Atheism IS a Religion.

[djzalzer]

@Despain
An atheist says that he/she is sure that there is nothing all knowing/all powerful.  But to know that you'd have to be all-knowing, or at least it seems that way to me.  Often Atheists/Objectionists use the idea of the "Law of Identity" but that doesn't disprove God and it can't be proved anyway.

Agnosticism makes a lot more sense to me.

 

[Despain]

@Despain
An atheist says that he/she is sure that there is nothing all knowing/all powerful.  But to know that you'd have to be all-knowing, or at least it seems that way to me.

I would say that I know because the idea of a god seems totally illogical to me. Just like I know that there's not a seven-headed, talking kangaroo living in an apartment in Houston. It's a totally illogical and crazy claim, so it's perfectly same to assume that there really is not such a thing that exists.

 

[djzalzer]

But you can't prove it.  Which makes criticism of religion because it's unprovable moot to anyone smart enough to follow anything to its logical conclusion.  I also fail to see how it is an 'illogical claim' compared to atheism since nothing comes from nothing and life does not come from nonlife. :-\

 

[Despain]

But you can't prove it.  Which makes criticism of religion because it's unprovable moot to anyone smart enough to follow anything to its logical conclusion.  I also fail to see how it is an 'illogical claim' compared to atheism since nothing comes from nothing and life does not come from nonlife. :-\

I can't prove it, but as I was saying, I don't have to. It's a common fallacy: it's not my burden to prove something that you claim (ie. the existence of a higher power).

The reasoning to my belief is an extension of that. There's really no way to prove that God exists, and simply because (for me at least), there's no logical reason that He does (I mean the idea of a giant bearded dude in the clouds who has been there since the dawn of time is totally ridiculous), I safely assume that he doesn't. It's a personal belief, like all beliefs are, but it's more based in logic rather than blind faith.

 

[djzalzer]

Yeah, well, the blind flawed logic vs. blind flawed faith debate isn't ever going to finish, and we're getting a bit off topic I think.

 

[Roph]

Just throwing this out there =) This is not a college coolkid atheist video, but a serious intellectual discussion / debate, captured on video. Watch it.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 0771&hl=en

 

[e]

How are we supposed to watch that video with your signature staring at us?

Anyhow...

In my original post, I used myself as an example -- I have no religion.

It's not that I believe there is no god. It's not that I believe in god. I just choose not to even consider the possibility. I am so open minded, I figure I'll call it when I see it and save it 'til then.

Apathy, at its finest, folks.

That's what it is to be religion-less. Taking leaps of faith requires religiousness.

Assuming there is no god is just as big of a leap of faith as assuming there is one.

Why?

Because you don't know for sure! So it's faith, no matter how you want to describe it!

I believe H.P. Lovecraft put it best :

The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far. The sciences, each straining in its own direction, have hitherto harmed us little; but some day the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, and of our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee from the light into the peace and safety of a new dark age.

 

[CERU]

Atheism isn't a religion, its a category. Atheists reject religion.

Theists can be Christians, Buddhists, Hindu, etc. But an atheist can only be an atheist. Although atheists don't really have to believe in science I think it would be ridiculous for one not to. But still, Atheism doesn't really mean a person believes a certain thing, its just that science and atheism go hand in hand.

And about scientific theories, a scientific theory is not a theory as in you say "I have a theory" based on something you have observed. A scientific theory has a LOT of evidence to back it up before it can even be considered a theory. If you don't believe in evolution, you might as well not believe in gravity either.

 

[Ellie]

Assuming there is no God is far from a belief.

Just because you cannot disprove something does not mean it exists. Take for example... my friend. He's determined that he is black, and has videos of him being served with stolen ID's and everything to prove it, etc. Whenever anyone challenges him, he says "prove I'm not black then". And nobody can. But this doesn't mean he is black, it just means there's no way to prove he isn't.

Perhaps a better example: I, Wyatt, am God and creator of the Universe. You don't think I am? Prove it. Prove I am not the all creator.

You can make assumptions, based on things. Like... you can assume I am not God, because it would be pretty weird for me to be, and there's no proof other than word of mouth that I am. Just like you can assume there is no God, simply because you have never seen him/her/it.

But then of course, there's this:

Religion claims an idea, and attempts to prove it right.

Science claims an idea, and attempts to prove it wrong.

