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Bringing you atheist articles and building active godless communities takes hundreds of hours and resources each month. If you find any joy or stimulation at Atheist Republic, please consider becoming a Supporting Member with a recurring monthly donation of your choosing, between a cup of tea and a good dinner.
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@ NOT searching for truth
Care to try and answer these questions you are too afraid and cowardly to answer?
All you ever do is dodge these question because of two reasons:
So much for "searching for truth" when you are too afraid of it.
rmfr
PS — Yes. I went through that one thread and picked out all of the questions you refuse to answer because you are too afraid to face reality.
EDIT: forgot emphasis
@ NOT searching for truth
Then prove there is more to the "package of atheism." Everyone has told you EXACTLY what atheism means. You are just a bigot who refuses to accept the ONLY TRUE DEFINITION of atheism.
θεος (theos) = God, Lord, Creator;
ενα- [usually shortened to α-] (ena- [usually shortened to a-]) = to be without;
thus αθεος (atheos) atheist = to be without God.
Regardless, I much rather prefer the term “rationalist.” For is it not from rationality that we derive our conclusions? Yes, I do not believe in ANY claims for a supernatural super-being with ultimate-power, ultimate-knowledge, and ultimate-goodness (which I beg to differ on the goodness). The reason why is not because I am “to be without God,” rather it is due to the fact that I have “rationalized” the conclusion that ANY for any god. Never have, never shall. I shall also be the first to admit that there is a minuscule chance that "a deity" MAY exist. However, that chance is so small one may as well say no deity exists. And here is the chance I have calculated on a scale of 0 to 1.
0.00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001
How can you “to be without” something that never existed? Think Critically about it (provided you are capable). However, even atheist is a very apt term to describe who/what I am. Additionally, I am anti-theist and I am anti-religionist.
Your Qu'ran is a obsolete, irrelevant, barbaric, savage, abhorrent, offensive, and unsubstantiated immoral Iron Age religious text. Your precious Muhammad is nothing more than a plagiarizing thieving war-lord child molester.
And are you not supposed to hunt me down and silence my criticism of your worthless beliefs system (Qu'ran) and demonic devil (Muhammad)? Why are you violating your own beliefs system? Hypocrosy.
And then you wonder why we make such fun of your useless and worthless and inane and asinine statements.
rmfr
SFT: Based off my understanding of Atheism (please correct me if I am wrong) for the most part, everything outside of science is subjective.
You are wrong.
Everything, including science, is subjective. You have this dichotomy of ideas floating around in your head. "True or Not True." "Right or Wrong." "Subjective or Objective." This is the "Black and White Fallacy." Nothing is this clear. Science does not tell us what is true. Science uses reliable facts and observations to build models (Theories) about the world around us. The more reliable the facts and observations, the more reliable the theory. Belief is justified to the degree of the evidence provided. When new evidence is introduced the theory may change. That's how we now have two usable theories of gravity, Newtonian Gravity and Einstein's Gravity. Both models work and both are used in different situations. What you might call "Objective," is simply a justified true belief. (All facts and evidence support the idea to be true as far as we know.'
Why do atheists shift to theism. To start with, everyone is an atheist. Many people claim to be "atheist" without even knowing anything about it. These people are easily fooled by religious bullshit as they have not actually thought about it. Much of religion is based on emotion. Those people prone to being more emotional are more likely to be swayed by religious mumbo jumbo.
As for why Theists change. Again, it largely has to do with emotion. Atheists by in large tend to be a lot less emotional and a whole lot more rational and skeptical.
@ Cog
If this is true then, why have some Atheists (even some here) answered “No” to the question “if X religion is true would you believe/join it?” Once, a person believes something to be true by their own standard, wouldn’t the most intelligent response be to accept it at that point? Atheism to me seems to be just as emotional, if not more to be honest.
LOL you must not read some of the replies Atheists post here (especially our friendly neighborhood tree-man). By the way, its comments/thoughts like this that I think make some Atheist just as snobbish as some Theists.
SFT: Once, a person believes something to be true by their own standard, wouldn’t the most intelligent response be to accept it at that point?
Absolutely NOT. The whole goal of science is to test beliefs for their validity. Anyone can come to any conclusion on their own and using their own standards. This is what insane people do.
There is nothing Emotional in atheism. Atheism is simply the rejection of God claims. If you think you have some evidence for the God you believe in, stop beating around the bush and lets hear it.. No one cares what you believe. If you can prove your assertion everyone on the site will believe in your god. They may not worship it but if you can prove it exists then it exists. It's just that fucking simple.
