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Why do atheists care about the beliefs of others?

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Tequila
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28 Dec 2012, 4:46 pm

abacacus wrote:

What you are saying by calling Atheism is a religion is equivalent to saying that not collecting stamps is a hobby.

If you were obsessed with the idea of not collecting stamps, would that be a hobby? Is it something you could sue the Philatelic Bureau for?

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28 Dec 2012, 5:17 pm

abacacus wrote:

Atheism is not a religion, it is the lack of religion.

Your logic is circular. Atheism is the belief that deities do not exist.

abacus wrote:

I firmly believe all organised religion to be a bad influence on society.

Produce the names of Atheist who have made a positive impact on society.
By "Positive" I mean charitable, self-less and communal impact that benefits everyone, even the less fortunate, can you do that for me?

Best Regards,

Jake

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Darialan
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28 Dec 2012, 5:38 pm

aspi-rant wrote:

Quote:

Why do atheists care about the beliefs of others?

because religious people obviously can't keep their beliefs for them selves. it is all around you, all the time, loud and clear.

churches, mosques, synagogs, temples and what have you.

symbols like crosses, crescents etc. are everywhere too.

citations from holy books in the media, etc.

[...]

so why do you think atheist care?? they are just sick and tired of being confronted with this religious nonsense day and night…

it is in our face 24/7.

Why is it bad for an atheist to see people leaving things at a steal cross on 9/11 ground zero and intolerable? Why is it wrong for us to let ourselves be known? Some atheists want that taken away, but why does it offend them? Do they feel insecure? There is freedom for the religious and non-religious alike. Surely we should not go about saying "you should convert." But it should be okay just to say "I am a believer." Likewise it should not be okay to say "you must not believe." But it should be okay for you to say "I don't believe." I believe there is a proper way to voice your belief or non-belief. I also believe there is a wrong way and many on both sides do it respectfully. And then there are those that don't. No need for anyone to keep it to themselves. It seems selfish to not let people onto one or the other, depending on what side your on.

shrox
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28 Dec 2012, 5:48 pm

ArrantPariah wrote:

Prud wrote:

shrox wrote:

Prud wrote:

shrox wrote:

What would be a term for someone who has never heard of any religion?

Some atheist will be funny and say "blessed"...

The Piraha tribe in the Amazon had never heard of religion, until missionaries were sent there in the 70s. Luckily they did not believe it and even ended up unconverting the missionary, he's now an atheist.

I don't believe in religion either.

Nice work on your site by the way.

+1. Shrox is quite talented.

Thank you Prud and ArrantPariah.

shrox
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28 Dec 2012, 5:52 pm

Perhaps religion is like negative numbers. They don't exist, but we can imagine they exist, and even make models of them by writing or type one out. Like -7, there is no negative seven in the world, but we can model one as show. There might be seven apples on a table, but there can never be negative seven apples on the table.

Mindsigh
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28 Dec 2012, 5:55 pm

shrox wrote:

ArrantPariah wrote:

Prud wrote:

shrox wrote:

Prud wrote:

shrox wrote:

What would be a term for someone who has never heard of any religion?

Some atheist will be funny and say "blessed"...

The Piraha tribe in the Amazon had never heard of religion, until missionaries were sent there in the 70s. Luckily they did not believe it and even ended up unconverting the missionary, he's now an atheist.

I don't believe in religion either.

Nice work on your site by the way.

+1. Shrox is quite talented.

Thank you Prud and ArrantPariah.

+Another one. That's some great art, man. Looks and brains and talent. No wonder I'm afraid of you.

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shrox
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28 Dec 2012, 6:56 pm

Mindsigh wrote:

shrox wrote:

ArrantPariah wrote:

Prud wrote:

shrox wrote:

Prud wrote:

shrox wrote:

What would be a term for someone who has never heard of any religion?

Some atheist will be funny and say "blessed"...

The Piraha tribe in the Amazon had never heard of religion, until missionaries were sent there in the 70s. Luckily they did not believe it and even ended up unconverting the missionary, he's now an atheist.

I don't believe in religion either.

Nice work on your site by the way.

+1. Shrox is quite talented.

Thank you Prud and ArrantPariah.

+Another one. That's some great art, man. Looks and brains and talent. No wonder I'm afraid of you.

Wow! Thanks Ms. Mindsigh!

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28 Dec 2012, 7:45 pm

ruveyn wrote:

What most atheists object to is that they discriminated against and in some cases deprived of their rights by religious believers.

If the religious folk were not so active in imposing their beliefs on others, you would barely hear a peep from atheists.

Atheism is not about beliefs at all. It is about lack of belief for want of any empirical evidence.

ruveyn

Isnt a lack of belief somehow a belief in and of itself?

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28 Dec 2012, 7:47 pm

Keniichi wrote:

Isnt a lack of belief somehow a belief in and of itself?

Thank You. That's what I've been trying to say ALL ALONG.

Best Regards,

Jake

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MCalavera
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28 Dec 2012, 7:48 pm

No, it is a lack of belief.

If I lack a bicycle, it means I don't have a bicycle.

Of course, the word "belief" will come with various meanings and you will have to check the context to figure out what meaning is being considered.

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28 Dec 2012, 7:49 pm

MCalavera wrote:

No, it is a lack of belief.

If I lack a bicycle, it means I don't have a bicycle.

"Lack" also means you are in the South. As in "All I lack is a cup of a milk."

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28 Dec 2012, 7:49 pm

MCalavera wrote:

No, it is a lack of belief.

If I lack a bicycle, it means I don't have a bicycle.

ok.

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28 Dec 2012, 7:54 pm

MCalavera wrote:

No, it is a lack of belief.

What are the convictions of your non-belief? What are the conditions?
You put your faith in science. Does not the existence of that "Faith" constitute the definition of a religion?

Best Regards,

Jake

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MCalavera
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28 Dec 2012, 8:05 pm

No, because "faith" is a misleading word when it comes to science and makes it sound like an atheist's trust in science is identical to a religious person's faith. Which is not the case.

The former's trust is based on empirical evidence. The latter's faith is based blindly on what cannot be shown and demonstrated in any way.

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28 Dec 2012, 8:19 pm

MCalavera wrote:

No, because "faith" is a misleading word when it comes to science and makes it sound like an atheist's trust in science is identical to a religious person's faith. Which is not the case.

The former's trust is based on empirical evidence. The latter's faith is based blindly on what cannot be shown and demonstrated in any way.

Again, where is your conviction for your belief? Where is your outside, objective source to verify that you are correct
Or are your basing your "belief" on purely psychological confidence that you are correct?

Best Regards,

Jake

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MCalavera
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28 Dec 2012, 8:21 pm

For me, it's a matter of parsimony. So think of it as a philosophical thing.

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