Is there such a thing as an atheist?

[mustaphadrink]

As a growing minority wanting to speak their opinion and speak out against tradition this is another way to do it. Thankfully in America people have the right to broadcast anything they like which creates a free marketplace for ideas.

We all know what atheists are against but we do not know what they are for except themselves. For an atheist programme to attract any attention other than rusted on followers, they are going to have to do better than let everyone know what they are against.

I remember the media reports of the International Atheists Convention held in my town and several reporters said they were hoping to find out more about atheism but all they got was a God bashing exercise.

I guess if you spend all your time opposing what you don't like, you haven't got much to say. Good news is a figment of your imagination.

 

[nl]

I've been on the edge of death, within minutes of being beyond help, and I might be there soon again. We are waiting on tests to see if it's cancer, as we suspect. There have already been two positive tests and those are usually 100% sensitive. And once it starts showing, it has usually metastasized.

I do not want to die. I will feel disappointed if I don't get to 40.

I am sorry about your sufferings. How tragic.

I once realized that I would not wake up and all I felt was peace. There was nothing to do, nothing to fear. Peace, like all the things I worried about no longer mattered. No future, no more pain. No god either.

"Keep hope alive". That was a refrain used often in the 1980's by Rev. Jesse Jackson when he ran for US President. I liked the phrase: "Keep hope alive".

Beatle John Lennon's song "Imagine" has been a popular anthem of atheistic sentiments since the 1970's but even it holds out a hope:

Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

​

John Lennon's Imagine promoted a hope for a peaceful, just world.

Centuries earlier, Jesus Christ gave the world the Beatitudes in which he also held forth a hope for peace and justice.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled.
​

Prayer: May you find an abundance of good things: peace, righteousness, justice, mercy, faith, love and hope.

 

[phil112]

......................Beatle John Lennon's song "Imagine" has been a popular anthem of atheistic sentiments since the 1970's but even it holds out a hope:....................

Ah yes, Lennon, the green vegetable advocate.

 

[Sirk]

We all know what atheists are against but we do not know what they are for except themselves. For an atheist programme to attract any attention other than rusted on followers, they are going to have to do better than let everyone know what they are against.

I remember the media reports of the International Atheists Convention held in my town and several reporters said they were hoping to find out more about atheism but all they got was a God bashing exercise.

I guess if you spend all your time opposing what you don't like, you haven't got much to say. Good news is a figment of your imagination.

HAHA! Not to mention opposing something that "doesn't exist".

 

[doseofreality]

HAHA! Not to mention opposing something that "doesn't exist".

Ahh but it does exist, in the minds of millions of people. The opposition is against the religious ideas that some see as unwarranted belief in superstition and tradition.

Again the straw-man created is that "atheists" are god bashers and god haters who assert god doesn't exist.

Unfortunately the reason "atheists" are speaking out has nothing to do with God as much as it does with religious freedom and first amendment rights.

 

[mustaphadrink]

HAHA! Not to mention opposing something that "doesn't exist".

So true. So true......

https://www.flickr.com/photos/nesster/4934633955/in/set-72157602110954846

This link is a photo of nothing.

 

[doseofreality]

So true. So true......

https://www.flickr.com/photos/nesster/4934633955/in/set-72157602110954846

This link is a photo of nothing.

Out of nothing, nothing comes...

 

[mustaphadrink]

Ahh but it does exist, in the minds of millions of people. The opposition is against the religious ideas that some see as unwarranted belief in superstition and tradition.

Again the straw-man created is that "atheists" are god bashers and god haters who assert god doesn't exist.

Unfortunately the reason "atheists" are speaking out has nothing to do with God as much as it does with religious freedom and first amendment rights.

These comments are a does of unreality, not reality.

The first comment is a well worn out accusation that does not hold water and for which there is no evidence.

The second comment is the truth judging by the offerings at the International Atheists Conference.

The third comment is bunkum because the first amendment guarantees the freedom of religion and it is very difficult to guarantee freedom of religion unless God is involved so the atheist is well and truly a God hater bearing in mind that nearly every case of interfering in a persons right to freedom of religion is an attack on Christianity, NEVER islam.

 

[mustaphadrink]

Out of nothing, nothing comes...

So true that is why most atheists are empty headed and just parrot what they have heard. To date they are unable to answer any questions about evolution which I have POSTED HERE. If they were true atheists they would be able to answer them.

 

[doseofreality]

s

So true that is why most atheists are empty headed and just parrot what they have heard. To date they are unable to answer any questions about evolution which I have POSTED HERE. If they were true atheists they would be able to answer them.

Despite the insult, I will continue to try to have a civilized dialogue with you.

I think you are looking for "true scientists" to answer your questions regarding evolution.

 

[mustaphadrink]

s

Despite the insult, I will continue to try to have a civilized dialogue with you.

I think you are looking for "true scientists" to answer your questions regarding evolution.

No insult, just the truth.

