Beginner's Guide to Atheism.

[vulcanlogician]

I like the idea of a FAQ.

No, we don't secretly worship Satan.
No, we don't believe in all other gods but you.
No, we don't eat babies every day.

Bolding mine. What is wrong with you?!

Nothing's wrong with her, there are just days when she doesn't feel like eating babies. You can't control your appetites. It's unrealistic to expect someone to keep up their baby-eating commitments every single day.

---

But back to the OP, a FAQ would be helpful, but I think the purpose of this thread was to figure out some good resources (reading materials, videos etc.) that would serve as a good primer for new atheists. I say we keep tossing out ideas, and when we have figured out a good collection of resources, GS puts them all in a thread (along with a FAQ) which will then be pinned and locked by the mods. That way we don't have to fuss with a link to a webpage or anything.

Thoughts on this?

[Thumpalumpacus]

"There almost certainly wasn't a god" isn't a claim.

And I think we can all agree that non existent beings can't speak.

That most definantly is a claim, you're stating something with a degree of certainty, where's the evidence to back it up?

What ever happened to 'I don't know' being the default position as atheists claim?

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.

[The Valkyrie]

I like the idea of a FAQ.

No, we don't secretly worship Satan.
No, we don't believe in all other gods but you.
No, we don't eat babies every day.

Bolding mine. What is wrong with you?!

I have to watch what I eat.

It's bikini season.

[Huggy Bear]

That most definantly is a claim, you're stating something with a degree of certainty, where's the evidence to back it up?

What ever happened to 'I don't know' being the default position as atheists claim?

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?

---

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.

---

(1) I thought atheism was simply not having beliefs in any god,  (2) if that's the case then why would one need a guide?

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 .

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.

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.

[Thumpalumpacus]

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?

That's another thread. I'm not going to shit this one up. If you're really interested, why don't you go start that thread?

[Banned]

As a good 'jumping off' resource, I would strongly suggest

https://www.thoughtco.com/atheism-for-beginners-248052

For newly-minted atheists.


Boru

I'm not sure whether the writer of the article in the link was being facetious.

I had to laugh at the contradictions, re negations and varieties included in the definition of Atheists.
But then this article is just one of hundreds which again contravene the above, yet all claiming to support the "great cause."

Good comedy at any rate.

I too would strongly suggest that all read the article in the link.

[Kernel Sohcahtoa]

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?

---

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.

---

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.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

"(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."

Religious hardcore desperately wish that to be true, despite the obvious problems. This is one of the issues the Guide would address.

[KevinM1]

Huggy's right in that 'ism' denotes a system. That system is theism. The prefix 'a' is negation. So, 'atheism' literally means 'not-theism' just like 'amoral' means 'not-moral' in the sense of being not connected to/involved with those things rather than in a pejorative sense (which would be 'antitheism' and 'immoral' respectively).

Aside: moments like these are why my calls for certain people to go back to school are 100% serious.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I just say I'm atheistic.