The Religion of Atheism

Not judging, just say'n.
ps It's 'whether' and not 'weather'

IMO a religion "ought" to invoke a deity (unless you are into Scientology that is!)
I suppose you could say watching Hollywood "stars" is a form of religion too.
I know the definition of "religion" is huge, but that's how I would frame it - involving
gods or a God.

 

The hair color of bald.
The constellation of a starless sky.
The flavor of starvation.
The religion of atheism.

What do they all have in common?

 

Not sure what you are getting at.
As I see it, "Atheism" is a belief in the nothingness of life.
It's still a "belief" though. And with it must come the attendant
presumptions - the universe created itself/for no reason/my life
has no reason/I die without hope.

ps This Russel guy and "Men fear thought as they fear nothing else on earth"
I get suspicious of people who go on like this - I wonder if the thought that
man fears might be his own way of thinking.

 

It seems to me, that the mental gymnastics taken to distance themselves from a term is an attempt to take a philosophical 'high road', where the atheist is not saddled with mere beliefs, or opinions, like the rest of humanity. I call it the snowflake effect, as they wish their opinions/beliefs about the nature of the universe to be on some higher plane, than everyone else.

There IS an Objective Reality, regarding origins, and the nature of the universe.

There is a simple dichotomy of possibility:
1. Intelligent Design
2. Naturalism

Every imaginable scenario for origins of life, man, and the universe is one OR the other.

Goddidit, or Nobodydidit.

Now regarding BELIEFS, about these 2 possibilities, there are a great number of beliefs and opinions. They can be:
1. Absolutely right
2. Absolutely wrong
3. Partially right and/or wrong

We have no way of 'knowing,' with our current knowledge base, if any of the beliefs about the nature of the universe are right, wrong, or partial. So the dogmatic insistence of some, who adamantly demand that their view is Absolute Truth, is nothing but delusion.. there is no way to prove or disprove the basic beliefs about origins. They have become religious dogmatists, and worse, religious bigots, who attack, censor, and demean those with different opinions.

So the 'religion' of Atheistic Naturalism has become just another dogmatic, intolerant, and bigoted religious belief, in the storied history of man.

 

A false equivalence?

Bald, starless skies, and starvation are empirically verifiable facts. Atheism is not. It is a belief about the philosophical nature of the universe, and can rightfully be defined as a 'religious' belief. It is not a fact of science, nor something you can prove or disprove.. it is a religious/philosophical opinion, nothing more. It cannot be correlated to facts like baldness or emptiness. It is NOT, 'nothing', but is a claim about the nature of man, life, and the universe.

Why the obsession with distancing from a term? Because it is used as a derogatory pejorative by militant atheists? Because they cannot accept that they, too, only have AN OPINION about something they cannot possibly know?

 

..and, of course, the BELIEF of atheism does involve God or gods, making it an equally valid religious opinion.

 

.. do you state this with certainty?

 

Atheism is merely the lack of belief in a god. It doesn't mean they believe in the nothingness of life. At heart, everyone is an atheist to some belief. If not believing in something, is a religion, then you are a "Non-believer of Zeus", "Non-believer of Odin", "Non-believer of Cthulhu", "Non-believer of Brahma", "Non-believer of the Buddha", etc... So basically, we all are members of thousands of different religions, which is totally ridiculous.

And again, atheism is merely the lack of belief in a god. It is not about how the universe started, or if life has any meaning, that is left to the individual.

What Mr. Russel should have said is "Men fear thought, that contradicts their beliefs, as they fear nothing else on Earth". This is where censorship, anti-science and religious wars come from.

 

Nope faith is acceptance without reason. One can have good rational reasons for picking their values. Look at for instance some of the scientific research on the origins of altruism.

 

That is only your position unsupported by evidence or definition.

 

You are responsible for the course your life takes. Not god, not fate, not even unicorns.

 

Atheism is the lack of belief in a god. Nothing more, nothing less. It has nothing to do the the philosophical nature of the universe, it is merely not seeing evidence for a god. A child not taught about god is an atheist. Not because of their belief about the philosophical nature of the universe, but because you can't believe in something that you don't know even exits (in the literal sense, not the metaphysical sense). If you tell the child about god and they child believes you, then the child is no longer an atheist (at least about your god), however if the child asks for proof and you cannot give it and he/she won't believe you, then that child is still an atheist.

You assume that the belief in a god is the default, but it is not because the belief in god has to be taught, if it is not taught, then the person won't believe in god, which is atheism, not a religion.

The reason atheists distance themselves from the term is because it is inaccurate, like saying bald is a hair color.

