Atheism

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My daughter is atheist

But it doesn't really mean much to me

Didn't Karl Marx once say that "religion is the opium of the masses"?

Who would give up opium, hope and faith for the futility of atheism? Apparently an increasing number of people...

Yeah but no one had a telly in them days

“Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality. When we recognize our place in an immensity of light‐years and in the passage of ages, when we grasp the intricacy, beauty, and subtlety of life, then that soaring feeling, that sense of elation and humility combined, is surely spiritual. So are our emotions in the presence of great art or music or literature, or acts of exemplary selfless courage such as those of Mohandas Gandhi or Martin Luther King, Jr. The notion that science and spirituality are somehow mutually exclusive does a disservice to both.”

— Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark

I wanted to cite a different perspective from another atheist in this thread. Atheism is not a religion. Atheists don’t have a single philosophical framework with which they perceive the world and their place in it. It’s merely the absence of belief in a deity/deities.

Who'd quit smack? People who recognize their addiction as harmful or unfulfilling or as a distraction.

No, just an enjoyer of tall-tales.

It could be argued that religion gives the happiness of smack to some, without the troublesome physical side effects.

Plus, it is free to believe.

It's still a distraction though, and it becomes deeply unfulfilling once you realize it's all horses**t.

Once one realizes the emperor has no clothes one has little interest in discussing or commenting on the emperor's lovely wardrobe.

Believers yap about his nonexistent clothing and get grumpy with those of us who've noticed he's naked. I don't care if talking about his clothing choices gives you comfort, he's not wearing any and we have more pressing matters but people are too distracted by their concerns over what clothes Emperor Nudist isn't actually wearing.

It's deeply masturbatory at best, it's often much worse.

I’m not so sure that it’s free to believe. There’s often some cost involved - even in terms of freedom of mind - to be a Christian (or whatever). The cost can be extremely high in some denominations with restrictions being placed on folks’ gender and sexual orientation. Of course, some groups have tithing requirements, too.

You don't have to be a part of any church to believe in God, even the Christian God.

Sure, you can find yourself in a situation where you might be paying tithing costs as an extension of faith or church going, but it doesn't have to be that way.

I didn’t say that you had to belong to a church to believe in a god.

I wasn’t trying to claim that you had to belong to a church to be negatively impacted by religious dogma. Reading the Bible and believing that it is the inspired word of a god would be enough.

Well, for people who believe in the Christian God, follow the bible and receive psychological benefits from that, it would be free in that sense I meant.

Also, some people would happily pay 10% of their income to a church, especially if they have a moderate amount or lots of surplus money.

Are you ducking me blitz?

I think the cost to believe in for example the Christian religion is that you have to turn a blind eye to that some parts of the teachings doesn't hold together or make sense. You can't use your brain to it's full potential if you want to keep the faith.

Not at all.

There was no comeback to your previous post.

You believe what you believe and I respect that.