Main Reason For Atheism

[Mystophilus]

Monarchy:

You can’t prove it either way. I am an atheist in that I am without a belief in God.

a = without theist = godbelief ergo atheist = wihout god belief

only a strong atheist (i.e. There is no god) believesd as you stated.

atheist: 1571, from Fr. athéiste (16c.), from Gk. atheos “to deny the gods, godless,” from a- “without” + theos “a god” (see Thea). A slightly earlier form is represented by atheonism (c.1534) which is perhaps from It. atheo “atheist.”

-ism: suffix forming nouns of action, state, condition, doctrine, from Fr. -isme, from L. -isma, from Gk. -isma, from stem of verbs in -izein. (ibid.)

“atheist”, of which the earliest recorded usage dates to 1568, is clearly not a derivative of “theist”, of which the earliest recorded usage was almost one hundred years later, in 1662. Thus, a person who believes that no god exists is an atheist. A person who believes the issue to be unprovable is an agnostic (i.e., “One who holds that the existence of anything beyond and behind material phenomena is unknown and (so far as can be judged) unknowable, and especially that a First Cause and an unseen world are subjects of which we know nothing.” - Oxford English Dictionary). As the former position is logically indefensible and the latter logically unassailable, I fail to understand why anyone would claim to be an atheist.

Also from the OED:1886 Science VIII. 132 It is customary to speak of acute, subacute and chronic ‘theism’, a form that has no connection with theological matters.

 

[Monarchy]

I am not crusading against anything, I’m just representing atheists on this board.

And so the issue must be of importance to you or you wouldn’t be here every day as a champion (crusader) for your cause.

So it does matter, doesn’t it?

I drop in every couple of weeks, I am hardly here every day, unless I am in a discusssion. I am here to clear up misconseptions about atheists, the same way a catholic might go onto a babtist board.

 

[Monarchy]

atheist: 1571, from Fr. athéiste (16c.), from Gk. atheos “to deny the gods, godless,” from a- “without” + theos “a god” (see Thea). A slightly earlier form is represented by atheonism (c.1534) which is perhaps from It. atheo “atheist.”

I would agree to without a god. But again, I do not deny there is a god, as I can’t prove that. But most atheists I know go with the definition I used. Wether it started out that way doesn’t really matter.

As the former position is logically indefensible and the latter logically unassailable, I fail to understand why anyone would claim to be an atheist.

Indefensible how?

 

[Monarchy]

coyote:

I was a registered member of an interactive forum that answered pet care and other pet related questions. An interesting phenomenon occurred. In some of my posts I would end with “God Bless” or offer to pray for the pet or the person. I was soundly lambasted with great hostility from the Moderators, I was told that I could not make any references to God or anything religious because atheists, wiccans and satanists using the forum might be offended!?:banghead:

Did they hold the Atheists and such to the same standards (no blessed be or such)? If not complain, they are being unfair.

 

[Gilbert_Keith]

MONARCHY

I drop in every couple of weeks, I am hardly here every day, unless I am in a discusssion. I am here to clear up misconseptions about atheists, the same way a catholic might go onto a babtist board.

You have 307 posts.
I have 264 posts, and I am Catholic.

If I went to a Baptist board and posted 307 messages, I would call myself a crusader!

I definitely view you as a crusader for atheism … whatever you like to call yourself is fine with me.

 

[Monarchy]

MONARCHY

You have 307 posts.
I have 264 posts, and I am Catholic.

Your point?

I have been on this board for since june of last year, You have been here since this march. Considering the amount of time it isnt that many posts.

If I went to a Baptist board and posted 307 messages, I would call myself a crusader!

I definitely view you as a crusader for atheism … whatever you like to call yourself is fine with me.

As I think of a crusader as a person who is out to convert people, I would argue against that. I do not seek to convert people to atheism.

 

[Gilbert_Keith]

I do not seek to convert people to atheism.

Any attempt to defend atheism is an attack on God.

Have you defended atheism in this forum?

 

[elwedriddsche]

Gilbert Keith:

Any attempt to defend atheism is an attack on God.

And there’s another major reason why atheists do not convert to Christianity.

 

[bapcathluth]

I am not an atheist, but I do have a problem with organized religion. I look at this beautiful world, and like many people, I can’t believe it was all accidental. I believe there must be a purpose for us to be here.

I wonder at people though, who are so convinced that only their way is the true way to God. They have the truth with a capital T. Most people know their truth only because they were born into it.
Since I was a young child, I really couldn’t understand how anybody could have such perfect faith in one religion.

This is why I come to a board like this. It is very interesting to see people who are fully convinced. I also go to other boards and hear about how wrong Catholics are. I would say, that most Catholics, are less likely to damn everybody else to hell than many religions.

 

[cheddarsox]

bapcathluth:

I would say, that most Catholics, are less likely to damn everybody else to hell than many religions.

On break at work today I read the cover story of Newsweek mag Sept 5 issue. It is all about spirituality and religion and has numerous statistics from a poll they did. And, according to their statistics, what you say is what they found. Catholics were less likely to believe that folks of other religions were going to hell than some other groups (I know Evangelicals was one of them).