"Snobbish" is just one way of defining a person that does not agree with you. If you had the facts and evidence to support your position anyone acting "snobbish" would look like a fool. In my experience this is generally theists like yourself. After all, it is the unforgiven, sinning, amoral, godless, atheists that will burn in hell for all eternity. If anyone is looking down on anyone else and being snobbish, by dogma and doctrine, isn't it the theists? Atheists have no such dogma and no such doctrine. All we ask you to do is prove your assertions. Failing that, we simply do not believe you. If we are snobs for our disbelief, I think you have to blame yourself for your shitty inane assertions and unfounded arguments.
@Cog
@Searching for truth
"Life comes from matter."
Life can arrive from matter AND energy
"Nothing supernatural is involved in the creation and maintenance of the universe."
Not all atheists accept this premise.
"There is no credible evidence of God."
That is the reason why so many are atheists.
"Religion is a creation of man."
That is why there are more than 4,200 religions. if there was a god, there would be just one.
"Any depiction or description of God in any form is manmade."
You are just restating "Religion is a creation of man."
"Jesus was not sent by God."
And Santa does not live on the North Pole, another unsubstantiated fairy tale.
"Anyone claiming to be God is a liar or a lunatic."
Yes, we lock them up in institutions since they obviously have a few screws loose. Give it a try where you live. Make a sign, "I am God", go outside, and see how long you have until you are safely restrained. You can test this assertion, give it a go.
"Every scripture that affirms the existence of God is wrong."
Not all scriptures are wrong. The conclusions are.
"The absolute truth is impersonal."
Agreed. The truth is not supposed to make you feel all warm and fuzzy, it is just the truth.
"There is no inherent purpose to life."
That is a shameful assertion, you should be ashamed for posting this comment. Of course there is a purpose in life (in fact many), we just disagree on the definition of"purpose".
"There is no absolute morality."
Debatable, but there is no objective morality.
"Good and bad are determined by man alone."
Not true, reality is also present. Is it good to throw yourself off the top of a tall building?
"Believing in evolution"
Not all atheists believe in evolution, stop attempting to redefine atheism. Sheesh, you are a broken record.
"Nothing is sacred and nothing is sinful."
Is it acceptable for a 50 year old man to rape a child? Many atheist I know believe this is a heinous act.
Great David. Just absolutely terrifying to NSfT how you demolished and affirmed everything.
Keep up the good work.
rmfr
SFT "Here are a few of the dogmatic beliefs of atheists."
"There is no absolute morality."
Is it absolutely immoral for a man in his 50'S to have sex with a nine year old child? How you have the nerve to trot out this one after your cowardly evasion of this question I don't know.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
"Atheists have no such dogma and no such doctrine
Keep telling yourself that. Again, believe what you want and I will believe what I want.
Here are a few of the dogmatic beliefs of atheists."
No atheists need adhere to your specious list of claims. All that is required to be an atheist is to not believe in a deity or deities. Though some of the things you cite as dogma are objective facts anyway, evolution, life and matter existing without anything supernatural being evidenced, there is no more credible evidence for your deity that there is for Zeus or Apollo. Everything we understand about the function of the universe has a natural explanation, and nothing supernatural has been evidenced or is required for any of that, and this includes our current scientific knowledge of it's origins. Good and bad are axiomatically human concepts, and religious morals are not only not objective they are demonstrably inferior to contemporary secular morals, your morals are so fucked up you won't even condemn the rape of a 9 year old child, hang your head in shame for that.
Your post amply illustrates the rank dishonesty i have come to expect from so many theists who come here to preach their beliefs, and haven't the integrity to engage in honest debate.
"Atheists have no such dogma and no such doctrine
"
SFT (cowardly lion) "Keep telling yourself that. Here are a few of the dogmatic beliefs of atheists."
Those are beliefs an atheist may hold, not beliefs an atheist is obliged to hold. Unlike religious dogma, which is an inherent part of that belief.
SFT: Here is a very simple analogy that you can follow with your simple mind. Satan knows God exists. Lucifer knew God exists. Still they refuse to join his religions. Now if you took your medication this morning and your brain has warmed up to primate, you should grasp the point.
@Searching for truth
"Once, a person believes something to be true by their own standard, wouldn’t the most intelligent response be to accept it at that point?"
An intelligent person should never stop questioning everything. That is how you prove what you accept and keep moving forward in life.
Here is an example, albeit from science. Newtonian physics provided a very good and valid explanation of what we knew of the universe. It worked to a very high degree of accuracy and consistency. Mankind could have cheerily kept on using Newtonian physics for the next five thousand years without any major problem. But some physicists, including Einstein, perceived a few cracks and inconsistencies. We all know what followed.
And so should you Searching for truth. For example, it has been stated that this "god" is "loving and caring". Yet one glaring inconsistency is that this god allows 50 year old men to rape children. You will obviously not give a public response to this problem, but within your head, you should attempt to figure out how to resolve these two paradoxes.
