Some religions are secular- Atheists should oppose these too

[Puddleglum]

Most religions are based on the supernatural. As athiests we reject this. However we now have beleif systems that are entirely based on faith positions and actively seek to demonise those who try and use reason to oppose them.

Obviously the Athiesm+ people are part of this but they are just part of a broader movement that is anti sicence and anti reason wanting to replace it with a rule according the percieved oppression of its high priests and their emotinal tantrums thereof.

[Oldandeasilyconfused]

Most religions are based on the supernatural. As athiests we reject this.

Yes they are,and no, 'we' don't actually.

An atheist is simply a person who does not believe in gods. Atheism has no position on any other matter,including dualism.

'As a skeptic",I do not believe in god (s), angels,demons, the soul,afterlife,the supernatural generally,the paranormal, alien visitations, dragons,mountain trolls,or fairies living at the bottom of my garden. (to name a few) due to a a lack of credible evidence.

Atheism+ seem to be a bunch of arrogant ignoramuses with whom I simply cannot be bothered.

[Puddleglum]

You don' belive in Fairies?

:o

[Oldandeasilyconfused]

You don' believe in Fairies?

:o

Have another read;that is NOT what I said.

It is well known that fairies are real. (photo of REAL fairies with link)

The Cottingley Fairies appear in a series of five photographs taken by Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths, two young cousins who lived in Cottingley, near Bradford in England. In 1917, when the first two photographs were taken, Elsie was 16 years old and Frances was 10. The pictures came to the attention of writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who used them to illustrate an article on fairies he had been commissioned to write for the Christmas 1920 edition of The Strand Magazine. Conan Doyle, as a spiritualist, was enthusiastic about the photographs, and interpreted them as clear and visible evidence of psychic phenomena. Public reaction was mixed; some accepted the images as genuine, but others believed they had been faked.

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

[Red Celt]

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

They were convincing enough to fool Arthur Conan Doyle.

I just love the idea that fairies adopt the current hairstyles of humans.

[Tempus]

fairies with link

For a moment I thought you meant fairies with Link.

[TaraJo]

Religion is like a penis. You can have it, you can enjoy it, you can be proud of it, think it's the best one out there, that's all fine by me. But the minute you try to force it on me, I'm going to do what I can to get rid of it.

If you want to bitch about Atheism+, we have a whole thread dedicated to them. Me, I'm a skeptic so while I question the validity of religious belief systems, I also question their social justice beliefs. The problem is, they react so much like a religion when anyone questions them. Personally, I don't want to say they aren't atheists because I want a broad, united movement that will stand up to the religious fundamentalism that's taking hold in our country, but they seem to be the ones who say they don't want to associate with anyone else. Circle jerk activism at its worst.

[Oldandeasilyconfused]

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

They were convincing enough to fool Arthur Conan Doyle.

Indeed ,Sir Arthur wrote a serious book,called "The Coming Of The Fairies" (no,it is not gay porn)

The poor man was probably still a bit unhinged with grief over the loss of his son in WW1.

I saw an 8x10 photo from the original negatives in about 1970.The friend who showed me was a believer. I said at the time "looks fake to me". He got cross. Said friend also had another 8x10,with a photo of Jesus, tall and Nordic,taken in an Australian suburban backyard.. My friend was a nutter.

[Cyberman]

Religion is like a penis. You can have it, you can enjoy it, you can be proud of it, think it's the best one out there, that's all fine by me. But the minute you try to force it on me, I'm going to do what I can to get rid of it.

I would also add: Just don't wave it around in public. And never, ever, force it onto a child.

@OP: It's been said that trying to organise atheists is like herding cats, because (to quote Prof Dawkins) "they tend to think independently and will not conform to authority." Not to mention you risk ending up with a faceful of bloody clawmarks.

Thus I for one balk at being urged what I "should" do as an atheist. The difference between atheism and scepticism has already been pointed out; just as Star Trek fans are a specialised subset of the entire sci-fi genre (not to mention the whole human species ), so atheism is merely a specialised subset of scepticism, dealing solely with god claims. Fundies hate this but it is the default response to theism; if there was not theism, atheism would not exist.

Perhaps consider this your first clawmark.

[Oldandeasilyconfused]

Religion is like a penis. You can have it, you can enjoy it, you can be proud of it, think it's the best one out there, that's all fine by me. But the minute you try to force it on me, I'm going to do what I can to get rid of it.

Religion is also like a penis in that it should not be forced down the throat of a child.


My attitude is more like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGRPFUYUUdQ