I just posted a thread titled "Anyone else here also post at other sites?" Well, I didn't so much post it as submit it for approval. If it is accepted for posting I should be notified.

I last visited there about a year ago. Recent discussions reminded me of that experience. So I decided to try open this new thread with the following opening post:

Quote:Hi. I've never really got started here. But I post a lot at Atheistforums.org and less frequently now at AgnosticsInternational, all under the same name. The last time I posted here I was surprised to see that "humanism" and "social justice" were treated as already fully defined and so not up for discussion. Has that changed any in the past year?

Also, which sub-forums would you recommend to discuss the concepts of "consciousness", "self" and "identity"? Thanks.

So I'd be curious if anyone else here has managed to have a good time there without being banned?

Well that post was accepted so I decided to post on an existing thread titled "Why are you an atheist?"

This was my response:

Quote:For myself I accept the label "atheist" because I don't consciously hold any belief in gods. I also find no indication of unconscious belief in gods. So fine, I am an atheist.

Of course the term "gods" is pretty sketchily and inconsistently described by those who profess to believe in them. So to form a belief about something one hardly understands is a little hard anyway. So I also accept the label "ignostic".

But if I am an atheist, I must be an agnostic atheist since I can scarcely claim to know anything at all about 'gods', including whether or not they exist. This isn't a question of relative certainty. I simply do not endorse the statement "I believe gods do not exist". It really does depend on what people mean by gods.

So what is this phenomenon of god-belief about? I don't think it is merely about being mistaken or motivated to deceive. I think that which gives rise to our sense of identity is also capable of giving rise to a sense of a 'god' within. Essentially it just seems to be a sense of 'another' within, another with some abilities/insights that surpass what we are capable of consciously, perhaps.

When I was a child, my parents were Christians and they -especially my father- tried to raise me to believe the same. For whatever reason, it didn't take. By ten or eleven I recognized that I didn't believe in them. I didn't try to de-convert my parents. It was pretty apparent to me that this wasn't something they'd welcome. All in all, I don't really look to foist onto others what they don't desire.

So I'm not a big advocate of anti-theism. I doubt it can do much good. My sense is more would be accomplished by simply encouraging theists to move toward better theology, away from literal interpretations and toward the allegorical. Recognizing that they can maintain their beliefs while also recognizing critically that this isn't knowledge is a step forward.

I'm surprised that my own thread was approved but no one has responded. I wonder if it hasn't become a ghost site. Banning everyone right and left doesn't seem any way to build a community. Maybe it has changed. It will be interesting to see how it goes.

Atheism+? Shit no!

I'd sooner join the Rapture Ready forum. I am interested in your experience to see if they've changed their ways.

As above.

I'd rather post on christian forums for self-flagulation than A+.

(July 21, 2014 at 3:23 pm)whateverist Wrote: Well, I didn't so much post it as submit it for approval.

Sounds like an open minded forum.

As someone who is relatively new to atheist forums, I've only heard about Atheism+ by reference in other conversations. What's the deal with Atheism+? Do people not like it as a group?

(July 22, 2014 at 8:05 am)FatAndFaithless Wrote: As someone who is relatively new to atheist forums, I've only heard about Atheism+ by reference in other conversations. What's the deal with Atheism+? Do people not like it as a group?

Imagine a group of atheists who behave in much the same way as, say, christianforums.com where everything that's not on their list of approved subjects gets removed and the members who post them banned.

They're a group of people who are consumed by their need to create a clique of like-minded individuals at the expense of anyone who shows dissent.

SEE the a+ blockbot: http://www.atheistrev.com/2013/08/bbcs-n...k-bot.html

http://www.atheistrev.com/2013/09/the-at...books.html

I have a Catholic forums acct. They never approve my threads though :-P

(July 22, 2014 at 8:05 am)FatAndFaithless Wrote: As someone who is relatively new to atheist forums, I've only heard about Atheism+ by reference in other conversations. What's the deal with Atheism+? Do people not like it as a group?

As I understood it it attaches a whole bunch of ideology to atheism. Hence: Atheism +

And herding atheists is like herding cats...

(July 22, 2014 at 8:07 am)Fidel_Castronaut Wrote:

(July 22, 2014 at 8:05 am)FatAndFaithless Wrote: As someone who is relatively new to atheist forums, I've only heard about Atheism+ by reference in other conversations. What's the deal with Atheism+? Do people not like it as a group?

Imagine a group of atheists who behave in much the same way as, say, christianforums.com where everything that's not on their list of approved subjects gets removed and the members who post them banned.

They're a group of people who are consumed by their need to create a clique of like-minded individuals at the expense of anyone who shows dissent.

Ah. I can see why that's annoying as hell. I did a quick read up on their site, and it seems they have a series of political positions and definitions as well, and anyone that wants to join has to conform to them? Why call themselves "Atheism +" and not some new word that encompasses their political views and doesn't appropriate an already existing label?