No I am not. I am looking AT atheists who claim they know everything and we know nothing but when asked about a few basics of evolution they can't answer so nice try but I have heard it all before.

 

[doseofreality]

No insult, just the truth.

No I am not. I am looking AT atheists who claim they know everything and we know nothing but when asked about a few basics of evolution they can't answer so nice try but I have heard it all before.

Dont be absurd, anyone who is claiming that is just ignorant.

 

[nl]

Beatle John Lennon's song "Imagine" has been a popular anthem of atheistic sentiments since the 1970's

Music touches the soul. The influence of music to touch the soul is seen and experienced widely. How music influences us is, I think, not rationally understood. How music influences us is understood intuitively.

 

[mustaphadrink]

Dont be absurd, anyone who is claiming that is just ignorant.

Thank you for confirming that atheists are ignorant.

 

[nl]

Follow Jesus (not scoffers, scorners or scolders).

 

[Sirk]

Ahh but it does exist, in the minds of millions of people. The opposition is against the religious ideas that some see as unwarranted belief in superstition and tradition.

Again the straw-man created is that "atheists" are god bashers and god haters who assert god doesn't exist.

Unfortunately the reason "atheists" are speaking out has nothing to do with God as much as it does with religious freedom and first amendment rights.

Religious freedom and first amendment rights????? That makes NO sense at all. Is there a pill you can take for your cognitive dissonance?

 

[PaulHannah]

As an atheist, I can say that many of us shake our heads in disbelief that anyone can presume to define us out of existence. Surely, reason demands that we alone decide who and what we are, you wouldn't tolerate us deciding which of you are the 'Real Christians", would you?

Permit me to explain what an atheist is.
There are two statements you can say about the concept of a god, the first answers the question of what you know. The second answers the question about what you believe.
There are important differences between know and believe. e.g. I believe my dog is happy living with us. I have no reason to doubt it, I am convinced of it. But I don't know it. No one can see into the mind of another, much less see into the mind of a dog.

So, using standard dictionary definitions and paying full regard to the linguistic roots of the words, I say that:

If you know that there is a god, then you are a gnostic.
If you cannot claim to know that there is a god, then you are agnostic.
If you believe there is a god, then you are theist.
If you don't believe there is a god, you are, an atheist.

I describe myself more fully as an agnostic atheist. Which means that if whatever proof it will take to change my mind, turns up, I'll believe. As to what that is, if your god is all he says he is, he knows exactly what would tip that scale over.

He remains silent on the matter, no evidence has ever been presented to me, sufficient to change my mind.

 

[Simona25]

no evidence has ever been presented to me, sufficient to change my mind.

You need evidence to belive in God? But...if you have evidence, faith would dissapear automatically if you understand what I mean. If the sky would open and God would come down in front of everybody's eyes, it would be ilogical to say "yeah, now I believe".
To believe and to have faith, these are the verbs that describe the relation that we, christians, have with the non-evident.

 

[Cycel]

So true that is why most atheists are empty headed and just parrot what they have heard.

No insult, just the truth.

So, if I said, "that is why most Christians are empty headed and just parrot what they have heard" you wouldn't consider that an insult???

 

[Cycel]

As an atheist, I can say that many of us shake our heads in disbelief that anyone can presume to define us out of existence. Surely, reason demands that we alone decide who and what we are, you wouldn't tolerate us deciding which of you are the 'Real Christians", would you?

I agree. I can recall when I was in high school a teacher of mine claimed there were no atheists. I could have raised my hand and said, "Hey, there's one sitting right in front of you," but I kept my silence.

Permit me to explain what an atheist is.
There are two statements you can say about the concept of a god, the first answers the question of what you know. The second answers the question about what you believe.
There are important differences between know and believe. e.g. I believe my dog is happy living with us. I have no reason to doubt it, I am convinced of it. But I don't know it. No one can see into the mind of another, much less see into the mind of a dog.

So, using standard dictionary definitions and paying full regard to the linguistic roots of the words, I say that:

If you know that there is a god, then you are a gnostic.
If you cannot claim to know that there is a god, then you are agnostic.
If you believe there is a god, then you are theist.
If you don't believe there is a god, you are, an atheist.

I describe myself more fully as an agnostic atheist. Which means that if whatever proof it will take to change my mind, turns up, I'll believe. As to what that is, if your god is all he says he is, he knows exactly what would tip that scale over.

He remains silent on the matter, no evidence has ever been presented to me, sufficient to change my mind.

As per your last comment I take the silence to mean no God exists.

Would I ever take the view that Zeus might exist? No, I would not. Zeus has also remained silent on the matter of his existence, but that does not make me an agnostic on the question of his existence. Without evidence to the contrary I am just going to assume no Zeus exists. Why would I make an exception with God? I see no more evidence for Yahweh than I see for Zeus. I don't see why I should hold out the possibility that one or the other, or both, might exist.

Oh, and welcome to the forum.