Big Think: The necessity of Atheism.

[David T]

A very good article on big think" the necessity of atheism".

http://bigthink.com/21st-century-spirituality/the-necessity-of-atheism

My view is that it challenges religion and is a necessity for the health of religion and a product of institutional aspect of religions. Often times, religion becomes a horrible joke and becomes intellectually broken rapidly. I have a rather enjoyable time here mocking atheism in it's hyper primativism of understanding of nature, and although primative as it is religion can be infinitely worse. So for me atheism kicks religion in the butt as its needed. Certainly I could be called an atheist. I don't actually believe in God! Unfortunately I also do not "not believe" in God nor am I agnostic about it. I am far to numinous for any of that nonsense which makes up normalcy and the larger spectrum. I am a kind of Austic individual, but not autistic, but synesthete, the far far other end of the spectrum. As such the article is about the poet shelly and in my wheelhouse so to speak. The debates we have and the understanding he had is based on a rather primative, quaint understanding of the topic "nature" and his place in it. Not unlike the church of his day.

 

[George-ananda]

I think considering things from an atheistic perspective is good for challenging ourselves. It makes us think more critically.

 

[QuestioningMind]

A very good article on big think" the necessity of atheism".

The Necessity of Atheism

My view is that it challenges religion and is a necessity for the health of religion and a product of institutional aspect of religions. Often times, religion becomes a horrible joke and becomes intellectually broken rapidly. I have a rather enjoyable time here mocking atheism in it's hyper primativism of understanding of nature, and although primative as it is religion can be infinitely worse. So for me atheism kicks religion in the butt as its needed. Certainly I could be called an atheist. I don't actually believe in God! Unfortunately I also do not "not believe" in God nor am I agnostic about it. I am far to numinous for any of that nonsense which makes up normalcy and the larger spectrum. I am a kind of Austic individual, but not autistic, but synesthete, the far far other end of the spectrum. As such the article is about the poet shelly and in my wheelhouse so to speak. The debates we have and the understanding he had is based on a rather primative, quaint understanding of the topic "nature" and his place in it. Not unlike the church of his day.

Unless you happen to believe in every god ever proposed then everyone is an atheist, at least when it comes to the gods they do not accept as real. It always baffles me how some theists can say they don't understand my lack of belief. If you can understand why I don't believe in Odin then you should also be able to understand why I don't believe in whatever god you happen to worship.

 

[Brickjectivity]

I do not think there is a specific, generic, permanent system that always works and needs no adjustment. Because you arrive at something that you feel works; because you say "Atheism is necessary for the health of religion" it is guaranteed to begin to lose its effectiveness. What you have defined is a system to fix religion, and systems always wind down and fail.

 

[Twilight Hue]

Atheism is just a response to theism anyways. It boggles the mind sometimes why people even think there is something like a God that walks and talks, when it it clearly well known there is nothing of the sort that is actually out there aside from all the self generated theistic ideology fired up through one's imagination and brought to life.

 

[David T]

Unless you happen to believe in every god ever proposed then everyone is an atheist, at least when it comes to the gods they do not accept as real. It always baffles me how some theists can say they don't understand my lack of belief. If you can understand why I don't believe in Odin then you should also be able to understand why I don't believe in whatever god you happen to worship.

Absolutely. What's really facinating about say Christianity is that what came before is stupid myth driven fantasy but what they have is the truth. Like their parents are idiots and there ancestors before Christianity where stupid myth believing inbreds. Now from an evolutionary perspective of interconnected singular, of even human thought, that seems rather primative quaint view , with no understanding of evolution or even themselves don't you think?

 

[Geoff-Allen]

Excellent article - thanks!

 

[David T]

I do not think there is a specific, generic, permanent system that always works and needs no adjustment. Because you arrive at something that you feel works; because you say "Atheism is necessary for the health of religion" it is guaranteed to begin to lose its effectiveness. What you have defined is a system to fix religion, and systems always wind down and fail.

Will Durant already called it.

 

[`mud]

And we all will just be memories,
in some godbank of existences.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Interesting article. However, as opposed to Shelley (as quoted in the article) who said "atheism is a necessity to the thinking mind," I'd simply say that "atheism is unavoidable to the thinking mind."