The bright side of Atheism

[Shuttlecraft]

Topic title: The bright side of Atheism
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I bet no atheists let each other die for want of blood transfusions like Jehovah's Witnesses do..

 

[ImmortalFlame]

Topic title: The bright side of Atheism
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I bet no atheists let each other die for want of blood transfusions like Jehovah's Witnesses do..

I'm not sure that's a "bright side" of atheism so much as its a "common sense" side of people in general.

 

[Draka]

Bright sides of atheism:
- Sleeping in on Sundays
- No scripture to memorize
- The joys of pork, shellfish, & cheeseburgers
- No tithing
- Driving cars & using electric lighting on Saturday
- No appeal in martyrdom
- None of those judgmental Emeters

I have all that and I'm a theist. Hmm...

 

[1robin]

I'm not sure that's a "bright side" of atheism so much as its a "common sense" side of people in general.

That's actually the down side to being a JW.

 

[Shuttlecraft]

Atheists have got the gift of an inquisitive mind and burning desire to neatly analyse and explain everything, that's why many atheists are great scientists and knowledge-seekers for the betterment of mankind-
"Use your God-given gifts to serve others" (1 Peter 4:10)

But the downside is that because religion CAN'T be scientifically explained, they feel uncomfortable with it and tend to attack it because they don't understand it..

 

[Revoltingest]

I have all that and I'm a theist. Hmm...

Of course, not all religions suffer from denial of the listed pleasures.
But it is a bright side for many former believers I know.

 

[Revoltingest]

I can sleep till 9:30 and still make church if I even go. Sleeping past 9:30 is a liability not a bright side.

Except for those days when one needs to sleep late, but instead drags oneself out of bed.

Again a liability. It is good to know stuff about things.

We can know the same stuff if we please, but we're not required to.
But there's an issue about knowing mythology qualifies as knowledge...
...we'll avoid that one for now.

No Christian has a single prohibition against any one of these.
Not an issue for 99% of Christians and shouldn't for the rest.

My post was about more than just Xianity (eg, Muslims, Jews, Hindus).

Your sort of like claiming the bright side of forgetting your parachute was the freefell. Maybe but it won't end well.

If you picked the wrong faith, you might just end up being my cell mate in
whatever hell lies ahead. But I've no worries about things which cannot be
rationally planned for.

The "bright side of atheism" isn't about it being advantageous for all.
It's bright for those of us who enjoy this side.

 

[lewisnotmiller]

Atheists have got the gift of an inquisitive mind and burning desire to neatly analyse and explain everything, that's why many atheists are great scientists and knowledge-seekers for the betterment of mankind-
"Use your God-given gifts to serve others" (1 Peter 4:10)

Some are. Some are dimwits. Most are between the two poles. In this there are some similarities with theists, in fact.

 

[Shuttlecraft]

[re scientists]..Some are dimwits. Most are between the two poles. In this there are some similarities with theists, in fact.

Yes, of all the so-called "christians" i've known in my life, only about 5% are what I'd call true Christians, and the other 95% are crackpots, and if they're going to be in heaven i swear to God I don't wanna go!..

PS- in fairness to them, they think the same about me, I sometimes get messages like this when I try to log back into their websites on the religious discussion circuit-
"Your account has been disabled, please do not make any attempt to participate further in any of our Communities"

But there are always plenty more forums where i can poke them through the bars of their cages with a stick to start them screeching and rocking and rolling..

 

[lewisnotmiller]

Well we couldn't find one, so we had to improvise.

Hey, we agree! This thread's gone on for a while, so I finally found a legit excuse to quote myself!!

Atheism actually doesn't give me a damn thing. That's what I like about it. It neither demands, nor promises, nor provides.
It's almost like it doesn't exist at all, ya know?

So I am free to just get on with my life.

 

[1robin]

Except for those days when one needs to sleep late, but instead drags oneself out of bed.

I had a grizzly old Chief who saw me reeling around half drunk at muster time. He told to not be out hooting with the owls if I couldn't sore with the Eagles the next day.

We can know the same stuff if we please, but we're not required to.
But there's an issue about knowing mythology qualifies as knowledge...
...we'll avoid that one for now.

