Atheism: A belief?

[Revoltingest]

Nobody enjoys being misrepresented. I don't believe it is "emotional fervour". The atheists I've seen entering into the debate seem to me to be incredibly patient and unperturbed in the face of much smarmy bigotry and incessant misrepresentation. Kind of like Mormons, generally.

Hogwash! We're rude & snarling dirtbags compared to Mormons. Well, I am, anyway.

 

[Alceste]

As far as I know it still can not be proven that God does not exist. Since all atheists believe god does not exist, unless they can provide proof it is a belief.

What I have found is the ones that claim atheism is not a belief use the proof that they don't have to prove god exists like you don't have to prove flying unicorns exist. It is the people that believe in God that have to prove it.

Basically it translates to

You only have to provide proof for things you know are already proven.

Not very rational.

Case in point. Bob has been here long enough to know his first paragraph is wrong, yet he says it anyway.

Annoying and inexplicable, yes. Upsetting, no.

 

[Alceste]

Hogwash! We're rude & snarling dirtbags compared to Mormons. Well, I am, anyway.

You're a rude, snarling dirtbag compared to everyone, my love.

 

[Alceste]

And again...here we go....no one wants to get got holding the bag.

Any declaration is a belief.

If you say yeah....it's because you think you should.
If you say nay.... it's because you think you should refrain.

Either way....
Your words and deeds are the result of your declaration....your belief.

If you happen to be wrong.....too bad....later on.

Treating your nay saying as a 'non-belief'...is a cop out.

You can't say you don't 'believe'...without using the word...'believe'.

And such words have no consequence?

When you make argument and display it as we do here...
you are influencing someone else's life.

So the atheist argues hard to 'the belief' there is no God.
The consequence?....no 'belief'...no continuance.

Consequence again?...yeah.
If your words derail someone else...you can be held accountable.

If you insist there is no life after death...
you'd better be right.

And this: incessant threats of being punished by supernatural forces for not believing somebody else's silly fairy tales are real. Annoying and unfathomable, yes. Upsetting, no.

 

[Thief]

And this: threats of being punished by supernatural forces for not believing fairy tales are real. Annoying, yes. Upsetting, no.

Good...glad to see you've got what it takes to no longer be...upset.

And it's not punishment.
It's reaction.

Of course....you don't believe and therefore don't really care.

But let's say...you're wrong...and your postings here influenced someone
else's son or daughter.
Your words then change the entire life and living of that offspring.

In the end....we stand up from our dust.
And life after death proves itself.

If my children fail for cause of something you said.....
what then of you?

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you....is fair warning.
Deception is insidious.
It is difficult to remedy....as some people insist on proof...rather than faith.

 

[Alceste]

Good...glad to see you've got what it takes to no longer be...upset.

And it's not punishment.
It's reaction.

Of course....you don't believe and therefore don't really care.

But let's say...you're wrong...and your postings here influenced someone
else's son or daughter.
Your words then change the entire life and living of that offspring.

In the end....we stand up from our dust.
And life after death proves itself.

If my children fail for cause of something you said.....
what then of you?

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you....is fair warning.
Deception is insidious.
It is difficult to remedy....as some people insist on proof...rather than faith.

If anything I say has the effect of bringing someone else's children out of the darkness of rude superstition and into the light of reason, great! I can't imagine a greater honour that being responsible for liberating a young mind.

What becomes of you, though, when children read your belligerent threats of divine retribution and are repelled from your faith? Will your god punish you for placing yourself in his throne to pass judgment on your neighbour?

 

[Thief]

If anything I say has the effect of bringing someone else's children out of the darkness of rude superstition and into the light of reason, great! I can't imagine a greater honour that being responsible for liberating a young mind.

What becomes of you, though, when children read your belligerent threats of divine retribution and are repelled from your faith? Will your god punish you for placing yourself in his throne to pass judgment on your neighbour?

Nay to all.

It's all reaction.
If there is life after death there is consequence all around.

Go ahead...say as you please.

