The absurdity of atheism

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drac16 said:
Atheism is the dogmatic belief that** everything**

is ultimately valueless yet that belief presupposes its own value! What is your view?
No, that’s what Nihilism is. An atheist is not necessarily a nihilist. I think a consistent atheist would naturally lead to Nihilism, but I am grateful that there are atheists who, on some level, believe in purpose. I don’t think they’re consistent, but they do exist.
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You are right. Thank God they’re inconsistent because otherwise they would have nothing to live for. They might make-believe in some goal for a while but eventually they would be oppressed by the futility of life and take an overdose…
 
ThinkingSapien said:
. . . An old lady knocked on my door once going from door to door to try to convert people from one variation of Christianity to another. I let her know I wasn’t a Christian at all. Her response was to get mad and start yelling. I could see the veins appearing in her head and quickly ended the interaction fearful that her emotional state could endanger her health. Now when people knock on my door for that purpose I just let them know it’s not a topic of interest but ask them how their day is going and offer a cold water if it’s hot outside.
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I do know how you feel. Same thing happens here, people knocking on the door, arguing, irreverent and disrespectful of the Catholic faith They are welcome, I suppose, in the hope that they might clue in to the truth.
. . . No, I can’t cure the leukemia of the friend that had intense radiation therapy. I can let her know that I care, check in on her, occasionally buy groceries, help out when I can and just spend time with her when nothing else can be done. . . As indicated above I think you and I may approach “hope” and other feelings from different perspectives. If you feel thankful to someone then I encourage expressing it. Letting someone else know you feel gratitude for them may bring a moment of joy to their life. . . . I don’t expect my concern for his well being to by itself to directly improve his well being. My feelings might be a motivator for taking action myself to attempt to improve his well being though. . .
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I imagine you understand why it is that you do that. I’m pretty sure you would agree that it is more than a reflex, not at all like a bowel spasm in response to some passing gas. Feelings reflect an attitude towards the other person. It is important to care for others, and to not only have these warm and fuzzy feelings but to act on them. There exists then objective goodness and an imperative on all of us to behave in a loving fashion.

God is Love. He is One, eternal Life and Truth, Father of all creation, which manifests His goodness, beauty and infinite glory.
 
Charlemagne_III said:
I’m thinking we don’t read the OP the same way…

The OP seems to refer to atheism as absurd using the criteria of existentialism itself, not the criteria of the ridiculous or the laughable.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absurdism

Absurdism as a philosophy simply stresses the irrationality of existence. That is to say, there are no rational explanations for why anything exists. Things just are.

As you are a Baptist, I suppose you would not agree with this.

On the other hand, it is the atheist who will more often than not refer to theism as absurd in the sense of ridiculous or laughable. I’ve seen that a thousand times in this forum.

Other religions than Christianity are generally and attempt to rise above the philosophy of the absurd by giving explanations that satisfy the intellect’s need to know and be comfortable with more or less rational explanations for the universe and man’s place in it.
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Seems unlikely as yours is the first reference to absurdism on this thread. Atheism is a lack of belief in deities, not the absence of religion. Religions such as Buddhism, Jainism and atheistic Hinduism find spiritual meaning without subscribing to a deity. There are atheist Quakers (nontheistfriends.org/). Imho the OP confuses atheism with nihilism.
 
tonyrey said:
You are right. Thank God they’re inconsistent because otherwise they would have nothing to live for. They might make-believe in some goal for a while but eventually they would be oppressed by the futility of life and take an overdose…
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I suppose I’ll never understand why life has to have such a grand meaning and purpose to be worth living. Perhaps many atheist (many whom are more practically apathetic towards faith irl) don’t feel a requirement for meaning or answer to the unknowable.
 
ThinkingSapien said:
It may be a position that you are not familiar with. I find greater value in someone having the knowledge that they **don’t understand my position **then a person having a misunderstanding of my position. But if you are curious check out the link in the previous message.
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That makes more sense.
 
HerCrazierHalf said:
I suppose I’ll never understand why life has to have such a grand meaning and purpose to be worth living. Perhaps many atheist (many whom are more practically apathetic towards faith irl) don’t feel a requirement for meaning or answer to the unknowable.
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I suppose life doesn’t have to have a grand meaning or purpose, but it does.
It is when that meaning calls that people begin to fidget and be dissatisfied.

As to the what:
I think the size of all this and here I am, little irreplaceable me - I’m impressed!

In terms of the why:
Some of us acheive pretty spectacular heights; some do the opposite.
For the most part, it boils down to a life well lived, the more love, the better.

With respect to apathy:
Death and dying cures that pretty quick, from my experience.
 
HerCrazierHalf said:
I suppose I’ll never understand why life has to have such a grand meaning and purpose to be worth living. Perhaps many atheist (many whom are more practically apathetic towards faith irl) don’t feel a requirement for meaning or answer to the unknowable.
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Neither do any other animals and vegetables. That is why we can eat them with a clear conscience.
 
inocente said:
Seems unlikely as yours is the first reference to absurdism on this thread. Atheism is a lack of belief in deities, not the absence of religion. Religions such as Buddhism, Jainism and atheistic Hinduism find spiritual meaning without subscribing to a deity. There are atheist Quakers (nontheistfriends.org/). Imho the OP confuses atheism with nihilism.
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More silliness. :hmmm:
 
What is the difference between atheists and anti-theists?

