Atheism is just another religion

[Fascist Christ]

Deism is very similar to Atheism. I find that often there is only one thing that we disagree on: the existence of a god. I feel that you either believe it or you don't, that it is a personal idea not even worth debating. However, the supposed "acts of god" are equally challenged by Deists and Atheists alike, only a Deist will never resort to saying "you can't even prove that there is a god."

The thought processes are the same. Both will opt for the Scientific Method whenever possible. Both object to blind faith. Both find it necessary to question ideas before accepting them as reasonable.

If an Atheist is not religious, then neither am I, though I have never been an Atheist.

 

[Yerda]

What is the point?

I popped in to find out what all the fuss was about, having never been either religious or a theist. I was also very interested in Islam, at that time having muslim girlfriend.

I think it is reasonable to ask that if you think it is all hogwash then why bother?

Who said it was all hogwash?

 

[Flappycat]

I think that this has all been a mistake. The question seems to arise from the motivation of some Atheist for even being in this forum in the first place. I think it is reasonable to ask that if you think it is all hogwash then why bother? It appears there may be some deep rooted need to justify one's own "beliefs" by going into a forum that has the title "religious" when they are not "religious". This is why atheists have been viewed as "religious" because of their furvor and vehemence. Some come in, and swoop in and take a pot shot and swoop back out again. Some come in and claw their way through a thread making false statements and being disrespectfully rude and even calling names. Others try to make our eyes glaze over with their lllooooooonnnnnngggggg threads on logic and science. What is the point?

Simple. Religion is prevalent in our society, and, naturally, we find this fact very interesting, in one form or another. Many atheists are actually more interested in religion than the majority of religious people for exactly this reason. Some atheists find it very disturbing that many Christocrats would impose their religious dogma on unwilling people, yet notice how well we get along with more liberal Christians. The point of debating endlessly about the rationality of religious belief is not to alter anyone's beliefs but to make it abundantly clear that religious faith should be treated exactly as that: faith. If all Christians were content to practice their religion without forcing it on others, the debates wouldn't exist. Nobody outside of China is advocating forcing abortion upon Christians, for example, and I'd happily support their right to abstain from it as an expression of their faith. However, treating the notion that "life begins at conception" as if it were an objective fact when this belief is based entirely on their religious faith is not something that I can allow to pass without objection. If believing that life begins at conception is a part of your religious faith and you are willing to treat this as part of your religious beliefs, though, that's great. I'm cool with people having religious beliefs and don't have any desire to convert people to atheism.

 

[Flappycat]

Who said it was all hogwash?

I did. I'm the only atheist that I know of, though, whom I've known to actually express this opinion, so he was making something of a generalization.

 

[JerryL]

The "so? you do it too" statement is known as the "Tu Quoque" fallacy http://www.fallacyfiles.org/tuquoque.html where it is explained

I don't agree that this is fallacious 100% of the time. In specific, it can be a good method of showing a poster where there original position is flawed.

Someone opposes gay marrage saying "what's next, you can marry your dog".
You support gay marriage saying "waht's next, sterile people can't marry".

He accuses you of a slippery slope, you accuse him of doing it first. The point was not that you believed the postion true, but that you needed to illustrate the flaw in his argument; and an easy way to do that was to repeat it.

The reality is that simply having the right and correctly phrased position is not enough. One must sometimes attack the other person's posision, and do so in a manner that's easy for that person to understand. Sometimes, what you must attack is their entire argument strategy.

 

[Mr Spinkles]

What is the point?

Atheism does not = "it's all hogwash". :banghead3 The scope of human belief extends far beyond the "Does god exist?" issue.

I can't speak for other atheists, but personally the reason I like coming to this forum is because I like thinking about the 'big questions', I like having my opinions/assumptions challenged, and I like learning about other beliefs. As a bonus, I also like the people here. I daresay the reasons I visit RF are the same reasons you visit RF, friend.