way 2 go
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it is by faith.
Is Atheism Like a Religion?
- Thread starter 6days
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it is by faith.
flintstoned
New member
WHAT is by faith??? You never said what my beliefs were.
way 2 go
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flintstoned
New member
Oh, THAT clears things up!(not) You can't have faith without belief, and you still haven't told me what my supposed beliefs are.
way 2 go
Well-known member
I disbelieve the earth is flat
I believe the earth is not flat
atheism:
the doctrine or belief that there is no God.
http://www.dictionary.com/browse/atheism?s=t
Silent Hunter
Well-known member
Equivocate much? I especially like how you cherry picked the definition you liked best. :loser:I disbelieve the earth is flat
I believe the earth is not flat
atheism:
the doctrine or belief that there is no God.
http://www.dictionary.com/browse/atheism?s=t
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Interplanner
Well-known member
The idea of 'atheism is a faith belief' is that it has several leap of faith presuppositions.
One of the most substantial core beliefs a person has as they get older is that the termination of meaning cannot end with this life; there must be more after death. To the younger person chasing his desires, this makes no 'sense'. To the older person, who has been through the real challenges of life, the opposite is true; there has to be meaning beyond and there has to be justice beyond this life.
Similarly, I'm always fascinated to hear the atheist say that the global flood could not have happened. Those are presuppositions speaking. They are atheists, yet they are experts on the features and capabilities of God? How does that make sense? The whole point of the assertion of the Bible is that the global flood could not have happened in the constrictions placed on it by the atheist! So a real nothing has been communicated. Now on to facts: there is more and more understanding of vertical tectonics lately that was almost unknown 20 years ago. There is good reason to see that this item is true in the sense of vertical tectonic catastrophism, as well as the abundance of global flood legend and reference in most cultures.
One of the most substantial core beliefs a person has as they get older is that the termination of meaning cannot end with this life; there must be more after death. To the younger person chasing his desires, this makes no 'sense'. To the older person, who has been through the real challenges of life, the opposite is true; there has to be meaning beyond and there has to be justice beyond this life.
Similarly, I'm always fascinated to hear the atheist say that the global flood could not have happened. Those are presuppositions speaking. They are atheists, yet they are experts on the features and capabilities of God? How does that make sense? The whole point of the assertion of the Bible is that the global flood could not have happened in the constrictions placed on it by the atheist! So a real nothing has been communicated. Now on to facts: there is more and more understanding of vertical tectonics lately that was almost unknown 20 years ago. There is good reason to see that this item is true in the sense of vertical tectonic catastrophism, as well as the abundance of global flood legend and reference in most cultures.
Dear Interplanner,
Great things are yet to come!! Many will wish it was just a global Flood. Armageddon is nothing to put lightly. Oh, the earthquakes!! Oh, the hailstones!! Oh, the flood!! Oh, the fires!! It is going to be soon enough. Pray that they don't happen in your neighborhood!!
Michael
6days
New member
Your beliefs in a flat earth (or spherical) may be religious if you promote your beliefs with evangelical fundamentalism. Are there websites, books, magazines and conferences that you defend your beliefs? Have there been court cases arguing the merits of labelling flat earthers as a religion? Do you have like minded flat earthers (or round) admitting their beliefs are religious and is promoted by its practitioners as more than mere science.Silent Hunter said:
IOW.... your attempt at analogy fails. Your disbelief in little green men, the flying spagetti monster and the flat earth bears no resemblance to the religious nature of many atheists belief system.
Dear 6days,
I think most atheists won't venture to tell you who their 'god' really is. They may not realize it and it is safer for Satan to keep them in the dark because otherwise, they would not want to stay. I mean, there are those who belong to God and there are those who belong on the opposite end, right?? So go figure it out. Is there someone in-between? Who? Sounds like a religion to me. Someone or something to have faith or belief in.
Have Faith And Love, In Christ,
Michael
I think most atheists won't venture to tell you who their 'god' really is. They may not realize it and it is safer for Satan to keep them in the dark because otherwise, they would not want to stay. I mean, there are those who belong to God and there are those who belong on the opposite end, right?? So go figure it out. Is there someone in-between? Who? Sounds like a religion to me. Someone or something to have faith or belief in.
Have Faith And Love, In Christ,
Michael
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flintstoned
New member
I disbelieve the earth is flat
I believe the earth is not flat
atheism:
the doctrine or belief that there is no God.
http://www.dictionary.com/browse/atheism?s=t
Why do you keep posting definitions when I already told you that I do not hold a belief in gods? I even posted the definitions which described this. Since you said that atheists had a fundamental set of beliefs, I asked you to provide them (which you never did). Then you go trying to search for other definitions as if you think you can somehow define us. I hate to break it to you, but dictionaries are descriptive not prescriptive (which is something you should have learned in grade school). Dictionaries attempt to describe the various ways that words are actually used in society rather than prescribing how things should be defined.
