littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
Yep, and the rich give less in tips to tradespeople too, and not just as a proportion of their wealth. They're usually not rich by accident.two sheds said:
Atheist morals vs. believer morals
- Thread starter drews
- Start date
Dillinger4
Es gibt Zeit
Barking_Mad said:
The answer to this is obviously:
A) Existential Angst
B) God
C) That they are awful, and religious people are superior in almost every way.
mentalchik
"I say we take off and nuke the site from orbit."
Barking_Mad said:
As in regards to what ?
kyser_soze
Hawking's Angry Eyebrow
Barking_Mad said:
Stuff other than God/s.
It's one of the reasons that the over use of 'atheist' pisses me off - all it means is you don't believe in deities, it doesn't describe the rest of your worldview in any meaningful way.
Barking_Mad
Non sibi sed omnibus
I'll put it another way, are any athiests on here Humanists?
kyser_soze
Hawking's Angry Eyebrow
Well I've read the trial copy of New Humanist magazine and I'm a registered Bright so probably, yeah.
Barking_Mad
Non sibi sed omnibus
kyser_soze said:
What you read and sign up to doesn't quantify what you are..........or maybe it does these days?
Barking_Mad
Non sibi sed omnibus
kyser_soze said:
Yup, ahtiests seem to spend a lot of time saying what they dont believe in, but not a lot of time in what they do. This confuses me as surely instead of bashing religion, they'd be better off putting time into alternative ideas and thoughts....
Chairman Meow
Perth, WA
Barking_Mad said:
In my experience most atheists don't 'bash' religion ast all, as it is of little consequence to them. As an atheist myself I believe in many things, evolution, being kind to friends, that the Simpsons isn't as good as it used to be. What kind of 'alternative thoughts and ideas' do you think I should be thinking about?
I have no need for a god type structure in my life if that's what you're getting at.
subversplat
writer of wrongs
Besides, talking about not believing in god is a noble cause in itself. The Age of Enlightenment comes to mind.Deareg said:
kyser_soze
Hawking's Angry Eyebrow
Hmm, a working definition of humanist would be useful...if by that you mean 'Do I think that humans are capable of governing themselves and their affairs without recourse to supernatural, superstitious or metaphysical beliefs' then my answer would be Yes.
For my money, 'belief' as a concept is tricky - when I say 'I believe in evolution' it's grammatical shorthand for 'I accept that at present, and to my personal satisfaction, that the theory of evolution is the best approximation to describe how life came to be on this planet, but I reserve the right to change that acceptance in the light of new evidence'
I put myself in the Rorty camp I guess.
For my money, 'belief' as a concept is tricky - when I say 'I believe in evolution' it's grammatical shorthand for 'I accept that at present, and to my personal satisfaction, that the theory of evolution is the best approximation to describe how life came to be on this planet, but I reserve the right to change that acceptance in the light of new evidence'
I put myself in the Rorty camp I guess.
Barking_Mad
Non sibi sed omnibus
Deareg said:
Everyone believes in something.
My point was that religion (whether you like it or not) gives ideas on how people should live (whether you like it or not). Athiesm in part is a reaction against this, but due to its nature as such doesn't actually tell me anything about athiests per se.
subversplat
writer of wrongs
That's because athiests aren't a homogenous group. Whereas someone can have "christianity" as their raison d'etre, you can't rely on a rejection of belief to describe your personality.Barking_Mad said:
Barking_Mad
Non sibi sed omnibus
Chairman Meow said:In my experience most atheists don't 'bash' religion ast all, as it is of little consequence to them. As an atheist myself I believe in many things, evolution, being kind to friends, that the Simpsons isn't as good as it used to be. What kind of 'alternative thoughts and ideas' do you think I should be thinking about?
It's none of my business to tell you how to live, nor anyone else aside from it was doing harm to others. You shouldn't be so suspicious about my intent, im just curious to hear what sort of credence athiests do live by........
I know what you are not, but not what you are.
Barking_Mad
Non sibi sed omnibus
subversplat said:
Yet disbelievers in God reduce themselves down to one word............
No group is homogenous, from Capitalists, to Anarchists to Christians.......im just interested in hearing who athiests are rather than what they are not.
Barking_Mad
Non sibi sed omnibus
Deareg said:
ah missed this one! Well it's a start!
Deareg
Well-Known Member
Barking_Mad said:
i don't claim to speak for anyone other than myself, religion only bothers me if religious types try and censor or force their views onto others which seems to happen quite often,
i disagree with you about atheism being a reaction to anything, i stopped believing in god at about 14/15, to me it was a natural process, first i stopped believing in tooth fairies, then father Christmas and so on until eventually god
no offence, but you seem to be hung up on believing in things and trying to group all atheists together into a single group with a certain set of beliefs,
maybe the reason that the nature of athiesm doesn't tell you anything is because their is no nature or actually anything to tell
two sheds
Least noticed poster 2007
rover07 said:
Fair point, but charity at least balances out some of the money that is stolen from the poor by unfair contracts, unfair business practices, unfair laws etc. etc. etc. We in the west are the ones receiving charity from the third world, it's just not called that. If we stopped taking money from them, they wouldn't need the 'charity' anyway
stdPikachu
Plughole in bathtub curve
Barking_Mad said:
Probably because they're aware that saying "I, as an athiest have a belief in XYZ" has nothing to do with atheism and is in no way universal...? You can be an athiest and believe in unicorns, you can be an athiest and believe that we're all descended from David Icke's long-lost uncle.
Barking_Mad said:
Depends on your definition of belief.
Barking_Mad said:
No. It's a tacit admission that said owner of those lack of beliefs does not believe in god(s). Things other than that are outside of the sphere of any kind of theism.
Barking_Mad said:
Most athiests came to their conclusion through their own personal experiences, pretty much the only thing they have in common is a shared lack of belief inexistential deities. If you want to know more about them, ask them
Barking_Mad
Non sibi sed omnibus
Deareg said:
I wasn't asking anyone to speak for anyone other than themselves, how could I? You seem to be making the mistake of rolling the word 'believe' into some sort of religious only word, when it's clearly not.
What ideas as an athiest do you believe people should live by?
Barking_Mad
Non sibi sed omnibus
stdPikachu said:Probably because they're aware that saying "I, as an athiest have a belief in XYZ" has nothing to do with atheism and is in no way universal...? You can be an athiest and believe in unicorns, you can be an athiest and believe that we're all descended from David Icke's long-lost uncle.
Depends on your definition of belief.
No. It's a tacit admission that said owner of those lack of beliefs does not believe in god(s). Things other than that are outside of the sphere of any kind of theism.
Most athiests came to their conclusion through their own personal experiences, pretty much the only thing they have in common is a shared lack of belief inexistential deities. If you want to know more about them, ask them
I did ask. One person said "people", everyone else has been chewing cud.
two sheds
Least noticed poster 2007
There's a fine quote addressed to christians that goes something like - 'You know how you don't believe in any of the other gods in the world that people believe in - well we just believe in one less god than you'
I'd describe myself as an agnostic I think, though, just not proven yet (depending on what you mean by 'god' of course).
I'd describe myself as an agnostic I think, though, just not proven yet (depending on what you mean by 'god' of course).
kyser_soze
Hawking's Angry Eyebrow
Hoi! (@ BM)
I gave you a proper answer you cheeky cur!
I gave you a proper answer you cheeky cur!
two sheds said:We in the west are the ones receiving charity from the third world, it's just not called that. If we stopped taking money from them, they wouldn't need the 'charity' anyway
I agree its a guilt trip half the time... and a new way for businesses to get money off us...;
