The Sects of Atheism

[Mister Agenda]

Only ONE sect of atheists can’t have an opinion of the souls or afterlife, the sect with aligns with the dictionary definition of an atheist. The other sects can. Like agnostic atheists or the meat machines group.

They ALL fit the dictionary defintion of atheist and they can ALL have opinions on other topics.

[GaryAnderson]

Your second point is incorrect because what links you all to each-other is your “lack of belief in Gods” and what links me to an Aztec priest in 500BC is our beliefs in Gods.

What common cause do you have with that priest, what do you stand for or oppose that would cause you to join that priest if he were alive today? What would unify you in the way you expect our atheism to unify us?

BTW, one of the people you've been talking to is a Christian, just FYI. Just because someone disagrees with you doesn't make them an atheist, even here.

What’s common is belief. Simply belief in the immaterial which is the initial step in the search for God. Your definitions Don’t allow for belief.

The definition of "atheism" should be broadened to include a lack of belief in supernatural things period, not just gods. I mean, why stop at gods.

This would make your position worse.

Yes, why stop at gods? Don't you believe in unicorns Ahri? The definition of theism should be broadened to include beliefs in unicorns.

It's in magic book, after all.

If beliefs in unicorns is included than you’re allowed to have an answer on unicorn-related questions.

[The Grand Nudger]

Wrong again. In your belief system, gods are immaterial. This is not true and has never been true of all gods. It wasn't even true of the one you believe in until the rise of contemporary christianity as a syncretic tradition borrowing from classical (read: pagan) greek philosophy through it's capture of the roman state.

There are absolute shitloads of atheists who believe in the immaterial, and shitloads of atheists who hold beliefs about any number of other things as well. Atheism is about belief in gods, again.

Do you believe that there is no god? Then why do you get to have an opinion of atheism, Gary?

[Mister Agenda]

The answers for the existence of souls and afterlife come from religious or god-believing groups and your definition of a dictionary atheist “lack of belief in gods” doesn’t allow you to have an opinion on the matter. Unless you switch to another atheist sect.

Nothing in the definition that precludes any ideas from religion or god-believing groups except the idea that a god is real.

Full disclosure: I'm an open atheist and a Unitarian Universalist. I don't see why I should kick an idea to the curb solely because it comes from a religion.

In other words: The 'not allowed to have an an opinion' thing? That's not how this works. That's not how any of this works.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

Do a quick google search man, it says : “ disbelief or lack of belief in the existence of God or gods.”

Which neither says nor implies anything about souls or an afterlife. Atheists are defined by one and only one disbelief. What else they don’t believe in, do believe in, or don’t know has no bearing on atheism.

Boru

[Angrboda]

If this is the whole point of your thread then you've screwed the pooch.   You are laboring under some logical and factual errors.

You can’t have an opinion on them unless you’re an agnostic atheist for example. Because souls and afterlife are always … always linked to one God or another in different parts of the world.

The fact that they are linked together for some other people doesn't mean that they are or need to be linked together for a specific atheist.

Since they don't need to be linked for an atheist, you are wrong to insist that an atheist can't have an opinion on them.

You are effectively arguing that one person is bound by what another person believes; that's simply not the case.

[Mister Agenda]

What common cause do you have with that priest, what do you stand for or oppose that would cause you to join that priest if he were alive today? What would unify you in the way you expect our atheism to unify us?

BTW, one of the people you've been talking to is a Christian, just FYI. Just because someone disagrees with you doesn't make them an atheist, even here.

What’s common is belief. Simply belief in the immaterial which is the initial step in the search for God. Your definitions Don’t allow for belief.

There's nothing in the definition of 'atheist' that would keep one from believing in something supernatural as long as it's not a god.

The definition of "atheism" should be broadened to include a lack of belief in supernatural things period, not just gods. I mean, why stop at gods.

This would make your position worse.

What do you think Ahriman's position is?

[Rahn127]

Gary, why haven't you answered these basic questions ?

You said you believe in a god, Jesus specifically.
Why do you believe ?

What justification do you have for your belief ?

How do you define your god ?
What are it's attributes and how did you determine that it has those attributes ?

What is a soul ?
What is an after life ?

The ancient Egyptians thought that the soul of a person was composed of nine different parts with very distinct aspects. They firmly believed that the human soul consisted of nine main parts: Ren, Ba, Ka, Shuyet and Jb, Akh, Sahu, Khat, and Sechem.

Feel free to look up the meaning to each part of the soul as believed by ancient Egyptians.

If you believe in an after life, do you also believe in a life before this one ? And perhaps a life before that one ? Constant reincarnation without end.

So again I ask, what do you believe and more importantly, why ?

[The Grand Nudger]

I think it mostly has to do with confusing things common to being contemporary westerners for being common to atheists - like not believing in the supernatural..which is a common belief even for western god botherers. The arc of western culture over the past few centuries has been the rejection of superstitions (whether we're actually doing a good job of that..well..jury's out).

[Angrboda]

I think it mostly has to do with confusing things common to being contemporary westerners for being common to atheists - like not believing in the supernatural..which is a common belief even for western god botherers.  The arc of western culture over the past few centuries has been the rejection of superstitions (whether we're actually doing a good job of that..well..jury's out).

It probably also has to do with some confusion between the characterizations of atheism as lack of belief and of atheism as rejection of specific god beliefs [including Yahweh].