The origins of atheism

[AV1611VET]

But sadly, what they are doing is no different that the God of Old Testament Judaism if you are familiar with the atrocities blamed on him committed by men.

Do blood transfusions and preventative medicine violate the principle of spiritual dominance?

 

[AV1611VET]

Even if I granted your position, the verse you quote has a vernacular term that is difficult to not interpret as suggesting they are lacking in intelligence ...

I disagree.

Atheists can be (and are) some of the most intelligent people on earth.

Intelligence is housed in the brain, not the heart; so atheism has nothing to do with intelligence and everything to do with spirituality.

Let me ask you this:

If atheism isn't a form of witchcraft, then why do they have their own Tarot card?

 

[Archaeopteryx]

I disagree.

Atheists can be (and are) some of the most intelligent people on earth.

Intelligence is housed in the brain, not the heart; so atheism has nothing to do with intelligence and everything to do with spirituality.

Let me ask you this:

If atheism isn't a form of witchcraft, then why do they have their own Tarot card?

Atheism is a form of witchcraft?

 

[AV1611VET]

Would believing in the Resurrection imply belief in God? Then no.

I suppose it is possible to believe in spirits and magical resurrections and still be an atheist, since atheism is simply a lack of belief in divine beings. Some New Agers strike me as atheists, though clearly not the skeptical sort.


eudaimonia,

Mark

Do they or don't they, Mark?

The question isn't that hard.

I have no idea what you just said.

What do you mean by, "I suppose it is possible to believe in spirits and magical resurrections and still be an atheist"?

What's that supposed to mean?

 

[Colter]

The "-less" part makes that negative claim. One doesn't "believe" negative claims.

I believe lots of things. Gods aren't one of them.
My atheism is only defined by that which I do NOT believe. Not by something I DO believe.


You need to believe specific things to be a theist.
Whenever those specific things are NOT believed, one is an atheist by default - regardless of what else is believed or not believed.




"pester"?

I thought this was a public discussion forum.
If you don't like discussion with other-minded people, you are free to retreat into the christian only sections.

And once again, my atheism isn't defined by contributing to an online forum either....



Perhaps, perhaps not.
Either way, it is irrelevant as atheism isn't defined by attitude or behaviour, but by not believing very specific propositions concerning gods and the supernatural.



That's nice. Not to mention irrelevant and anecdotal.



Is this a good time to tell about my friend who nearly became a pastor and then turned atheist?

Anyhow...who cares.

My atheism isn't defined by what I DO believe. Nore is it defined by my behaviour, attitude, political prefernce, sexual orientation, who my friends are, what country I live in, what my parents believed or whatever anecdote I can come up with.

My atheism is ONLY defined by my lack of beliefs in supernatural shenannigans. And that's it. Get it into your head.

Honest and sincere Atheist are neutral, content, don't care, don't promote Godless teachings. Discontented religious Atheist promote their doctrines of a Godless universe regardless of the denials. Lucifer lost his faith in God but naturally saw no problem making himself God.

 

[AV1611VET]

Atheism is a form of witchcraft?

It is part of an unholy triad: atheism, science, and evolution.

When you're done laughing, could you demonstrate an answer to my question please?

 

[AirPo]

Autism is a developmental condition with a basket of symptoms that may or may not be present for a positive diagnosis. I know a lot of autistic people (officially diagnosed) that are neither rude or condescending and fully grasp the meaning of what they say and how they say it.

And one of those symptoms is lack of social skills, i.e not being to fully grasp behavior that is rude or condescending.

 

[AV1611VET]

Honest and sincere Atheist are neutral, content, don't care, don't promote Godless teachings.

How is it even possible to be neutral on spiritual matters without consciously trying to shut down ⅓ of their existence (body, soul, spirit)?

 

[Belk]

Belk If you broaden the definition of religious to include Atheists than your wife is religious.

No, my wife is an atheist and she is religious. The two are not mutually exclusive since it is possible to have a religion without believing in a god. Some Buddhist sects are religious atheists for example.

But what does she do to be religious.

She believes and practices a religion. I am not exactly sure of the tenets but I know it has both Yoga and Druidic beliefs.

Also why is she an Atheists.

She lacks belief in gods

Did someone tell her.

Tell her what?

Would she sacrifice anything for her religion.

No idea

I belive that God communicated with people from te creation of the first humans.That is why there are so many religions and Gos. I do not thik these were all wrong but a misinterpretation of God message. I am concen only with the God that communicated to me but I do not think other religion or Gods are evil.

I find it strange that people believe a powerful deity would choose such mundane and ineffective methods to convey such important information.

 

[Colter]

They may believe many things. They may believe that they had just had a hamburger for lunch. But what makes them atheists is that they don't believe in divine beings.



I'm here for dialog with willing discussion partners. I'm not here to "pester" anyone. Are you here to pester atheists? You could post exclusively in the Christians-only area.

Incidentally, what do you think of Christians who go to atheist message boards and discuss ideas with them? I have seen plenty of them.



Perhaps some are like that, but many aren't. *shrug*



That's nice. It works both ways. Christians have seen the light of reason and become atheists. It could happen to you.


eudaimonia,

Mark

Hi Mark,

As I said in the past, there is neutral, 'just stay off my lawn and keep your Holly books out of secular governance, which I do respect, and then there is the promotion of Godless ideals, an attempt to discredit faith and religion. Atheist on these forums may be enamored by their own intellectual masturbation, but they are pretty simple regardless of the multiplicity of clever arguments. They come to Christian forms to hurt and convert, not help. By the same token, people of faith go to Atheist forums (I presume) to convert, argue, pester etc.