There is a distinct difference between an atheist and an anti-theist. First of all, there are several variations of atheists. Some state they lack belief in God. By this they mean that they neither affirm nor deny God’s existence. They don’t have a position either way. There are atheists who don’t know if God exists, and there are others who doubt He does. Then there are atheists who are stronger in their denial and believe that God does not exist. Atheists generally cite lack of evidence for God’s existence and will sometimes relate, particularly here in America, the behavior of the God of the Old Testament with antiquated cultures that are not relevant for today. Nevertheless, we could categorize these kinds of atheists into four main areas:
1.Those who lack belief
2.Those who don’t know if God exists
3.Those who doubt that God exists
4.Those who believe God does not exist

Anti-theist

An anti-theist would be someone who not only believes that God does not exist but also is against the idea of God’s existence. He would oppose religion. Just as there are varieties of atheists, there are varieties of anti-theists. Some anti-theists oppose the idea of God but don’t do much about it. Then there are those who assert that any belief in God is harmful to society and the proper thing to do is reduce harm by openly attacking and denouncing theistic beliefs with the aim of eradicating all religion. Of course this makes no sense since they can’t demonstrate that “reducing harm” is the “right” thing to do. They just assume it is proper and act accordingly. Anti-theists, like atheists, don’t have any objective moral standard.

Anyway, atheists have no belief in any god or gods (weak atheism) where anti-theists work against the idea of God’s existence (strong atheism). All anti-theists are atheists but not all atheists are anti-theists.

(Copied from the internet)
 
CHRISTINE77 said:
Anyway, atheists have no belief in any god or gods (weak atheism) where anti-theists work against the idea of God’s existence (strong atheism). All anti-theists are atheists but not all atheists are anti-theists.

(Copied from the internet)
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This is an interesting distinction, but I’m not sure it matters.

An anti-theist must be an atheist, but I’ve never know an atheist who was not anti-theist.

I suppose there are closet atheists, people who don’t care to wear their disbelief on their sleeve. But I suspect they are still anti-theists in their hearts, rooting for the anti-theists who have come out of their closet to fight the good fight on their behalf.
 
Charlemagne_III said:
Well, the purpose of atheism seems to be to deny the existence of God, but no, I’m not grateful for that.
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Not at all what I was saying. You twisted my words. It’s not that I am grateful that there are atheists who deny God. What I’m grateful for is that there are atheists who are, for example, pro-life. There are atheists who don’t hold that there’s no purporse.
 
Charlemagne_III said:
This is an interesting distinction, but I’m not sure it matters.

An anti-theist must be an atheist, but I’ve never know an atheist who was not anti-theist.

I suppose there are closet atheists, people who don’t care to wear their disbelief on their sleeve. But I suspect they are still anti-theists in their hearts, rooting for the anti-theists who have come out of their closet to fight the good fight on their behalf.
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I suspect the same. At least it seems to be true on this forum!
 
CHRISTINE77 said:
Most of the “athiests” here are actually “anti-theists” especially towards our Christian God.
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Are there many you could point to that are active in this forum? I’d like to ask them if they consider themselves anti-theist.
 
Charlemagne_III said:
inocente;13477931:
Seems unlikely as yours is the first reference to absurdism on this thread. Atheism is a lack of belief in deities, not the absence of religion. Religions such as Buddhism, Jainism and atheistic Hinduism find spiritual meaning without subscribing to a deity. There are atheist Quakers (nontheistfriends.org/
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). Imho the OP confuses atheism with nihilism.
More silliness. :hmmm:
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Silliness is a synonym of absurdity, so you just proved I was right all along :tiphat:.
 
inocente said:
Seems unlikely as yours is the first reference to absurdism on this thread. Atheism is a lack of belief in deities, not the absence of religion. Religions such as Buddhism, Jainism and atheistic Hinduism find spiritual meaning without subscribing to a deity. There are atheist Quakers (nontheistfriends.org/). Imho the OP confuses atheism with nihilism.
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The logical outcome of atheism is nihilism as Camus and Sartre realised - and there were not thinkers to be underestimated, as I’m sure you’ll agree. In a purposeless universe everything is absurd because there is no reason why anyone or anything exists. We can invent purposes but that is all they are - inventions, expedients to distract us from the harsh truth (in the atheists’ scheme of things). In practice both Camus and Sartre were humanists because they knew it is impossible to live as if everything is pointless but they would have admitted it is a **human **decision which doesn’t correspond to objective reality. Goodness, justice and love are supposed to exist only in human minds although in fact they are more important than anything else. That is why atheism is not only absurd but incoherent…
 
drac16 said:
Not at all what I was saying. You twisted my words. It’s not that I am grateful that there are atheists who deny God. What I’m grateful for is that there are atheists who are, for example, pro-life. There are atheists who don’t hold that there’s no purporse.
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They are right but inconsistent!
 
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