@InnerVenom123: Hey I could be wrong different beliefs were never my strong point lol. I'll try and look it up. Maybe that still counts as being agnostic?
@mrdecepticonleader: dude,that's i already knew that and was also trying to say that and get some understanding.I know your an anti-theist (it's pretty obvious),but in my post,if anyone read it,you would know that I already know the difference.I wasn't even talking about all atheists,which was pretty clear if my post was read.And I was just trying to tell you that if atheism is a loaded word,then religion is one clusterf*ck of a loaded word,if you know what I mean.I already know these things,but I just wanted an understanding.Anyway,just asking,what will this census do....what vote would it count as.
Also,maybe this is too late,but what if you were a christian,but then your an agnostic.I believe that there MIGHT be a higher power,but then again (def. of agnostic),I believe that he MIGHT not exist...
Basically,I am agnostic and I think that a god MIGHT exist
But unlike atheism,religion is responsible for many terrible things,some that would otherwise would not be acceptable.Its not a loaded word or certainly not one without reason.No one has ever killed in the name of atheism or not believing in god,nor has anyone ever used it as an excuse to discriminate against people.And my response was not mainly aimed at you.I mainly replied to you because you had replied to me.I always reply to people to round of posts.
Well I am an atheist,I dont believe in god.We certainly made god/gods up.
@Strider92: If you dont believe in god you are an atheist.Even if you dont give it much thought.If you dont care either way maybe your just non religious meaning you dont care enough about religion to be religious.
There are atheists who make fun of people who have a religion,simply because they do believe in some sort of deity.And in atheist countries,they actually do kill/persecute just about anyone with a religion.Although you'll have to ask an expert on that.When i say atheist countries,I don't know if it's something like North Korea or something,I cannot remember...but they actually do kill/persecute people who do have a religion.And I am pretty sure there is at least 1 guy in history who is an atheist who has done something terrible.You don't think that's enough to be a loaded word.
@mrdecepticonleader: And while you are free to have your opinion,that doesn't mean that other people can't have one.If they believe in any God/s,who are you to say that they are wrong.If they believe in Zeus,who is to say that they are wrong.Let them believe what they want.
And if you don't think that there are people killed/persecuted,etc simply because of their religion (or because of the one they have),then that just seems insulting to me,since it is well,and definitely flourishing.Not saying the same isn't on the other side of the fence,but it is definitely denying facts to say that people who have a religion aren't persecuted/killed,etc just because of that.Especially since it is very common,if you focus on the bad minority,and ignore the majority,or especially what the religion is actually saying/stands for,then you cannot say that religion is the cause.There are black people who commit crimes,but does that mean that all black people are criminals.Does that even mean that being a black person means being a criminal.People focus on the bad minority,and say that they represent that religion,even though the religion says otherwise.Many people say that islam is a religion of killing/war,but most of those people have never even read Quran (If I spelled that correctly).No one has the right to judge someone else,it isn't ethical,if there is an atheist who commits a crime,then by that logic,I can look down on all atheists as criminals?!
There are atheists who make fun of people who have a religion,simply because they do believe in some sort of deity.And in atheist countries,they actually do kill/persecute just about anyone with a religion.Although you'll have to ask an expert on that.When i say atheist countries,I don't know if it's something like North Korea or something,I cannot remember...but they actually do kill/persecute people who do have a religion.And I am pretty sure there is at least 1 guy in history who is an atheist who has done something terrible.You don't think that's enough to be a loaded word.
As I have said in the past people make fun of everything in our culture including religion and alot of things in religion are silly.Which countries are those? Again its not because they are atheists but because of a political agenda.And many atheists are killed in religious countries as well.Oh so its North Korea,so its not countries but A country,well it is a dictatorship they kill all sorts of people for a variety of reasons.But it is not because of atheism.So there are people in history who are atheists but that is not the reason they have done terrible things.Thats like saying Stalin and Hitler did the things they did because they had mustaches.
@mrdecepticonleader: And while you are free to have your opinion,that doesn't mean that other people can't have one.If they believe in any God/s,who are you to say that they are wrong.If they believe in Zeus,who is to say that they are wrong.Let them believe what they want.
