Any Downside to Atheism?

[ragordon168]

what kind of favorable experiences can you share?

to be honest, i have always viewed atheism as a phenomenon that results from parents being too forceful with religion and causing children to rebel against them. are those rebellious feelings the favorable experiences you mean?

i'm not like that and the vast majority of people arent either. my mother and granparents arent religious in any way, religion only comes in during funerals (which i think is a little hypocritical) so i wasnt.

yes i rebelled against religion but that was only because i had it forced apon me by my primary school. the school had close ties to the church (not a catholic school though) and atheism was seen as a 'disrespect' to religion as i would try to get out of things like hymns in assembly and xmas church attendances. i would have basically had to convert to another religion to get out of it which kind of defeats the purpose.

 

[The Neo Nerd]

I don't know about you guys but if I was to rebel against xtianity I'd turn to xtian satanism. Because to rebel against something you still need to believe in it.

The only thing as an atheist that I rebel against is closed mindedness.

And another thing you theists who are saying that we are missing out on the glory of god or whatever you are saying. If there was such a thing don't you think we would be theists. Because atheism is not a deliberate denial of a god figure it's a denial because there is no proof.

So theists stop making ignorant I'll informed assumptions.

-Q

 

[musamasoud]

Well being a theist is like doing a chicken imitation in a royal ballroom accompanied by an all-ukulele band.

hmmm.. creative points for this one.

 

[musamasoud]

On the other hand, if there really isn't any music playing, the theist looks kind of silly.

I guess the real question is, is it music playing or is it just noise? music has patterns and noise is just random.

 

[Autodidact]

or Russell's teapot?

Exactly.

 

[Autodidact]

Don't think so highly of yourselves. The atheists of this world are likely the ones trying to convince religious people to do their bidding. They just don't make public the fact of their own faithlessness.

I know, and it's so annoying. Atheists are constantly ringing theist's doorbells and trying to persuade them to stop reading the Bible. Every time some darn rapper wins an award, there he is on TV asserting that God had nothing to do with it. And then again, the atheists are the people behind the movement to ban different-sex marriage. If only they would learn to mind their own business.

Hitler is a wonderful example. Do you really believe he believed in GOD, or did he manipulate the masses to believe he was GOD's righthand man?

Well, that's what he and his followers said they believed.

Can the very same be said of perhaps Joseph Smith? It is very possible.

Yes, I'm sure he did.

I believe the Anti Christ will be very religious. He will even have his image placed in the reconstructed temple in Jerusalem.

That's O.K., we don't hold your whacked out beliefs against you.

 

[Autodidact]

I guess the real question is, is it music playing or is it just noise? music has patterns and noise is just random.

Yes, that is the question.

 

[Autodidact]

hmmm.. creative points for this one.

I accept all frubals.

 

[musamasoud]

Now just take this one step further...

you know, back in those days, the phrase "do you believe in G-d" just did not compute. its like as if today someone asked you point blank, "do you believe that you exist?" ummm, its not really a matter of believing because you don't have to make any leaps of faith to figure out if you really exist, you just know it. if someone tried to argue that you don't exist, you could show them by making your fist exist in their face. that simple.

it really shows the difference in concepts between G-d today and G-d of yesterday. the tetragrammaton reflects the concept of yesterday as it simultaneously means "was, is, and will be". if that is all its really about, whats the argument?

this was a fundamental part of Abrahams language and he understood it. its hard to understand because most of us are not like the hardcore polytheists of olden days, but the concept that everything is one, that G-d is one, is simply revolutionary. that was Abrahams ginormous step forward.

 

[logician]

That hasn't been demonstrated yet.

Are you kidding me?

 

[Autodidact]

you know, back in those days, the phrase "do you believe in G-d" just did not compute. its like as if today someone asked you point blank, "do you believe that you exist?" ummm, its not really a matter of believing because you don't have to make any leaps of faith to figure out if you really exist, you just know it. if someone tried to argue that you don't exist, you could show them by making your fist exist in their face. that simple.

it really shows the difference in concepts between G-d today and G-d of yesterday. the tetragrammaton reflects the concept of yesterday as it simultaneously means "was, is, and will be". if that is all its really about, whats the argument?

this was a fundamental part of Abrahams language and he understood it. its hard to understand because most of us are not like the hardcore polytheists of olden days, but the concept that everything is one, that G-d is one, is simply revolutionary. that was Abrahams ginormous step forward.

It was, and I think it represented great progress for its day.

I also think there is one more step forward to be taken.

 

[musamasoud]

And BTW, my parents are not overly religious and applied no pressure. We went to church a bit growing up, but it was the United Church of Canada - the most liberal church in the country. Openly gay ministers, female ministers, gay weddings, no fire and brimstone and a focus on the practical application of the concept of "love your neighbour". I'm not even baptized because my parents thought it was important for me to choose my own path willingly. We stopped going to church altogether in my teens because my mother decided she felt "closer to god" in the wilderness than in church.

