Ignorant atheists?

[monkeybanjo13]

reishyn

AstroFemme

Beyond_Oblivion

AstroFemme

atheism is not a religion.

It is no more a religion than theism is. It is a classification of philosophical thought regarding the existence of deities. Religions fall under both of these terms, but neither is a religion in and of itself.

According to wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

Religion: a strong belief in a supernatural power or powers that control human destiny; "he lost his faith but not his morality"

Religion:an institution to express belief in a divine power; "he was raised in the Baptist religion"; "a member of his own faith contradicted him"


According to en.wiktionary.org/wiki/religion

Religion: A collection of practices, based on beliefs and teachings that are highly valued or sacred; Any practice that someone or some group is seriously ...

So, based off these widely accepted definitions, I would have to say that atheism is not a religion.

Atheism is no more a religion than not collecting stamps is a hobby.

(Sorry for the cliché but the occasion called for it.)

you it actually takes more faith to believe that there is no god(s) or divine creator, then it does to actually believe in a god. i mean im not trying to talk bad about atheists but seriously you really believe when you nothing happens? or that an explosion created the earth? i mean idk whatever.

[Lady_Kayelle_24]

u know, faith and reason work together. most scientists are atheists and dont look at science from a catholic view at all, so many strange things can be said by them.......
but we just have to respect all religions and pray that ppl will realize.

[Methcalarjalope]

Genevaman

As many people know I am a die-hard atheist and all round cynical a*****e in terms of skepticism. I am a huge fan of both Dawkins and Hitchins and am a thorough believer in Darwinian Theory.
I also hold no grudge against the religious (bar the extremists).
But something rather frightening has emerged in the atheist community recently and I shudder with dread as the silent "I told you so"s of Youtube creationist videos come to mind.
We, as a minority, have become arrogant, conceited and, worst of all, ignorant.

I refer of course to the "fundementalist atheists" or "Neo-Atheists" as I have deigned to label them.
Atheism has become more of an anti-social trend than a point of view on life but then again that's nothing new. Such has been the way since the early 90's.
No. What I refer to specifically is the bulwark of single-mindedness that many atheists sought to prevent. A staunch "pro-Darwin, Dawkins, Hitchens" and "f**k everything else" attitude all topped with a red cherry of raw stupidity.
An anecdote of such an example is, not long before writing this, when I happened upon a Dawkins interview on Youtube and glanced at the comments below where I found the statement:

"Religion and philosophy have never contributed anything to the world. Only science has done anything for us."

Or something to that extent. Just not as grammatically correct. I didn't react in a big way to this. After all even I have been subject to hastiness in my own words before so I simply responded with:

"What about Democritus? He was a philosopher."

Of course I could also have used Plato or Marx as an example but seeing as he had referred to science I assumed Democritus would have the most relatable effect. But rather than the famous Dawkins-esque reproach I had expected I instead received:

"Democritus and all philosophers are idiots. Philosophy is just guess work. It's chemistry and physics get things done. You creationists have to get real."

Oh sweet irony! The term "guess work"? On a Dawkins interview?
Yet still I held the benefit of the doubt and explained thusly:

"I think you might have jumped the gun a bit there... Democritus was the founder of atomic theory which would later become the foundation of thousands of formulae within both chemistry AND physics. You could almost call science itself a gathering of philosophies with hard evidence to back it up. And I'm an atheist by the way. "

The response didn't show much of a change in tact:

"Stop trying to sound like some sort of genius. Everyone knows it's arrogant bulls**t. How is science like philosophy? Read a book. Or better yet read the God Delusion. That might help you."

To this I left no response as, frighteningly, his words grew bolstered with the replies of like-minded viewers and my comments became hideously thumbed down to the point of where it was a task to even read them. I had been shot down by my own "pro-open mind" kinsmen for being open minded.

This was but one of many instances and not just limited to me either.
One of my peers was called a "f**king nerd" when he asked a person who claimed to support "Darwinian Theory over ignorance" what he thought of the recent revelations on Darwin's tree of life. I don't mean to sound whiny but personally think an "I don't know" would have been better suited.