And if you don't think that there are people killed/persecuted,etc simply because of their religion (or because of the one they have),then that just seems insulting to me,since it is well,and definitely flourishing.Not saying the same isn't on the other side of the fence,but it is definitely denying facts to say that people who have a religion aren't persecuted/killed,etc just because of that.Especially since it is very common,if you focus on the bad minority,and ignore the majority,or especially what the religion is actually saying/stands for,then you cannot say that religion is the cause.There are black people who commit crimes,but does that mean that all black people are criminals.Does that even mean that being a black person means being a criminal.People focus on the bad minority,and say that they represent that religion,even though the religion says otherwise.Many people say that islam is a religion of killing/war,but most of those people have never even read Quran (If I spelled that correctly).No one has the right to judge someone else,it isn't ethical,if there is an atheist who commits a crime,then by that logic,I can look down on all atheists as criminals?!
I am aware of that I never said or insinuated otherwise.People should be able to back up why they believe in what they do and should expect criticisms and questions regarding them.Its not really to say who is wrong but more important to say what evidence you have for claims and then maybe decide.
I never denied that people are killed because of their religion.My point was that atheism is not to blame.It has no dogmas or demands attached.This is what I meant by misunderstanding in terms of the word atheist.Religion is the cause of alot of suffering.
Meh, being an Atheist is something best kept under the hat.
What do you mean? Why is it?
MOST folks are god-fearing, and view Atheists as heathens, Sheep cannot understand the methods of the Wolf. I myself am an Atheist btw.
Those who feel victimized should reevaluate why they're "atheists" and quit acting like black sheep. Concerned atheist here.
Victimized? No. Misunderstood is more accurate. Many religious folk are UNABLE to comprehend the Atheist mindset.
Dogs are atheists, but Christians never argue with their pets. I think the issue is that you bark back when you should be scratching your head, not out of confusion, but because you've had an itch all day.
Meh, being an Atheist is something best kept under the hat.
What do you mean? Why is it?
MOST folks are god-fearing, and view Atheists as heathens, Sheep cannot understand the methods of the Wolf. I myself am an Atheist btw.
Those who feel victimized should reevaluate why they're "atheists" and quit acting like black sheep. Concerned atheist here.
Victimized? No. Misunderstood is more accurate. Many religious folk are UNABLE to comprehend the Atheist mindset.
Dogs are atheists, but Christians never argue with their pets. I think the issue is that you bark back when you should be scratching your head, not out of confusion, but because you've had an itch all day.
Christians argue with their pets all the time. Atheists too :)=
Haha. Funny. Most religious people tend to go through hard core religious rebellion faces before they choose to continue a religious life or just drop it for an atheistic one.
So...people of religion know more about atheism/agnosticism better than most. But that's in talks of open societies like that in the US, where there is the choice to believe or not, rather than complete force into conversion.
Meh, being an Atheist is something best kept under the hat.
What do you mean? Why is it?
MOST folks are god-fearing, and view Atheists as heathens, Sheep cannot understand the methods of the Wolf. I myself am an Atheist btw.
Those who feel victimized should reevaluate why they're "atheists" and quit acting like black sheep. Concerned atheist here.
Victimized? No. Misunderstood is more accurate. Many religious folk are UNABLE to comprehend the Atheist mindset.
Dogs are atheists, but Christians never argue with their pets. I think the issue is that you bark back when you should be scratching your head, not out of confusion, but because you've had an itch all day.
Haha. Funny. Most religious people tend to go through hard core religious rebellion faces before they choose to continue a religious life or just drop it for an atheistic one.
So...people of religion know more about atheism/agnosticism better than most. But that's in talks of open societies like that in the US, where there is the choice to believe or not, rather than complete force into conversion.
Most Atheists were religious and have truly wrestled with the god concept before accepting the reality of things. and now Katy Perry!!
Haha. Funny. Most religious people tend to go through hard core religious rebellion faces before they choose to continue a religious life or just drop it for an atheistic one.
So...people of religion know more about atheism/agnosticism better than most. But that's in talks of open societies like that in the US, where there is the choice to believe or not, rather than complete force into conversion.
Most Atheists were religious and have truly wrestled with the god concept before accepting the reality of things.
Yes this is true.I have looked into other religions and have debated with religious people as well.But have not come across any convincing points as to why religions are true,quite the opposite in fact.
Oh God, anything but Katy Perry! She's so extraterrestrial. Why doesn't she go kiss a girl and like it?
Oh man, I'm so going to Hell for that. XD
Reality is a skewed concept. You can never know what is truth. Only a fraction. That's why scientists are still working; if they found all truth in the world/universe, there'd be no need for them to continue.
Example are some of the theorist videos I've seen you link on the Creepy Thread. That isn't reality. It's not even recognized by science. I myself agree with alot of the ideas behind the lack of direct human evolution, but that's as far as it goes.
