Why are atheists interested in religion?

[LuisDantas]

You saying that a group of humans aren't human beings. Or did you forget what you said already?

By that wording, it is an impossible thing to happen. You are essentially claiming not to have understood me.

I suppose not. I can already see where you stand. Very disappointed.

That is too bad, mainly because you lack the reason to.

I'm not the one who needs to do some long and hard thinking and reflecting here.

Oh, but you are.

 

[LuisDantas]

Ok. I'm assuming that because I didn't see anything jump out at me on the wiki on whoever it was you're talking about. Usually when someone starts going on about who is or isn't a person on RF it's an abortion bomb waiting to blow.

So what are the guy's views on newborns and disabled people that you object to?

Basically, Peter Singer has a view on euthanasia that SF finds disgusting.

It involves among other things having some perspective of attaining and keeping happiness.

 

[Dirty Penguin]

Atheism is a religion within itself. A religion with the core tenet of 'God does not exist'.

No it isn't.....

Like any religion, Atheists do their fair share of proselytizing and preaching their philosophy to all and sundry.

No we don't. For the most part we don't care about religion unless it affects local, state, federal policy...where it has no place.

They are just as passionate about their 'no God policy' as believers are about God.

Atheism is simply...we lack belief....It doesn't matter if we're talking about "God", gods, angels, fairies, pixies, sprites, nymphs, goblins, demons, devil...etc...etc...

You're just as much as an Atheist as we are. We simply believe in one less god than you do...

Atheists all want to 'wake up deluded people' who still believe in an illogical, irrational deity, because they see it as being the downfall of society and also, others beliefs in a God are having a negative/detrimental effect on their personal lives and they wish to change that.

Wrong again. We don't "want" to do anything. You can be religious all you like. We don't care. We only care when your (not you in general) religious ideology affects us (again...when it creeps into public policy).

They cannot change another's beliefs, so they become officially 'Atheist' to cement their resolve.

No we don't. For the most part you wouldn't be able to identify an Atheist in a crowd full of Atheist because many of us don't wear our atheism on our sleeves like many in the religious community do.

Atheists shouldn't worry about what other people believe in if they don't

We don't...

like I said, Atheists are just as mad about proselytizing as Muslims and Christians are - if not moreso!

... How many Atheist do you know and actually talk to? Why the generalizations?

They want to see a world ruled by science and logic, where God has no part of that.

No we don't.

Little do they know, they actually have no say in it.

Yes we do.....

 

[Dirty Penguin]

Atheists generally don't see it as a atheism vs. theism debate though. They see it as a battle between the rational and the irrational, between ideas with provable evidence (such as the theory of relativity) or a fairly argued rationale (such as a theory about anthropology or psychology). Their stance isn't that there isn't a god, which I don't think I've heard said by any atheist, but that it can be rationally assumed based on critical analysis of the evidence points towards the non-existence of a deity (of any sort), and for the falsehood of organised religion.

They also take issue where religion has been proven to have known negative effects, such as Richard Dawkins' example about creationism and the effect it has on the advancement of science and of technologies such as stem-cell medicine or vaccinations. As Christopher Hitchens points out, no atheist would bulldoze Notre Dame or Makkah simply because they're religious places, nor would atheists take issue if the sort of subtle nuanced religion of someone like Dietrich Boenhoeffer was the norm.

Awesome...Thanks....

 

[Enai de a lukal]

You saying that a group of humans aren't human beings. Or did you forget what you said already?

From your reaction to this claim, I take it you aren't especially familiar with the literature on personhood, bioethics, and so on. This is pretty standard fare, to be honest- and the question is not about whether all humans are human beings; that's close to nonsense. The question is whether all humans are persons or agents in an ethically relevant sense. As it happens, I tend to agree with Singer that there are some compelling reasons for supposing that not all are. Indeed, I think most people who find abortion morally permissible believe something similar; otherwise justifying abortion is extremely tricky, if one supposes that a fetus is a person in a robust ethical sense.

I'm not the one who needs to do some long and hard thinking and reflecting here.

Actually, it seems like ALL parties involved need to do more thinking and providing rational reasons for their position rather than merely emoting.

 

[Enai de a lukal]

Atheism is a religion within itself. A religion with the core tenet of 'God does not exist'.

If it is a religion, it is a curious one, in that its "core tenet" completely exhausts the religion itself. There is nothing more to atheism than this core tenet- including the things which tend to characterize religion like ritual, authority, mythology, ethics, and so on.