@SFT
SFT, let me start off by saying, I am glad you are here. If we were all in agreement there wouldn't be much fun in debating.
"... why have some Atheists (even some here) answered “No” to the question “if X religion is true would you believe/join it?"
Personally, if I encountered X religion, and it were True, or any X belief, I would believe, just as I tend to believe all true things that are demonstrably true. It doesn't sound reasonable to deliberately reject what is staring one in the face. For example, when I first heard of the K-T Impact Hypothesis, I rejected it, but I read Walter Alvarez's book, T-Rex and the Crater of Doom, and I came around.
SFT, was it moral for Mohammed to rape a nine year old child? Or was Mohammed an immoral paedophile? Like AJ777, each time you ignore the difficult questions the more your dishonesty is exposed, and the more your claims of objective morality are destroyed by that dishonesty.
You said absolutely nothing in all of that garbage. If you can prove it... do so. Atheism is a simple lack of belief in god or gods. Any emotion anyone has, has nothing to do with atheism.
1, Atheists do not believe life comes from matter - that would be abiogenisis and is the best theory we have as to where life came from. Perhaps you meant to say "Biologists ro Chemists." Atheists do not believe in gods.
2. No credible evidence. Please define your god and give us the evidence. If it is credible we will all believe in your god. We might not worship it but we would certainly believe in it. Waiting.......
3. Nothing supernatural in the creation of the universe. (Actually, what you mean to say is that we have no evidence for anything supernatural in the creation of the universe. This is a simple fact. There is no reason to assert anything supernatural without evidence of something called supernatural. Please define your terms and give us the evidence, I am more than happy to believe in magic and the supernatural as soon as you prove it exists.
4. Religion is a creation of man. Can you prove another origin. Men wrote all the books and men seemed to invent all the gods. What evidence do you have for anything else.
*** You appear to be confusing a request for evidence with the assertion that magic and supernatural and magical origins of religion with the assertion "There is no supernatural." (This is a position that would require facts and evidence to support it. It also has nothing to do with atheism.) The bible did not have magical origins (No one can know this without facts or evidence. What we do know for FACT is that men have created religions throughout history. If you think your religion is different it is up to you to prove it, Waiting......
5 No description of god that is not man made. I don't know of any descriptions that are not man made. Please share one that is not man made, I have no reason to believe you without evidence. Remember atheists do not believe in gods so your description should prove your case ..... waiting.....
6. Jesus? As atheists do not believe in Gods, there is no reason to assume Jesus was sent by him/her/it. Please present your argument for the existence of God. We can discuss the existence of Jesus after that.
7. Anyone claiming to be god is a liar of a lunatic, Hmmm or just wrong. I haven't met anyone who says they are God outside the mental hospital. I would love to meet this God thing you are talking about. Why not share it with the rest of us?
8. Scriptures prove the existence of god? That's news to me. How so? The degree of evidence you would accept as proof seems quite low. Using the same degree, how in the hell will you disqualify Hinduism, Jainism, Islam, or any other religion. If all you have are some words in a book, you can really say nothing about any religion that has the same.
9. Absolute truth is impersonal? Not sure how you would go about proving that. What is absolute truth? How is that which is true, not personal? Most truths actually do effect me in one way or another. I have no idea at all if they are absolute; however, the more true things I believe, the easier my life becomes.
10.Absolute morality: If you think there is an absolute morality please share. If you think divine command theory, you are an idiot. A murdering, child butchering, genocidal, asshole is no basis for morality - (Referencing the god of the Bible of course) If you have a kinder god we should discuss that.
11. Good and bad are determined by man. Who else? You have any facts or evidence to support any other source?
12. Belief in evolution. Atheists do not need to believe in evolution. Evolution does not actually require belief at all. It is a fact. I think what you want to do is talk to a Biologist. The fact that Monsanto is making your corn, tomatoes, bananas and carrots proves evolution. The numerous breeds of man made dogs, proves evolution. I'm not really sure how anyone would argue reasonably against the theory of evolution, Happy to listen to you if you have a better theory.
13. Sacred? Sinful? You are really going to need to define your concepts here. You rape my daughter and I will kill you. I promise. So that is pretty sacred to me. (Sin - in its original context refers to "Separation From God." That is how babies are born into a state of sin and can burn in hell if they are not baptized. As Atheists do not believe in Gods, there is nothing to be separated from. Again, you have to prove your god exists before I can believe in being separated from it.)
NOTHING YOU HAVE SAID ARE BELIEFS ATHEISTS HOLD. ALL OF WHAT YOU HAVE SAID ARE QUESTIONS ATHEISTS ASK. WHY DON'T YOU JUST ANSWER THE QUESTIONS?
