Atheism matters to me because:

1. I care about the truth. I think belief in God is a delusion.

Furthermore, with at least related points:

2. I think the result of religious belief does a lot of harm overall, and I think it has done an awful lot in the past too.

3. I think '1' and '2' are connected...delusion can be dangerous, delusion can be deadly.

4. And point '3.' is just another one of the reasons I think the truth is so important!

EvF

Because in my country religion spills over into politics. People decide by ballot and legislation on how to limit the rights of people based on their religious beliefs. It invades my personal life. So why should I ignore it?

(January 18, 2010 at 7:35 am)LEDO Wrote: Because in my country religion spills over into politics. People decide by ballot and legislation on how to limit the rights of people based on their religious beliefs. It invades my personal life. So why should I ignore it?

That almost sounds like the US of A Correct?

Also LEDO, when you describe yourself as the "Astrology guy" that doesn't mean you actually believe the predictions of astrology do you?

(January 18, 2010 at 7:47 am)theVOID Wrote:

(January 18, 2010 at 7:35 am)LEDO Wrote: Because in my country religion spills over into politics. People decide by ballot and legislation on how to limit the rights of people based on their religious beliefs. It invades my personal life. So why should I ignore it?

That almost sounds like the US of A Correct?

Also LEDO, when you describe yourself as the "Astrology guy" that doesn't mean you actually believe the predictions of astrology do you?

No. That means I believe religion is based on astrology, especially the Bible. Check out the book section of this forum.

(January 18, 2010 at 8:14 am)LEDO Wrote:

(January 18, 2010 at 7:47 am)theVOID Wrote:

(January 18, 2010 at 7:35 am)LEDO Wrote: Because in my country religion spills over into politics. People decide by ballot and legislation on how to limit the rights of people based on their religious beliefs. It invades my personal life. So why should I ignore it?

That almost sounds like the US of A Correct?

Also LEDO, when you describe yourself as the "Astrology guy" that doesn't mean you actually believe the predictions of astrology do you?

No. That means I believe religion is based on astrology, especially the Bible. Check out the book section of this forum.

I thought that at first, just had to make sure

This forum is more for congregating atheist's to blow off god without any banana's being thrown, talk shit without any shit talk, and take the piss outta those who piss us off.

This topic reminded me of a Martin Luther King Jr. essay I read last semester http://www.gibbsmagazine.com/Ways%20to%20respond.htm The essay also seems fitting because today is MLK day I think it can be related to atheism by us not allowing the religious to influence laws that oppress people. Not allowing gay marriage is a good example that comes to mind. The best way we can oppose religions that negatively impact certain groups of people is to arm ourselves with knowledge and hopefully show the oppressors the error in their thinking. As King's essay implies, acceptance without protest is not the way to deal with oppression.

The reason why I personally spend so much time researching this topic is because I find it fascinating and simply want to learn more.

1) I do not care about some arbitrary 'truth'.
2) I prefer stating facts of a situation first, then stating my conclusion and reasoning thereof.
3) God is an excuse for ignorance in many situations - assuming there is an Almighty, it appears to be an insult.
3a) The "big questions" are irrelevant for pushing philosophy - it is only good to motivate discovery towards understanding what lies beneath them.

Great thread TW. I've always been very interested in the subject as an atheist and as a theist. And I've been an atheist for far longer.

I care about truth
I care about reasoning

Awesome post too Zhalentine. Totally agree.

(January 18, 2010 at 3:07 am)TruthWorthy Wrote: What is the point of devoting so much time to learning so much about something we all (for the most part) have no belief in? Like arguing is the greatest past time! We come here and (some) recite bible passages, others argue about all the lurks and purks of various argumentitive fallacy, and the philosophical debates that go on and on about how powerful "god" is. And all the time, we've got fr0d0 etc making the least effort in posting proper argument, which is good because the site would be boring without such posters, yet everyone's cut and pasting page after page about details on something no atheist trully believes in and of whom most know cannot be rationalised.

I hate "god" more than the next atheist, I'm just trying to understand how this process isn't frivilous.

First, as far as learning and arguing about religion, well I personally love to learn. It doesn't stop just because my learning might not have a direct benefit in my job or general life. Knowledge is important to me. Even if I don't believe in the Bible, I study it because so many other people do believe in it. As an American, I see fundamentalist Christians trying to destroy the constitution and so I find it to be very important to understand the reasoning behind it and argue against it. This forum, as silly as it may seem to you, is a way to hone these arguments and continue to learn.