What do people think "atheist" means?

[psychoslice]

What do people think "atheist" means?.........people will think what they think about atheist, just as atheist think what they think about religion, unless one is either, one will not understand the other, so we have silly arguments.

 

[ThePainefulTruth]

What do people think "atheist" means?.........people will think what they think about atheist, just as atheist think what they think about religion, unless one is either, one will not understand the other, so we have silly arguments.

But it isn't a silly argument, it's a stupid argument because one side has to be intentionally blind not to see the definitions in dictionaries yet still ignore them. People need to be held accountable for the disingenuousness if we're to be a rational species. Though I understand that's not the objective of all.

 

[Willamena]

But it isn't a silly argument, it's a stupid argument because one side has to be intentionally blind not to see the definitions in dictionaries yet still ignore them.

Technically, both sides have to be (and often are).

 

[psychoslice]

But it isn't a silly argument, it's a stupid argument because one side has to be intentionally blind not to see the definitions in dictionaries yet still ignore them. People need to be held accountable for the disingenuousness if we're to be a rational species. Though I understand that's not the objective of all.

Religion is a personal thing, for me it simply means our connection with the Source, as we are all One, call that Source God or whatever, it doesn't matter, atheism cannot have this connection because they are too mind orientated, they only believe what the mind can understand, but in truth the mind understands nothing , it only knows the past, or what its been told by others. Religion as I said is a personal experience, I'm not talking about organized religion, that is also of the mind and nothing more than second-hand knowledge, true religion again is self evident, self experienced, it is yours and no one else's, as a scientist Ernestine realized this inner connection to all there is, but he didn't believe in a personal god.

 

[Kartari]

An atheist is, quite simply, someone who lacks belief in the existence of deities. Only a "hard" or "strong" atheist (a subset of atheists) actually asserts with believed certainty that no deities exist. Other atheists ("soft" or "weak" atheists) make no such assertion; instead, they simply disbelieve in the existence of gods. Most people are atheistic in some sense or another, loosely speaking. For instance, Christians, Jews, and Muslims are typically atheistic towards all gods except the one particular one each believes in, while a practitioner of Asatru (correct me if I'm wrong) would be atheistic towards all gods save those of the Norse pantheon. And since atheism is not a belief system (which indicates a set of beliefs, in the plural tense), nor even a single belief technically speaking (it is technically a lack of belief), atheists run the gamut of beliefs beyond the scope of all deities. Some might be generally skeptical of anything supernatural (e.g. materialists), while other atheists might believe in things ranging from astrology to reincarnation or rebirth.

While we're at it... An agnostic asserts that it is impossible to know if deities exist or not. And a non-theist is one who is entirely unconcerned with the existence or non-existence of deities.

 

[ThePainefulTruth]

Religion is a personal thing, for me it simply means our connection with the Source, as we are all One, call that Source God or whatever, it doesn't matter, atheism cannot have this connection because they are too mind orientated, they only believe what the mind can understand, but in truth the mind understands nothing , it only knows the past, or what its been told by others. Religion as I said is a personal experience, I'm not talking about organized religion, that is also of the mind and nothing more than second-hand knowledge, true religion again is self evident, self experienced, it is yours and no one else's, as a scientist Ernestine realized this inner connection to all there is, but he didn't believe in a personal god.

We can all have our beliefs. But whether you share them in a religion or keep them to yourself, you use them to come up with a moral code, and then it's no longer personal. Morality is the basis for law, which is why we need to get it right.

An atheist is, quite simply, someone who lacks belief in the existence of deities.

(Sigh), Pete and repeat. Asked and answered in my last post.

 

[Kartari]

Hi Paineful,

(Sigh), Pete and repeat. Asked and answered in my last post.

Maybe so. But I believe my wording is more explicit. And also, in my experience, the real meaning is too often misunderstood not to be worth repeating a few times.

 

[psychoslice]

psychoslice said: ↑
Religion is a personal thing, for me it simply means our connection with the Source, as we are all One, call that Source God or whatever, it doesn't matter, atheism cannot have this connection because they are too mind orientated, they only believe what the mind can understand, but in truth the mind understands nothing , it only knows the past, or what its been told by others. Religion as I said is a personal experience, I'm not talking about organized religion, that is also of the mind and nothing more than second-hand knowledge, true religion again is self evident, self experienced, it is yours and no one else's, as a scientist Ernestine realized this inner connection to all there is, but he didn't believe in a personal god.

ThePainefulTruth; We can all have our beliefs. But whether you share them in a religion or keep them to yourself, you use them to come up with a moral code, and then it's no longer personal. Morality is the basis for law, which is why we need to get it right.

The religion that I talk about don't have moral codes, my religion comes from within each one of us, whatever so called moral codes we come up with is our personal code that we live by, I personally don't need to be told not to murder someone else, its not my way of thinking or living, I see that we all are one, and therefore I wouldn't hurt someone who is one with me, its that simple.

 

[ThePainefulTruth]

Maybe so. But I believe my wording is more explicit. And also, in my experience, the real meaning is too often misunderstood not to be worth repeating a few times.

