LeMaquis Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 Good post for me to demonstrate my OP, there are several slightly varying definitions of the term "atheist", the most commonly accepted one being simply "a lack of belief in the existence of gods" (which is how we are born) none include a set of beliefs as part of their criteria. You believe otherwise, what is the source/root of your mindset on this? I believe that if people want to be religious they should have the right to be but that religion shouldn't affect the state. Religion tends to be right-wing as well as oppressive. It limits freedoms and people's judgements although I accept it's not alone in that. Religion comes from a non-factual basis - the existece of a god - and therefore just about everything that flows from it will be factually askew. If you try to organise society along principles whose basis is factually incorrect then society will be fundamentally flawed. Just look at the USA and the Guns and God lobby or anti-abortionists who kill because life is sacred. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean Hughes Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 I'm not religious but I can see that in many circumstances people get great comfort from their beliefs so maybe it isn't such a bad thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootsBooster Posted January 8, 2012 Author Share Posted January 8, 2012 I'm not religious but I can see that in many circumstances people get great comfort from their beliefs so maybe it isn't such a bad thing. I didn't say it was Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootsBooster Posted January 8, 2012 Author Share Posted January 8, 2012 I believe that if people want to be religious they should have the right to be but that religion shouldn't affect the state. Religion tends to be right-wing as well as oppressive. It limits freedoms and people's judgements although I accept it's not alone in that. Religion comes from a non-factual basis - the existece of a god - and therefore just about everything that flows from it will be factually askew. If you try to organise society along principles whose basis is factually incorrect then society will be fundamentally flawed. Just look at the USA and the Guns and God lobby or anti-abortionists who kill because life is sacred. That doesn't answer my question at all, why do you think being an atheist involves a set of beliefs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeMaquis Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 I'm not religious but I can see that in many circumstances people get great comfort from their beliefs so maybe it isn't such a bad thing. I accept people can get comfort from their faith but it also leads to war, tyranny, oppression, intolerance, murder and everything else. If it just stayed in the home and place of worship I could tolerate it but religion seeks domination over other ideas and lives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeMaquis Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 That doesn't answer my question at all, why do you think being an atheist involves a set of beliefs? If you're an atheist you have accepted to believe god doesn't exist and from that you have to develop other beliefs to contradict the religious beliefs you reject. For example on abortion you can reject the right to life argument and instead believe in a woman's right to choose. On Sunday trading you oppose supermarkets only being open for 6 hours based on the myth that god rested on that day and instead argue they should be open as long as they are on other days. When people say things like an eye for an eye you can say that just leads to everyone being blind. If you consciously reject religious beliefs then you're going to replace them in your own mind with another set that you believe in yourself. They will vary from person to person but being an atheist will mean a personal set of beliefs that contradict religious beliefs. I can't see how you can be an atheist without having a set of non-religious beliefs seeing as being an atheist means you reject religious beliefs. I can't imagine rejecting religion but having no counter-argument to it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootsBooster Posted January 8, 2012 Author Share Posted January 8, 2012 If you're an atheist you have accepted to believe god doesn't exist and from that you have to develop other beliefs to contradict the religious beliefs you reject. For example on abortion you can reject the right to life argument and instead believe in a woman's right to choose. On Sunday trading you oppose supermarkets only being open for 6 hours based on the myth that god rested on that day and instead argue they should be open as long as they are on other days. When people say things like an eye for an eye you can say that just leads to everyone being blind. If you consciously reject religious beliefs then you're going to replace them in your own mind with another set that you believe in yourself. They will vary from person to person but being an atheist will mean a personal set of beliefs that contradict religious beliefs. I can't see how you can be an atheist without having a set of non-religious beliefs seeing as being an atheist means you reject religious beliefs. I can't imagine rejecting religion but having no counter-argument to it You seem to be confused about atheism, your "set of beliefs" have developed SINCE becoming an atheist, they are not criteria which must be met to BECOME an atheist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cavegirl Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 As far as I understand it babies are born with no self-awareness, they see no separation between their minds and bodies and everything that they experience. They are very much part of the world rather than an individual being in the world. In fact many philosophers argue that it was not until the 'modern' period (ie the Enlightenment and the transition from a feudalist economy to a capitalist economy) that we came to see ourselves as seperate individuals at all. As babies have no knowledge of god they can be neither theists or atheists. I would suggest that pantheism comes closer to their state of being, but the best description of them would be panist- a consciousness that encompasses everything it experiences and assimilates it into itself until it is taught to use language and then the being is moulded by the ideas that are expressed to it through this language. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSmith Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 If you're an atheist you have accepted to believe god doesn't exist and from that you have to develop other beliefs to contradict the religious beliefs you reject. I am an atheist and yet I do believe that God exists in the same way that love, hate, fear, hanger, sorrow all exist and are capable on consuming or altering one’s life, and even influencing the life’s of the people that don’t share your fear, love or hanger. Whether we like it or not God as influenced the life of everyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flamingjimmy Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 We're not all born as atheists as we are born without any beliefs and atheism involves a set of beliefs. I'm an atheist and only became one aged about 10 when I realised a god couldn't possibly exist. It was taking on that belief that made me an atheist. You don't have to believe that god doesn't exist to be an atheist, you can just not believe that god exists. If you had no concept of god like a newborn then you are still an atheist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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