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Atheist Activism

Fool

ALL in all
Premium Member
You didn't answer any of my questions so again;

Is everything people react to a belief system?
no

Is what you’re thinking of people reacting to actually atheism, alone and in itself, or deeper and more constructed concepts which may grow from it?
people act from belief; when not acting from knowledge. a mind reacts to the unknown with belief from prior experience; whether that prior experience is relevant, or not. babies react to the unknown, adults also.


If atheism is a religion, why wouldn’t it’s opposite, theism, also be a religion?
i never stated that atheism is a religion. i stated it's a belief system. you're trying to make religion synonymous with belief. they aren't. we learn from the unknown all the time by using what we know and testing it against what we don't know.

we come into this would, unconscious of this world and by slow steps learn how to navigate the unknown.
 

Fool

ALL in all
Premium Member
Other than refuting claims of a god that are pushed at them, what "acts" do atheists do that are predicated upon atheism alone?
atheists have beliefs. all humans do. we all act from those beliefs. how we identify our system is our choice.

atheism is not a cookie cutter form. there are all kinds of atheists with one underlying belief of no gods just as there are all types of theists with one underlying belief in god(s).

each person chooses their own label. otherwise we identify as a humanist, conservative, communist, philanthropist, vs something relevant to god(s), either anti-god or pro-god.

you can take god out of the belief but you can't take belief out of a person.
 

paarsurrey

Veteran Member
If atheism isn't a belief system, why do atheists act from it

Atheism has motivational effect, they are not passive many a time, they do it actively and many a time proactively in other words they assert it but they never give evidences for their stance/world-view.
Right, please?

Regards
 

Thermos aquaticus

Well-Known Member
atheists have beliefs.

Atheists do have beliefs, and one of the common beliefs that atheists share is to not have others misrepresent their position. The reaction you are getting out of people is due to you misrepresenting who they are. I think it is rather common reaction among humans to speak up when people are telling falsehoods about who you are.
 

lewisnotmiller

Grand Hat
Staff member
Premium Member
If atheism isn't a belief system, why do atheists act from it and theist react to it? Can we have our cake and eat it too?

"The lady doth protest too much, methinks" - Queen Gertrude - Hamlet - Williamshakespeare


Freedom From Religion Foundation - Freedom From Religion Foundation



Atheism isn't a belief system, but all atheists have belief systems. Some atheists would have enough common ground in those beliefs that they can coherently act.

But atheism isn't defined by that. Just that subset of atheists.
 

HonestJoe

Well-Known Member
Then what does the opening question in your OP actually mean? If people can react to things that aren't belief systems, why must atheism be a belief system for people to react to it? You might think you're making deep and meaningful points here but that really isn't how it's coming across.

i never stated that atheism is a religion. i stated it's a belief system. you're trying to make religion synonymous with belief. they aren't. we learn from the unknown all the time by using what we know and testing it against what we don't know.
Fair point, but there is a bigger distinction between belief and belief system. If atheism is a singular belief system, why wouldn't theism be a singular belief system?

Could it simply a case that you're mistaken in your understanding of the word "atheism"?
 

Valjean

Veteran Member
Premium Member
i never stated that atheism is a religion. i stated it's a belief system. you're trying to make religion synonymous with belief. they aren't. we learn from the unknown all the time by using what we know and testing it against what we don't know.
A lack of belief is not a belief, and certainly not a system. Is your lack of belief in Leprechuans a belief system? This doesn't even make sense.
atheists have beliefs. all humans do. we all act from those beliefs. how we identify our system is our choice.

atheism is not a cookie cutter form. there are all kinds of atheists with one underlying belief of no gods just as there are all types of theists with one underlying belief in god(s).
How can you read so many posts in so many threads on this subject and still not get it? Atheists do not have an underlying belief of no Gods. Repeat: Atheism isn't a belief there are no Gods.
Atheism's sine qua non is absence of belief. Yes, people act from their beliefs, but not usually from no belief; from nothing.
Do you act from your lack of belief in leprechauns? Does it motivate you in daily life? Do you take it into consideration when making plans?

Atheism doesn't motivate me. The only time it even comes into my head is when someone posts a provocative thread in RF.
each person chooses their own label. otherwise we identify as a humanist, conservative, communist, philanthropist, vs something relevant to god(s), either anti-god or pro-god.
From Wiki:
A false dilemma is a type of informal fallacy in which something is falsely claimed to be an "either/or" situation, when in fact there is at least one additional option.
you can take god out of the belief but you can't take belief out of a person.
What the heck does that mean?
If atheism isn't a belief system, why do atheists act from it
We don't.
Atheism has motivational effect, they are not passive many a time, they do it actively and many a time proactively in other words they assert it but they never give evidences for their stance/world-view.
Right, please?
WRONG! -- and you must know it. Atheism doesn't motivate any more than a-leprechaunism or a-unicornism does.
There is nothing in atheism to assert, atheism has no beliefs. Atheism doesn't give evidences because it makes no assertions to give evidence for. How do you give evidence for nothing?