The "reality" for those claims of another planet where humans came from doesn't exist. It will only exist if there is facts.
Now, for religion, specifically the Bible, several of the events entailed did in fact occur. In Egypt, a slab ( I simply cannot remember the name of that blasted thing. But it's like two large stones oftentimes compared to the Rosetta Stone) was discovered that parallel the plagues that ravaged Egypt. A scroll fragment called the Ipuwer Papyrus also details about strange environmental occurrences, as well as strange behavior to a lot of Egyptians.
Sodom and Gomorrah's locations have been discovered to hold evidence of burned cities.
Those where archaeological discoveries. Those are what would be called "reality". I don't say that they alone prove God, but it does show that to immediately assume nothing is true from religious teachings and texts is a bit pretentious.
Edit: I do believe in evolution. I don't believe in creationism as defined in Genesis. I believe that a higher forced sparked the sequence that initiated life to be created on Earth, and possibly other planets if ever discovered.
@turoksonofstone: I am glad you said most,although I wouldn't even say most...but I can understand the concept.What you said was true,most atheists followed a religion before....but I wouldn't really say before they accepted the reality of things.
Any one of them can say the same if they wanted.If you say that you have proof,they can say the same.
The only thing I find funny or questionable on the census is the term "Freethinker", and it's not even the census' fault for coining the term, likely.
It just makes it sound like people who agree with others aren't capable of free thought. By that logic we shouldn't believe in gravity because we're just conforming to "the man".
Oh God, anything but Katy Perry! She's so extraterrestrial. Why doesn't she go kiss a girl and like it?
Oh man, I'm so going to Hell for that. XD
Reality is a skewed concept. You can never know what is truth. Only a fraction. That's why scientists are still working; if they found all truth in the world/universe, there'd be no need for them to continue.
Example are some of the theorist videos I've seen you link on the Creepy Thread. That isn't reality. It's not even recognized by science. I myself agree with alot of the ideas behind the lack of direct human evolution, but that's as far as it goes.
The "reality" for those claims of another planet where humans came from doesn't exist. It will only exist if there is facts.
Now, for religion, specifically the Bible, several of the events entailed did in fact occur. In Egypt, a slab ( I simply cannot remember the name of that blasted thing. But it's like two large stones oftentimes compared to the Rosetta Stone) was discovered that parallel the plagues that ravaged Egypt. A scroll fragment called the Ipuwer Papyrus also details about strange environmental occurrences, as well as strange behavior to a lot of Egyptians.
Sodom and Gomorrah's locations have been discovered to hold evidence of burned cities.
Those where archaeological discoveries. Those are what would be called "reality". I don't say that they alone prove God, but it does show that to immediately assume nothing is true from religious teachings and texts is a bit pretentious.
Edit: I do believe in evolution. I don't believe in creationism as defined in Genesis. I believe that a higher forced sparked the sequence that initiated life to be created on Earth, and possibly other planets if ever discovered.
that one song is cool IMO.
Science surely doesn't have ALL the answers..which leaves religion with leg room. Scientists are working on it though.
lol you are pigeonholing me bud. Just because I post something(hundreds of them) in the Creepy thread does not necessarily mean I myself believe it. I just post esoteric/occult stuff that I think is neat. Lots of that stuff is real btw. Like 30% of it is proven scientific fact, the rest theory or hearsay as you mentioned and a lot of it is also archeology related. Sumeria/Sumer was real for example
Archeology proves the Bible to be more accurate all the time. The Egyptians were into some stuff, no doubt.
Sodom and Gomorrah are burned? Yup.
Not sure what reality you are assigning me to there but I'm cool with it.
Edit: Earth is pretty old dude, and fossil evidence says so are we. "Higher Force" could be so many different things. Who knows for sure? No one.
It's weird, I used to be really religious back when I was younger, but somehow just fell out of it. My family stopped going to church and I just lost faith a few years back. I still remember when I told my mom about it, she got all scared and said “You’re movin’ with your auntie and uncle in Bel-Air.” I whistled for a cab and when it came near The license plate said fresh and it had dice in the mirror If anything I could say that this cab was rare But I thought, “Nah, forget it. Yo home to Bel-Air!” I pulled up to the house about 7 or 8 And I yelled to the cabby yo holmes smell ya later Looked at my kingdom I was finally there To sit on my throne as the prince of Bel-Air.
