RE: Beginner's Guide to Atheism.
January 19, 2018 at 2:48 am
(This post was last modified: January 19, 2018 at 2:53 am by Kernel Sohcahtoa.)
(January 18, 2018 at 10:50 am)Huggy74 Wrote:(January 17, 2018 at 11:15 pm)Thumpalumpacus Wrote: Pretty sure that's a clear-cut statement of agnosticism.
Of course, many of us atheists, myself included, are indeed agnostic atheists regarding some or all gods. There are a few I'm certain don't exist due to internal contradictions. Your god is in that group.
Do you mind elaborating on these contradictions?
(January 15, 2018 at 10:36 pm)LadyForCamus Wrote: Sick Rik AND Huggy?! Jesus...they just couldn’t stop themselves from coming in and taking a stinky dump all over, could they?You appear to be the first troll post, good job.
(January 15, 2018 at 11:38 pm)Kernel Sohcahtoa Wrote: Regarding (1), IMO, it is a fair description of atheism. Regarding your inquiry in (2), IMO, it can be very useful to have a guide and/or support. For example, if an individual wants to go about expressing his or her individuality (views on theism, atheism, politics, philosophy, etc.) in a civil and rational manner to others, especially if the majority of these people disagree with this individual's thinking, then a guide/support could be a useful tool for accomplishing that goal: it can equip that individual with a better understanding of his or her positions and give him or her the confidence to speak up and remind others that people are different (provided that it is safe to do so), rather than staying silent due to ignorance of one's positions and/or a lack of experience in engaging conflicting views .
(1) Here's the problem, if the atheists default position is "I don't know" (which has been stated on many occasions), then you're just trading one form of indoctrination for another.
(2) Also I don't agree that atheism is ONLY not having beliefs in a god, if one wants to be technical, the -ism in atheism denotes a system, this is why I say atheism is indicative of a religion.
Regarding (1), have you considered that stating "I do not know" is an intellectually honest statement about one's knowledge of reality, which can aid one in avoiding various forms of thought indoctrination and foster inquisitive, intelligent, and open-minded thinking (e.g. considering multiple starting points and ways of thinking; thus, resisting the tendency to view reality through one lens)?
Regarding (2), based on my observations, there are certainly atheists who are mindless, opinionated, rude and ultimately exemplify the negative traits of religion that they protest against (there are certainly theists who do likewise from their side); thus, I can see why one would come to see atheism as being similar to religion. However, based on my observations, there are some atheists (especially on this forum) for whom atheism is more indicative of free thought, inquiry, and individuality; I'd also like to add that there are some theists who also value and exhibit these qualities. Hence, it is my hope that the more open-minded members of both camps will continue to engage one another, so that misunderstandings and misconceptions of one another can be cleared up and replaced with a genuine understanding of one another and an appreciation for what each side brings to the table.
Thanks for your response, Huggy.
