Atheism

dangerousdave

Well-Known Forumite
henryscat said:
Funny you should mention Richard Dawkins, as I am a raving atheist too.
thought i'd start this thread after reading the above in another thread. can I just say form the off that if you're an athiest of the highest order, and if you believe that science has disprovedn 'god' or a 'higher power' you have no concept of how science works, and also how any good scientist would think
 

tek-monkey

wanna see my snake?
Atheism is a religion in itself, as you actively believe something without proof (that there is no god). Nobody has ever disproved god, they have merely pointed out how improbable it all is.

I am agnostic, but will always shout down a religious person if they try to preach.
 

dangerousdave

Well-Known Forumite
i'd completely agree with what tek monkey has just said. you don't have to believe in any particular organised religion to believe in a higher power
 

MyCult

SEO to the FACE
Agree with you tek but I think we differ on our definition of Atheism.

Atheism is not a religion in my mind. Quite the opposite. Saying atheism is a religion feels, to me, a bit like saying not collecting stamps is a hobby.

Being atheist, agnostic or religious doesn't really matter to me. The thing that matters is that if presented with irrefutable evidence that your current beliefs are wrong would you change them?

Most atheists and agnostics would answer yes. A lot of religious people would answer yes too.

The only people who are 'wrong' here are the ones who answer no.

2p
 

tek-monkey

wanna see my snake?
I see where you are coming from, but I see agnosticism(?) as the middle ground. But then I see science as a religion too, as it is still a belief structure.
 

Hetairoi

Well-Known Forumite
I am an agnostic too.

I believe it is highly unlikely that there is a god of any sort but I have been known to wrong in the past (not very often though!).
 

Withnail

Well-Known Forumite
Atheism by its definition implies merely a disbelief in god/gods.

It does not necessarily follow that an atheist 'believes' in science.
 

1JKz

Well-Known Forumite
One day a Pastor, a Vicar and an Atheist go on a fishing trip together.
They are in the boat and the Pastor says," Oh! No! I left the paddles on shore!" So he proceeds to get out of the boat and walk on the water to the shore to get them.
Once he had gotten back into the boat the Vicar says," Oh! No! I left the bait on shore too!" And like the Pastor the Vicar exits the boat and walks on the water to get the bait.
When the Vicar climbs back into the boat the atheist yells," Well if you guys can do it so can I!!!" and proceeds to climb out of the boat, but he falls into the water.
At this point the Pastor says," Do you think we should have told him where the rocks are?"

How many atheists does it take to change a light bulb?
Two. One to actually change the bulb, and the other to videotape the job so fundamentalists won’t claim that god did it.

What you have to remember is Atheism is a non-prophet organization.


Regards,
a true believer in all things believable
 

That-Crazy-Rat-Lady

Well-Known Forumite
I once went to a Humanist meeting, I found it very interesting but also very amusing, it was a collection of atheists that still wanted the same structure and community of a church but didn’t want to believe in God. There not anti-god so to speak, but all want to get together and sing, drink tea and socialise but all agree there isn’t a god and they don’t believe in anything!
 

Trumpet

Well-Known Forumite
That-Crazy-Rat-Lady said:
I once went to a Humanist meeting, I found it very interesting but also very amusing, it was a collection of atheists that still wanted the same structure and community of a church but didn’t want to believe in God. There not anti-god so to speak, but all want to get together and sing, drink tea and socialise but all agree there isn’t a god and they don’t believe in anything!
They should find a good pub!
 

db

#chaplife
henryscat said:
Funny you should mention Richard Dawkins, as I am a raving atheist too. His programmes on Channel 4 ages back on religion were really good.
yes, they were really good if you take pleasure in seeing a well-educated man shouting down less well-educated women and generally trying to make them feel small and stupid for not believing the same things he does..

tek-monkey said:
Atheism is a religion in itself, as you actively believe something without proof (that there is no god). Nobody has ever disproved god, they have merely pointed out how improbable it all is.
exactly! i have long said this, and it is getting worse thanks to people like dawkins.. there's nothing wrong with atheism (as an agnostic, i dare say there are times when i would stray into atheistic territory) but, as with any religion, it's like your penis: there's nothing wrong with it, and it's ok to be proud of it, but please don't get it out in public, and definitely don't try and shove it down children's throats :v:

dangerousdave said:
can I just say form the off that if you're an athiest of the highest order, and if you believe that science has disprovedn 'god' or a 'higher power' you have no concept of how science works, and also how any good scientist would think
finally, someone who understands the concept of science! as dangerousdave says, if you truly believe science is absolute, then you can't refute the possibility of the existence of god, since it has not been disproven.. there are mountains and mountains of evidence to suggest there isn't one, but a real scientist knows that circumstantial evidence does not a proof make..
 

db

#chaplife
Withnail said:
Atheism by its definition implies merely a disbelief in god/gods.

It does not necessarily follow that an atheist 'believes' in science.
good point, well made..

in fact, there are religions out there (i mean proper ones, not stuff like scientology) where a deity is by no means a pre-requisite.. i think buddhism may be one of them..

That-Crazy-Rat-Lady said:
I once went to a Humanist meeting, I found it very interesting but also very amusing, it was a collection of atheists that still wanted the same structure and community of a church but didn’t want to believe in God. There not anti-god so to speak, but all want to get together and sing, drink tea and socialise but all agree there isn’t a god and they don’t believe in anything!
me & ms. db went to a humanist wedding last year - that of another forumite, who i may point in the direction of this thread as i'm sure he might have some interesting points to make.. i have to say, it was one of the loveliest weddings i have ever been too, and the introduction of the "human" element as opposed to "spiritual" made it seem a lot more grounded, more sturdy somehow :)
 

Withnail

Well-Known Forumite
I'm an atheist - i don't believe there is a god, or any number of gods. If Jesus comes round to mine next Tuesday and shows me his metaphorical penis then i'll change my mind.

Until then i'll stick with observable reality, thanks.
 

tek-monkey

wanna see my snake?
Withnail said:
I'm an atheist - i don't believe there is a god, or any number of gods. If Jesus comes round to mine next Tuesday and shows me his metaphorical penis then i'll change my mind.

Until then i'll stick with observable reality, thanks.
To be fair, if Jesus did that I still wouldn't necessarily believe! There is no need to have belief in something we know exists, I don't believe in tables for example I merely acknowledge their existance and rest cider on them.
 

Glam

Mad Cat Woman
Gramaisc said:
db said:
me & ms. db went to a humanist wedding last year
I've been to a few humanist funerals, and very good they were, too.
We had a humanist funeral for Mum,really enjoyed it,if you can enjoy a funeral. Much better than the 1 we had for Dad.
And if there's any penis' to be shown,I'm in front of the queue for lookin at them ty!
 

Rikki

Well-Known Forumite
What really annoys me about Dawkins is most people know him purely because of discussions/ arguments like this, be it on tv or because of The God Delusion. I personally thought it was a very good book, but no where near as good as most of his others which no one ever seems to mention. It's a shame really as they explain evolutionary theory very well which is one of the the main pieces of scientific evidence on this matter.
 
Top