[eddie1960]

Kunzite, his example was poor I agree, but athiesism is not an extremist belief, in fact it is a lack of belief, for some reason people who believe in religion cannot grasp it.
Strictly speaking the definition of athiesm is

What Is Atheism? Strong vs. Weak Atheism: Definition of Atheism and Atheists Today

The broader, and more common, understanding of atheism among atheists is quite simply "not believing in any gods." No claims or denials are made — an atheist is just a person who does not happen to be a theist. Sometimes this broader understanding is called "weak" or "implicit" atheism. Most good, complete dictionaries readily support this.

an Atheist may well have many other beliefs (Buddhism is an example) or believe in a nietzschean philosophy, or Secular humanism, or perhaps scientific method, or for that matter ancient aliens
the one common thing is a lack of belief in a deity
the fact that you believe they are false is just a reflection of your belief, and athiest would call your belief false,

[mikemike]

Atheism is not OUR religion, and we should try to tolerate them. What we have in common though is prayers.

Atheists wish for things... it is their way of praying.
Religious people with deities pray for things.... We pray to God.

The difference between wishes and prayers is like writing a letter... the atheist simply leaves the "To" address blank... and hopes something happens..
We address ours to "God" and wait for replies.

If a person has absolute faith, they trust god to answer their prayers, correct? So if they pray for something like rain to fall on their field, a hurricane to not come to them, to recover from an illness, or to be safe if they fall then they trust god will not let something bad happen to them. If they act to mitigate god's inaction on fulfilling that prayer by irrigating the field, evacuating, taking medicine, or avoiding the fall, they do not have absolute faith in god. If you address your prayers to god and you faithfully wait for the reply, you accept the consequences. Fatalism is rooted in faith and belief in a higher power while determinism is rooted in free will and action, these are the two extremes of theism and atheism and I was trying to explain them to someone in a simple and concrete way.

[Parallax]

If you were hanging onto the edge of the roof about to fall, a believer would close their hands to pray that god keep you safe while a non-believer would reach out their hand to help you.

So basically you explained to her that atheists are good, caring, helpful people; but those who believe in a supreme being would rather see her die or get hurt than reach out a hand to help her. (Parse it with a child's mind)

Then explained that principle applied to when people were sick or suffering, that praying to help them didn't really end up doing much.

There have been scientific studies that refute that.

[D0n]

The kid asked the question, the OP just answered honestly.. that's not pushing your beliefs onto someone. The kid will make his own mind up when he's old enough. I know religious types would rather indoctrinate their kids into their faith, but if the religion has merit, this kid will find his own way back.

Atheism is not a religion, BTW, and there is no central 'authority' which receives donations...

Atheism is a religion..

It requires blind faith in an as yet unproven theory on the origins of everything... when confronted with facts or evidence or testimony from witnesses, that do not fit the theory, the atheist waves his magic wand and utters the unprovable, undeniable magic words "It happens over billions of years" which nobody can prove or disprove, yet the atheist does not hold up his own beliefs to the same standards that he'd expect from other religions.. ie "Show me God" because to hold the atheists theory up to the same standards of scientific proof..direct observation, one would need a time machine to travel back billions of years and conduct actual studies...

even if God did send proof... non believers would still ignore the proof and nail the messenger to a cross... lol!

here's where you can send your money.btw...( theres other s internationally as well). Supporting Civil Rights for Atheists and the Separation of Church and State | American Atheists

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Last edited by D0n; 08-01-2012 at 09:23 AM.

[Kunzite]

Kunzite, his example was poor I agree, but athiesism is not an extremist belief, in fact it is a lack of belief, for some reason people who believe in religion cannot grasp it.

Eddie, his example was much more than "poor". And I never said atheism is an extremist belief, just that his idea about what a religious person would do (watching you die) is extremist and false; and I think mikemike didn't realized this (instead of being intentionally so). Otherwise, I'd say atheism is the belief that there's no such thing as a God.

mikemike, no offense but you should read a little bit about religions you're fighting against. You can do it while staying an atheist, but you'd be an informed one and you won't find as many reasons to fight them
There's no such thing as a guaranteed result because you prayed (yes, it's a prayer, not an order!) once, and laziness is a sin - people are actually supposed to work, and live their lives without constant interference from an upper entity.

