richard dawkins wants to arrest the pope

[rtil]

the reason i think that atheism is a religion is because it's what i was taught in my philosophy class and my teacher is really smart

though he did tell everyone that some atheists claim it to not be a religion. when he was going over religions he didnt make a big deal on whether or not it is or is not a religion, and now i realize it was probably because it doesnt fucking matter

i would look more into it and atheism may or may not be a religion the whole deal is that i just don't think it's important so i'm not gonna go search the internet for any proof (because the internet is a really bad source for anything philosophical in nature)

i think like half of the four horsemen of atheism think it's a religion but still back to point 1 i dont care if it is ir is not a religion because i'm not really looking at it in the legal sense or how it would affect the world if we called it a religion, i'm only concerned with if it fits the definition and so far as i can see it does

so yeah i pretty much agree with you the other stuff is sort of semantics so this isn't really even a debate. i mean i'm an atheist and it looks like you're an atheist so i don't really know what we would have to argue about

good for him, but i'd like to hear his explanation on how one could be both atheistic and religious at the same time. it's an oxymoron.

i do really think it matters that people understand that atheism is not a religion, because some people are honestly seeking to be part of something that is not religious in nature. and that is atheism. that is the definition of atheism. i don't know how much more clear the subject can be.

the way i see it, its the problem with modern day society with religion, and just because alot of people interpret something wrongly doesnt mean its suddenly not the truth anymore

they're not interpreting it wrongly, and that's my point. the simple truth of the matter is that these ancient religions do not evolve with mankind - they constantly stay the same, never changing, never swaying. sure, the good, charitable things about them are easy to point out. but there are many practices from islam, christianity, and any monotheistic religion that just don't make any sense in a modern, civilized society. they cripple people and societies. they hinder progress, human rights and science. religion can never be an ultimate tool for good, because it is designed to control people.

if religions were like photo albums, there would be so many pages that they'd try to hide from the world with bad photos they wouldn't be proud of. and that's what they continue to do to this day. and now science is beginning to chip away at the relevance of religion in society, which just makes it worse. i notice that the more science is prevalent in the world, the more religions tend to stray away from it and go back into their caves, clinging to ancient beliefs and lives of total ignorance. what is so hard about accepting the fact that there is no god? just live life to your fullest and forget about what happens to you when you die. nobody knows, no one will ever know, until you're dead. so forget about it.

they ARE interpreting it wrongly , and thats my point. all these ignorant cave-people do not represent the religion itself
and why shouldnt the religious moral rules work now, i mean adultery is still adultery, just because we have computers and more scientific theories doesnt make it any different
what is so hard about thinking that there is a god behind all this?

the hard thing about 'accepting the fact that there is no god' means that there is no purpose to this life

so without god there is no purpose in your life? does the fact that there is a god drive you to be good? if god was absent, would you rape, murder, kill and steal? why does there need to be a god in order for us to be civilized and purposeful?

the problem with religion is that it creates a crutch for humans. it tells you that an invisible, all knowing, all seeing, all powerful being created you for one purpose and one purpose only - to serve him in your physical being until the day that you die. you are born into this and there is no opt out except for eternal suffering. i don't know what the qu'ran says about salvation but in christianity that's pretty much the deal. god died for your sins even if you didn't really ask for it, and because of that you are eternally bound to serve him and obey his rules and pay him tribute (tithing, worshiping, spreading the gospel, etc.)

if you ask me, serving some eternal selfish being on a matter of faith alone is a purposeless life.

a life with purpose is a life that you live to the fullest. to make you and the ones you care about happy. have fun.

why spend such short time you have here on earth bowing down to the sky in the distant hope that you'll spend eternity in some bizarre utopia? doesn't eternity sound a little boring to you?

living an atheistic 'just live your life to the fullest' life is like knitting a huge sweater, youre not making it for anybody, youre just making it
and then when you leave it all behind not you or anyone is gonna wear that sweater because you werent making it for anyone, you just made it

i don't get it.

so if an atheist lives his life to the fullest, and, say, cures a disease, or starts a charitable foundation, starts a business that employs people, or helps the sick and the homeless, he left nothing behind?

