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Reasons for Atheism if you aren't in the DIR
- Thread starter Niatero
- Start date
Niatero
*banned*
I don't think that there is anything that anyone will ever be able to imagine, describe or define, that created the universe. I agree with the Buddha that speculating about it either way, whether or not he/she/they/it exist(s) is a useless, counterproductive and positively harmful distraction which drives people mad (in more ways than one). God says so Himself. 
I'm not actually sure how I ended up here. Maybe because I saw myself going mad (in more ways than one) trying to find some way for it to have some meaning for me to say that an unknowable creator exists, or does not exist.
I'm not actually sure how I ended up here. Maybe because I saw myself going mad (in more ways than one) trying to find some way for it to have some meaning for me to say that an unknowable creator exists, or does not exist.
Where does he say this? Do you think he would castigate cosmogony as "a useless, counterproductive and positively harmful distraction which drives people mad (in more ways than one)"?
Speculation is good,
even if unproductive.
even if unproductive.
Niatero
*banned*
If you're thinking about some "historical" Buddha, I don't know. If you mean the Buddha in the scriptures of
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Thanks for answering the second of my two questions. Now, for those of us less familiar with "the Buddha in the scriptures of Hinduism," could you please cite your source?
Niatero
*banned*
- Acintita Sutta: Unconjecturable, translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
Magical thinking is what got us to where we are today and is at the heart of the very beginning of Science.
As to why I don't believe in God simply experience. I don't consider myself an Atheist because I don't really care about Religion as a whole. Which is why I am not in the Atheist DIR.
Thanks. I found the quote to be wrong and disturbing.
If one is a skeptic and an empiricist, agnostic atheism is the only tenable position. As a skeptic, I accept no claim that gods do or do not exist because somebody says they do or do not. As an empiricist, I require evidence to conclude that gods do or do not exist, which is insufficient for both propositions.
Thanks for that. I think that's the first thing attributed to Buddha that I have found wrong, assuming that the words in brackets faithfully represent what was said and meant. Even if we remove those words, we've got a wrong-headed statement.
I agree with you that magical thinking is potentially dangerous, but I don't agree that all religions are a problem. The polytheists (I'm including the dharmics with the Druids, Wiccans, and other so-called pagans) seem to be mostly harmless since their focus seems to be earth-centered and their gods symbols for the elements of nature.
Niatero
*banned*
Actually I don't think that applies to big bang theories for example, because they aren't claiming that the big bang is the first cause or origin of all being. It isn't affirming or denying the existence of a first cause or origin. It's just investigating the results of projecting current theories of relativity and quantum mechanics as far as they can into the past. I think the people who really understand it think that it fails some time before it actually reaches the time where it all converges to zero, and even then the researchers aren't saying that there isn't anything before that. Just that with current theories we can't go back any farther than that.
(later) Also, the equations are not saying that there is or not and was or was not anything outside of space and time making it all happen. That's outside of the range of the research, not part of its purpose at all.
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Given your quote ...
"Conjecture about [the origin, etc., of] the world is an unconjecturable that is not to be conjectured about, that would bring madness & vexation to anyone who conjectured about it."
... it's rather hard to know precisely what is being affirmed or denied. So, for example, is "[the origin, etc., of]" your addition or that of Thanissaro Bhikkhu? When removed, the sentence simply rails against the pursuit of knowledge. That's a dangerous dogma.
Returning to your second post:
So you don't believe in the indescribable because it's indescribable? OK.
I've written in some detail why I'm atheist in the DIR
Reasons for atheism
so here is a quickie for this thread.
I left the church because Christians (the congregation) were not nice people.
I became atheist because i read the Bible.
Reasons for atheism
so here is a quickie for this thread.
I left the church because Christians (the congregation) were not nice people.
I became atheist because i read the Bible.
Niatero
*banned*
Thanissaro Bhikkhu
I'm also not contributing to the Atheist DIR since although mostly atheist (a bit agnostic) I don't feel the need to proselytise this position to others, apart from general discussions as to certain matters or as to how I came to such a conclusion. I also tend to believe that one can waste an awful lot of one's life in contemplation and/or search as to the more difficult questions (life, the universe, and everything - to quote dear Douglas Adams) particularly when one could be doing more beneficial things. And especially so when so many seem to be led down blind alleys (YEC- Yuk!) because they are gullible enough to believe that what was written long ago had enough truth to be believable. How long does one have to wait before any particular religion's pronouncements are seen as waffle when they don't come to pass?
Reasons why I became an atheist here (#27):
Reasons why I became an atheist here (#27):
Mock Turtle world
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/b009fwy6 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/02/hidden-in-plain-sight-the-european-city-tours-of-slavery-and-colonialism https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2024/apr/04/audhd-what-is-behind-rocketing-rates-life-changing-diagnosis...
www.religiousforums.com
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Always been atheist.
Remained so.
Nothing else makes sense.
Remained so.
Nothing else makes sense.
HonestJoe
Well-Known Member
I always find it a little odd when people talk about their reasons for being atheist, as if it is an active decision that is consciously considered and decided on. I'm an atheist because I don't believe in any gods. While I've given consideration (briefly) to some specific proposed gods, I make a distinction between consciously concluding that a specific set of beliefs aren't valid and the general characteristic of not believing in any gods. A bit like the difference between preferring Fords over BMWs and whether you currently own any car or not.
I suspect the factors that led me to my theological position and a combination of upbringing, cultural environment, education and fundamental mindset. I also think it is way, way down on the list of significant or relevant characteristics about me (and overall, I'm not an especially interesting person ). That's the main reason I'm not in the DIR.
I suspect the factors that led me to my theological position and a combination of upbringing, cultural environment, education and fundamental mindset. I also think it is way, way down on the list of significant or relevant characteristics about me (and overall, I'm not an especially interesting person
). That's the main reason I'm not in the DIR.
That's Buddhist sutta, not a Hindu scripture.
Pali:
(Acinteyyasuttaṃ)
(Sāvatthinidānaṃ
27. Cattārimāni bhikkhave acinteyyāni na cintetabbāni, yāni cintento ummādassa vighātassa bhāgī assa. Katamāni cattāri?
Buddhānaṃ bhikkhave buddhavisayo acinteyyo na cintetabbo, yaṃ cintento ummādassa vighātassa bhāgī assa.
Jhāyissa bhikkhave jhānavisayo acinteyyo na cintetabbo, yaṃ cintento ummādassa vighātassa bhāgī assa.
Kammavipāko bhikkhave acinteyyo na cintetabbo, yaṃ cintento ummādassa vighātassa bhāgī assa.
Lokacintā bhikkhave acinteyyā na cintetabbā, yaṃ cintento ummādassa vighātassa bhāgī assa.
Imāni kho bhikkhave cattāri acinteyyāni na cintetabbāni, yāni cintento ummādassa vighātassa bhāgī assāti.
So basically, pseudoscience.