What do you believe in?

[downbeatplumb]

This cando person seems to be trying to shoehorn us into a religious type group that would fit his world view.
That we are not a religion but just dont believe in god/gods rocks his little world.

I've come accross this mindset time and time again.

Its similar to sports fans.

When I'm asked what football team I support and I say I dont support a football team because I dont like watching football they get a little confused but press on by asking what sport I DO like to watch. When I reply none, they dont get it. They simply cannot concieve of a full grown heterosexual man not liking watching sport, it simply does not compute.

[Cando]

This cando person seems to be trying to shoehorn us into a religious type group that would fit his world view.
That we are not a religion but just dont believe in god/gods rocks his little world.

I've come accross this mindset time and time again.

Its similar to sports fans.

When I'm asked what football team I support and I say I dont support a football team because I dont like watching football they get a little confused but press on by asking what sport I DO like to watch. When I reply none, they dont get it. They simply cannot concieve of a full grown heterosexual man not liking watching sport, it simply does not compute.

Raw nerve.

[Justtristo]

I would describe my atheism as a lack of belief as opposed to a belief.

Although some would consider myself a Scientific Materialist. Because of my assumption that science has done a great job of explain how the universe and everything works and that it will continue to do so in the future among other things.

[HeyItsZeus]

I believe in nothing that is impossible, I can assure you that.

[thesummerqueen]

What exactly DO you expect us to accomplish, Cando?

Besides the numerous atheist scientists (who didn't have to organize as atheists to get shit done) as well as the humanists who are working to better life in third world countries without strings attached (unlike that asshole Tebow who seemed to think circumcision and prayer were more important than pretty much everything else...Oh GOD! If only the foreskin were gone, these people wouldn't be starving and sick!!!).

On a really basic level, I seem to be able to get up, go to work, pay my bills in a reasonable amount of time, get fat off my own delicious cooking, maintain a decent network of virtual and "real life" friends/lovers, have ambitions, goals, and dreams, tend my garden and otherwise act like a fairly normal human being in an otherwise rather ridiculous world, and I consider that to be a daily accomplishment. And I do it without an organized "atheist" structure around me. I even hold doors open for little old ladies.

I'm trying to imagine what our "goals" would be as an actual group. Let's see...we already have separation of church and state thanks to our deist and atheist founding fathers (well, in American anyway)...

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Anyone got any ideas?

The lack of organization amongst atheists is wonderfully freeing - it gives us all the chance to do whatever the hell we want with our time and money. Each person is allowed to decide what's most important to them, and to join up with other people who feel the same, without restriction.

I've heard some theists say that atheists just want to eradicate religion altogether. Is this what you think we should organize for? Most of us simply don't care what the hell you believe as long as you're not hurting another person with it.

[Captain Scarlet]

Ad hominem.

? Suggest you check the definition first, it clearly wasn't. But if you would like to argue informal fallacies, sir your arguments are rich with them.

[Cando]

What exactly DO you expect us to accomplish, Cando?

Besides the numerous atheist scientists (who didn't have to organize as atheists to get shit done) as well as the humanists who are working to better life in third world countries without strings attached (unlike that asshole Tebow who seemed to think circumcision and prayer were more important than pretty much everything else...Oh GOD! If only the foreskin were gone, these people wouldn't be starving and sick!!!).

On a really basic level, I seem to be able to get up, go to work, pay my bills in a reasonable amount of time, get fat off my own delicious cooking, maintain a decent network of virtual and "real life" friends/lovers, have ambitions, goals, and dreams, tend my garden and otherwise act like a fairly normal human being in an otherwise rather ridiculous world, and I consider that to be a daily accomplishment. And I do it without an organized "atheist" structure around me. I even hold doors open for little old ladies.

I'm trying to imagine what our "goals" would be as an actual group. Let's see...we already have separation of church and state thanks to our deist and atheist founding fathers (well, in American anyway)...

...

...

...

...

Anyone got any ideas?

The lack of organization amongst atheists is wonderfully freeing - it gives us all the chance to do whatever the hell we want with our time and money. Each person is allowed to decide what's most important to them, and to join up with other people who feel the same, without restriction.

I've heard some theists say that atheists just want to eradicate religion altogether. Is this what you think we should organize for? Most of us simply don't care what the hell you believe as long as you're not hurting another person with it.

I'm an elitist snob, but if I wasn't, and if I were to fraternise with an infidel, it would be with you. You're smokin'.

[thesummerqueen]

I'm an elitist snob, but if I wasn't, and if I were to fraternise with an infidel, it would be with you. You're smokin'.

Oh my, the things you miss out by being a theist. The religious ones are never really fun anyway.

Grow up. My people wrote the book on being elitist snobs.

[Cando]

I'm an elitist snob, but if I wasn't, and if I were to fraternise with an infidel, it would be with you. You're smokin'.

Haha, you're so witty. That really tickled me. And thanks for the compliment.

No worries my dear. There's plenty more where that came from.

[coffeeveritas]

I don't so much believe but instead have weird ideas.

One of my favourites and just as unfalsifiable as any religion is that reincarnation is true and that when we die, not only can we come back as any sentient entity in the Cosmos but we also are not limited by time. So, for my next lifetime, I could quite easily come back as someone who lived in the 10th century just as easily as I could come back as someone in the 22nd century.

This then poses the possibility that every single conscious lifeform that has ever been and will ever be is in fact the same person constantly getting reincarnated until they have been everyone.

So, if we are all then the same person the only question is, have I been you yet or is that still to come?

Wow, that is fascinating, I have heard stuff like this before, and apparently so has someone else in the forum. I hadn't considered that Atheism does leave room for forms of reincarnation beliefs and, now that I think about it, Buddhist beliefs (I'm sorry, I'm just used to the term "belief" I believe you used the the term "idea"). This very much underlines the point this thread is making about "Atheism" not being a unified body with a code of belief. Typically the assumption on behalf of Christians would be that Atheists are all Naturalists, but clearly many have ideas about things beyond what we can observe scientifically. Very interesting Darwinian, thank you for sharing.