* To me faith is reasonable, to view the universe as either entirely spiritual or entirely material is to distort reality. Not everyone will "get it", not every acorn will become a tree.

 

[asherahSamaria]

And one of those symptoms is lack of social skills, i.e not being to fully grasp behavior that is rude or condescending.

Not for all. Autism is generally described under having communication difficulties or delays in development but not everyone with Autism has specific difficulties.

I'm sure you will be glad to know that I am pushing (in my country) for early intervention schemes to be better funded to enable those with the condition to maximize their potential.

 

[Colter]

How is it even possible to be neutral on spiritual matters without consciously trying to shut down ⅓ of their existence (body, soul, spirit)?

Simple, their are people who are genuine, sincere non-believers. They want to be left alone to live out their lives. Jesus said it well "leave the dead to burry the dead"

 

[Chris B]

"Rational"... you keep using this word. I don't think it means what you think it means.

Bonus points.

"If it works, it'll be a miracle."

Chris

 

[AV1611VET]

Simple, their are people who are genuine, sincere non-believers. They want to be left alone to live out their lives. Jesus said it well "leave the dead to burry the dead"

But in order to be an atheist, I'm assuming one has to consciously ignore ⅔ of their makeup (soul and spirit) by either denying their existence on principle, or redefining them.

 

[Chris B]

Atheism is a spiritual problem, not an intellectual one.

In other words, it stems from the heart, not the brain.

Psalm 14:1a The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.

And that settles...
... that you have appreciable difficulty with "theory of mind."

Chris

 

[Archaeopteryx]

Hi Mark,

As I said in the past, there is neutral, 'just stay off my lawn and keep your Holly books out of secular governance, which I do respect, and then there is the promotion of Godless ideals, an attempt to discredit faith and religion. Atheist on these forums may be enamored by their own intellectual masturbation, but they are pretty simple regardless of the multiplicity of clever arguments. They come to Christian forms to hurt and convert, not help. By the same token, people of faith go to Atheist forums (I presume) to convert, argue, pester etc.

* To me faith is reasonable, to view the universe as either entirely spiritual or entirely material is to distort reality. Not everyone will "get it", not every acorn will become a tree.

As we've discussed previously, there are many reasons nonbelievers are interested in discussing religion (1, 2, 3).

 

[DogmaHunter]

Honest and sincere Atheist are neutral, content, don't care, don't promote Godless teachings.

Who made you the king of atheists to decide what atheists should be like?

I can only repeat myself....
Atheism isn't define by how one behaves. Neither is it defined by ones sexual orientation, political preference, social activism or lack thereof, ....

It is only defined by their position of disbelief on very specific claims concerning supernatural shenannigans.

That's it.

Discontented religious Atheist promote their doctrines of a Godless universe regardless of the denials. Lucifer lost his faith in God but naturally saw no problem making himself God.

There is no such thing as "atheist doctrine" either.
Nore do atheists believe that "lucifer" exists, as that "entity" is just another thing in the world of supernatural shenannigans.

Get. It. In. Your. Head.

 

[Chris B]

The reason why some people don't believe in God varies from one person to another. Some choose to be atheists maybe because they...

-Found explanations that make more sense to them regarding the world.
-Were harmed by religious folk.
-Want physical proof that they can see with their own eyes.
-Are disturbed by religion and its practices.
-Are too proud to believe in a being higher then them and want to feel superior to those who worship that being.
-Honestly believe they are a god.
-Are raised to be atheists.

and the list goes on and on. Everyone has a different life and thus it produces different results regarding faith and spirituality. Some reasons may seem more legit or insane than others but everyone has their own reasons to believe in what they believe in.

Finally, we got to accept the fact that Christianity -and religion in general - isn't going to appeal to everyone. There isn't a single idea out there that has a 100% approval rating.

Thank you. For being able to see not just more than one but many perspectives.
(I'd call myself as being in first category.)

 

[DogmaHunter]

Since my thoughts are based on my faith in God, do you think my every thought is irrational?

I consider "faith" in general to be irrational. Since "faith" is what people use to believe something on bad (or no) evidence.

You don't require "faith" when you have actual rational reasons to believe something.

I'd argue that someone who thinks another's thoughts are always irrational is in fact being irrational themselves.

I didn't use the word "always". So perhaps you should stop arguing that strawman.

I do not think you're every thought is irrational. I see a lot of rational thinking from you, but it ceases to be rational when we get to the meat of deep thinking about truth.

If you say so.

I'm merely talking about faith-based beliefs.

 

[Colter]

Who made you the king of atheists to decide what atheists should be like?

I can only repeat myself....
Atheism isn't define by how one behaves. Neither isn't it defined by ones sexual orientation, political preference, social activism or lack thereof, ....

It is only defined by their position of disbelief on very specific claims concerning supernatural shenannigans.

That's it.



There is no such thing as "atheist doctrine" either.
Nore do atheists believe that "lucifer" exists, as that "entity" is just another thing in the world of supernatural shenannigans.

Get. It. In. Your. Head.

And some Atheist, apparently discontented with life, join religious forums so they can barf their discontent and anger all over anyone religious person who happens along so they can show them how stupid they are for having faith in whatever.....