Instead of "lack a belief in God" you said, "lacks a belief in deities". I can only believe you're attempting to try my patience and wear me out. Here's a list of logical fallacies, find the one(s) you're using and get back to me:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fallacies

 

[Sees]

An atheist is, quite simply, someone who lacks belief in the existence of deities. Only a "hard" or "strong" atheist (a subset of atheists) actually asserts with believed certainty that no deities exist. Other atheists ("soft" or "weak" atheists) make no such assertion; instead, they simply disbelieve in the existence of gods. Most people are atheistic in some sense or another, loosely speaking. For instance, Christians, Jews, and Muslims are typically atheistic towards all gods except the one particular one each believes in, while a practitioner of Asatru (correct me if I'm wrong) would be atheistic towards all gods save those of the Norse pantheon. And since atheism is not a belief system (which indicates a set of beliefs, in the plural tense), nor even a single belief technically speaking (it is technically a lack of belief), atheists run the gamut of beliefs beyond the scope of all deities. Some might be generally skeptical of anything supernatural (e.g. materialists), while other atheists might believe in things ranging from astrology to reincarnation or rebirth.

While we're at it... An agnostic asserts that it is impossible to know if deities exist or not. And a non-theist is one who is entirely unconcerned with the existence or non-existence of deities.

As far as the Ásatrú part - some will be atheistic towards other Gods but I can safely say most will not be. That our path is The True Path and our Gods are the The Real Gods isn't really a popular conception. It's against the general principles and spirit of the traditions you could say, past and present.

 

[ThePainefulTruth]

The religion that I talk about don't have moral codes, my religion comes from within each one of us, whatever so called moral codes we come up with is our personal code that we live by, I personally don't need to be told not to murder someone else, its not my way of thinking or living, I see that we all are one, and therefore I wouldn't hurt someone who is one with me, its that simple.

The impetus for morality does come from within all of us. It's our self-awareness which makes you realize what killing/enslaving/robbing a person would be like because we can imagine him doing that to you. Whether you justify your evil by lying to yourself, or not, is the simple foundation of all morality. You can say it comes from your God, and in a way it does, through the self-awareness you've been given. I'd reword your last sentence: "I can see that we all are ones, individuals, equals, with equal rights to life, liberty, property and self-defense. All immorality, all evil, is justifying a moral/legal double-standard for yourself over someone else.

It takes great will power and practice not to lie to ourselves.

 

[`mud]

BUT......Ernestine also said "God doesn't throw dice"
or was that the other guy.
I think he's rolling snake-eyes lately !
Just being funny, loved the post
~
'mud

 

[Cephus]

I would disagree, of course.

Knowledge is a true and justified belief.

But only so far as that knowledge can actually be externally demonstrated. Just having an unsupported belief that your so-called knowledge is true doesn't actually make it true and claiming that's how it works is painfully circular.

 

[LegionOnomaMoi]

An atheist is, quite simply, someone who lacks belief in the existence of deities

How many words in any language refer to "quite simply" a lack of belief in anything? Virtually none. There are no words for lack of belief in unicorns, lack of belief in elves, lack of belief in biomedical model of psychiatry, lack of belief in quantum consciousness, lack of belief in stupid asinine assertions made by ignorant members of online discussion boards (such as yours truly), etc. Why the special treatment for atheism?

 

[ThePainefulTruth]

BUT......Ernestine also said "God doesn't throw dice"
or was that the other guy.
I think he's rolling snake-eyes lately !

There's a theory that scientists have been trying desperately to avoid which shows that God doesn't throw dice. It's called the Transactional Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics (TIQM), keep an eye out for it. It's been around for 30+ years, but "when you've eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable,......."

I think Doyle, without knowing it, must've written that specifically about TIQM--the ultimate improbability--operating both backward and forward in time.

 

[`mud]

I had tea with ole Al, and others, in Akron on about Sept 55 or 56.
had a letter...lost it.
Just the tea and the memory.
Science fair thingy...good memory there.
What's the OP ?
~
'mud

 

[ThePainefulTruth]

I had tea with ole Al, and others, in Akron on about Sept 55 or 56.
had a letter...lost it.
Just the tea and the memory.
Science fair thingy...good memory there.
What's the OP ?

Well, it must've been interesting since he died in Apr. '55. You sure it was just tea?

 

[McBell]

Lacking a belief in God is saying you have no belief or that you aren't a theist--that's all. It still contradicts those who do believe in God no matter how you try to cage it or play with words to rephrase it. If you don't believe the issue of the existence of God is relevant, that's something else entirely. You'd be a materialist or a nihilist. And if you can't say whether God exists or not, you're an agnostic.
I thought atheists had given up attempting to use that phrase that was the result of someone's slight-of-hand over 20 years ago. It became embarrassingly transparent even to neophyte atheists and it had stopped being used in Phil. 101--and the rest couldn't keep it straight if they lacked belief in God or disbelieved in God or didn't believe in God, what the differences were, and which they were supposed to parrot. Sometimes poetic justice does exist.

So basically, you dislike the the word atheist being used for someone who merely lacks a belief in god because you are to lazy to keep the definitions straight?

Whine all you like.
The fact is that someone who lacks a belief in god is an atheist.

 

[McBell]

Morality is the basis for law, which is why we need to get it right.

Since when?

 

[McBell]

Instead of "lack a belief in God" you said, "lacks a belief in deities". I can only believe you're attempting to try my patience and wear me out. Here's a list of logical fallacies, find the one(s) you're using and get back to me:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fallacies

Wow.
Now you want others to do your homework?