism = just another belief system? (Jehovah, Mormon, sunday, service)
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As an atheist, it’s been probably 30 years since I’ve even considered religion or thought about if there’s a god or not. The last time was when my mother wrote a note at age 15, so I didn’t have to do the 2 hours a year of religious education that my school requested all students do. That goes for every Christmas and Easter holiday too....... Not even the slightest thought about a god existing, before I made this comment.
Most atheists would be similar to me and probably haven’t given a though to the existence of the lochness monster, Big foot, Father Christmas or even Humpty Dumpty too. Do Christians give that much thought to the non existence of Big foot, that it becomes a belief system?. I’m sure they would all say, no don’t be silly. Atheists put god in the same category as these legends and fairy stories and usually when we can critically think about the world in our early teens god hitchhikes into fantasy land on Father Christmas’s sleigh.
But for some reason the theists want atheism to be something more.
Science, mathematics, probability, possibility, and nature is not atheism, it is how some atheists come to the conclusion there are no gods.
bold above
= a belief
a belief held by some atheists
parallel word usage would be: some theists come to the conclusion there is a god.
if some atheists "come to the conclusion" there is no god, then so too do some theists "come to the conclusion" there is a god.
if an atheist believes there are no gods, then a theist believes there is a god.
bold above
= a belief
a belief held by some atheists
parallel word usage would be: some theists come to the conclusion there is a god.
if some atheists "come to the conclusion" there is no god, then so too do some theists "come to the conclusion" there is a god.
if an atheist believes there are no gods, then a theist believes there is a god.
Bold above = English words arranged in sentences that have no relevance to either the OP or the post it was responding to.
Namely the blindness of belief, and considering themselves open minded, where the open mindedness is ironically being close minded to the most rational explanation.
More often that not, 'close minded' is a manipulative insult when the other person won't come to a person's POV.
Science, mathematics, probability, possibility, and nature is not atheism, it is how some atheists come to the conclusion there are no gods. Yet you still can not list these other components.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tzaphkiel
bold above
that's what i said earlier, and you disagreed.
so now you are agreeing.
OK.
atheism is also not a function of mathematics, probability, nature, chicken soup, or spoons.beliefs about atheism, beliefs held by atheists about atheism, do include "very personal perceptions" though. as seen in post above for example.the more the merrier. richness, diversity, depth, everyone has a place at the table regarding their beliefs about paths of religion and spirituality.
More often that not, 'close minded' is a manipulative insult when the other person won't come to a person's POV.
yes i agree. like this, here:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter600
This is exactly it. However some religious people have an arrogance that overestimates the reach of their religion, and are unable to understand how someone can live a deep, fulfilling life without coming near religion. If humans were all rational and logical, no one would even give religion a flicker of thought, unless there appeared significant evidence to do so. Sure some of them might ponder the deep philosophical questions, but religion is but one possible answer to them. I actually made a few posts in the "Unexplained Mysteries and Paranormal" forum, you can see a clear similarity between some posters on their who believe in the likes of bigfoot, and some religious posters on here. Namely the blindness of belief, and considering themselves open minded, where the open mindedness is ironically being close minded to the most rational explanation.
Science, mathematics, probability, possibility, and nature is not atheism, it is how some atheists come to the conclusion there are no gods.
= a belief
a belief held by some atheists
parallel word usage would be: some theists come to the conclusion there is a god.
if some atheists "come to the conclusion" there is no god, then so too do some theists "come to the conclusion" there is a god.
if an atheist believes there are no gods, then a theist believes there is a god.
You are trying to use conclusion and belief interchangeably, and while the words are often used that way in language and even in definition, they also have different intended meanings/definitions. I will give you that there is overlap in the assorted definitions for each, but there is also incongruence.
Surely you don't think the application of the word conclusion, when describing the conclusion that sub-atomic particles can produce vast amounts of released energy when undergoing nuclear fission or fusion, as witnessed by observing every active star in the universe, is on par with using the word belief.
You'd laugh at any person that said, "I believe that all the stars produce energy as a result of sub-atomic particles undergoing nuclear fission or fusion." Clearly at this point in time belief is a little light duty for the application based on rigorous testing and review.
In this case conclusion suggests much more rigid review of much more reliable and verifiable data, that does using the word belief, which especially in the case of religions, is coupled with faith, because you need to belief in the face of lacking such a rigid review.
I generally try avoid phrases like 'close minded' and 'common sense' due to their inherent intention of being demeaning. That's me. It's a realization based on having walked both sides of that street. Sure we all wake up and have a bad day, but I try to avoid being demeaning unless someone insists on that being the context of a conversation. IF the real goal is a comparison of ideas for growth and review, a certain amount of mutual respect seems to be constructive. But it can be hard to control frustration, on matters you have a strong emotional sentiment towards. Obviously these phrases DO have honest and fair opportunities to be applied without the negative intent, where they are a relevant choice.
Last edited by Cyno; 10-12-2021 at 08:40 AM..
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