Any Downside to Atheism?

[musamasoud]

Um...I'm not sure whether you understand what "being taken out of context" means. I didn't take you out of context at all. You might not have meant what I said I thought you meant, but it wasn't taken out of context. If you didn't mean what I thought you did, then you really need to choose your words more carefully.



Congratulations. This might be the weirdest thing I've read all month, and that's saying something.


I would say life has the meaning you want it to. I wouldn't say we're the same thing that comes out of our rears, and I'm not even going to bother trying to figure out your convoluted line of thinking that would lead you to that conclusion.

thats fair... i didn't bother trying to figure out in what context a womans behind has to do with homosexuality!

 

[musamasoud]

So, I take it all of your ideas are this convoluted and nonsensical? Sucks for you, man.

hmm. by your response I can tell you missed the point and took it personally. I was being facetious when I said it sucks for you, because realizing that you share beliefs with a jew can be an unfortunate experience, and for that i apologize.

 

[Magic Man]

thats fair... i didn't bother trying to figure out in what context a womans behind has to do with homosexuality!

Yeah, that would be a tough one to figure out...:areyoucra

 

[Magic Man]

hmm. by your response I can tell you missed the point and took it personally. I was being facetious when I said it sucks for you, because realizing that you share beliefs with a jew can be an unfortunate experience, and for that i apologize.

Wow, you got that I took it personally out of that response? You should write for Fox News with that kind of creativity.

 

[Caladan]

do me a favor... find in the hebrew bible where it uses the words "believe" and "G-d" in the same sentence. let me know when you are done.

I have 2 questions i'm curious about. why would a Jewish member call himself by an Arabic name or refer to himself as 'Jew'?

 

[musamasoud]

I have 2 questions i'm curious about. why would a Jewish member call himself by an Arabic name or refer to himself as 'Jew'?

it is the name of my great grandfather from morocco, who was a very pious man.

 

[Jeremiah]

if you take atheism to be "the belief that g-d does not exist", then yes I am out to mock it and belittle it.

however, if you take atheism to be a skeptical world view where belief in G-d is the result of empirical scientific proof, then I would say to you 2 things:

1. there is merit in this endeavor. and

2. you are not an atheist... in my book you are jewish, or pretty damn close.

i'd just like to mention that the word "Israel" means "to struggle with G-d".

"if you take atheism to be "the belief that g-d does not exist", then yes I am out to mock it and belittle it."

So you are "out" to mock and belittle people who have different views on "God" then you do. Well, I think that effectively proves my prior point.

"however, if you take atheism to be a skeptical world view where belief in G-d is the result of empirical scientific proof"

Atheism is the lack of belief in "God". If one had a "skeptical world view where belief in G-d is the result of empirical scientific proof" then they would not be an atheist they would be a theist.

"you are not an atheist... in my book you are jewish, or pretty damn close. "

If said Jewish individual lacked belief in "God" then they would be atheistic also. If said Jewish individual had belief in "God" then they would be theistic.

Atheism is not a "skeptical world view" or Judaism, it is simply the rejection of the existence of gods or lack of belief in gods; go ahead and look it up. If you can't understand that simple, trivial difference between a person who has a belief in god(s) and one that does not, then I suggest you actually pick up a real book and actually read on the subject. ( I suggest, The Myth of Sisyphus.)

Atheism come in many different flavors and there are several different reasons people are labeled "atheist". Sometimes it is nothing but a byproduct of another unrelated belief and, even, some people, just don't care and are apathetically atheist.

 

[mr.guy]

when it comes to feeding babies, poop is less meaningful than breast milk. no?

And which is more entropic?

 

[Alceste]

its not a theory, its more of an observation... i see it alot but not 100% of the time. i can't help but connect rebelliousness with atheism.

Lol - you "can't help it" despite having every single atheist in this thread tell you flat out that you are wrong - none of us were raised in an overbearing, religious household. Alrighty then. Good luck with that strategy.

p.s. I read your blog post, and it seems like you are really excited about something but I still have no idea what it is. kind of reminds me of someone on mescaline.

If you have no idea what it is I'm talking about, I can't help but suspect your faith is not working for you. I'm sorry to hear it. The payoff of faith should be spiritual bliss (although I am living proof that faith is not required). I can't see the point of any spiritual path which does not lead to ecstatic experiences like the one I described.

 

[Alceste]

you know, back in those days, the phrase "do you believe in G-d" just did not compute. its like as if today someone asked you point blank, "do you believe that you exist?" ummm, its not really a matter of believing because you don't have to make any leaps of faith to figure out if you really exist, you just know it. if someone tried to argue that you don't exist, you could show them by making your fist exist in their face. that simple.

What a load of nonsense. Where do you think the word "atheism" comes from?

