RE: Being an atheist is not passive, it requires an active stance
May 25, 2015 at 4:40 pm
(This post was last modified: May 25, 2015 at 4:45 pm by ReptilianPeon.)
I think Atheism is natural but, unfortunately, most societies have been corrupted by Theism. If you look hard enough, you will find people whose language does not have a word for "god". Deep within the Amazon Jungle, live the Pirahã people. The linguist Daniel Everett went to the Pirahã people initially as a Christian Missionary and returned as Atheist because what he found shocked him.
He discovered the Pirahã have no interest in deities. I've read his book about his experiences with the Pirahã, Don't Sleep There Are Snakes, and he says he had to create a word to represent Yaweh because the Pirahã had no deities in their culture. Although they believe in "spirits", spirits are not the same thing as deities so that makes Pirahã Atheists because Atheism a rejection of claims made about deities and nothing more.
Initially Daniel thought the Pirahã had an interest in the Bible (he recorded it in their language) but they apparently kept repeating the part in the recording where John the Baptist was killed and showed no interest in anything else. He found out that Pirahã are only interested in the present and recent past. When a person dies, the Pirahã people gradually forget about that person. Daniel would sometimes refer to people had died and the Pirahã would deny that person ever existed.
Other interesting facts about the Pirahã people:
1. Pirahã can't count. They struggle with even small numbers.
2. Pirahã can't draw. They can only create 'lines'.
3. Pirahã society is akin to the Primitive Communism Karl Marx talked about.
He discovered the Pirahã have no interest in deities. I've read his book about his experiences with the Pirahã, Don't Sleep There Are Snakes, and he says he had to create a word to represent Yaweh because the Pirahã had no deities in their culture. Although they believe in "spirits", spirits are not the same thing as deities so that makes Pirahã Atheists because Atheism a rejection of claims made about deities and nothing more.
Initially Daniel thought the Pirahã had an interest in the Bible (he recorded it in their language) but they apparently kept repeating the part in the recording where John the Baptist was killed and showed no interest in anything else. He found out that Pirahã are only interested in the present and recent past. When a person dies, the Pirahã people gradually forget about that person. Daniel would sometimes refer to people had died and the Pirahã would deny that person ever existed.
Other interesting facts about the Pirahã people:
1. Pirahã can't count. They struggle with even small numbers.
2. Pirahã can't draw. They can only create 'lines'.
3. Pirahã society is akin to the Primitive Communism Karl Marx talked about.
