This title sums up christianity for me, they are "good to thy fellow man" as they have a motive, they do the things they do for purely selfish reasons, to get into heaven.

 

Someone like me an Atheist, I'm a nice person and I am nice because I want to be nice to people, not because I think I am going to get into heaven if I do so

It's not

 

The Christian thing to do is force you to believe or kill you

 

anyone remember the Crusades?

 

Thats a religious thing to do. All major religions had crusades.

Buddhism didn't

This title sums up christianity for me, they are "good to thy fellow man" as they have a motive, they do the things they do for purely selfish reasons, to get into heaven.

 

Someone like me an Atheist, I'm a nice person and I am nice because I want to be nice to people, not because I think I am going to get into heaven if I do so

 

Or maybe you're nice to people because it's socially convenient. ;)

 

Of course, the true test of kindness is empathy... are you capable of having it? I'm a deist, but I understand the atheist's views... but I'm not a materialist as they are.

Buddhism didn't

 

Is it a religion or a philosophy? And I've heard of Buddhists attacking people, it's been in the news lately.

 

It's interesting to me that religion seems to take these baby-steps over time toward logic. Older religions call for the taking up of arms against enemies. Then later ones start to acknowledge that violence generally isn't a good idea... but they still advocate bigotry and disdain for trivial stuff like what you eat or who you marry. The logic is "God doesn't like that" and that's the end of the debate.

Or maybe you're nice to people because it's socially convenient. ;)

 

Of course, the true test of kindness is empathy... are you capable of having it? I'm a deist, but I understand the atheist's views... but I'm not a materialist as they are.

 

You can't group atheists into one band of thought, Dawkins described it best when he said Atheists are like Cats, they think for themselves and have their own ideas, there is not one set of ideas you could attribute to an Atheist other than the belief that there probably isn't a god. Of course I have empathy, I would not be human otherwise

 

Why would I be nice because it is socially convenient? I am honestly a very selfless person, I'd rather help someone else do something than help myself. I know that may seem ridiculous regarding my persona on this forum, but if you believe a persona on a forum is what the person is honestly like then you are in for a surprise.

 

Buddhism is not a religion in the traditional sense, it is still a religion though. Someone high up in the religion actually said "if you should find Buddah, kill him", it's all about finding inner peace and lacking material desires, the people who have been attacking people can not have been true Buddhists.

 

even the so called "peaceful" religions advocate violence. The Koran is full of hints, some subtle and some shockingly blunt about the rewards you would get for suicidal attacks. Yet "Islam" means peace.

Well you have to believe there's something sacred about human life... otherwise you'd be a nihilist, and that's dangerous territory.

 

I just wonder where the "sacredness" comes from for an atheist?

Of course life is sacred, but in the sense that it is precious not that it is magical, once you lose it, it's gone forever.

 

Not believing in God doesn't mean you all of a sudden lose all morals, Atheists are no more likely to be bad people than Theists

Of course life is sacred, but in the sense that it is precious not that it is magical, once you lose it, it's gone forever.

 

Not believing in God doesn't mean you all of a sudden lose all morals, Atheists are no more likely to be bad people than Theists

 

I agree with this, I think Atheists have a stronger sense of morality than most believers in God. But I think it is due to their love of thinking and logic. They aren't as interested in shaping the world as they are in figuring out the world.

 

And I get why you're trying to avoid mysticism, I hate that also. So maybe I'm not so different from an Atheist, because as a deist, I'm quite open to the idea that God is something abstract like a mathematical equation or a force of physics.

 

I think science is very beautiful, moreso than magic. I couldn't sit through a Harry Potter movie without getting bored out of my mind.

In that sense you could call anyone religious, it's why Einstein so often gets misquoted as being religious, he said something very similar to that.

 

I edited my post, if you read the first bit, I got confused with terminology, realised my mistake and removed it

Maybe Atheism should be taught in school.

not much to teach. it's lack of belief. There's no way to draw up on a chalk board "this is why there is no God..." because it's impossible to prove. I tend to have a lot more respect for agnostics for this reason.

Why would you have respect for Agnostics? You do realise any intelligent Atheist will not say "there is 100% definitely no God" because like you said, nothing is certain, but it is very very unlikely that there is a God. Why should we have to prove he doesn't exist when there is no proof the other way

Why would you have respect for Agnostics? You do realise any intelligent Atheist will not say "there is 100% definitely no God" because like you said, nothing is certain, but it is very very unlikely that there is a God. Why should we have to prove he doesn't exist when there is no proof the other way

 

I'd say that makes them Agnostics.

I'd say it doesn't.

 

Agnostic to me is someone who is undecided. Atheists are pretty decided but aren't stupid enough to rule it out entirely.

Atheists totally deny the existence of a God or a higher being. I'd say you'd probably count as Agnostic even if you are quite convinced that God doesn't exist.

I'm sorry but Richard Dawkins is not "Agnostic" regardless of you reading the exact definition of the word, it doesn't make sense to label him in the same group as people who simply don't know either way

message in a bottle

 

Atheists totally deny the existence of a God or a higher being. I'd say you'd probably count as Agnostic even if you are quite convinced that God doesn't exist.

I suppose one could be an atheist, but still believe in something spiritual, just not in a single god as it were.. An agnostic believes it is impossible to know if god exists, and an atheist is someone who does not believe in god - but what if one believes in some all-connected essence of our being to be one with the universe? Not a single god or multiple gods, but a spiritually one-ness with all that is?:)

He's an Atheist but I'm not sure why you mention him in this context. I might just not know enough about him to be honest.

 

I know quite a lot of people, who seem to have similar views like you but wouldn't call themselves Atheists.

He's an Atheist who says it would be stupid to completely rule out the existence of God, but in the same sense that it is stupid to assume that there is a 100% chance that the sun will rise tomorrow

He's an Atheist who says it would be stupid to completely rule out the existence of God, but in the same sense that it is stupid to assume that there is a 100% chance that the sun will rise tomorrow

 

Fair enough, makes sense I guess.

 

 

 

Some people would probably argue that no intelligent person can be an Atheist for this reason (if you look at the exact definition that is). I personally wouldn't call him Agnostic either though.

I'm sorry but Richard Dawkins is not "Agnostic" regardless of you reading the exact definition of the word, it doesn't make sense to label him in the same group as people who simply don't know either way

 

Knowledge and belief are from each other. Does Richard Dawkins say he know's either way? if he claims that God doesn't exist than he is an atheist.

 

Agnostics aren't so much undecided as they believe that it's fundamentally impossible for anyone to "know either way".

Which is why I don't agree with the definition of the word

There are so many shades of gray and quips over definition...for all intents and purposes let's not worry and whose in what group. and just say things long-form...

Richard Dawkins is an atheist-evolutionist. His goal is to disprove Christianity. He has failed.