Why do Atheists stand alone?

[TheBear]

I'm not subject to peer pressure, believe me. Nobody forced me to join any group, I simply wanted to. This life is short. What difference does it make to the world if I'm a staunch pandeist? Or if I'm a Catholic? Will the world be better off if I'm one or the other? The world won't be changed by me. But I'd like a circle of friends. And believe me, those who are together because of religion do not spend their time talking about religion. We spend our time talking about our kids, talking about our joys and trials, talking about sports or soap opera's, whatever. And our kids get to join in that community of good people. It helps them, strengthens them. It isn't a bad thing.

You have every right to believe anything you want. That's your business. Just keep it out of politics, education, and public policy, and we'll get along just fine.

 

[AnEmpiricalAgnostic]

I'm not subject to peer pressure, believe me. Nobody forced me to join any group, I simply wanted to. This life is short. What difference does it make to the world if I'm a staunch pandeist? Or if I'm a Catholic? Will the world be better off if I'm one or the other? The world won't be changed by me. But I'd like a circle of friends. And believe me, those who are together because of religion do not spend their time talking about religion. We spend our time talking about our kids, talking about our joys and trials, talking about sports or soap opera's, whatever. And our kids get to join in that community of good people. It helps them, strengthens them. It isn't a bad thing.

You know what? For a theist I can really empathize with you for some reason. Here's the one part that sets us apart though. What I don't like about your group that you've voluntarily joined is that they are exclusive. I have a problem with exclusive groups, that do so by choice, as a matter of moral standing. I probably have more i common with you than not yet I wouldn't be welcome at your gatherings. Funny that.

 

[Avatar]

You know what? For a theist I can really empathize with you for some reason. Here's the one part that sets us apart though. What I don't like about your group that you've voluntarily joined is that they are exclusive. I have a problem with exclusive groups, that do so by choice, as a matter of moral standing. I probably have more i common with you than not yet I wouldn't be welcome at your gatherings. Funny that.

At my gathering? Believer me every gathering I've ever held (as opposed to every gathering I've been to) has been secular. You'd be more than welcome.

 

[AnEmpiricalAgnostic]

At my gathering? Believer me every gathering I've ever held (as opposed to every gathering I've been to) has been secular. You'd be more than welcome.

I appreciate that but (as I think you know) I was referencing your church

 

[Pseudonym]

Honestly, I'm a bit confused by the OP. Automan asks why atheists stand alone, and I would contend that we do not stand alone. We all obviously share the basic characteristic of nonbelief. But from what I've been reading in this thread, most of you would say that this is all that links us, and that all of our other differences is what makes us stand alone. But couldn't we say the same thing for most religious people. Two Baptists do not necessarily believe the same things, but are nonetheless categorized as Baptists. They do share the fundamental characteristics that make them Baptist though, just as we share the fundamental characteristic of being atheist. Just because we may vary amongst ourselves in every other conceivable opinion does not mean that we stand alone.

Then the OP asks why religious people band together in groups, and I would contend that atheists do not band together in groups. Obviously we have no church, no universal dogma, no "atheist meetings" (that I know about anyways), etc.

The point is that just because we do not have official groups within atheism does not mean that we do not stand together. It's human instinct to associate with similar people and not be alone. Atheists do this just as any other person of any other faith.

 

[Pseudonym]

Well many people are afraid to admit their atheist and atheist are only a short group of people so they are kind of spread out over the world. Atheist have no cultural background so they really don't tend to fit in anywhere. IMO I think we as humans should stick together rather than our beliefs.

I disagree completely. All people, regardless of religious affiliation, have a cultural background. Every aspect of your life that you share with another person or group of people is your cultural background. If you're an atheist who lives in the United States, you share a cultural background with all other Americans. If you are an atheist who attends a college or university, you share the same cultural background as all other students of that institution. Just because someone does not believe in a god or gods does not mean they lack a cultural identity.

 

[automan]

I'm not subject to peer pressure, believe me. Nobody forced me to join any group, I simply wanted to. This life is short. What difference does it make to the world if I'm a staunch pandeist? Or if I'm a Catholic? Will the world be better off if I'm one or the other? The world won't be changed by me. But I'd like a circle of friends. And believe me, those who are together because of religion do not spend their time talking about religion. We spend our time talking about our kids, talking about our joys and trials, talking about sports or soap opera's, whatever. And our kids get to join in that community of good people. It helps them, strengthens them. It isn't a bad thing.

Nobody forced you to join any group but you have put your children in a position where they can be influenced into believing in something they might one day have preferred not to believe in, all children must be guided and given standards to live by and taught how to conform to societies ways, but to fill their heads with strange stories from an old book and tell them it is the truth is going just a little too far, don't you think?