"With reason did the Athenians adjudge Diagoras guilty of atheism, in that he not only divulged the Orphic doctrine, and published the mysteries of Eleusis and of the Cabiri, and chopped up the wooden statue of Hercules to boil his turnips, but openly declared that there was no God at all." (4th century BC.)

wiki.

Skepticism about supernatural claims has been around for as long as supernatural claims have been around. The assumption that there were some "good old days" when everybody believed something ridiculous despite evidence to the contrary is one of the most annoying and inaccurate characteristics of religious mythologies.

The human intellect has not evolved along with our expanding technology (there hasn't been the time). We are operating with exactly the same equipment we had in the days when we were hunter-gatherers. To suggest that there was a point in the lifespan of homo sapiens sapiens when our ancestors were not capable of reason is simply ridiculous.

it really shows the difference in concepts between G-d today and G-d of yesterday. the tetragrammaton reflects the concept of yesterday as it simultaneously means "was, is, and will be". if that is all its really about, whats the argument?

this was a fundamental part of Abrahams language and he understood it. its hard to understand because most of us are not like the hardcore polytheists of olden days, but the concept that everything is one, that G-d is one, is simply revolutionary. that was Abrahams ginormous step forward.

The Jains have been telling us everything is one for much longer. And without belief in god/s too!

 

[Cobblestones]

Skepticism about supernatural claims has been around for as long as supernatural claims have been around.

Indeed, the presence of supernatural claims necessitates the skepticism thereof. However, unlike things like gravity and spacetime, in the 100,000+ thousand years that rational man has existed there has not yet been a rational demonstration that gods exist.

 

[Smoke]

realizing that you share beliefs with a jew can be an unfortunate experience

What the hell?

 

[Caladan]

hmm. by your response I can tell you missed the point and took it personally. I was being facetious when I said it sucks for you, because realizing that you share beliefs with a jew can be an unfortunate experience, and for that i apologize.

Allow me to give you an objective observation and feedback. I have been trying to follow your posts in this thread, and if you are trying to present yourself to the forum (as a new member) in a questionable way, you're doing a splendid job. but if you joined this forum with sincere interest to contribute to our discussions, then por-favor give yourself a reality check, you need to slow down.
מה ניסגר עם אנשים.

What the hell?

I second that.

 

[darkendless]

if you take atheism to be "the belief that g-d does not exist", then yes I am out to mock it and belittle it.

Atheists aren't the ones talking about supernatural people in the sky champ, remember that.

I still find it amusing how repulsed people can get by atheism because it challenges their precious books.

Bibles are the most controversial books ever written and have become somewhat detrimental to the human race depending on which aspect is foregrounded.

 

[dogsgod]

if you take atheism to be "the belief that g-d does not exist", then yes I am out to mock it and belittle it.

I think it humorous that you mock and belittle the non-belief of your little god friend. I don't even know what your little god friend consists of but I have a suspicion that it consists of whatever you believe it consists of. I don't know how you define your god, it varies from person to person, so I can't possibly know what it is that does not exist but I do know this, I'm an atheist because I don't share in god beliefs of any kind, I don't fantasize about gods, I don't define them, that is for the preoccupation of believers. So have fun with that, knock yourself out.

 

[Vile Atheist]

if you take atheism to be "the belief that g-d does not exist", then yes I am out to mock it and belittle it.

Good luck, friend.

 

[Alceste]

Atheists aren't the ones talking about supernatural people in the sky champ, remember that.

I still find it amusing how repulsed people can get by atheism because it challenges their precious books.

Bibles are the most controversial books ever written and have become somewhat detrimental to the human race depending on which aspect is foregrounded.

I'm totally cool with "love your neighbour", and I think it's done some good.

 

[The Wizard]

Actually I believe that surveys support this assertion. On average, believers are happier than non-believers. However, as George Bernard Shaw observed, "The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one."

I support the above, thanks.

The common flaw with many atheists is that most cannot accept that a belief causes measurable and proven results in a person's Life. Beliefs cause results! Hence, my previous post.Then when these people get to "god beliefs" they only want to focus on the negative side of results, which proves nothing.

So, if a person wants to assert that a certain belief is of no value, they may want to make a full account to support that statement. Many "non-believers" see no reason to believe in anything because they have never believed anything strong enough to cause results or to make a difference in their Life. Thanks for reading.

 

[darkendless]

I'm totally cool with "love your neighbour", and I think it's done some good.

Good in theory, pretty average in practice

 

[JMorris]

Originally Posted by darkendless

Bibles are the most controversial books ever written and have become somewhat detrimental to the human race depending on which aspect is foregrounded.

i think humans are detrimental to the human race. and humans created religion, so........