[kenafein]

Atheism is a religion..

here's where you can send your money.btw...( theres other s internationally as well). Supporting Civil Rights for Atheists and the Separation of Church and State | American Atheists

Guns are a religion, here is where you can send your money. https://www.nrafoundation.org/donate/

Civil liberties are a religion, here's where you can send your money. American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)

The zoo is a religion, here's where you can send your money. Donate: The San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park

[kenafein]

Atheism is a religion..

It requires blind faith in an as yet unproven theory on the origins of everything... when confronted with facts or evidence or testimony from witnesses, that do not fit the theory, the atheist waves his magic wand and utters the unprovable, undeniable magic words "It happens over billions of years" which nobody can prove or disprove, yet the atheist does not hold up his own beliefs to the same standards that he'd expect from other religions.. ie "Show me God" because to hold the atheists theory up to the same standards of scientific proof..direct observation, one would need a time machine to travel back billions of years and conduct actual studies...

even if God did send proof... non believers would still ignore the proof and nail the messenger to a cross... lol!

here's where you can send your money.btw...( theres other s internationally as well). Supporting Civil Rights for Atheists and the Separation of Church and State | American Atheists

According to your definition of Atheism and your limited understanding of scientific theory and method. Atheism has nothing to do with the origin of the universe, nothing to do with abiogenesis and nothing to do with evolution.

[D0n]

Guns are a religion, here is where you can send your money. https://www.nrafoundation.org/donate/

Civil liberties are a religion, here's where you can send your money. American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)

The zoo is a religion, here's where you can send your money. Donate: The San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park

none of which purport to explain the origins of everything nor impose a set of values on human morality or beliefs.. fundamental aspects of every religion... including Atheism

[D0n]

According to your definition of Atheism and your limited understanding of scientific theory and method. Atheism has nothing to do with the origin of the universe, nothing to do with abiogenesis and nothing to do with evolution.

Never yet met an atheist that did not cite dinosaur bones or evolution as proof the Bible is wrong.

[kenafein]

none of which purport to explain the origins of everything nor impose a set of values on human morality or beliefs.. fundamental aspects of every religion... including Atheism

Not at all. I understand opening up a dictionary is a pain, but they have them online now. You are confusing Atheism with education, but I assure you, many people of faith are also educated.

[D0n]

Not at all. I understand opening up a dictionary is a pain, but they have them online now. You are confusing Atheism with education, but I assure you, many people of faith are also educated.

in fact, my experience has taught me that 99.999999999% of the human population do not understand how to tell time. Time is relative.
If there is a God...and God created the universe then God was outside the universe at the time of creation... therefore time here on earth would not be the same as time relative to God. Therefore six days relative to God might easily be billions of years relative to us.. Genesis says God made everything here on Earth, not HOW that was done..(I imagine God trying to explain that to a shepherd in the middle east thousands of years ago would have made as much sense to the shepherd, as Hawking or Einstein explaining space, time and quantum physics to the average fry cook at McDonalds today)... . evolution and creationism might not be as separate as people on both sides of the argument chose to believe..

I find it easy to accept God being the creator, evolution being the method, and Adam being the first organism on the planet with a soul, therefore the first human being. So sue me.

[eddie1960]

Atheism is a religion..

It requires blind faith in an as yet unproven theory on the origins of everything... when confronted with facts or evidence or testimony from witnesses, that do not fit the theory, the atheist waves his magic wand and utters the unprovable, undeniable magic words "It happens over billions of years" which nobody can prove or disprove, yet the atheist does not hold up his own beliefs to the same standards that he'd expect from other religions.. ie "Show me God" because to hold the atheists theory up to the same standards of scientific proof..direct observation, one would need a time machine to travel back billions of years and conduct actual studies...

even if God did send proof... non believers would still ignore the proof and nail the messenger to a cross... lol!

here's where you can send your money.btw...( theres other s internationally as well). Supporting Civil Rights for Atheists and the Separation of Church and State | American Atheists

REad my link,

the only people who will argue atheism is a religion are theists.

