quisquose Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 I was asking 645, as he seems to be saying you can't have a militant atheist, because atheism is an absense of belief, so I'm wondering if, by that reasoning, it would similarly mean that you couldn't have a male/black/intelligent/stupid atheist? Just trying to work out what he's talking about really. No, six45ive is making perfect sense to me, it's you that isn't. You can have an agnostic who is militant about gay rights, but you wouldn't call him a militant agnostic. It simply doesn't add meaning like militant gay activist would. The only reason that the word militant is being so readily added to the word atheist is to equate all atheists with the most unpleasant extremes of religion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obelix Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 OK..... Would they be a militant atheist while they were being militant about something other than atheism? Or would they be a non-militant atheist being militant (about something else). Actually, could you even have a non-militant atheist? would they have to be being a non-militant atheist (about something else?). IT does rather seem to me though that you are being somewhat dogmatic in your insistence about what you think atheism is. One would possibly even class your behavior as being militant in it's one minded pursuit... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onewheeldave Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 So please explain how my lack of belief in a god manifests itself in an 'aggressive' manner without using any tenets from established ideologies/world views. I wasn't talking about you- you don't seem to be being particularly insulting/goading in this thread. I was talking about an atheist, engaged in a discussion with a believer, who gives up on the reasoning approach, and resorts, as some atheists do, to using terms that are provocative, goading or insulting. It's not due to his/her lack of belief in God, but they are being militant, they are an atheist, and, they are being militant in a discussion about atheism/religious belief. So they shouldn't really be too upset if they get labelled as a 'militant atheist'. It does serve a purpose, because there are plenty of atheists who can participate in a reasonable and rational discussion with believers, so it's just one way of distinguishing them from the others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onewheeldave Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 I know it's not aimed at me but, An atheist not being militant; "I like zombie novels" "It's amazing how cheap second hand digital guitar equipment is these days, I've just grabbed myself a real bargain on an unlimited track recorder!" "I wonder if telekinesis is possible?" OK. Can you relate any of those into the discussion then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onewheeldave Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 If they chose to identify themselves as a black atheist then of course but all that it would say about them is that they are a black man that doesn't believe in god. Where's the militant in that? No, there's no militant in that. Would you say they were a 'black atheist'? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quisquose Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 No, I'm not 'dodging', I've explicitly said that I'm not going to give examples, as doing so, IMO, is not going to progress things, and will, IMO, just increase the confusion further. Perhaps you could give some examples of how atheists are never militant? Not sure how, but, as you seem to be so much into examples, you might be able to come up with something? 1. Yes you are dodging. 2. I have already said that everybody is militant on occasion, especially with respect to the low threshold of militancy which you and mafya seem to subscribe to, which makes everybody a 'militant theist' or 'militant atheist' and makes the use of the term meaningless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onewheeldave Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 No, six45ive is making perfect sense to me, it's you that isn't. You can have an agnostic who is militant about gay rights, but you wouldn't call him a militant agnostic. It simply doesn't add meaning like militant gay activist would. The only reason that the word militant is being so readily added to the word atheist is to equate all atheists with the most unpleasant extremes of religion. What if he was an atheist being militant about athesim? Would he be a militant atheist then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onewheeldave Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 IT does rather seem to me though that you are being somewhat dogmatic in your insistence about what you think atheism is. One would possibly even class your behavior as being militant in it's one minded pursuit... Only if you define 'militant' as being a 'one minded pursuit'. I don't, I understand it to mean things like 'aggressive, insulting, goading etc', in which case I'm not being militant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quisquose Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 What if he was an atheist being militant about athesim? Would he be a militant atheist then? How can somebody be militant about a lack of belief in something? This is why I keep asking for examples. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onewheeldave Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 1. Yes you are dodging. 2. I have already said that everybody is militant on occasion, especially with respect to the low threshold of militancy which you and mafya seem to subscribe to, which makes everybody a 'militant theist' or 'militant atheist' and makes the use of the term meaningless. 1. no I'm not (might be worth noting that what's happening here, is we're disagreeing. Either back up your claim, or let's just leave it, eh? 2. Like I've said many times now- I'm using 'militant' to mean 'insulting/goading' etc, which I don't consider that low a threshhold, as many many people are able to engage in a discussion without insulting and goading. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts