RE: Suggestions for atheist framework
February 22, 2012 at 4:27 pm
(This post was last modified: February 22, 2012 at 4:32 pm by Mister Agenda.)
Hi, AndrewT! I hope your first post won't be your last. Welcome.
I wish I could take such tolerance of atheists for granted, but thank you for knowingly having atheists as friends. In time I hope that will be almost as cool as having black friends.
For community, there's often a Meetup nearby. Without a secret handshake, we've taken to finding each other on the intertubez. Philosophy is trickier. There's no 'theist' philosophy, singular; let alone an atheist philosophy. Most of us Western atheists are comfortable with rational skepticism and humanism. 'Good Without God' might be a good read if your friend has concerns about moral issues as an atheist.
Epicurus comes to mind. An atheist philosophy is kind of like an atheist handbook on plumbing. The 'atheist' part goes without saying unless otherwise specified. Any philosophy that isn't specifically theist can be considered an atheist philosophy. I don't see how a philosophy could depend on mere atheism or theism. Is this person particularly interested in philosophy and struggling to find meaning to life? A lot of people who haven't spent five minutes consciously thinking about philosophy manage to not struggle with the meaning of life fine.
You're in a lot of company.
Hmm. I'm not going to dispute that, given it's not 'workthroughtheissuesofmeaning.org'. I think you might be interpreting things a bit differently than we would though, as we don't take much convincing to not believe what we already don't believe. The forum is necessarily kind of self-selecting for people interested in discussing things to do with disbelief in deities, it's a hobby or interest, not an Atheists Anonymous meeting.
Have you really thought through what it sounds like when you come to atheistforums.org and demand to be ignored? And atheism isn't a philosphy or a worldview. Neither is theism. If we weren't surrounded by theists, there wouldn't even be a point in having a word for us. That said, enough of the frequenters of this forum who are atheists think that critical thinking and healthy skepticism are valuable, that you could say there's a germ of a philosophy there. Do you need convincing that those things are relevant?
You're welcome. And I've been known to generate an overly long sentence or two myself, so no worries.
(February 22, 2012 at 12:04 am)AndrewT Wrote: I am a Roman Catholic and I have friends who are atheist, and quite a few for very good reasons considering the hypocrisy and failures of the Church at large.
I wish I could take such tolerance of atheists for granted, but thank you for knowingly having atheists as friends. In time I hope that will be almost as cool as having black friends.
(February 22, 2012 at 12:04 am)AndrewT Wrote: I have one friend in particular that i am trying to find a "healthy" atheist communities or phylosopher for to help him find his own meaning with out needing to use or convert to Christianity.
For community, there's often a Meetup nearby. Without a secret handshake, we've taken to finding each other on the intertubez. Philosophy is trickier. There's no 'theist' philosophy, singular; let alone an atheist philosophy. Most of us Western atheists are comfortable with rational skepticism and humanism. 'Good Without God' might be a good read if your friend has concerns about moral issues as an atheist.
(February 22, 2012 at 12:04 am)AndrewT Wrote: Who are the more renowned atheist philosophers who have made moves toward a framework that helps a person struggling to find meaning to life?
Epicurus comes to mind. An atheist philosophy is kind of like an atheist handbook on plumbing. The 'atheist' part goes without saying unless otherwise specified. Any philosophy that isn't specifically theist can be considered an atheist philosophy. I don't see how a philosophy could depend on mere atheism or theism. Is this person particularly interested in philosophy and struggling to find meaning to life? A lot of people who haven't spent five minutes consciously thinking about philosophy manage to not struggle with the meaning of life fine.
(February 22, 2012 at 12:04 am)AndrewT Wrote: I want to make a very superficial observation about this community.
You're in a lot of company.
(February 22, 2012 at 12:04 am)AndrewT Wrote: It seems you spend more time trying to convince each other of that God does not exist than working through issues of meaning with each other.
Hmm. I'm not going to dispute that, given it's not 'workthroughtheissuesofmeaning.org'. I think you might be interpreting things a bit differently than we would though, as we don't take much convincing to not believe what we already don't believe. The forum is necessarily kind of self-selecting for people interested in discussing things to do with disbelief in deities, it's a hobby or interest, not an Atheists Anonymous meeting.
(February 22, 2012 at 12:04 am)AndrewT Wrote: If you don't believe in God then fine, ignore us and the insecure idiots that call themselves Christians and work with each other to demonstrate the relevance of your philosophy.
Have you really thought through what it sounds like when you come to atheistforums.org and demand to be ignored? And atheism isn't a philosphy or a worldview. Neither is theism. If we weren't surrounded by theists, there wouldn't even be a point in having a word for us. That said, enough of the frequenters of this forum who are atheists think that critical thinking and healthy skepticism are valuable, that you could say there's a germ of a philosophy there. Do you need convincing that those things are relevant?
(February 22, 2012 at 12:04 am)AndrewT Wrote: Thank you for your suggestions,
Andrew
Sorry that second sentence was an enormous run-on!
You're welcome. And I've been known to generate an overly long sentence or two myself, so no worries.