----

I'd just like to say though, I agree to some of this article. The only problem I can see with any religion is opression. I.e. forcing your ideas on other people. You have the right to try and get other people believing, for example... word of mouth, but you by no means have the right to force your ideas on people. Let people believe what they want to believe for once...

 

[SPN]

It's impossible to prove that something doesn't exist.

 

[Olivia]

If you don't believe in evolution, you might as well not believe in gravity either.

I understand things adapt and change (EG: Snow Hares) but I would never believe we transformed from deformed fish then into deformed monkeys.  By now we would have dramatically physically changed.

However those who say it makes more sense, it doesn't.

PS: What did you mean about the gravity part, gravity is completely provable.

 

[Despain]

pretty much everything he said

Did you miss all of my posts? It's not our job to disprove people who make outrageous claims, it's their job to prove them. People need to stop falling into this trap. Just by saying "prove me wrong" doesn't make you right. If your claim is illogical and not based in ANY solid reasoning, then by default its your job to prove that it's right.

I thought I already covered this pretty clearly!

As for "Is atheism a religion"- when I see "Religion:___" or whatever on a form, I put "Atheist". I don't write down "none lol".

 

[Ellie]

pretty much everything he said

Did you miss all of my posts? It's not our job to disprove people who make outrageous claims, it's their job to prove them. People need to stop falling into this trap. Just by saying "prove me wrong" doesn't make you right. If your claim is illogical and not based in ANY solid reasoning, then by default its your job to prove that it's right.

That was my point! I meant me saying "Prove I'm not God" is the same as a religious person saying "Prove there is no God".

 

[e]

If you don't believe in evolution, you might as well not believe in gravity either.

I understand things adapt and change (EG: Snow Hares) but I would never believe we transformed from deformed fish then into deformed monkeys.  By now we would have dramatically physically changed.

However those who say it makes more sense, it doesn't.

PS: What did you mean about the gravity part, gravity is completely provable.

What are you talking about? These changes took thousands of years to occur; hell, probably even more. The human form has changed over the last hundred of thousands of years; remember, our own history is only several thousand years old, nothing much compared to Earth's.

 

[Olivia]

But look at it this way.

If indeed a fish came out of the water, died, but other fish suddenly mutated matter that made them go on ground. Then the walking fish mutated matter that made them fly, crawl, walk Etc.

if so...

In my opinion, if monkeys evolved into humans, why are there still monkeys around? And if they are backed slowly around the evolution process, why aren't they having half or quarter human babies. And if there's still monkeys, how comes there aren't any half prime ape people around, please don't bring up president Bush. :S

 

[Ellie]

Because it's like this:

20 monkeys. 10 decide to move elsewhere. They find themselves eating meat, and end up evolving into Humans. The 10 that were left behind didn't evolve, and until they meet the same requirements as the other 10 got, they wont evolve.

 

[Despain]

In my opinion, if monkeys evolved into humans, why are there still monkeys around? And if they are backed slowly around the evolution process, why aren't they having half or quarter human babies. And if there's still monkeys, how comes there aren't any half prime ape people around, please don't bring up president Bush. :S

GAHDscadscdfshvcanejfnvcxsdca
Don't try to argue about shit when you don't even KNOW HOW IT WORKS.

 

[Prexus]

I can prove God exists. When you hear 'God', do you have a reaction? Can you instantly recognize the name and what it means? God exists in the same way that a fictional character in a book exists. While they might not have tangible reality, it does influence you in a way. Reading about the women from 'Little Women' makes many people sad, ..and I ran out of examples. But you get the point. It's not the book that is making the person sad, it's not the words, it's what the words are describing. Anything that can influence you, whether tangible or not, exists. And has God not influenced the lives of many people for many years? Telling them how to live their lives, influencing politics and war?

 

[Despain]

The concept of God exists, Prexus, I don't think anyone would argue with that. When someone uses the word "God", however, they're traditionally talking about the being or entity that the word represents. While your post is pretty cute, it isn't really getting anywhere because we're not talking about the concept of God, but the actual existence of the thing that we use the word "God" to describe.

 

[Olivia]

GAHDscadscdfshvcanejfnvcxsdca
Don't try to argue about shit when you don't even KNOW HOW IT WORKS.

Monkeys eating meat and meat-eating monkeys turning into humans didn't sound right so I didn't reply to be honest.