[trent bortknob]

if you ask me, serving some eternal selfish being on a matter of faith alone is a purposeless life.

a life with purpose is a life that you live to the fullest. to make you and the ones you care about happy. have fun.

i agree with your first statement

i mean if god already knows whats going to happen, and he's the one who caused it to happen, it seems as though you have no free will. what kind of life is that?

i think the second one is sort of debatable. i don't really have a strong opinion on it because i can't figure out the answer. is life meaningless? it seems like it is but it seems like it isn't at the same time and i have reasons for and against it

i did a philosophy debate for the meaninglessness of life where i said i thought it had meaning but my teacher was able to stump me so now i don't really know

keep in mind that when i'm talking about meaningful, i mean an over-arching meaning.

[Jeinu]

imo, the purpose to life is to find your own purpose. you can't have it handed to you by anyone. you have to find your own meaning.

[Mew_User]

[DrRumack]

a life with purpose is one that isnt wasted trying to find it

[Mew_User]

[emanhattan]

imo, the purpose to life is to find your own purpose. you can't have it handed to you by anyone. you have to find your own meaning.

Yeah i agree with this

but you know what, curious as this might sound I think some people, myself included, find religion as a boost or impulse for that purpose or find it as an impulse for happiness.

Idk I mean if believing in god and practicing the religion etc makes you happy, independently of the existance of god, then I think thats very fine.

Same for buddhists or islamists (except I think budhism is a secta, not a religion). If meditating for 3 hours makes you happy, for god sake, do it.

But yeah it kinda sucks that some religions have potentially agressive or violent behaviors/traditions.

I honestly think I was a happier person when I was a more hardcore believer. i guess I just...want to believe in something and i feel a bit empty about it these days

You know i just dont believe, or dont want to believe, that this life is all there is. Because humans are not just flesh and bone, I KNOW there has to be something more

[rtil]

I honestly think I was a happier person when I was a more hardcore believer

most of them do

until they realize they've missed out entirely on living life

[emanhattan]

i really disagree with you. The way you wish to live, and if you want to live a happy, exciting life or not, is entirely up to you, and imo it has nothing to do with your religious beliefs.

ive met a lot of happy christians and sad christians as i have found happy atheists and sad atheists.

[rtil]

if you truly follow the doctrines of christianity, you are missing out on a lot of life. sure you can be happy doing that - after all, ignorance is bliss.

[ansel]

a life with purpose is one that isnt wasted trying to find it

[trent bortknob]

the whole idea "your lives have meaning if you give them meaning" is stupid imo. you might have had some accomplishments in your life but when you die everyone wil forget about it and it won't mean anything. and even if you are remembered, when humanity goes extinct like it will inevitably, nothing you have done will have mattered

the most you can hope for is a temporary meaning in life but i don't really know what the value of that is

to me, whether or not life has meaning is not a big issue because it's beyond anyone's control

[emanhattan]

if you truly follow the doctrines of christianity, you are missing out on a lot of life. sure you can be happy doing that - after all, ignorance is bliss.

very few people do that these days.

[DrRumack]

you might have had some accomplishments in your life but when you die everyone wil forget about it and it won't mean anything.

thats everyone after they die

the only difference is people like that dont sit around and wait to die their whole lives

[ZekeySpaceyLizard]

my thoughts on religion:

[trent bortknob]

you might have had some accomplishments in your life but when you die everyone wil forget about it and it won't mean anything.

thats everyone after they die

the only difference is people like that dont sit around and wait to die their whole lives

well i mean just because life is meaningless doesn't mean that you should just kill yourself or anything

and i dont really know if life is meaningless or not

again it's a question we can't answer so i dont know why we ask it

[ZekeySpaceyLizard]

who defined what counts as "meaningful" anyway.
thats as broad a criteria as 'what is good'

look at this man


and this walrus


has he not found meaning in his life? dancing the nights away with Carlito the Walrus? he doesn't need your approval. he doesnt even need music. he just needs Carlito.

[trent bortknob]

thats as broad a criteria as 'what is good'

that's not really that hard

just look at what is bad and anything that gets rid of things that are bad is good

i mean that's a really simple definition and i'm srue you could get a whole lote technical but that's a start

[ZekeySpaceyLizard]

thats as broad a criteria as 'what is good'

that's not really that hard

just look at what is bad and anything that gets rid of things that are bad is good

i mean that's a really simple definition and i'm srue you could get a whole lote technical but that's a start

you've missed my point entirely:

[emanhattan]