@Cog
“NOTHING YOU HAVE SAID ARE BELIEFS ATHEISTS HOLD”
So much emotion. Wow. Oh, I didn’t know you spoke for all atheists. Maybe you should try contacting the ones that disagree with your stance instead of getting so riled up with emotion speaking to me lol
Why are you so afraid of the questions posed to you? Talk about emotion, all of your statements do nothing but show you are the weeny whiney baby of these forums. Too cowardly and afraid to answer these questions truthfully because you know the true answers completely undermine and disprove your religion as being the con job it is.
rmfr
So much ignorance. They are completely welcome to disagree with me. WTF do I care. I can defend my position. Something you obviously do not understand. Just call people emotional and run away. You said nothing at all that is a presupposition or belief of atheism. If you are not talking about "lack of belief in god or gods" then you are talking about something else. Atheism is a position on one thing and one thing only. What other atheists choose to believe is of no concern to me unless they want to challenge something I have said. Notice the boards are blank on that matter! You really think we do not call each other on our bullshit? Most of us are skeptics. We have had atheists run from the site all butt-hurt for spouting nonsense. It is only the idiots that hang around after they have been proved wrong time and time again and who keep spouting the same stupid nonsense.
YOU SAID NOTHING THAT ARE BELIEFS HELD BY ATHEISTS. (Atheism is a lack of belief in God or gods. That's it. Nothing more. ) Put up or shut up! We are waiting for the evidence.... God any?
@Searching for truth
"Oh, I didn’t know you spoke for all atheists."
Cognostic does not, Cognostic speaks only for Cognostic. The one and only thing my fellow atheist and myself have in common is our lack of belief in a god or gods. Cognostic may have an opinion on something else, and I have the right to agree or disagree.
I see your little tactic, to focus on diversionary tactics, like this stuff. How about getting back to the topic and actually proving your assertions?
@ Cog
Nice one sir. I doffs me 'at to yer!
Oi, SFT, is it ever moral for a man in his 50's to coerce a nine year old child into sex?
https://youtu.be/aiWk0T3jz9c
@Searching for truth
A relatively large percentage of vocal atheists may end up holding similar beliefs/opinions on certain topics, simply because many deliberate atheists are skeptics, but in no way is positive belief in anything a requirement of atheism. All one has to do is not believe in God/gods. That's it. You've been told this countless times. Get with the program and stop making yourself look foolish.
As far as "emotion" is concerned... individual people are emotional (or not), and this has absolutely nothing to do with atheism itself. You simply can't say that all atheists are emotional. It's a completely dumb statement to make. And who would really care if they were? What difference would it make? Does an atheist being emotional prove God? What the hell kind of point are you trying to make? I have the same problem with the whole "you atheists believe things you can't prove too" - who cares? Does that get you any closer to producing sufficient evidence that God exists? No! Not one bit. As soon as you've pulled that "argument" out, it's basically admittance that you can't produce a single shred of credible/acceptable evidence for your particular claims.
I, personally, don't hold such positions. For example, I accept evolution as fact, I admit I can't "prove" evolution, but I can sure as hell point you in the direction of some damn good evidence. Evidence of a caliber you will never find for any theistic claims of the supernatural variety.
I can prove evolution because I have helped people breed violets for color. I have also seen the results of multi national parents and their babies. I once saw a Korean girl with amazing green eyes that were completely natural. Her father was American. Evolution is all around us. It is happening every second of every day. Perhaps someone just does not understand the meaning of the word?
@Cognostic
I understand completely what you mean. I am basically referencing "proof" in the terms that theists tend to demand it... that is, some kind of "real-time" demonstration of evolution - and that being one of a particular creature becoming something else entirely. Believe me, I understand how asinine that is to expect, but this is the type of "proof" theists tend to demand - mostly because they don't have enough imagination power to get them through the ideas surrounding evolution. So my statement was that I, personally, cannot prove evolution to these people, and I recognize that. So yes, it is that some just do not understand the meaning of the word.
I feel that the evidence speaks for itself, for anyone willing to listen. Particularly compelling is the correlation of human to ape Endogenous Retrovirus DNA evidence. but just as valid are things like your flower example (plant husbandry) and in the same vein all the dog breeds that exist today when original, wild canine species included only specimens like wolves, coyotes, dingos, hyenas, etc. There was simply no such thing as a wild Pomeranian, or Chihuahua... ever. Humans applied the pressures to those original species to produce these tailor-made dog breeds. Proving absolutely that evolution occurs - for if natural circumstances existed that pushed a canine species to be more Chihuahua-like, then that's what could have been!
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