I wanted to tell my children the truth, and by the truth I mean the things I could prove to be the truth,
I read them stories and told them they were stories, and I did my best to make them respect other
people and to treat others as they would like to be treated, I did not feel it was my job to fill their heads
with religion or dogmas, I tried to be an example for them to follow and if my politics made sense to them
so be it, it turned out one agrees with me and the other thinks the opposite to me, neither are religious,
and that's what tells me people do not choose their religions, you are what you are brought up to be,
it is very rarely your idea as to the religion you follow.

 

[Vermithrax]

Why do Atheists stand alone?
and religious people band together in groups?

Any theories?

Atheists tend to be individualistic. They don't need the affirmation of others for their lack of belief. Religious people tend to need the affirmation of their fellows, and thus form goups.

 

[Eudaimonist]

Why do Atheists stand alone?
and religious people band together in groups?

Any theories?

Actually, I am a member of the Fellowship of Reason, which is my chosen "group".


eudaimonia,

Mark

 

[Robbie_James_Francis]

Yes, I agree, we are human beings first and foremost.

As a humanist, this to me touches on something quite important. Though I may be considered an atheist (I'd probably say agnostic but whatever), that isn't the same as saying I'm an anti-theist.

Understandably, for someone with a theistic conviction, their concept of god is the central and most important aspect of their beliefs and lives. When you have no specific belief in gods, that lack of belief is not the central tenet of your belief system, or the focus of your life. How could it possibly be? It is the lack of a belief, not a specific belief. I suppose it's like saying you could build a a building whose foundation is a vacuum...you can't build your life around a lack of something.

For me the question of gods' existence is not the most important question. So why am I going to bother grouping myself with other people based on a belief--be it positive, negative, deist, pantheist or agnostic--about gods? I group myself with people on the basis of charity, politics, interests, friendship etc.

 

[OrestesMantra]

I am a member of the Campus Freethought Alliance at my university, and while it is not specifically an atheist organization, most of the members are atheist.

Atheists like to get together and discuss their beliefs just as much as anyone else, but as they say, getting atheists together is like herding cats.

 

[RealSorceror]

I have personally seen people of all religions (even Christian) stand together against Christian Fundamentalism.

And as for myself, I almost always back up the atheists. There really aren't many things we disagree on.

 

[TheBear]

Actually, I am a member of the Fellowship of Reason, which is my chosen "group".


eudaimonia,

Mark

Thanks for the link. I'll check it out.

 

[Loudmouth]

Honestly, I'm a bit confused by the OP. Automan asks why atheists stand alone, and I would contend that we do not stand alone.

Is there a prominent atheist lobbying group in Washington, D.C.? Not that I have heard of. Do atheists get together once a week in large buildings that are supported by weekly donations? Nope. When was the last time an atheist missionary knocked on your door? When was the last time you sent money to support an atheist missionary?

Then the OP asks why religious people band together in groups, and I would contend that atheists do not band together in groups. Obviously we have no church, no universal dogma, no "atheist meetings" (that I know about anyways), etc.

The point is that just because we do not have official groups within atheism does not mean that we do not stand together. It's human instinct to associate with similar people and not be alone. Atheists do this just as any other person of any other faith.

I don't think we do. The rate at which atheists join skeptic societies is much lower than the rate at which theists join churches. While "standing alone" does have it's exceptions, it is much more the rule for atheists.

 

[Avatar]

Is there a prominent atheist lobbying group in Washington, D.C.? Not that I have heard of. Do atheists get together once a week in large buildings that are supported by weekly donations? Nope. When was the last time an atheist missionary knocked on your door? When was the last time you sent money to support an atheist missionary?



I don't think we do. The rate at which atheists join skeptic societies is much lower than the rate at which theists join churches. While "standing alone" does have it's exceptions, it is much more the rule for atheists.

I thought all atheists joined together in an organization called the ACLU.


(kidding)

 

[HumanisticJones]

I thought all atheists joined together in an organization called the ACLU.


(kidding)

No you're thinking of the FFRF not the American Communist Lawyers Union. *I kid as well*

 

[Pesto]

Why do Atheists stand alone?
and religious people band together in groups?

Any theories?

For the same reason people who don't kayak don't gather in groups to not kayak.

 

[Avatar]

For the same reason people who don't kayak don't gather in groups to not kayak.

There happens to be just such an organization, the NAACP. North American Association of Canoe Paddlers.

 

[Pesto]

There happens to be just such an organization, the NAACP. North American Association of Canoe Paddlers.

Right, but where is the group of people that gather because they specifically don't kayak?

 

[Eudaimonist]

I don't think we do. The rate at which atheists join skeptic societies is much lower than the rate at which theists join churches. While "standing alone" does have it's exceptions, it is much more the rule for atheists.

I wonder what the percentage of atheist children who had an atheist parent who was active in a "skeptic society" (or any other philosophical nontheistic society) would join that society and be active in it too.

Consider that many atheists in America had religious parents, and so they were not raised in a such a nontheistic organization.


eudaimonia,

Mark