Our bookshelves growing up were full of Carl Sagan and Stephen Hawking, not James Dobson.

Both my brother and I are atheists, so there goes your theory.

its not a theory, its more of an observation... i see it alot but not 100% of the time. i can't help but connect rebelliousness with atheism.

p.s. I read your blog post, and it seems like you are really excited about something but I still have no idea what it is. kind of reminds me of someone on mescaline.

 

[Smoke]

I don't know about you guys but if I was to rebel against xtianity I'd turn to xtian satanism. Because to rebel against something you still need to believe in it.

And dislike it, too, I'd think. I don't believe in my former religion, but I'm still prepared to take sides in debates about sola scriptura, the use of the filioque in the Creed, the mystical theology of Palamas versus that of Varlaam, the circumstances under which it is permissible to depose an anointed sovereign, and whether it's permissible to drink beer on a fast day. Just for starters. I don't believe in church anymore, but if there were a true church, that would be it.

 

[musamasoud]

I guess you haven't met many people who aren't of your faith, huh? When things are going great, why would I thank God?

As for those things you resort to when things aren't going well, I'd say you need to strengthen your faith a bit. I sure don't act like that, and you shouldn't either (and I don't even believe in your god).



I can excuse the language (although the mods won't if they see it). What I can't excuse is your ignorance. I can only assume you're implying that atheism has something to do with male homosexuality. That makes it pretty much impossible to take you seriously.

alright. i reeeeeeeally hate being taken out of context. what I said has _nothing_ to do with male homosexuality. _nothing_.

i was really trying to express what i understand as the dichotomy between the sacred and the profane. our females have something beautiful, next to something disgusting. our waste that comes from our rears is entropy. however, our future comes from the front, that is negative entropy (aka, life). if life was meaningless, then they should both represent entropy, and a vagina would be the same as an *edit*.

hmm... would you say that life is meaningless and that we are the same thing that comes out of our rears?

 

[mr.guy]

if life was meaningless, then they should both represent entropy, and a vagina would be the same as an assh*le.

How is life not entropic?

hmm... would you say that life is meaningless and that we are the same thing that comes out of our rears?

Well, you are what you eat.

 

[musamasoud]

Well, my favorable experiences are thinking for myself and having a better understanding of the universe. (Note: This is not to say no religious people think for themselves)

There might be some atheists who come to their conclusions after prodding from their parents like that. However, generally what happens with religious people who become atheists (like me) is we see an inconsistency or a problem with the religion like Christianity. Then, we think about it more and more, and find more problems. Then, we get to the point where none of it makes sense, and we realize that it's all just a bunch of myths that shouldn't be interpretted literally.

there is an old hasidic saying about the miracles performed by the baal shem tov. if you believe all the stories about his miracles are true, then you are a fool. however, if you pick a story and try to prove its falsehood, you are a heretic.

that is to say, the stories are not meant to be taken literally. there are lessons to be learned from them. if you try to discredit even a single story and try to keep people from studying it, you are a heretic for trying to erase the lessons.

if you get to the point where you realize that the stories just don't make sense, and realize that it shouldn't be taken literally, that doesn't make you an atheist. it makes you a jew!

sucks for you, man.

 

[DonSinger]

I personally believe in a higher power, but i dont think there are any negative effects on your life if you dont believe. Its your choice, and i dont think God would look down on you for making that choice. The only reason anyone would think it was a bad thing is if someone else were to persecute them for their beliefs.

 

[musamasoud]

" i have always viewed"

No, you don't. You are just prejudice against atheism, so you want to belittle it. That is all you are doing, you are just belittling atheism, just like LittleNipper. You two don't actually care about a fair assessment of atheism, you are just out to mock it and belittle it.

if you take atheism to be "the belief that g-d does not exist", then yes I am out to mock it and belittle it.

however, if you take atheism to be a skeptical world view where belief in G-d is the result of empirical scientific proof, then I would say to you 2 things:

1. there is merit in this endeavor. and

2. you are not an atheist... in my book you are jewish, or pretty damn close.

i'd just like to mention that the word "Israel" means "to struggle with G-d".

 

[musamasoud]

How is life not entropic?

Well, you are what you eat.

hahah.. I really enjoyed this post, especially coming from a self-proclaimed "crap sack". jolly good.

now then, life is defined by some to be negative entropy, or "negentropy".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negentropy

 

[Luminous]

I love the Hitler was an atheist "argument".

Let's for a moment accept this ridiculous hypothesis. Now tell me who carried out the atrocities on behalf of Hitler? Mostly Germany's Catholics and Lutherans.

Thank you for shooting yourself in the foot.

correction. the "argument" is: Hitler was a SECRET atheist. [edit- i dont believe this]