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Is Atheism a claim to the nature of reality and the universe?

Altfish

Altfish

Veteran Member
Shushersbedamned said:
Because it insinuates plenty about it simply by existing.
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It insinuates precisely NOTHING.

I don't know how many times on here this has to be stated but Atheism is simply a lack of belief in gods.
It says nothing about the universe, nature, evolution, plastic cups, glasses cases or anything else you care to mention.

Just get over it.
 
Shushersbedamned

Shushersbedamned

Well-Known Member
Altfish said:
It insinuates precisely NOTHING.

I don't know how many times on here this has to be stated but Atheism is simply a lack of belief in gods.
It says nothing about the universe, nature, evolution, plastic cups, glasses cases or anything else you care to mention.

Just get over it.
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Lack of belief in god in itself says a ton about universe, nature, evolution, plastic cups and if there is such a thing as glasses cases it says a lot about that too.
 
Brickjectivity

Brickjectivity

Veteran Member
Staff member
Premium Member
People are not rational. We are controlled through our hearts and only think we are rational. I admit some people are more rational than normal, but people are usually not. Look at how relationships work. People don't fall in love with their brains. Sometimes we are sad, happy or angry with no apparent cause. We start out young, energetic and clueless. Why do we not all have broken legs since we run so carelessly?

I think atheism is partly a reaction to corruption or pain, and some things I count as faith in God even when rationality calls it atheism. When someone is kind that is faith. When people see a problem, but then they see religion ignoring the problem then they consider leaving. They stop believing in that place and those people. This is only natural. Sure it can seem rational, but its about how people feel. Maybe they just don't feel inspired by church or connected in their mosque or find synogogue too annoying. Maybe they are bored. Maybe for them God opens their hearts to a different church such as the church of the stars. What after all is atheism if not a rejection of idolatry?
 
Altfish

Altfish

Veteran Member
Shushersbedamned said:
Atheism isn't capable of telling - and even if it was I wish it spoke to someone else.
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It doesn't wish to tell anyone anything.
Can't you understand that it is a name, a word, a description of someone who doesn't believe in gods. It says nothing else.
Yes, they may (or may not) believe in evolution, they may consider (or not) the Big Bang a plausible explanation, they may also think that dogs are better than cats ... or vice-versa.
 
Brickjectivity

Brickjectivity

Veteran Member
Staff member
Premium Member
I respect rationality, but I think atheism is neither rational nor irrational. It starts with feeling as with anything else, religion included. The biggest problem I see in religions are claims of rationality, but atheist claims are no less religious if they claim to be atheist purely on a rational basis. A religionist senses there is something wrong with such a claim when it comes without acknowledgement of feeling. "I just feel like an atheist, and it seems correct to me" is more realistic than "I am atheist because I am rational." No I think there is something off. Anybody can be rational but feel differently and therefore come up with different results so very thick are the emotions and inherent blocks in perception.
 
dfnj

dfnj

Well-Known Member
paarsurrey said:
I believe it is a wrong and or unjustified belief, please. I believe It is a belief unnecessarity coined, if they have no evidence, they should have not coined it and would have instead struggled to know G-d, please. Right, please?
Regards
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You are completely wrong. Please, pay attention. This is what atheist claim atheism is:

Atheism is one thing: A lack of belief in gods.
Atheism is not an affirmative belief that there is no god nor does it answer any other question about what a person believes. It is simply a rejection of the assertion that there are gods. Atheism is too often defined incorrectly as a belief system. To be clear: Atheism is not a disbelief in gods or a denial of gods; it is a lack of belief in gods.
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Anyone with half a brain knows you can't prove a negative. Here are statements you can never prove:
1. God does not exist
2. Science will never know everything.
3. Theist will never understand what atheism means.
Each of these statements MAY be true in the future. We just don't know what the future will be.

As far as atheism being "wrong" or "unjustified" is clearly an opinion or subjective judgment on your part. Having no belief in God or gods is neither "right" nor "wrong" in the same way having a belief in the existence of God is neither "right" nor "wrong".

Atheism is certainly justified because there is no agreeable evidence for the existence of God. If I hold an apple in my hand and you and I both look at it then I can say "apple". There is no denying the existence of the apple. But you can't grab me by the hand and bring me over to an old man sitting in a chair and say, "Here is God." God doesn't exist in reality as far as I know. You cannot experience God the same way you and I can experience an apple. As far as I can tell God only exists in our use of words and language. God is just a word.

Now many people claim ALL of existence is evidence for God. But this is, again, an opinion or subjective judgment. Many people look at all of existence and do not have the belief that it is evidence for the existence of God. Another thing people do is claim an experience in their life is evidence for the existence of God. Since we cannot share experiences, especially ones in the past, again, it is an opinion or subjective judgment by someone to believe one of their own experiences is evidence for the existence of God.