But that's exactly what the problem is. People are afraid to say they don't know. People feel the need to flaunt an aura of superiority and if you should question them on such you're either arrogant or small minded for doing so.

I fear our recent endeavers have filled our ranks with naught but an anti-religion mentality rather than a pro-knowledge attitude. Instead of enlightenment we have merely sheparded the ignorant from one side of the fence to the other. And as such we have earned our nay-said titles of arrogance and ignorance. A sad but true fact indeed.

So my suggestion is this. Forget religion. Forget creationism. Preach of the wonders of the truth rather than the failures of the false. (No offense to the religious. xp ) I don't mean to say give religion immunity to criticism but merely not to make it our focus. We are atheists. Not anti-Christs.

Learn what evolution actually is before preaching its wonders. Or at the very least don't claim to know everything about biology. (Unless you do. 3nodding )

And PLEASE! Don't dismiss philosophy as the same thing as theology.
There IS a distinct difference between the two.

Any opinions anyone?

My opinion is that this is an overlong rant.

[Beyond_Oblivion]

monkeybanjo13

you it actually takes more faith to believe that there is no god(s) or divine creator, then it does to actually believe in a god.

By what measure? I would say that both stances are entirely devoid of any objective evidence and thus subject to doubt.

Quote:

i mean im not trying to talk bad about atheists but seriously you really believe when you nothing happens?

Er...what?

Quote:

or that an explosion created the earth?

Well, an explosion was necessary for there to be an Earth with its modern chemical composition. Without a supernova, there would not be any elements heavier than iron. But that didn't really make the Earth. What made the Earth was gravitational collapse.

[Methcalarjalope]

Bewbs McBewb

Richard Dawkins has no p***s. [Citation Needed]

______________
*documented for truthiness

[Math145 Kane]

Methcalarjalope

Genevaman

As many people know I am a die-hard atheist and all round cynical a*****e in terms of skepticism. I am a huge fan of both Dawkins and Hitchins and am a thorough believer in Darwinian Theory.
I also hold no grudge against the religious (bar the extremists).
But something rather frightening has emerged in the atheist community recently and I shudder with dread as the silent "I told you so"s of Youtube creationist videos come to mind.
We, as a minority, have become arrogant, conceited and, worst of all, ignorant.

I refer of course to the "fundementalist atheists" or "Neo-Atheists" as I have deigned to label them.
Atheism has become more of an anti-social trend than a point of view on life but then again that's nothing new. Such has been the way since the early 90's.
No. What I refer to specifically is the bulwark of single-mindedness that many atheists sought to prevent. A staunch "pro-Darwin, Dawkins, Hitchens" and "f**k everything else" attitude all topped with a red cherry of raw stupidity.
An anecdote of such an example is, not long before writing this, when I happened upon a Dawkins interview on Youtube and glanced at the comments below where I found the statement:

"Religion and philosophy have never contributed anything to the world. Only science has done anything for us."

Or something to that extent. Just not as grammatically correct. I didn't react in a big way to this. After all even I have been subject to hastiness in my own words before so I simply responded with:

"What about Democritus? He was a philosopher."

Of course I could also have used Plato or Marx as an example but seeing as he had referred to science I assumed Democritus would have the most relatable effect. But rather than the famous Dawkins-esque reproach I had expected I instead received:

"Democritus and all philosophers are idiots. Philosophy is just guess work. It's chemistry and physics get things done. You creationists have to get real."

Oh sweet irony! The term "guess work"? On a Dawkins interview?
Yet still I held the benefit of the doubt and explained thusly:

"I think you might have jumped the gun a bit there... Democritus was the founder of atomic theory which would later become the foundation of thousands of formulae within both chemistry AND physics. You could almost call science itself a gathering of philosophies with hard evidence to back it up. And I'm an atheist by the way. "

The response didn't show much of a change in tact:

"Stop trying to sound like some sort of genius. Everyone knows it's arrogant bulls**t. How is science like philosophy? Read a book. Or better yet read the God Delusion. That might help you."

To this I left no response as, frighteningly, his words grew bolstered with the replies of like-minded viewers and my comments became hideously thumbed down to the point of where it was a task to even read them. I had been shot down by my own "pro-open mind" kinsmen for being open minded.