The Bible is "officially" a historical biography, unlike Homer. However even if only a myth we still gain by it's understanding. It is a reasonable argument to claim we should believe it even untrue. It is terrifying to think of a world that acted as if secular morality was true. Everyone acts as if morality has an objective base.

My post was about more than just Xianity (eg, Muslims, Jews, Hindus).

If you get specific your post would be unmanageable.

If you picked the wrong faith, you might just end up being my cell mate in whatever hell lies ahead. But I've no worries about things which cannot be rationally planned for.

IF there is a Hell then neutrality would be the worst possible position. At least I have a 1 in 10,000 shot. AS the great sages "RUSH" said. If you chose not to decide you have still made a choice.

The "bright side of atheism" isn't about it being advantageous for all.
It's bright for those of us who enjoy this side.

Atheism is a net loss in every category. I have everything available to you, plus.

 

[George-ananda]

By rejecting superstition, fatalism, determinism, fear of God and so on.

That's what good Theism does too...

 

[Revoltingest]

I had a grizzly old Chief who saw me reeling around half drunk at muster time. He told to not be out hooting with the owls if I couldn't sore with the Eagles the next day.

The Bible is "officially" a historical biography, unlike Homer. However even if only a myth we still gain by it's understanding. It is a reasonable argument to claim we should believe it even untrue. It is terrifying to think of a world that acted as if secular morality was true. Everyone acts as if morality has an objective base.

If you get specific your post would be unmanageable.

IF there is a Hell then neutrality would be the worst possible position. At least I have a 1 in 10,000 shot. AS the great sages "RUSH" said. If you chose not to decide you have still made a choice.

Atheism is a net loss in every category. I have everything available to you, plus.

Isn't it great that we each may pursue that which calls us!?
We each have what we want, & neither of us envies the other.

Btw, regarding my morality, it isn't true....it's just mine.

 

[1robin]

Isn't it great that we each may pursue that which calls us!?
We each have what we want, & neither of us envies the other.

That wouldn't be the case in the great Atheist utopias. Our Christian forefathers and their Christian forefathers gave us the right to reject their faith.

Btw, regarding my morality, it isn't true....it's just mine.

I know what atheist's say is true. I however have never met one who acted as if it was true. No person I have ever met acted as if morals were social fashions. Many disagree which is which but everyone believes some moral are objective facts (or at least they act as if they believe it). Except maybe psychopaths.

 

[Revoltingest]

That wouldn't be the case in the great Atheist utopias. Our Christian forefathers and their Christian forefathers gave us the right to reject their faith.

I see our constitutional republic (setting aside some governmental problems)
as a utopia for both atheists & believers (the non-theocracy types).

I know what atheist's say is true. I however have never met one who acted as if it was true. No person I have ever met acted as if morals were social fashions. Many disagree which is which but everyone believes some moral are objective facts (or at least they act as if they believe it). Except maybe psychopaths.

Morals & ethics are complex things. I see them as an emergent property of people.
They aren't "true" or fully objective, but objectivity can be applied to some extent.
But even if they aren't factual or inerrant truth, even we heathens will feel strongly
about the morals we hold, as do believers. So while it might seem to believers that
we share an ostensible foundation for morals, ie, basis in fact or truth...we don't.

 

[1robin]

I see our constitutional republic (setting aside some governmental problems)
as a utopia for both atheists & believers (the non-theocracy types).

I don't think it a Utopia but Christianity at least in our form does provide intellectual freedom. Christianity certain made some missteps but unlike most others they seemed to have learned from them. In all of history the only conquest ever stopped for humanitarian reasons was stopped by the Church. In all of history the greatest freedom has come through Hebrew and Christian administration.

Morals & ethics are complex things. I see them as an emergent property of people. They aren't "true" or fully objective, but objectivity can be applied to some extent.

Morals are not an inherent property of any atom or arrangement of them. If they exist they are either divine facts or preferential opinions not based on truth at all.

My point was that virtually everyone acts as if they are objective facts, but only with God is that true. It is sort of like genetics. The intuitive necessity of design is so intrusive that the hardest core evolutionists use design constantly in a description. Dawkins mentions design in every sentence of an argument to deny design. Is the rape of a little girl actually wrong or just out of vogue?