Now here is my big ax to grind with theists. I believe the only reason why theists talk about atheism at all is because their faith in God is so fragile. People have faith in God precisely because there is not a single shred of evidence. People CHOOSE to have faith because there is no evidence. Having faith is a choice not a decision. Decisions are based on reasons or evidence. Some choices are choices made without reason or evidence. So whenever I hear any theist talk about atheism I instantly think their faith is weak. It's really pathetic if the strength of your own convictions only comes from other people agreeing with you. If you see the Buddha on the road kill him. Meaning, absolute authority comes from within, If the strength of your own convictions is not coming from within then you are not paying attention. If you are going to choose to be a theist you have to mean it with all your heart.

So which is it, are you going to prove #3 wrong or are you one of the theists with weak faith?
 
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FlyingTeaPot

FlyingTeaPot

Irrational Rationalist. Educated Fool.
Shushersbedamned said:
It is certainly not a response either. In order for there to be a response there should be a reaction, but atheism doesn't have the capability to react at all.
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Atheism is a position on the veracity of a claim. In order to have a position, one must react to the claim.
 
FlyingTeaPot

FlyingTeaPot

Irrational Rationalist. Educated Fool.
Shushersbedamned said:
It is certainly not a response either. In order for there to be a response there should be a reaction, but atheism doesn't have the capability to react at all.
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To expand upon my earlier message, your post would make sense in a perfect vacuum. Atheism would be the default position were it not for the prevalence of religion. In fact, I'm not sure we would even have to have a word to describe the position of disbelief if there were no belief to respond to.
 
Thermos aquaticus

Thermos aquaticus

Well-Known Member
paarsurrey said:
I believe it to be otherwise, the Atheists hide under this pretext as a rhetoric. If they would have been so fond of the "evidences" themselves they wouldn't have entered into this faith/no-faith, stance/no-stance, position/no-position world-view/no-world view called Atheism in the first place. This is enough hint on their faith/no-faith, stance/no-stance, position/no-position world-view/no-world view whatever called Atheism being an extra-ordinary claim requiring extraordinary "evidences", if they realize. Right, please?
The above is what I believe.
Others are welcome to believe differently with reasons and arguments or without.

Regards
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If someone says that something exists, it is up to that person to supply evidence for that something. It isn't up to skeptics to disprove a person's claim when the person supplies no evidence for their claim.

"Many orthodox people speak as though it were the business of sceptics to disprove received dogmas rather than of dogmatists to prove them. This is, of course, a mistake. If I were to suggest that between the Earth and Mars there is a china teapot revolving about the sun in an elliptical orbit, nobody would be able to disprove my assertion provided I were careful to add that the teapot is too small to be revealed even by our most powerful telescopes. But if I were to go on to say that, since my assertion cannot be disproved, it is intolerable presumption on the part of human reason to doubt it, I should rightly be thought to be talking nonsense. If, however, the existence of such a teapot were affirmed in ancient books, taught as the sacred truth every Sunday, and instilled into the minds of children at school, hesitation to believe in its existence would become a mark of eccentricity and entitle the doubter to the attentions of the psychiatrist in an enlightened age or of the Inquisitor in an earlier time."--Bertrand Russell
 
dfnj

dfnj

Well-Known Member
FlyingTeaPot said:
To expand upon my earlier message, your post would make sense in a perfect vacuum. Atheism would be the default position were it not for the prevalence of religion. In fact, I'm not sure we would even have to have a word to describe the position of disbelief if there were no belief to respond to.
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The existence of religion doesn't seem to me to matter with regards to atheism. Atheism is just not having something. Not having something is NOT something as you are unwilling to accept. If the word God did not exist all, that would be the atheist view. The only things that exist in reality are those things that have boundaries and can be part of shared live experience. God cannot be a shared live experience like the way people can watch a flock of geese take flight. And God has no boundaries, therefore, God is not a thing.

Contrary to what you are saying, atheism is not an affirmation of God's non-existence. That is YOUR definition. Atheists just don't believe in the existence of God because there's no evidence.
 
Milton Platt

Milton Platt

Well-Known Member
paarsurrey said:
"Atheism is a claim to the nature of reality and the universe" *

Does one mean that every one belonging to Atheism makes this claim automatically or by default, please?

Regards

*Courtesy post #112 from Frater Sisyphus
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Atheism is a lack of belief in any of the proposed gods due to insufficient and/or poor quality of evidence to support belief in the claims. Atheism can play a part in shaping one's opinions about the natural world, but it does not demand any particular viewpoint.
 
Segev Moran

Segev Moran

Well-Known Member
paarsurrey said:
"Atheism is a claim to the nature of reality and the universe" *

Does one mean that every one belonging to Atheism makes this claim automatically or by default, please?

Regards

*Courtesy post #112 from Frater Sisyphus
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No.
Atheism means I don't believe god is real.
Its got nothing to do with the nature of reality.
I can still be an atheist and think our universe is a Hugh chunk of cheese.
 
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