(September 12, 2011 at 7:03 pm)Shell B Wrote: Still . . . no. Read this carefully. Atheism only applies to theism in my life. It does not apply to how I think people should be treated, how I should treat people, what I think about employment, marriage, hygiene, etc. It doesn't even apply to a significant fraction of my life. I don't base any of the important things on atheism. I'm sorry that you cannot seem to grasp this.
Actually, it has to influence your day to day beliefs and judgments. The fact that you do not use god as an influence means that you must be using 'not god' or more specifically, atheism, your own conscience. To me, atheism is not a belief system in a 'not god', but a belief system in myself and my ability to recognize right from wrong and establish my own morals.
Would I have picked a different restaurant today if I believed in a god? Possibly. Would I have chosen a different toothpaste? Probably not, but without a belief in a god, I cannot say something as innate as toothpaste would not have been influenced were I to believe as such.
So, yes. Most everything you do and probably everything else is influenced by your atheism. Your atheism is a part of who you are and has to influence your decisions.
You make people miserable and there's nothing they can do about it, just like god.
-- Homer Simpson
God has no place within these walls, just as facts have no place within organized religion.
-- Superintendent Chalmers
Science is like a blabbermouth who ruins a movie by telling you how it ends. There are some things we don't want to know. Important things.
-- Ned Flanders
Once something's been approved by the government, it's no longer immoral.
-- The Rev Lovejoy
-- Homer Simpson
God has no place within these walls, just as facts have no place within organized religion.
-- Superintendent Chalmers
Science is like a blabbermouth who ruins a movie by telling you how it ends. There are some things we don't want to know. Important things.
-- Ned Flanders
Once something's been approved by the government, it's no longer immoral.
-- The Rev Lovejoy