A Small Census

[Shell B]

1. What is your age? 30

2. Are you married? Kids? No. One former stepson who I still think of as a son.

3. Are you angry or disappointed at "God"? No. I don't know any such person.

4. Do you subscribe to hedonism? Of course not. That is an absurdly restrictive way to think.

5. Are you an atheist because you want to be, without eternal consequences, sexually promiscuous? A drug addict? An alcoholic?

Um, no. There is no "want" about it. I was born this way.

6. Do you like "psychedelic" music?

This is a retarded question. I like music.

7. Was atheism "transmitted" to you from a "Marxist"?

I really don't know what this means.

8. Are you selfish?

9. Is your "community" centered around pornography?

What the fuck is this question?

10. Is your atheism a political statement?

How could it be?

11. Were you recruited into atheism by the promises of sex and drugs?

How can you even . . . I don't . . . what the . . .

[Something completely different]

1. What is your age?

22

2. Are you married? Kids?

Not that I know of

3. Are you angry or disappointed at "God"?

Nope

4. Do you subscribe to hedonism?

occasionaly

5. Are you an atheist because you want to be, without eternal consequences, sexually promiscuous? A drug addict? An alcoholic?

Well, I made a concious sober decision to be an atheist. Being drunk or having sex has nothing to do with my atheism.

6. Do you like "psychedelic" music?

Beethoven

7. Was atheism "transmitted" to you from a "Marxist"?

lol I am german

8. Are you selfish?

of course. are you not?

9. Is your "community" centered around pornography?

yeah but it wont addmit it because they deam it as bad in public due to the catholic sociaty it is, where it is alright to wank and have a mistress as long as you dont call it "alright"

10. Is your atheism a political statement?

no

11. Were you recruited into atheism by the promises of sex and drugs?

no

[Mystic]

Atheism is a political statement that negates the obligation to theocracy based government.

Deism is also a political statement that negates the obligation to theocracy based government.

Also you can be religious and oppose theocracy based government.

So it is a political statement, whether, it has the intention to be or not to be.

---

In the past, Atheism could have been seen to negate the "Divine rights" of "Kings".

[Shell B]

Nope. Atheism is a lack of belief in god. There is nothing more or less.

[jstrodel]

Atheism as a movement does not owe its existence and its power to persuade in history is not from debates in religion, it is from political debates and political movements (Marxism, liberalism, etc). Very, very few atheists know enough about theology or philosophy to read academic journals of theology and most make very, very common mistakes in understanding the nature of Christian theology.

Atheism has its momentum not through debates in theology but through political debates. Gk Chesterton said "there is no philosophical case against theism". He is right, but that does not mean atheism can fit into a philosophical or political movement.

Atheist critiques of Christianity almost always make us of non-philosophical elements that cannot be proved but are related to political causes (see atheist critiques of Biblical morality). The atheist movement does not really want to advance a philosophically rigorous view of ethics and ground its critiques of Christianity in that, it is more interested in accepting the cultural norms of modernity and, without giving a defense, offering those cultural prejudices as absolute evidence against Christianity


The desire to define atheism as non-belief in God creates a situation in which that definition of atheism does not contain enough information to support atheist claims. That is no problem, because atheism is a political movement, not an intellectual movement. Atheism does not have to ground its claims in anything other than the ability to persuade people of the evils of Christianity, based on a large number of assumptions about the world and then simultaneously insist that atheism is a default position, a lack of belief in God's based on insufficient evidence.

Karl Rove would be proud.

[LastPoet]

For the last time, atheists don't inform you of any political stance, it means you don't believe in god(s).

Any political stance its an addition to the person's ideals, we have atheists here from all parts of the political spectrum, how many times do we have to repeat ourselves?

[jstrodel]

LastPoet you are not proving though that the sort of atheism you say that the atheist movement represents is actually the way that atheism transmits itself. Atheism is commonly transmitted mixed in with other ideologies and movements, it is never transmitted alone.

You are not free to define your movement any way that you want. Atheism is a historical movement and it is entirely reasonable to make historical observations of the ways in which atheism has been promulgated.

People are free to simply mock and use non-rational persuasion techniques to deal with this observations, but I won't respect you for it. I will just sigh and think to myself "atheists are far more psuedo-intellectual than even the most die hard fundamentalists".

[LastPoet]

LastPoet you are not proving though that the sort of atheism you say that the atheist movement represents is actually the way that atheism transmits itself. Atheism is commonly transmitted mixed in with other ideologies and movements, it is never transmitted alone.

Perhaps because atheism isn't a belief in itself, rather a disbelief. But people do have ideals, some more rational than others, but at least, we don't believe big fairies in the sky. And try to justify our actions in the name of said fairy.

You are not free to define your movement any way that you want. Atheism is a historical movement and it is entirely reasonable to make historical observations of the ways in which atheism has been promulgated.

The definition is clear, it is on the dictionary, you have google, look it up. Have you heard the phrase: "Its easier to herd cats than atheists" ?.

People are free to simply mock and use non-rational persuasion techniques to deal with this observations, but I won't respect you for it. I will just sigh and think to myself "atheists are far more psuedo-intellectual than even the most die hard fundamentalists".

Think whatever you want, its almost a given what theists think of us. You have nothing to me instead of supposedly polite insults, you might look what a "tu quoque" is. Either way your god remains... unexistant

[Mystic]

To be without belief in God, is to be without belief in a theocracy. That is a political statement, whether one wants to intend it or not.

The same is true of Islam. If you believe in Islam, you believe a state should implement religious laws.

In the past, if you were an Atheist, you deny the legitimization of "Kings" or "Caliphs" by "Divine Right". Therefore you would be making a significant political statement by with drawing belief in God.

[downbeatplumb]

You are not free to define your movement any way that you want. Atheism is a historical movement and it is entirely reasonable to make historical observations of the ways in which atheism has been promulgated.

People are free to simply mock and use non-rational persuasion techniques to deal with this observations, but I won't respect you for it. I will just sigh and think to myself "atheists are far more psuedo-intellectual than even the most die hard fundamentalists".

You keep saying that atheism has to be transmitted but it is just a reaction to theism.

When someone has an argument that someone else finds unconvincing then they do not believe it.

I have been told god exists. I am unconvinced. End of story.

Many people throughout history have been unbelievers. Unconvinced by the arguments.

They are even mentioned in the bible.

Pslam 14:1
"the fool says in his heart there is no god"

Were these roman marxists? these non-believers did they follow the concept of communism that wouldn't be invented for almost two thousand years.