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RE: Atheism is a religion
January 9, 2012 at 8:27 pm
(This post was last modified: January 9, 2012 at 8:54 pm by Whateverist.)
(January 9, 2012 at 2:22 pm)downbeatplumb Wrote: Is amkerman talking of the god of spinoza?
http://www.waterwind.com/spinoza.html
If so, then he should change his beliefs tag to deist.
It certainly isnt the christian god he believes in.
You give him too much credit. It takes a staunch fundie xtian to get his head lodged this far up his ass. All the fluffy, nonsensical questions are just cover.
(January 9, 2012 at 3:28 pm)amkerman Wrote: I merely asked questions about reality. I think the answers are pretty obvious.
They always are when fundies reason from their conclusions.
(January 9, 2012 at 3:28 pm)amkerman Wrote: What I want to know is whether atheists believe in reality as I have defined it using the dictionary.
The bite sized definition you isolated was sufficiently incomplete for your purposes. "Reality" is what is whether or not anyone perceives or believes it. Perception is the process by which reality registers in our consciousness.
A "belief", as right thinking people use the word, is an operational hypothesis based on reasonable evidence. Not all beliefs about reality are equal. Some people are poor observers. Some reason poorly. Others, like you, don't reason at all; you just believe in the inerrant word of god as revealed in the bible.
Do you see now why your effort to make the case that reality is unknowable or only knowable through belief makes no sense? Or is what "makes sense" also just a matter of belief from where you stand?
Please do not think we are having a debate. That would be giving you too much credit. I just think it is instructive to look at how beginning with belief as you do can totally erode a person's values and ability to reason. If even one person turns back from the precipice of blind faith because of your example, then the loss of your humanity will not have been in vain.
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RE: Atheism is a religion
January 10, 2012 at 7:19 pm
(December 27, 2011 at 1:00 am)passionatefool Wrote: Does it irritates you when religious people say Atheism is a religion?
Can you imagine how much it irritates Christians when atheists say that Christianity isn't actually a religion? How can it be if there is no God?
The interesting thing about Truth is that Truth is still Truth even if the devil speaks it. The interesting thing about Lies is that Lies are still Lies even if God speaks them.
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RE: Atheism is a religion
January 10, 2012 at 10:17 pm
Um...what?
Even if the open windows of science at first make us shiver after the cozy indoor warmth of traditional humanizing myths, in the end the fresh air brings vigor, and the great spaces have a splendor of their own - Bertrand Russell
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RE: Atheism is a religion
January 10, 2012 at 10:21 pm
(January 10, 2012 at 7:19 pm)JudgeDracoAmunRa Wrote: (December 27, 2011 at 1:00 am)passionatefool Wrote: Does it irritates you when religious people say Atheism is a religion?
Can you imagine how much it irritates Christians when atheists say that Christianity isn't actually a religion? How can it be if there is no God?
Well, there are some christians, evangelists, I think, that claim christianity is not a religion. Indeed, christianity is not a "set" form of beliefs, but it certainly is a religion.
What baffles me are Buddhists, who also claim that Buddhism is not a religion, but a philosophy, even though the major schools of Buddhism defy this by having large priesthoods, schools of thought and dogma, prayers and etc.
Üze Tengri basmasar, asra Yir telinmeser, Türük bodun ilingin törüngin kim artatı udaçı erti?
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RE: Atheism is a religion
January 11, 2012 at 3:16 am
Modern day usage of the word "religion" = tax exemption and government funding.
"The Universe is run by the complex interweaving of three elements: energy, matter, and enlightened self-interest." G'Kar-B5
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RE: Atheism is a religion
January 11, 2012 at 6:40 am
(January 10, 2012 at 7:19 pm)JudgeDracoAmunRa Wrote: (December 27, 2011 at 1:00 am)passionatefool Wrote: Does it irritates you when religious people say Atheism is a religion?
Can you imagine how much it irritates Christians when atheists say that Christianity isn't actually a religion? How can it be if there is no God?
Christianity, not a religion,
More a personal relationship with your left hand
If you're not supposed to ride faster than your guardian angel can fly then mine had better get a bloody SR-71.
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RE: Atheism is a religion
January 13, 2012 at 9:37 am
....
And yet, it clearly isnt a Religion, it has no Dogma and Atheism is the lack of a belief in something, the title of the thread is a non sequitur.
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RE: Atheism is a religion
January 13, 2012 at 11:22 am
(This post was last modified: January 13, 2012 at 11:22 am by Doubting Thomas.)
I do, though, still wonder why it's so important for Christians to claim that atheism is a religion? OK, if you want to believe that, then fine. Just leave me alone already since I already have my own religion.
I don't play any sports, so that must make me an athlete, too. My sport is not playing sports.
Christian apologetics is the art of rolling a dog turd in sugar and selling it as a donut.
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RE: Atheism is a religion
January 13, 2012 at 11:42 am
(January 13, 2012 at 11:22 am)Doubting Thomas Wrote: I do, though, still wonder why it's so important for Christians to claim that atheism is a religion? OK, if you want to believe that, then fine. Just leave me alone already since I already have my own religion.
I don't play any sports, so that must make me an athlete, too. My sport is not playing sports.
I assume they just want to be able to say "you believe some things", "I believe some things" and "you have no more reason to believe in evolution or physics than we do believing that the bible is the inerrant word of god". Of course that is absurd but so what else is new?
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RE: Atheism is a religion
January 13, 2012 at 12:50 pm
Well I want my tax-free status. Since I apparently worship myself, then everything I buy should be totally tax free since I am my own church.
Christian apologetics is the art of rolling a dog turd in sugar and selling it as a donut.
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