Atheism is not so much about disbelief in god, as it is a disbelief in the proof given that god exists. Atheists are not disbelieving god out of spite toward you or your god, but because you have not offered any tangible proof that god exists. Also, something that cannot be proven or disproven to exist, is no different than something that does not exist. I could say an invisible, intangible dragon lives in my garage, but even though you cannot disprove it, it does not mean it exists, nor should you believe it does. You should ask for proof and refuse to believe in it until you get it.

 

I emboldened the problem in this....what YOU SEE is not relevant to what I am.

 

Atheism is only the lack of belief in god or gods. There is no requirement to be nihilistic, one could just as easily be existential. When it comes to how the universe came to be, it would be reasonable to conclude that we don't know based upon available information, not make up imaginary friends to explain it.

An example of my approach is this. I have been told that there are near-death experiences where the person was able to see things as they died that they could not physically see with their dying body, the whole floating up phenomenon. I have not verified whether this is actually true, but even if true this does not prove to me that there's an afterlife, let alone a god. It could be a transient thing as the resonance of consciousness fades away, a sort of quantum echo before final death, or it could be a soul, or something else. The rational thing to do is to accept that we don't know, though it does provide some semblance of hope.

 

76 pages now, and religion continues to be, by definition, NOT a religion. It continues to mean, lack of belief in a god or gods.

 

Nevermind..

Atheists are obviously not like other humans, who have opinions about many things.. some of which are mysterious, unknown, and have gripped humanity for thousands of years.

These same irrational, absurd, pointless arguments and distinctions are made ad nauseum.

So fine. You are not like everyone else, with a belief or opinion about the nature of man, life, and the universe. You are Special.. and your non-beliefs and non-opinions cannot be compared to the rest of humanity.

 

I guess, on the plus side, that if you can define your beliefs as 'nonreligious!', then you can ridicule and mock other people's beliefs, without being a religious bigot! Since you have no beliefs, you can ridicule and disparage others all you want! You can't be accused of bigotry, because you're not religious! It's a great way to move the goalposts when it suits you, and not be limited by word definitions and reasoning!

And of course, that explains why the militant atheists on the forums are such experts at the use and application of religious mocking! They can't take return fire! Because if you do, that makes you a hateful religionist. When they do it with no restraint and no consequence, it is justified, because 'religious!' people are automatically dehumanized, and should be mocked and punished for their beliefs.

Therefore the fear of the term. It is one of derision and scorn, and to apply it to themselves is unthinkable..

 

It gets worse!

religion

: a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith

cause, check!

principle, check!

or system of

beliefs check!

held to with

ardor check!

and faith check!

Webster seems to think its a religion

someones trying to rewrite the dictionaries

 

So why do neoatheists have such a biggoted hatred for the 'R' word?
If thats not nihilistic then what?

So then if someone believes in JC and does not believe in Pemba they are not a theist but instead they are atheist.

 

"no requirement to be nihilistic" - but it comes, inevitably.
"the universe came to be... we don't know based upon available information" - science
is based upon the study of causes and effects. If something is caused without an effect
then it's a "miracle." The creation of the universe, by definition, is a miracle because the
first cause didn't exist. And secondly, science doesn't believe in 'REASONS' for our being.

 

That was very obvious projection on your part. Do you understand that? Because I think everyone else does.

You just described how you think and act. Being you can't imagine anyone else not being like yourself, you assumed atheists have to think and act like you do.

You're wrong. We are nothing like you. Try to understand that.

As an obvious example of our differences, we don't ever throw snowflake tantrums about how everyone is picking on us. With you, the squealing victim act is your staple tactic. We can debate, so we do. You can't, so you play the victim.

You're getting scary with your projection, being how it implies that you've dehumanized people and want them punished for their beliefs. So, exactly what punishments were you thinking of?

 

There, there.. its ok. You can believe whatever you want.. sorry for implying that you have beliefs, like everyone else...

I'm awful for upsetting your safe space.. just ignore me and repeat after me,

'Theists are religious! Atheists have science!'

You'll feel better after awhile. ..and try to avoid places where different views are expressed.. i can see how they upset you.. somewhere where your non-beliefs can be constantly affirmed would be much better for you...

 

Religion and secularism both employ a form of science.
The biblical follower seeks proof through experience (the bible states
that the believer must experience its claims, otherwise their faith is a
hollow form of belief.) This is the private science.
The secularist has faith that the two ultimate questions can be answered
by science, eventually - how did everything come from nothing, and what
is the purpose of life. Neither of these can be addressed by science. This
is the worldly, corporate science.

 

where did you come up with that?

 

As a "secularist", I should speak up and say that I have exactly no faith in the ability of science to answer these questions, and think it unlikely that science does answer these questions. And I am fine with that.