Like any religion, Atheists do their fair share of proselytizing and preaching their philosophy to all and sundry.

Yeah, only not so much. You won't find atheists going door to door handing out Atheist Bibles, you wont find them ranting on street corners about the end times, and you generally don't find atheist missionary groups. Nice try, though.

They are just as passionate about their 'no God policy' as believers are about God.

Maybe. But this isn't unique to religion; I'm every bit as passionate about football or music as believers are about their faith, or some people are about their political affiliation, or any number of things.

Atheists all want to 'wake up deluded people' who still believe in an illogical, irrational deity

Not all atheists are so altruistic or charitable. Many are content to leave the delusional to their delusions.

, because they see it as being the downfall of society and also, others beliefs in a God are having a negative/detrimental effect on their personal lives and they wish to change that.

Or because theism has clear and objectively negative consequences, Christianity and Islam in particular. Theism has, by and large, been pernicious.

They want to see a world ruled by science and logic, where God has no part of that.

Nah, we want to see a world ruled by people- and common sense, morality, and reason- rather than fictional entities and the ethical codes of ancient peoples.

Little do they know, they actually have no say in it.

 

[NobodyYouKnow]

Why the generalizations?

Because I have a psychological condition which makes it totally impossible for me not to generalize and this cannot be cured.

Having said that, I unsubscribed from this thread ages ago. I only revisited it, because I was just informed that I have almost broken the RF record for having the most replies to a single post that's not the opening post...go me!

*unsubscribes again.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Atheists don't believe in God but there are many who participate in this forum. I'm glad they do because their opinions and knowledge are very interesting but I don't understand their motivation.
If someone doesn't believe in a deity, why be interested in religion?

I am an atheist and a Hindu. I visit both, atheist and Hindu forums. Had I not been a Hindu, I would not have visited RF. We get many theists in atheist forums, most of whom try to preach. Wonder why they come there? Most of them are dumb heads. Do they think they would change an atheist with their poor arguments?

 

[ruffen]

Atheists don't believe in God but there are many who participate in this forum. I'm glad they do because their opinions and knowledge are very interesting but I don't understand their motivation.
If someone doesn't believe in a deity, why be interested in religion?

Why should not atheists be interested in the origins and nature of the Universe, Life and Everything? And why should atheists not be interested in discussing these matters with all those who have got it completely wrong?

 

[The Neo Nerd]

Thank you so much for a clear and logical answer.:clap

Atheism is not a religion.

Atheism has no tenets, no dogma, no ritual.

You don't create religions out of things you don't believe in.

 

[dust1n]

For all I care, this could be a knitting forum or a Justin Bieber fan club. If Mystic Sangha, Sunstone, Dustin, Kilgore Trout, Horrorble, sandandfoam, both the penguins and even Reverend Rick were there, I would find it and make myself at home.

Aw thanks. Okay, I'll be honest. As an atheist, I come here solely to antagonize people and read really inane arguments.

 

[Ouroboros]

Atheists don't believe in God but there are many who participate in this forum. I'm glad they do because their opinions and knowledge are very interesting but I don't understand their motivation.
If someone doesn't believe in a deity, why be interested in religion?

Maybe for similar reasons that you're asking about atheists and their motivations? You're not an atheist, yet you're curious. Don't underestimate other people's interests or motives for why they do things. I'm sure you sometimes want to debate a Muslim, Hindu, Jew, or a Buddhist.

 

[Sha'irullah]

I do not believe in Islam yet I study it and read the Qur'an more than most Muslims. Does not make me a Muslim, if I wish to strengthen my comforts that Islam is a false religion then all I have to do is be present amongst it's followers and read the texts associated with it.

Same for atheism. Involving yourself in religious information and arguments just reassures you how evidently unsupported the other side is.

 

[Dirty Penguin]

I do not believe in Islam yet I study it and read the Qur'an more than most Muslims. Does not make me a Muslim, if I wish to strengthen my comforts that Islam is a false religion then all I have to do is be present amongst it's followers and read the texts associated with it.

Same for atheism. Involving yourself in religious information and arguments just reassures you how evidently unsupported the other side is.

Same here....Not a Muslim but read the Quran...and have it in audio format (mp3) and listen to various surahs from time to time. Not a Christian but like debating biblical history and other biblical subjects. Not a Jew but like hearing their perspective and getting an understanding of their history.