McBell
Resident Sourpuss
None that you would be able to discuss or debate.
I mean, you have set your parameters of your discussion and debating abilities and anything I would present would be beyond your admitted capabilities.
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An Unkillable Myth About Atheists
- Thread starter Sunstone
- Start date
I mean, you have set your parameters of your discussion and debating abilities and anything I would present would be beyond your admitted capabilities.
Desert Snake
Veteran Member
Agnostic, is not literal. It's a position, just like theism. So is atheism, it's a position, a belief, in regards to Deity or Deities.
Aside from that, the OP does not specify which 'type' of atheism, //according to your definitions//; so, if you are correct, no one can even accurately answer the OP.
It is hard to teach people that when they have been indoctrinated from birth that this world is unimportant, that what really matters is the afterlife.
I think your quote is essentially an antitheistic moral foundation, of which I heartily approve.
Tom
In a few cases, I suppose it may be the case that it is a "willful misunderstanding." In many cases, I suspect it is not, considering how frequently people seem to conflate theism with religion, and theism with various other beliefs.
cambridge79
Active Member
i don't think it's willful misunderstanding. Well, of course it is at higher level, talking about believers leaders. but talking about the followers, i assume many of them are so into the idea that the purpose of life is god-given that they can't grasp the concept they are free to chose what meaning to give to their lives.
Accepting death is a very religious act. It is not an atheistic one. Once you accept death only then can you truly consider theology on its own. Above all, there is nothing pointless or meaningless about mortal life. It is just, fair, adequate, and wonderful; but both theists and atheists struggle with accepting it. The atheists get blamed, but its not an atheist position.
Let me back that up. Theism does not --- *does not* --- imply immortality. It simply implies there is a divinity. It is only extra teachings that suggest immortality explains and solves the appearance of injustice in the world or that the world is meaningless if we die.
Let me back that up. Theism does not --- *does not* --- imply immortality. It simply implies there is a divinity. It is only extra teachings that suggest immortality explains and solves the appearance of injustice in the world or that the world is meaningless if we die.
A Vestigial Mote
Well-Known Member
Is it "Assign-arbitrary-numerical-values-that-convey-positive-what-you-want-to-be-shown-positively-and-negative-what-you-want-to-be-shown-negatively" Day already? Boy, time flies. Well, here's my contribution to the day's festivities then:
Atheism=∞ (infinity - how's that for positive?)
Agnostic non-knowing without ''atheism''=e (Euler's number, mathematical constant)
Theism= √-1 (square-root of negative one - the "imaginary" number!)
McBell
Resident Sourpuss
I believe it is in fact willful misunderstanding.
I further submit that post # 9 in this very thread demonstrates it.
leibowde84
Veteran Member
That's why it's a myth. It is counter-intuitive to make blanket assumptions about atheists, as "atheism" is merely the lack of a specific belief.
ThirtyThree
Well-Known Member
I do not do everything in hopes of a reward or due to fear of punishment.
Are you a nontheist? Or do you sorta forget about heaven and hell or reincarnation or whatever while you behave like a nontheist?
Tom
ThirtyThree
Well-Known Member
I am a Theist.
I do not believe in reincarnation. However, I try not to think so much about what might happen after my physical death.
Altfish
Veteran Member
I think that most atheists accept death as inevitable. They have come to terns with the FACT that we have only one life and we must make the most of it because there is no afterlife. So I don't know how you can assert that "Accepting death is a very religious act." Accepting death for me was not religious at all.
Do you believe in posthumous cosmic justice?
I don't. That is why I want to do the best I can in this life that I know about. I see no reason to do anything because someone tells me God wants it.
I want to live in the Paradise this world could be, if we humans stopped messing it up. So I try not to mess it up myself.
Not that I am remarkable in accomplishing my goal/purpose. Better than some, worse than others.
Tom
I don't know in what sense you could possibly mean this. Would you elaborate, please
Erebus
Well-Known Member
1. I suspect there are a couple of things at play here. Firstly, a lot of theists derive a sense of purpose and meaning from their gods. Given people's tendency to assume others think like they do, it's perhaps understandable why people would have a hard time separating atheism from nihilism.
Secondly, a lot of people have a hard time accepting subjective meaning/purpose. People are prone to black and white thinking and this can translate into an attitude of "something is universally true or it's false." Now, that's not to say that atheists can't/don't believe in an objective meaning to life. In my experience though, most tend to believe in subjective meaning instead.
2. It can be, however I think this falls into the trap of assuming malice when ignorance will suffice. I strongly suspect that most people who make this mistake simply haven't examined this area all too closely. More than that, I feel that many people have no real desire to examine it.
Deathbydefault
Apistevist Asexual Atheist
Preaching and indoctrination into bigotry.
Yes, I would say so.
Ignorance on this topic is one thing, and that's fine.
Willful ignorance, however, is not.
There are so many resources to learn about this topic that there is no excuse to not know and accept that such a myth is false.
I define willful ignorance as stupidity, btw. It is quite stupid of people to decide my worldview for me because i title myself as an atheist.
ThirtyThree
Well-Known Member
Yes, I believe I will be judged by a being exterior and separate of me after my physical body dies. The result of that judgement will be just to that being.
I disagree. I faced death four times as an atheist. There was nothing religious about it.
While these were profound experiences, nothing religious ever entered the picture.