A very interesting read!

cheddar

 

[Monarchy]

I do not seek to convert people to atheism.

Any attempt to defend atheism is an attack on God.

Really? How?

Have you defended atheism in this forum?

Yes I have. How am I attacking God?

I am sure that to most anti-catholics any attempt to defend catholisism is an attack on god.

 

[Monarchy]

Because he loves me soooooooo much that he’ll happily let me burn in torture forever.

Nope. That’s your choice, not His. He died for you … but do you throw his death back in his face?

You may get it.

By the same logic if I shove a gun in your face and tell you to empty your pockets or I’ll shoot you, when you don’t you chose to be shot. I am not moraly culpable at all for shooting you.

 

[Gilbert_Keith]

MONARCHY

*How am I attacking God?
*
You attack God by denying God exists. I’ve never heard an atheist in this forum say anything more important than that God does not exist.

If that isn’t an attack on God, what is it?

 

[Elizabeth2]

Gilbert Keith:

MAIN REASON FOR ATHEISM

What is the main reason atheists are atheists?

(1) Is it that they cannot believe God would create a world with so much evil in it?

(2) Is it that they find the idea of God intellectually unsupportable?

(3) Is it that God presents an authority figure which they are by temperament unable to submit to?

(4) Is it that they find God (especially the Christian God) an obstacle to charting their own moral code?

(5) Is it that they are conformists to the fashionable mode of 20th century thought inherited from Nietzsche and others?

(6) Is it that they have inherited atheism from their parents?

(7) Is it that they have inherited atheism from the media and/or academia?

(8) Is it a combination of any or all of the above reasons?

ARE THERE OTHER REASONS?

Thanks for any interest in this thread!

I have a neighbour who grew up in Holland during the Nazi occupation. He says that he can’t believe in a God who would allow such horrors to happen. I think that mainly he’s stuck in the horror of that time and hasn’t been able to forget. He also had an abusive father who beat him. God knows what he went through and I think He will make allowances for that.

 

[Gilbert_Keith]

MONARCHY

I am not moraly culpable at all for shooting you.

You equate God with a burglar?

 

[siamesecat]

Gilbert Keith:

MAIN REASON FOR ATHEISM

What is the main reason atheists are atheists?

(1) Is it that they cannot believe God would create a world with so much evil in it?

(2) Is it that they find the idea of God intellectually unsupportable?

(3) Is it that God presents an authority figure which they are by temperament unable to submit to?

(4) Is it that they find God (especially the Christian God) an obstacle to charting their own moral code?

(5) Is it that they are conformists to the fashionable mode of 20th century thought inherited from Nietzsche and others?

(6) Is it that they have inherited atheism from their parents?

(7) Is it that they have inherited atheism from the media and/or academia?

(8) Is it a combination of any or all of the above reasons?

ARE THERE OTHER REASONS?

Thanks for any interest in this thread!

8 applys to me. 1 and 2 especially. My parents have become atheists I think they dont talk about religion much, but when I was younger then took me to church and CCD so i doubt its inherited. The media and academia support it a lot I think, but Im capable of making my own decisions and would never form a belief just on entertainment fed to me. 4 also applies, because there are some (but not many) things I find morally acceptable that the Christian god does not. 3 definately doesnt apply to me. If I had proof god exists, Iwould submit to him and follow all his rules. I actually very much wish there was a Christian god, because then I’d have a set idea of morals and wouldnt have to figure out right and wrong on my own, and would be able to see my deceased relatives in Heaven.

 

[Monarchy]

Gilbert Keith:

MONARCHY

*How am I attacking God? *

You attack God by denying God exists. I’ve never heard an atheist in this forum say anything more important than that God does not exist.

If that isn’t an attack on God, what is it?

You need to read my posts. In #43 I stated:

*I would agree to without a god. But again, I do not deny there is a god, as I can’t prove that.
*

 

[siamesecat]

Also, I cant say for sure that there isnt some sort of ‘creator’,but I am absolutely sure it is not the Christian god, and that I highly doubt any form of organized religion is the correct form. In my opinion, the “creator”, if it exists, is no longer involved in world affairs.

 

[Monarchy]

Gilbert Keith:

MONARCHY

I am not moraly culpable at all for shooting you.

You equate God with a burglar?

No, I am attempting to show you what I percieve to be a hole in your logic. Thusly if God is not morally culpable for the indefinite torture of souls, because you have a ‘choice’ (believe or else), I would not be morally culpable for shooting you as I gave you a ‘choice’ (give me your money or else).

 

[Monarchy]

siamesecat:

Also, I cant say for sure that there isnt some sort of ‘creator’,but I am absolutely sure it is not the Christian god, and that I highly doubt any form of organized religion is the correct form. In my opinion, the “creator”, if it exists, is no longer involved in world affairs.

That sounds like a Diest. Many of them belive a ‘god’ made the universe and then wound (sp?) it up like a clock and has had nothing more to do with it.