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RE: Atheists believe in themselves?
September 1, 2013 at 1:44 pm
(This post was last modified: September 1, 2013 at 1:46 pm by Mystic.)
(September 1, 2013 at 1:41 pm)Maelstrom Wrote: (September 1, 2013 at 1:38 pm)MysticKnight Wrote: If somebody bases his life on fiction, that fiction character (like Jesus perhaps) becomes more then fiction at least to that person.
If someone bases his life on a fictional character, like Dumbo perhaps, the character becomes more than fiction only in the individual's deluded mind. In reality, the fictional character remains fiction.
In reality, that person lives. That person concept of himself be it justified or not, is a reality in the sense, this projection is made. That projection also has an impact on other human beings.
If I based my perception of myself on a lie, the lie is not just fiction, it plays to what makes me, me.
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RE: Atheists believe in themselves?
September 1, 2013 at 1:45 pm
(September 1, 2013 at 1:44 pm)MysticKnight Wrote: In reality, that person lives.
False, a concept based on delusion.
"What a little moonlight can do." ~ Billie Holiday
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RE: Atheists believe in themselves?
September 1, 2013 at 1:49 pm
What are you? Are you a concept? Is everything that relates to your concept of self true? Are biological and chemicals forces just creating a concept. Or is there a living reality being created? So if fictional characters exist within you, and they also have biological/chemical forces that form the idea of that concept, define in what way, that's it just nothing more than fiction.
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RE: Atheists believe in themselves?
September 1, 2013 at 1:56 pm
(This post was last modified: September 1, 2013 at 1:57 pm by Kitan Etos.)
(September 1, 2013 at 1:49 pm)MysticKnight Wrote: So if fictional characters exist within you, and they also have biological/chemical forces that form the idea of that concept, define in what way, that's it just nothing more than fiction.
If you have to ask that question, then there is no hope for you.
Fiction is called fiction for a reason. Attempting to change the definition of fiction to suit your need for it to be reality does not make it reality.
A fictional concept is not real like the chair upon which I am currently sitting. I can attempt to sit upon the fictional chair I have created in my mind, but my ass is simply going to hit the floor because the fictional chair is not real.
"What a little moonlight can do." ~ Billie Holiday
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RE: Atheists believe in themselves?
September 1, 2013 at 2:25 pm
Quote:"all people are religious to some extent. They just might not realize it. Even Atheists are religious. They believe in something too. They believe in themselves.".
Holding a belief in a proposition in no wise equates with being religious. There are lots of things in which I believe, but for which I have no unassailable evidence.
-I believe that Buddy Rich was the greatest drummer who ever lived. But there could just as easily have been a drummer better than Rich, of whom I am unaware.
-I believe that Australia is a real place, even though I've never been there. It could simply been a mammoth hoax perpetuated for some as-yet-to-be-determined reason.
-I believe that there is life on other planets and that it proceeds via neo-Darwinian evolutionary mechanisms. But I could be wrong.
-And so on.
But the point remains that none of these beliefs qualifies as religious in nature, unless we take the broadest possible definition ofv 'religion'. I don't worship Buddy Rich, I don't pray to Australia, and I haven't built an altar to Stephen Jay Gould.
The woman you overheard clearly has rather fuzzy notions regarding the meaning of the words 'belief' and 'religion'.
Boru
‘I can’t be having with this.’ - Esmeralda Weatherwax
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RE: Atheists believe in themselves?
September 1, 2013 at 5:04 pm
(August 31, 2013 at 10:40 pm)mostlysilent Wrote: So this is a new one for me...There is a super religious lady at work who I generally avoid talking to so she is not aware that I am an atheist. She was talking to another person at the desk next to me about all sorts of really nonsensical religious nonsense when all of a sudden this comes out of her mouth:
"all people are religious to some extent. They just might not realize it. Even Atheists are religious. They believe in something too. They believe in themselves.".
WTF?
I wonder if this means I can refer to myself as God now.
for me this is one of those
"The greatest deception men suffer is from their own opinions" - Leonardo da Vinci
"I think I use the term “radical” rather loosely, just for emphasis. If you describe yourself as “atheist,” some people will say, “Don’t you mean ‘agnostic’?” I have to reply that I really do mean atheist, I really do not believe that there is a god; in fact, I am convinced that there is not a god (a subtle difference). I see not a shred of evidence to suggest that there is one ... etc., etc. It’s easier to say that I am a radical atheist, just to signal that I really mean it, have thought about it a great deal, and that it’s an opinion I hold seriously." - Douglas Adams (and I echo the sentiment)
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RE: Atheists believe in themselves?
September 1, 2013 at 5:14 pm
(September 1, 2013 at 2:25 pm)BrianSoddingBoru4 Wrote: -I believe that Australia is a real place, even though I've never been there. It could simply been a mammoth hoax perpetuated for some as-yet-to-be-determined reason.
I've been there. It's very hot in February. Also, the moon is upside-down. And everybody drives backwards like it's normal and shit.
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RE: Atheists believe in themselves?
September 1, 2013 at 5:17 pm
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RE: Atheists believe in themselves?
September 1, 2013 at 5:19 pm
(September 1, 2013 at 1:49 pm)MysticKnight Wrote: What are you? Are you a concept? Is everything that relates to your concept of self true? Are biological and chemicals forces just creating a concept. Or is there a living reality being created? So if fictional characters exist within you, and they also have biological/chemical forces that form the idea of that concept, define in what way, that's it just nothing more than fiction.
WTF dude, get your shit together. If you can't, this is not the place to try to.
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RE: Atheists believe in themselves?
September 1, 2013 at 5:37 pm
MysticKnight,
I don't like getting into this kind of discussions. But you should talk to a doctor about your psychosis and about your medications. If you don't like what you're taking right now, you can always get a second opinion from another doctor. It's important to take care of your mental health, the brain is responsible for how we think and how we act, both of which we are held responsible for.
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