If atheism is a religion because you can send money, then so is any political party, greenpeace, and the ira. Sorry but the definition is pretty simple and it is that as an atheist you do not believe in any god. Otherwise atheism doesn not have anything o do with your other personal beliefs, it doesn't require anything of you. it is not a belief system, it is not an organized system with a set of rules. it encompasses many people of wildly divergent beliefs, it is just none of them believe in a deity.
As for the belief in how the world evolved the science is pretty good , not complete of course but certainly much stronger than creationism. The work at the Hadron collider may well resolve some of the unsolved answers.

Atheism is not however about a belief in science as the solution to everything, and rreliogion is about more than how the world was created.

perhaps you should read this as well so you have a better understanding (I have studied at some point or another most religions, and found all of them lacking for me) and did not arrive at being an atheist as a religious choice, it's just i arrived at the fact that I did not believe in any god. Period. not that i found a religion in Atheism. I have developed my own personal way but it has nothing to do with a God or religion. My atheism is strictly though the fact that I do not believe in any god. christian/muslim/hindi or other. that is what it means to be an atheist. the road to this is frequently being agnostic, but not always
BTW I was brought up High Anglican, at school I had to go to chapel daily 7 days a week (I boarded), I went on to look at many other alternatives when i went through a rough patch as a youth, I arrived at my decisions through study of alternatives. Unlike many devout theists many atheist have likely looked at the alternates to what they were brought up with. at 52 I still question many things but the existence of god is no longer a question for me.

Atheism Myths: Is Atheism a Religion?

[Jonathan Mac]

I'm afraid that only a child's parents are allowed to force their beliefs on them, regardless of what they are. That's the way things are and will always be.

I think you were wrong in your roof tale, because religious believers would not behave in such a way. Having said that, the correct response by the parent would have been to explain, as best they can, why they disagree with what you told the child. Admonishing you for exposing the child to an alternative (and in my view, correct) point of view achieves nothing. Does she think that her child will never be exposed to alternative viewpoints? Unfortunately, children are very open to ideas and will usually believe unquestioningly what their parents tell them. This is why the teaching of religion to children is an abuse, whoever does it. Many people know, consciously or otherwise, that the best way to pull their child into their religion is to impose it when they are vulnerable, because that is what was done to them. It's akin to the common statement that the bullied becomes the bully. In an ideal world, children would live in a religion-free bubble until they are old enough to make up their own minds and live with their choices.

When I have children I will raise them as atheists and will object to any attempt by others to impose religion on them, however, I will encourage free-thinking. What's the difference you may ask? I have the benefit of being able to justify my reasoning, and that all the evidence is on my side.

[kenafein]

in fact, my experience has taught me that 99.999999999% of the human population do not understand how to tell time. Time is relative.
If there is a God...and God created the universe then God was outside the universe at the time of creation... therefore time here on earth would not be the same as time relative to God. Therefore six days relative to God might easily be billions of years relative to us.. Genesis says God made everything here on Earth, not HOW that was done..(I imagine God trying to explain that to a shepherd in the middle east thousands of years ago would have made as much sense to the shepherd, as Hawking or Einstein explaining space, time and quantum physics to the average fry cook at McDonalds today)... . evolution and creationism might not be as separate as people on both sides of the argument chose to believe..

I find it easy to accept God being the creator, evolution being the method, and Adam being the first organism on the planet with a soul, therefore the first human being. So sue me.

So 0.007 people were able to explain it to you? Genesis also says that the stars are embedded in a firmament and that the moon is a light source. And the two accounts are in disagreement on what happened on each of the 'days'. The Bible promotes a healthy skepticism. I don't have any issue with you being a Christian, but I don't call it something that it's not, or attribute things falsely to it. I appreciate that you take into account the evidence that we've found, as a species, and incorporate it into your belief instead of outright rejecting it.

[JHD]

If something cannot be proven, then that is a matter of faith. To entrench oneself in the belief or disbelief in God is in fact a matter of faith. One could argue - for better or worse - faith in God inspires and empowers. The atheist is neither inspired nor empowered.