 

[waitasec]

my atheism is founded on the lack of empirical evidence based on the human definition of any god...

belief:
mental acceptance of and conviction in the truth, actuality, or validity of something

i have no problem with that definition. truth, actuality and validity has been confirmed by the lack of empirical evidence of any definition.

religious faith:
belief that does not rest on logical proof or material evidence

my belief rests on the absence of empirical evidence...
if someone said, 'it snowed last night' and i look outside and there is no evidence of snow
then i would say, "no it didn't, there no evidence of snow."

 

[bobhikes]

You're essentially claiming that weak atheists don't exist, and that is not true.
.

I'm confused how does weak atheism dismiss the claim. How or why a person does not believe in god does not refute it as a belief. Just because you haven't had any theistic upbringing does not mean you can state that what you do not know is not a belief.

 

[Alceste]

Nay to all.

It's all reaction.
If there is life after death there is consequence all around.

Go ahead...say as you please.

If there's life after death, there is no reason at all to assume you know anything more about it than anybody else. You might be reincarnated, or you might end up brawling with the vikings in Valhalla, or it might be something nobody ever imagined.

 

[Thief]

If there's life after death, there is no reason at all to assume you know anything more about it than anybody else. You might be reincarnated, or you might end up brawling with the vikings in Valhalla, or it might be something nobody ever imagined.

This is correct.

What you have said or done, will put you into such conditions.

 

[LuisDantas]

Good...glad to see you've got what it takes to no longer be...upset.

And it's not punishment.
It's reaction.

It's puerile fearmongering, well beneath true religion.

Of course....you don't believe and therefore don't really care.

Nor should Theists, really. It is detrimental to their faiths to use such asinine "arguments".

 

[waitasec]

If there's life after death, there is no reason at all to assume you know anything more about it than anybody else. You might be reincarnated, or you might end up brawling with the vikings in Valhalla, or it might be something nobody ever imagined.

i agree. the fact of the matter is NO ONE knows...
and really, why is it such a big deal?

 

[LuisDantas]

I'm confused how does weak atheism dismiss the claim. How or why a person does not believe in god does not refute it as a belief.

It's real simple.

Weak atheism is not having the belief in god. It is, therefore, a lack of belief.

Strong atheism, by contrast, is believing that god does not exist. It is just about the weakest conceivable belief (since even theists doubt most gods of other people without a second's thought), but it barely qualifies as a belief.

So atheism in general is the lack of belief in god, which may or may not be accompanied about the belief that it does not exist.

Just because you haven't had any theistic upbringing does not mean you can state that what you do not know is not a belief.

What does this have to do with the subject matter?

 

[Alceste]

This is correct.

What you have said or done, will put you into such conditions.

So what? Our mutual ignorance of what it is like to be dead is not a very interesting topic of conversation.

 

[Thief]

It's puerile fearmongering, well beneath true religion.

I'm not religious.
Did you really have a retort?

Nor should Theists, really. It is detrimental to their faiths to use such asinine "arguments".

I don't mind objection...but I don't see that you really do.

Fear has little to do with it.

It's all reaction.

 

[Alceste]

i agree. the fact of the matter is NO ONE knows...
and really, why is it such a big deal?

It isn't.

No matter what you do or believe or say, somebody somewhere has thought up an afterlife where you will be rewarded for it and somebody else has thought up another where you will be punished.

 

[Thief]

So what? Our mutual ignorance of what it is like to be dead is not a very interesting topic of conversation.

The angels will not allow me a plea of ignorance.

You are speaking for yourself.

Of course they will ask if I told anyone else.
They will then come looking for you.

 

[Alceste]

Fear has little to do with it.

It's all reaction.

And how will your god react to you placing yourself in his divine throne of judgment?

 

[LuisDantas]

Fear has little to do with it.

It's all reaction.

It is still puerile, arbitrary, pointless and destructive fearmongering. And that is really all the objection that anyone needs to such an attitude.

Belief in God is legitimate, but not for such fear-based reasons.