The meaning of "atheism" and "terrorism"

[leibowde84]

I thought I'd make a post in reaction to NoX's misleading claims regarding "atheistic terrorism." Here are the definitions of the two relevant terms.

Atheism = a lack of belief in any deity.

Terrorism = the use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political or religious aims.

Now, I'll try to help out NoX and ask whether anyone can present an example of Atheistic Terrorism without simply changing the meaning of these terms to fit your argument. Obviously, the example would have to show violence or murder done in the name of a lack of belief in any deity. And, although this shouldn't have to be said, the mere lack of any indication of someone's religious identity should in no way lead one to believe that they are atheist. It often happens that religious identities are not mentioned unless relevant to the actual violence.

 

[JRMcC]

An anti-thesit terrorist is also an atheist right? Necessarily?

 

[leibowde84]

An anti-thesit terrorist is also an atheist right? Necessarily?

Sure .. in the same way that Islamic Extremists are Muslim. There are always "bad eggs" in every group. Defining the entirety of the group by their actions and beliefs, however, is extremely prejudiced. I would say that all Agnostics are Atheists. But, all Atheists are not necessarily Agnostic, as a strong Atheist would not question, but would have an active non-belief in God. Agnostics just don't know, but, by definition, they lack the belief and, thus, must be considered Atheists as well.

 

[Sunstone]

Fairly good definition of terrorism. A lot of people seem not to understand that terrorism is not the mere use of violence and/or intimidation, but rather their use to further ideological goals.

 

[Jumi]

Antitheists who are not atheist do exist.

 

[leibowde84]

Antitheists who are not atheist do exist.

I'm sure they do. They've got to be pretty rare, though. But, I would have to assume there are those that believe in God and are actively against organized religion. Kinda' hard to blame 'em sometimes.

 

[Marisa]

NoX is fixated on the word "terror". He/she seems to have conflated the definition of "terrorism", which means violence in pursuit of a political/religious goal and "terror", in the sense that when the man with the knife jumped out of the alley and threatened to kill me if I didn't give him my money, I was terrified.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

Terrorism = the use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political or religious aims.

That is a pathetically worthless definition.

 

[von bek]

Check out the Red Guards in the Chinese Cultural Revolution.

 

[Wu Wei]

Firsts let’s get the facts straight, there is no globally agreed upon definition of terrorism. For that matter there is no agreed upon definition of terrorism between USA law enforcement and intelligence organizations and religion does not have to have anything to do with it and not all terrorists are from outside of a country, there is a thing known as domestic terrorism

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) defines terrorism as “the unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives.”Sep 13, 2011

The CIA uses the definition contained in Title 22 of U.S. Code: “premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents.”Apr 16, 2013

Various Definitions of Terrorism - PDF

From the United Nations

AGREED DEFINITION OF TERM ‘TERRORISM’ SAID TO BE NEEDED FOR CONSENSUS ON COMPLETING COMPREHENSIVE CONVENTION AGAINST IT

List of designated terrorist organizations

However the definition of Atheism is pretty much nailed down as a disbelief or lack of belief in the existence of God or gods

 

[HonestJoe]

That is a pathetically worthless definition.

Yet largely accurate. Maybe it's a pathetically worthless word and shouldn't be flung around so much?

 

[Rick O'Shez]

That is a pathetically worthless definition.

No it isn't, and I can't think of any acts of terrorism carried out to promote a lack of belief in God. The suggestion looks to me like a way of distracting from the epidemic of terrorism carried out by Islamic fundamentalists.

So it isn't just Islamic fundamentalists who carry out acts of terrorism. OK, but so what?

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

Yet largely accurate.

No, it is not. On the contrary, it is a definition that serves only to validate terrorism.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

No it isn't, and I can't think of any acts of terrorism carried out to promote a lack of belief in God.

Congratulations: you appear not to know what either of us are talking about.

 

[Rick O'Shez]

No, it is not. On the contrary, it is a definition that serves only to validate terrorism.

No it doesn't. Do you have a better definition?

 

[Rick O'Shez]

Congratulations: you appear not to know what either of us are talking about.

Please don't patronise. Can you give some recent examples of terrorism carried out to promote an lack of belief in God?

 

[leibowde84]

That is a pathetically worthless definition.

It is the definition of a term. Simple as that. How is using the actual meaning of a term worthless as you claim?

 

[leibowde84]

No, it is not. On the contrary, it is a definition that serves only to validate terrorism.

Have you tried looking up the definition, because that's what I did. I don't like to change the meanings of terms to suit my own needs.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

This, by the way, is qualitatively more accurate …

Terrorism is defined as political violence in an asymmetrical conflict that is designed to induce terror and psychic fear (sometimes indiscriminate) through the violent victimization and destruction of noncombatant targets (sometimes iconic symbols). Such acts are meant to send a message from an illicit clandestine organization. The purpose of terrorism is to exploit the media in order to achieve maximum attainable publicity as an amplifying force multiplier in order to influence the targeted audience(s) in order to reach short- and midterm political goals and/or desired long-term end states. Wikipedia

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

Have you tried looking up the definition, because that's what I did. I don't like to change the meanings of terms to suit my own needs.

See above.