6days
New member
To many, atheism is not just an absence of belief....It is instead a belief in the non-existence of God. It is a belief system that has 'religious' leaders. It is a belief system where 'apologetics' are taught at conferences, monthly meetings, books, magazines and websites. Atheism is often a belief system where the adherents evangelize.... To many atheists, their belief system is their religion.
exminister
Well-known member
Atheism isn't a religion. You have to turn the word religion to make it fit.
When you travel around the world you see wonderful cathedrals and adorable little wooden structures with a spire and a cross. I love such buildings and the care that was done in creating them. They are everywhere supporting the community faiths from Christianity to Islam to Hinduism to Buddhism on and on.
Atheism may hold conventions periodically but they don't have churches that congregate every weekend or have much in the way of getting donations for evangelism or supporting the poor and needy. There are weak attempts at this but nothing with legs. Atheist don't pray upwards or downwards like religions do. It is more an even playing field. They have no higher authority and say there is no objective, absolute truth.
Religion is an ethos. I don't believe atheism is. But everything can be turned into something else such as claiming atheism is a religion.
When you travel around the world you see wonderful cathedrals and adorable little wooden structures with a spire and a cross. I love such buildings and the care that was done in creating them. They are everywhere supporting the community faiths from Christianity to Islam to Hinduism to Buddhism on and on.
Atheism may hold conventions periodically but they don't have churches that congregate every weekend or have much in the way of getting donations for evangelism or supporting the poor and needy. There are weak attempts at this but nothing with legs. Atheist don't pray upwards or downwards like religions do. It is more an even playing field. They have no higher authority and say there is no objective, absolute truth.
Religion is an ethos. I don't believe atheism is. But everything can be turned into something else such as claiming atheism is a religion.
musterion
Well-known member
Atheism is a religion. It shares all the features of any other.
First and foremost, it's a system that tries to explain life, the universe and everything. That's the baseline definition of religion.
Following from that, it has sacred scriptures which may not be questioned. It has a priesthood and occasional high priests/popes. It has evangelists who seek to convert others. It has devils. It definitely has core dogmas, and punishments meted out for violating those dogmas. It offers adherents what it considers the highest and most blessed possible form of salvation...salvation from God.
Yes, it's a religion.
First and foremost, it's a system that tries to explain life, the universe and everything. That's the baseline definition of religion.
Following from that, it has sacred scriptures which may not be questioned. It has a priesthood and occasional high priests/popes. It has evangelists who seek to convert others. It has devils. It definitely has core dogmas, and punishments meted out for violating those dogmas. It offers adherents what it considers the highest and most blessed possible form of salvation...salvation from God.
Yes, it's a religion.
exminister
Well-known member
Atheism explains life? No. It says there is no personal god. That doesn't explain life. It clearly undercuts the prevalent explaination.
What "atheist" book is not questioned? Name at least one or two book that you think are holy scripture for atheist.
Atheism doesn't promise eternal life. It doesn't offer forgiveness of sins. If you think atheist offer anything akin to religion it surely cheapens what Christianity has to offer.
Is your attempt to turn atheism into a religion so you can hold it up to the same scrutiny as a religion? You want to make the target larger so you can condemn it with the things that religion is accused of.
As an older person---nope, dead is dead, nothing more. Sorry.
And your flood stuff is rubbish. Although if you can provide citations to the scientific literature that indicate "vertical tectonics" within the time frame of the Biblical flood, I would be interested.
way 2 go
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way 2 go
Well-known member
Silent Hunter
Well-known member
flintstoned
New member
Atheism is not a religion and neither is theism. The words atheism/theism just describe a state of mind or belief regarding gods (whether one has a belief or not). Atheism is a category descriptor of those people who do not have a belief in god just like theism is just a category descriptor of those people who do have a belief in god. The categories of atheism/theism are not religions or philosophies in and of themselves. You don't say "I believe in theism" or "I follow the theism "philosophy" (the same goes for atheism). Sure, most religions are theistic (christianity, judaism, hinduism, etc), but it is these individual religions that give the "set of explanations of how and why reality exists", not the category of "theism".
You could never say that this is what all theists believe about such and such (other than having the belief in a god), since all theistic beliefs are different based on the different religions. The same goes for atheism where you could never say that this is what all atheists believe about such and such (other than NOT having A belief in a god). Atheists may adhere to philosophies such as Humanism, or religions such as Buddhism, or something of their own makeup, but the category of "atheism" is not a religion or philosophy itself.