(February 11, 2010 at 4:22 pm)fr0d0 Wrote: Then it'd be a critical thinking school and not an atheist school. What's being suggested is an atheist school teaching critical thinking.

You are mincing terms in an effort to obfuscate the issue.

It is an atheist school as that describes who attends it. Minute that changes the definitions no longer apply. What they teach, however, is to be considered on it's own standing, in this case, critical thought.

This is much ado about nothing.

but would they accept theists into their class is the question?

(February 11, 2010 at 10:11 pm)tackattack Wrote: but would they accept theists into their class is the question?

Why wouldn't they? Critical thinking needs scutiny and skepticism. People with differing opinions are paramount to a full understanding of the issues at hand.

To be honest, atheism as an entity can be seen as a religion. There are organizations, child camps, forums, support groups and merchandising. There are outspoken members of the community who progress the movement. I have trouble identifying with atheism for this very reason. Even though there is no internal dogma and principles within the atheist community, on the whole, are deeply vested in seeking viable explanations and scientific reasoning, on its face atheism does seem like a faith to outsiders. It gets tiring having to explain my world view every time I say I don't believe in God, and even more so when I say that there could possibly be a God, although it is improbable and all scientific explanations work perfectly well without that assumption.

Making a Sunday school type scenario for atheists is just perpetuating a social stigma and stereotype that atheism is a belief that God does not exist, rather than a rejection of the claim that he does exist.


On a side note: I'm glad I can post somewhere and not have it deleted. I tried Christianforums.com, and anything that even smells of dissent gets deleted. There are some real troubled people over there, and they're getting a grade A brainwashing at the hand of the 10,000 denomination that hold Jesus' name in high regard. I sincerely hope some of that consoles them or helps them with their personal choices, because I'd hate to think a supernatural force was in charge of my life, and willfully made it shitty.

I'm rambling. Fuck.

He isn't in charge of my life and mor ethan your father is in charge of yours if you're over 18. Same goes for making your life shitty, have some accountability.

Quote:But to sit them in a classroom on Sunday? These atheist parents are going about it in all the wrong ways.

According to you, I guess so. But seeing as they're not your kids it's pretty much beyond your control.Perhaps you could have a word with your local politician. Try to get a law passed which tells parents the right way to educate their children.

Yes,it sounds a bit dogmatic. Do I care how others educate their offspring? As long as they're not breaking any laws,not even a little bit.

(February 11, 2010 at 9:27 pm)Synackaon Wrote: You are mincing terms in an effort to obfuscate the issue.

It is an atheist school as that describes who attends it. Minute that changes the definitions no longer apply. What they teach, however, is to be considered on it's own standing, in this case, critical thought.

This is much ado about nothing.

I don't think so. I was addressing the albeit vague assumption from the OP.

(February 12, 2010 at 3:31 am)tackattack Wrote: He isn't in charge of my life and mor ethan your father is in charge of yours if you're over 18. Same goes for making your life shitty, have some accountability.

If I believed that God had a plan for me and that everything I did was ultimately controlled by him, what accountability is there? Everything within and beyond the realm of our control is in the realm of God's will and control according to many Christians.

Are you a deist by chance?

Just because he can see the end result of eons of evolution doesn't mean I can fathom it. I have freedom to choose my path, therefore accountability is mine. No I'm not a diest, reading is fundamental

(February 12, 2010 at 1:41 pm)tackattack Wrote: Just because he can see the end result of eons of evolution doesn't mean I can fathom it. I have freedom to choose my path, therefore accountability is mine. No I'm not a diest, reading is fundamental

I see you're a Christian, just as I did when you first replied.

Does not Christian theology stress that God has a plan for everyone as an extension of his will? And being that he can see into the future, he KNOWS what you will do. Based on this, you cannot change what you are destined to do. If you did, this would render God fallible. In addition, it is a common Christian practice to confide in God for him to choose the right path in life for a specific individual. Christianity also believes in an intervening God, in which you are ultimately subject to God's will and his all encompassing plan.

When seen from this perspective, you are nothing more than a pawn and are being led by the hand by a celestial puppetmaster. Relatively you may think you have control and free will to make choices, but you cannot have an infallible pre-determined plan and have the ability to change it.

Something has to give.

Either:

1. You don't have free will (There is an infallible plan)
2. The plan is fallible, rendering God fallible. (You have free will, there is a God.)
3. There is no plan (There is no God.)

Of course I'm making a positive assertion, which I don't identify with, but like many others on this site, I reject the notion that something is true based on a complete lack of evidence.

I hope I didn't jabber on and made some sense.

Please feel free to correct me if I have any faulty reasoning.

Thanks.

(February 12, 2010 at 2:17 am)tavarish Wrote: To be honest, atheism as an entity can be seen as a religion. There are organizations, child camps, forums, support groups and merchandising. There are outspoken members of the community who progress the movement. I have trouble identifying with atheism for this very reason. Even though there is no internal dogma and principles within the atheist community, on the whole, are deeply vested in seeking viable explanations and scientific reasoning, on its face atheism does seem like a faith to outsiders. It gets tiring having to explain my world view every time I say I don't believe in God, and even more so when I say that there could possibly be a God, although it is improbable and all scientific explanations work perfectly well without that assumption.

Isn't it nice that 'can be seen' is different than 'is'?

Atheism is as much of a religion as bald is a hair color.