It's the theists who have the burden of proof. It's they who are making a positive claim. If a theist cannot proffer evidence for God, isn't the logical reaction lack of belief -- atheism?
 

Milton Platt

Well-Known Member
atheists have beliefs. all humans do. we all act from those beliefs. how we identify our system is our choice.

atheism is not a cookie cutter form. there are all kinds of atheists with one underlying belief of no gods just as there are all types of theists with one underlying belief in god(s).

each person chooses their own label. otherwise we identify as a humanist, conservative, communist, philanthropist, vs something relevant to god(s), either anti-god or pro-god.

you can take god out of the belief but you can't take belief out of a person.

Sure, atheists believe things. If your argument is only that people believe things, then it's a silly argument.
 

Willamena

Just me
Premium Member
atheists have beliefs. all humans do. we all act from those beliefs. how we identify our system is our choice.

atheism is not a cookie cutter form. there are all kinds of atheists with one underlying belief of no gods just as there are all types of theists with one underlying belief in god(s).

each person chooses their own label. otherwise we identify as a humanist, conservative, communist, philanthropist, vs something relevant to god(s), either anti-god or pro-god.

you can take god out of the belief but you can't take belief out of a person.
Well said.
 

Willamena

Just me
Premium Member
Sure, atheists believe things. If your argument is only that people believe things, then it's a silly argument.
Let's turn it around ontologically, then, as we may: there are only beliefs. Beliefs compose the whole world as each of us know it. Terms like "theism" and "atheism" are composed around one of those beliefs: the belief that there is a god as actual, in relation to that world, or that there isn't.

I wouldn't call atheism a 'system' of belief, but it is a topic of epistemology.
 

LuisDantas

Aura of atheification
Premium Member
If atheism isn't a belief system, why do atheists act from it

Atheism has motivational effect,
No, it does not.

It may perhaps appear to have such an effect for those are are much too used to presume everyone to be a monotheist, I suppose. But it is a false impression.

they are not passive many a time,
Atheists are people, and therefore not always passive.

Atheism, though, is inherently passive.

they do it actively and many a time proactively in other words they assert it but they never give evidences for their stance/world-view.
Right, please?

Regards

Why would an atheist need to present evidence? Evidence of what? That we are indeed atheists?
 

LuisDantas

Aura of atheification
Premium Member

Valjean

Veteran Member
Premium Member
Atheism isn't a cut and dry belief system.

Types of atheism
Certainly, atheists come in many flavors, but there is only one, definitive feature of all atheism -- lack of belief. When you say "atheist,' unmodified, this is all you're saying.
In a previous post you said:
atheism is not a cookie cutter form. there are all kinds of atheists with one underlying belief of no gods just as there are all types of theists with one underlying belief in god(s).
Here's the problem. The "one underlying belief" isn't "no Gods," it's just non-belief. No Gods is a peculiar subset of atheism. It's not what most atheists mean when we use the term. If that's what you're talking about you need to use one of the modifiers in your link.

"Atheism" is a a cut-and-dry non belief.
Let's turn it around ontologically, then, as we may: there are only beliefs. Beliefs compose the whole world as each of us know it. Terms like "theism" and "atheism" are composed around one of those beliefs: the belief that there is a god as actual, in relation to that world, or that there isn't.

I wouldn't call atheism a 'system' of belief, but it is a topic of epistemology.
I don't think beliefs necessarily comprise 'whole worlds.' Most beliefs are mundane; insignificant.
"Theism" may be composed around a belief, but atheism is not a belief. What can be composed around nothing?
 

Altfish

Veteran Member
If atheism isn't a belief system, why do atheists act from it and theist react to it? Can we have our cake and eat it too?

"The lady doth protest too much, methinks" - Queen Gertrude - Hamlet - Williamshakespeare


Freedom From Religion Foundation - Freedom From Religion Foundation
Atheism is REACTIVE rather than PROACTIVE.
By that I mean that atheists speak out in reaction and to contradict the constant preaching and proselytising of religious leaders, to give an alternative and rational perspective.
 
The song, "You're so vain you probably think this song is about you" contradicts itself and calumniates everyone who hears it by unconditionally accusing them of vanity. When you address everyone who hears it, including people who have no vanity you address them so directly and explicitly by the pronoun "You." This contradicts the possibility that anyone who hears it might not be vain; whether or not someone is vain has nothing to do with what song they are forced to hear and it calumniates all who are innocent of vanity by forcing the song to be about whoever hears thereupon it and forcing the song to be about them. This it proceeds to ascribes the logical conclusion that the song is about anyone who hears it to a vanity of everyone who hears it.
 

area28

Member
Its quite intrusive on human freedom
to have groups of people professing
special knowledge of 'god' and trying
to shove it in everyones face along with
the threats of what happens to unbelievers.

I grew up in the bible belt , those folks were annoying .

Atheism imo is a reaction to the intrusion of religion
in an individuals life
 
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