It's weird, I used to be really religious back when I was younger, but somehow just fell out of it. My family stopped going to church and I just lost faith a few years back. I still remember when I told my mom about it, she got all scared and said “You’re movin’ with your auntie and uncle in Bel-Air.” I whistled for a cab and when it came near The license plate said fresh and it had dice in the mirror If anything I could say that this cab was rare But I thought, “Nah, forget it. Yo home to Bel-Air!” I pulled up to the house about 7 or 8 And I yelled to the cabby yo holmes smell ya later Looked at my kingdom I was finally there To sit on my throne as the prince of Bel-Air.
You see, that's the kind of ideology I myself possess, even though I consider myself devout. Pushing aside whether an old guy is in the sky or not, the idea of a force behind things unexplainable itself isn't as far fetched as it seems. Then again, I have a Thomas Jefferson opinion on things; God/Allah/whatever created it, but then observed from afar, only occasionally intervening.
Think of a more bad ass version of The Watcher Uatu.
The true religion aspects I believe are a sort of guide in order to teach humility and how to treat others. You simply can't take every thing at face value; my major, Geology, always asserts in finding evidence for past and future proofs. Which I find it to be superior to the theoretical aspects of chemistry and physics.
Biology is another grounded science, but when it comes to genetic drift and truly observable mutation into evolution, it's impossible to show upfront the evidence. Mainly because of the extremely limited chances of fossilization, and the fact that a human dies in less than a quarter of a second's worth of time to actually see the progressive characteristics emerge in creating a new organism.
Lol, I shamefully am a huge nut for cryptozoology, mainly because scientists who lay claim of no proof for a creature to exist via fossils is bull because of the sheer odds against finding/creating fossils in the first place. I may have religion, but I try also to think is scientific and logical steps without going all angry like some science guys are known to do.
You see, that's the kind of ideology I myself possess, even though I consider myself devout. Pushing aside whether an old guy is in the sky or not, the idea of a force behind things unexplainable itself isn't as far fetched as it seems. Then again, I have a Thomas Jefferson opinion on things; God/Allah/whatever created it, but then observed from afar, only occasionally intervening.
Think of a more bad ass version of The Watcher Uatu.
The true religion aspects I believe are a sort of guide in order to teach humility and how to treat others. You simply can't take every thing at face value; my major, Geology, always asserts in finding evidence for past and future proofs. Which I find it to be superior to the theoretical aspects of chemistry and physics.
Biology is another grounded science, but when it comes to genetic drift and truly observable mutation into evolution, it's impossible to show upfront the evidence. Mainly because of the extremely limited chances of fossilization, and the fact that a human dies in less than a quarter of a second's worth of time to actually see the progressive characteristics emerge in creating a new organism.
Lol, I shamefully am a huge nut for cryptozoology, mainly because scientists who lay claim of no proof for a creature to exist via fossils is bull because of the sheer odds against finding/creating fossils in the first place. I may have religion, but I try also to think is scientific and logical steps without going all angry like some science guys are known to do.
I hear you. I find cryptozoology fascinating as well and not every cryptid can be a coelacanth. Strangely the further I move from my own former religious beliefs the more fascinating I find religion itself to be in all it's varied forms. I would use a badass version of Anu over Uatu myself though.
Seriously I'm not trying to start anything here but based on the discussions above I really don't think I comprehend the meaning of the word "atheist". It seems some are basically defining it as "non-religious" but I don't think that is very clear. I am a theist who is extremely sceptical of religion as a fallible construct of humankind. Would I be correct in definining atheism as a denial of the "supernatural"?
Atheists seem to get a bit of a bad rap because they most often position themselves against the theistic world-views, but wouldn't an atheist be equally dismissive of other views of reality such as pantheism, monism etc?
Another question? Wouldn't the systems of Lenin, Stalin and Mao also be "atheist"? Each systematically attempted to annhilate all religious institutions and espoused an "atheist" world-view? I think some posters are trying to walk a symantic tightrope by trying to maintain a "neutrality" for the definition of "atheism" but it is a world-view is it not? A world view that states a very specific set of rules governing what is true and what is not?
My favorite aspects of religion are the unmentionables. My favorites in particular involve the war of angels before the creation of Adam and Eve. Angels interbred with mortals and created vicious monsters. It may not make sense in the scientific world, but damn would it make for a kick-ass graphic novel.
@mrdecepticonleader: I'm not talking about the Internet specifically, on the Internet you can't force anyone to read what you have to say or to grant it any weight...I was referring to the people who take these same Internet conversations and apply them to real-life.
There's nothing more exasperating then someone preaching at you in real life when the topic wasn't even brought up.
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