RE: Atheism is the punk rock of religion
July 29, 2012 at 8:47 am
(This post was last modified: July 29, 2012 at 9:34 am by Reforged.)
(July 29, 2012 at 5:13 am)fr0d0 Wrote: Given this:
(July 29, 2012 at 2:30 am)RaphielDrake Wrote: "re·li·gion
noun /riˈlijən/
religions, plural
A pursuit or interest to which someone ascribes supreme importance
- consumerism is the new religion
Something that someone ascribes supreme importance to, ie consumerism, = religion
You agreed that atheism can be something that someone could ascribe supreme importance to. (see post #72)
You have therefore said that atheism is a religion.
(July 29, 2012 at 3:34 am)RaphielDrake Wrote: All you've just told me is some religions have atheistic views toward other religions and certain matters.
Let me remind you what you said again
From post #61 above:
(July 28, 2012 at 9:11 pm)RaphielDrake Wrote: Someone who has no Gods and no belief system is someone we cannot class as being part of any religion. So we call them Atheists, period. A religious person can display atheist views toward another religion but not of their own so they would not be called an Atheist.
and what Wikipedia says about Atheism:
Wikipedia Wrote:Atheism is accepted within some religious and spiritual belief systems, including Jainism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Neopagan movements[17] such as Wicca,[18] and nontheistic religions. Jainism and some forms of Buddhism do not advocate belief in gods
Therefore, Wikipedia, and I state that: "Some religions" do not "have atheistic views toward other religions". Some religious people are atheist.
(July 29, 2012 at 3:34 am)RaphielDrake Wrote: To be honest I'm just adding this so people don't forget at this point: "Atheism = lack of belief in God." Fr0d0, 2012.
You didn't say that here:
(July 26, 2012 at 12:49 pm)RaphielDrake Wrote: We [atheists] don't have a unique position on each individual deity. We just have a position on things that haven't been proven to exist, in that unless it is proven to exist we don't have any reason to act like it does.(repeated on post #53)
And then you went further to define atheism thus:
(July 27, 2012 at 3:46 pm)RaphielDrake Wrote: Atheists don't believe in anything supernatural without proof.
To follow what you claim is the case you'd have to call every single refusal to acknowledge a deity a religious position.
Is it a religious position to not believe in theism as a whole or simply no position for lack of proof?
Based on this I would say Atheism is not a religious position, it is simply a position demanding of concrete evidence regardless of the claim.
Rhythm kindly corrected you:
(July 27, 2012 at 8:38 pm)Rhythm Wrote: Atheists can and do believe in all manner of supernatural things while simultaneously remaining atheists. They probably didn't get your memo.
To which you responded with this nonsense:
(July 28, 2012 at 1:09 am)RaphielDrake Wrote: If you seriously want to use this kind of reasoning then fine. I'm game.
By that same definition Christians are atheists because they don't believe in Allah and Muslims are atheists because they don't believe in Yahweh. The same reasoning can be applied to every single religion in the world.
Well I guess we'd better call everyone an atheist now.
Anyone else get the feeling this is going to get confusing?
None of your definitions of atheism above, you will notice, are actually compatible with the atheism you now define.
Which is why I obliged you with the "true" definition (along with an expansion to include all atheist definitions of themselves, but you cherry picked that out).
"You have therefore said that atheism is a religion."
If I had said consumerism was a religion, sure. We both came to an understanding it wasn't. You can't agree that consumerism isn't a religion but shares qualities with religion then on the other hand decide you're going to state atheism is a religious stance based on the same definition. Thats shamelessly biased. Either both consumerism and atheism are religious stances or neither are. Which is it?
"Therefore, Wikipedia, and I state that: "Some religions" do not "have atheistic views toward other religions". Some religious people are atheist."
We've been over this. Yes people of one religion can show atheism toward another religion but we would not call a member from either religion an atheist. We would class them by what they do believe, not what they do not.
Someone who has no such beliefs to speak of we would call an Atheist.
(July 29, 2012 at 3:34 am)RaphielDrake Wrote: To be honest I'm just adding this so people don't forget at this point: "Atheism = lack of belief in God." Fr0d0, 2012.
"You didn't say that here:"
(July 26, 2012 at 12:49 pm)RaphielDrake Wrote: We [atheists] don't have a unique position on each individual deity. We just have a position on things that haven't been proven to exist, in that unless it is proven to exist we don't have any reason to act like it does.There is no conflict here. We lack belief in God therefore we do not have a position on any God to speak of. God is not proven to exists. Neither is the supernatural which directly ties in to God, religion and theism in general.
"And then you went further to define atheism thus:
(July 27, 2012 at 3:46 pm)RaphielDrake Wrote: Atheists don't believe in anything supernatural without proof.Again, no conflict. Atheism does demand proof of any claim made.
To follow what you claim is the case you'd have to call every single refusal to acknowledge a deity a religious position.
Is it a religious position to not believe in theism as a whole or simply no position for lack of proof?
Based on this I would say Atheism is not a religious position, it is simply a position demanding of concrete evidence regardless of the claim."
"To which you responded with this nonsense:"
(July 28, 2012 at 1:09 am)RaphielDrake Wrote: If you seriously want to use this kind of reasoning then fine. I'm game.Which part of this doesn't ring true? You've made no attempt to explain why this is nonsense. This is very poor debating.
By that same definition Christians are atheists because they don't believe in Allah and Muslims are atheists because they don't believe in Yahweh. The same reasoning can be applied to every single religion in the world.
Well I guess we'd better call everyone an atheist now.
Anyone else get the feeling this is going to get confusing?
"None of your definitions of atheism above, you will notice, are actually compatible with the atheism you now define.
Which is why I obliged you with the "true" definition (along with an expansion to include all atheist definitions of themselves, but you cherry picked that out)."
None of the statements I have typed on this thread has conflicted with each other or your assertion "Atheism = lack of belief in God." and I challenge you to plainly list the contradictions made. I conclude the only conflict here is between your original statement that Atheism is a religious position and your later statement that "Atheism = lack of belief in God." It is a contradiction you have so far failed even to attempt to explain in any depth what so ever despite having numerous opportunities presented.
"That is not dead which can eternal lie and with strange aeons even death may die."
- Abdul Alhazred.
- Abdul Alhazred.