With theism there is inevitably a long list of attributes that make up any tradition .. like what to believe, how to worship and what you get to do with the alter boys. Atheists don't really have any of that. We're just not on board for any of the theist stuff. Not that. That's the whole of it. No fancy costumes, no ritual sacrifice .. or am I just doing it wrong? It really doesn't seem to be on par with theism. It just leads people to think we believe stuff too, just different stuff. But really what do we really believe in common as a result of not believing in gods? Answer: whatever you like. In most cases, we believe that which we think we have reason to believe as opposed to that which we wish were true.

You can be an atheist and believe that consciousness is some wonderland of magic places to go to in your head. You can think you are climbing the enlightenment mountain of buddhahood. You can think you are walking the warrior's path between the tonal and naqual that Carlos Casteneda wrote about. Some people think they leave their bodies at night and fly around. Perhaps the position of the celestial bodies reveals all about our personalities, or maybe the I Ching does that better? I must be the world's biggest muggle because I don't find any of that tempting any more. I wonder who thinks spiritual tendencies are on par with religious beliefs?

I'm agnostic so I don't rule anything out but I don't invest in belief systems of any stripe where evidence is lacking. Some folks think i should feel dead inside with an attitude like that. But I don't. The world as I find it, both outside and inside, is plenty wondrous without overlaying it with such belief systems.

Anyone care to fess' up about their fuzzier beliefs?

I am an atheist. This means that I see no evidence for the actual existence of any of the alleged gods dreamed up by the mind of men. This includes all of them, not just the ones that xtians and muslims think are inferior to their personal fucking lunacies.

Atheism is a bad term and is usually employed by idiot theists who think they get to assign traits to us. I try not to use it. An "ism" should have more than one tenet.

Fuck them and their gods.

Spent most of my life getting rid of the -ism/s in it....

Nothing fuzzy here.

For starters, the suffix ism means many different things, it can refer to an action (vandalism) a theory (magnetism) or a classification or grouping of people or ideas (theism).

The etymology for the word "atheism" is from the Latin "A theos" (without god) making atheism not an ism it's self, but the rejection of one. Atheism is neither an action, a theory or a classification, it only exists in it's present form because at some point in time for unknown reasons the term "a theos" was turned into a single word.

What it really means is "without theism".

So again, atheism is not an ism in the way theism, vandalism and magnetism are.

(February 15, 2012 at 1:12 am)KichigaiNeko Wrote: Spent most of my life getting rid of the -ism/s in it....

Nothing fuzzy here.

Now I thought for sure you had something fuzzy going on in your worship of kittehs .. not that there is anything wrong with that.

No whateverst
I really don't like the competition
I do like LolCats

(February 15, 2012 at 12:37 am)whateverist Wrote: I'm agnostic

Poor guy

It is always cute when Christian's publicly speak against atheists, try to attack them with laws/politics, demonize them, etc. It is amazing how well they read their Bible's too! Clearly that is EXACTLY what they were told to do!

Even though I seriously doubt Christianity is true at least they could be consistent.

(February 15, 2012 at 10:42 am)Phil Wrote:

(February 15, 2012 at 12:37 am)whateverist Wrote: I'm agnostic

Poor guy

How so? I'm still 100% atheist, absolutely no belief in gods. It's just that I'm absolutely sure I have and have heard no killer argument against the existence of gods. So I'm also 100% agnostic.

Are you gnostic Phil? Do have absolute certainty about what is and is not in the universe? I don't. The one thing I am completely certain of is that I harbor no belief in gods.

(February 15, 2012 at 11:32 am)whateverist Wrote:

(February 15, 2012 at 10:42 am)Phil Wrote:

(February 15, 2012 at 12:37 am)whateverist Wrote: I'm agnostic

Poor guy

How so? I'm still 100% atheist, absolutely no belief in gods. It's just that I'm absolutely sure I have and have heard no killer argument against the existence of gods. So I'm also 100% agnostic.

Are you gnostic Phil? Do have absolute certainty about what is and is not in the universe? I don't. The one thing I am completely certain of is that I harbor no belief in gods.

No i am not gnostic. I am an agnostic atheist but a gnostic atheist as far as Yahweh and the rest. Just agnostic atheist on a generic deity.

You didn't say you were an agnostic atheist which is a position I and many others can understand. You said agnostic and left it alone as if it was a choice somewhere between atheism and theism. That isn't true and I was sad to see someone who apparently thought it was. Any other questions?