This was but one of many instances and not just limited to me either.
One of my peers was called a "f**king nerd" when he asked a person who claimed to support "Darwinian Theory over ignorance" what he thought of the recent revelations on Darwin's tree of life. I don't mean to sound whiny but personally think an "I don't know" would have been better suited.

But that's exactly what the problem is. People are afraid to say they don't know. People feel the need to flaunt an aura of superiority and if you should question them on such you're either arrogant or small minded for doing so.

I fear our recent endeavers have filled our ranks with naught but an anti-religion mentality rather than a pro-knowledge attitude. Instead of enlightenment we have merely sheparded the ignorant from one side of the fence to the other. And as such we have earned our nay-said titles of arrogance and ignorance. A sad but true fact indeed.

So my suggestion is this. Forget religion. Forget creationism. Preach of the wonders of the truth rather than the failures of the false. (No offense to the religious. xp ) I don't mean to say give religion immunity to criticism but merely not to make it our focus. We are atheists. Not anti-Christs.

Learn what evolution actually is before preaching its wonders. Or at the very least don't claim to know everything about biology. (Unless you do. 3nodding )

And PLEASE! Don't dismiss philosophy as the same thing as theology.
There IS a distinct difference between the two.

Any opinions anyone?

My opinion is that this is an overlong rant.

This is the EXTENDED Discussion.

[Bob Motley]

Richard Dawkins+Pope yaoi doujinshi exists

[reishyn]

Skittish Nature-Boy

Richard Dawkins+Pope yaoi doujinshi exists

Okaay...

[Highlord Smiley]

Obviously atheists do believe in God deep down, otherwise they would not keep calling it non-existent and such, if it were non-existent there wouldn't even be a reason to call it non-existent.

But yeah... if you kept arguing about it on and on, obviously you are at least a little afraid it could be real. Otherwise there would be no point to argue it.

[reishyn]

High Lord Smiley IV

Obviously atheists do believe in God deep down, otherwise they would not keep calling it non-existent and such, if it were non-existent there wouldn't even be a reason to call it non-existent.

But yeah... if you kept arguing about it on and on, obviously you are at least a little afraid it could be real. Otherwise there would be no point to argue it.

Not necessarily. As long as the belief in a deity is contested by another holding argument is not limited to reassuring one's self. For example some people believe the holocaust of WWII to be a farce constructed as a conspiracy to justify the destruction on the Allies part. Obviously the holocaust did occur because we have physical evidence and historical primary and secondary sources citing events that happened during it. i.e: Nazi prisoner transport papers or expenditure manifests. Does that mean that arguing the happenings of the holocaust against someone who believes it to be a conspiracy is merely due to the fear that it truly may never have happened?
No. It's because sees the opposition as making a logical fallacy and seeks to correct them.

PS: I hope no one is offended by the fact that I used the holocaust as an example. It was the only thing that sprang to mind.

[AstroFemme]

High Lord Smiley IV

Obviously atheists do believe in God deep down, otherwise they would not keep calling it non-existent and such, if it were non-existent there wouldn't even be a reason to call it non-existent.

But yeah... if you kept arguing about it on and on, obviously you are at least a little afraid it could be real. Otherwise there would be no point to argue it.

Not at all actually

[reishyn]

http://www.gaiaonline.com/demonbusters?sub=followers&user_id=21112563

[ChessboxCheck]

Yeah, that pretty much sums it up.
Extremists don't have to be religious.
And atheists can be fools just as much as other people.
Generally, everyone thinks they're smarter than they should, and pride is a HUGE problem in society.
I'm not saying confidence is a bad thing, but there is such a thing as too much of one thing.
A lot of people like to say they're atheists to sound smart. In my eyes, and opinion, it just makes them look dumber. If they truly thought about the subject of an omnipotent being's existence, they would come to the conclusion that there IS one, (Which I have) but that there is no way to prove what it is or if it exists. Therefore I don't discuss such a matter normally, because it's like a Nascar race track. You keep going in circles.

[Haku Tobi II]

Genevaman

Atheism has become more of an anti-social trend than a point of view on life but then again that's nothing new.

And here I thought I was the only person alive who figured that out.