(February 2, 2019 at 4:20 pm)unfogged Wrote:

(February 2, 2019 at 12:49 pm)Acrobat Wrote: Yet, we don’t see you on an “afariest” forum, gathering together in groups of “afariest”, or even feeling compelled to use any such label to identify who you are..

We don't live in a world where "fairyists" tell us that we can't be moral without believing in fairies and making laws to enforce the rules that they say that they got from the fairies.  If we did then being an "afairyist" would be a thing.  When theism largely dies there will be no need to identify as an atheist.

(February 1, 2019 at 6:48 pm)PRJA93 Wrote: I often go back and forth on this idea, debating with myself whether or not being an atheist is important to my identity. At times, I feel that, no, it isn't important. God or the lack thereof is simply a non-issue in most areas in my life and it's something I simply normally don't think about. It's not like I go to work and think, "Well, it's Monday morning and there's no such thing as god. The endless march of time will erode us all into stardust eventually, so let's go to work."

At other times I do feel it's important in the sense that I don't believe in god because of the way I view the world. I am naturally skeptical and have always been a logical thinker, so this does play into the fact that I don't believe in god for good reasons and I do view the world in a certain way because of this. I get along with Christians and other god believers alike just fine, but I do tend to click with atheists the best in conversations. Coincidentally, most people I consider my friends happen to be atheists. This isn't something that was done purposefully, but when the subject came up between friends and me, I realized one day that all of my friends are atheists as well.

So I go back and forth between this, but ultimately I think the answer would be yes. The fact that I don't believe in god actually is pretty important to me. Maybe I like the rebellious aspects of it, I'm not really sure. But I do also see myself settling down with a beautiful atheist woman one day; that'd be awesome. I really don't see myself dating a religious person by any stretch of the imagination, as I simply think our worldviews would probably be vastly different. If, of course, I found someone who was religious, but that person didn't find their religion to be all that important to them, an exception could be made I suppose.

For the most part, I don't usually ask people about their religious beliefs though, so who knows? I think it just so happens to be that I click well with atheists as opposed to theists. For that reason, I would say that atheism is an important part of my identity. What do you guys think? Why or why not?

Being a non violent human is the most important to me. But outside that, facts are equal as well.

If our species never questioned social norms, our species never would have left the caves.

Yeah, I can just see a bunch of cave dwelling elders thinking that it's a scandal what these young people are doing these days with their artificial caves that aren't even made of good respectable rock. Necessity surely had nothing to do with it. Those kids with their artificial caves were just challenging social norms, man. They build their artificial caves in the most desirable locations, and their parents just don't get it, man!

(February 3, 2019 at 3:20 pm)Yonadav Wrote: Yeah, I can just see a bunch of cave dwelling elders thinking that it's a scandal what these young people are doing these days with their artificial caves that aren't even made of good respectable rock. Necessity surely had nothing to do with it. Those kids with their artificial caves were just challenging social norms, man. They build their artificial caves in the most desirable locations, and their parents just don't get it, man!

Huh?

Evolution is about getting to the point of reproduction, the ability to adapt. "Necessity" really does not have to do with evolution the way you put it here, lots of superfluous genes that do nothing  but take a ride, body parts and organs too. Nipples on men are not a "necessity".  Whales still have hip bones from when they walked on land.

Sooo.... kinda.

I was a very devout and devoted Christian. I loved the church, I loved my god, I loved Jesus. So it’s a fairly large transition to believing all that stuff is a bunch of crap.

But it’s been ten years. On a day to day basis my not believing in garbage doesn’t come up. I have other things to do. I have a job. I have student loans. I have a husband and a dog.

Being an atheist is not that important to me, but being a skeptic and a critical thinker are.

Atheism is just the result of correctly applied skepticism and critical thinking with regards to the god claim.

It's about as important to me as not believing in Bigfoot.

That is, not much.

My philosophical worldview is important to me, which inevitably includes my atheism. I don't love to identify as an atheist, and that label itself isn't very important. But my not believing in God, and then reconciling with that, is a part of me, and it's led me to some very interesting philosophies and paths.

I said no not because being religious would be an acceptable alternative, but rather because it's a default state. It's not something I treasure. It's a lack of something.

(February 2, 2019 at 4:50 pm)Acrobat Wrote:

(February 2, 2019 at 4:20 pm)unfogged Wrote: We don't live in a world where "fairyists" tell us that we can't be moral without believing in fairies and making laws to enforce the rules that they say that they got from the fairies.  If we did then being an "afairyist" would be a thing.  When theism largely dies there will be no need to identify as an atheist.

It doesn’t matter why it’s important to you, or why you feel compelled to identify as atheists, even if it’s because religious people have pushed you to form an identity around atheism, the fact remains it’s a part of your identity, even if formed as reactionary.

Perhaps in the future this would be different for other unbelievers, but currently this is not the case.

So, as usual, you have no point and only want to deflect.