Atheist group uses "unholy water" to scrub away highway blessing

Russ86 said:
anyone who labels atheism as a religion is pretty ignorant.
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Religion are the details of belief as taught or discussed. There's a reason that synonyms are Faith, Creed, and Belief.

Since Athiesm is the denouncement of dieties, it is the religion for the non-religious. It became that once people started labeling themselves as Athiests.
 


Rexibit said:
Religion are the details of belief as taught or discussed. There's a reason that synonyms are Faith, Creed, and Belief.

Since Athiesm is the denouncement of dieties, it is the religion for the non-religious. It became that once people started labeling themselves as Athiests.
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Religion is the acceptance of beliefs and rituals with ardor and blind faith. So, atheism qua atheism is not a religion if it is treated as it was originally meant to be: the acceptance of the Law of Identity (A=A), that existence exists, and the acceptance of the supremacy of reason. You would then build on this by defining your convictions, morals, etc, and this then becomes philosophy.

However, the morons in the discussed link are clearly exhibiting cult-like behavior, and since all religions are cults, and a primitive form of philosophy, I can understand how the line can be seen as hazy. IMO a true atheist would hold religious people in contempt and therefore simply ignore them. In order to take offense at religious people "blessing" a street with holy water, you have to on some level think that what they are doing matters - and this is not true atheism. Too often people equivocate atheism with fighting religion, when it all it really is is the refusal to accept religion.

P.S. - atheism is not capitalized.
 
Is there an "official" definition of religion somewhere? Because not every *religion* is belief based. Or maybe you don't call such a thing a religion - then what would it be called? Because there are a few hundred million people that call what they do a religion even though it is not belief based.
 
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Rexibit said:
Religion are the details of belief as taught or discussed. There's a reason that synonyms are Faith, Creed, and Belief.

Since Athiesm is the denouncement of dieties, it is the religion for the non-religious. It became that once people started labeling themselves as Athiests.
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Can't tell if trolling or just retarded. Atheism = the absence of belief = the absence of religion.
 
Russ86 said:
Can't tell if trolling or just retarded. Atheism = the absence of belief = the absence of religion.
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I can't say that I am *the* authority on the definition of the word "atheist", but in my experience the way it has been used for the most part is as an expression of the belief that there is no god. That is in agreement with the way it is formally defined by some sources, for example:
"1.the doctrine or belief that there is no God.
2.disbelief in the existence of a supreme being or beings."

Note that "disbelief" is simply believing that something is not. That is quite different than the absence of belief. There are scarce few westerners who actively practice the elimination of belief. Atheism is just another one of the beliefs floating around. However, I think it's a stretch to call it a religion.
 
In my experience, real atheists say it is simply the lack of belief in deism while the religious say it is the belief in a lack of deism. The two groups clearly can't think like each other.
 
geomark said:
I can't say that I am *the* authority on the definition of the word "atheist", but in my experience the way it has been used for the most part is as an expression of the belief that there is no god. That is in agreement with the way it is formally defined by some sources, for example:
"1.the doctrine or belief that there is no God.
2.disbelief in the existence of a supreme being or beings."

Note that "disbelief" is simply believing that something is not. That is quite different than the absence of belief. There are scarce few westerners who actively practice the elimination of belief. Atheism is just another one of the beliefs floating around. However, I think it's a stretch to call it a religion.
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atheists do not believe in a god or gods = atheists have a lack of belief in god or gods.

Believing in nothing /= to believing in something because : something /= nothing
 
lukep said:
In my experience, real atheists say it is simply the lack of belief in deism while the religious say it is the belief in a lack of deism. The two groups clearly can't think like each other.
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The only reason deists argue this is to support and rationalize their own beliefs. Their is nothing logical about it.
 
Russ86 said:
atheists do not believe in a god or gods = atheists have a lack of belief in god or gods.

Believing in nothing /= to believing in something because : something /= nothing
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I hear what you're saying but I think it's still not quite right. Atheists *believe* that there is no god. At least that's what comes through loud and clear when I hear them talk. That is quite different from not holding a belief.

It may seem like I'm arguing semantics but there really is a difference between believing something does not exist, and not having a belief about it at all.
 
geomark said:
I hear what you're saying but I think it's still not quite right. Atheists *believe* that there is no god. At least that's what comes through loud and clear when I hear them talk. That is quite different from not holding a belief.

It may seem like I'm arguing semantics but there really is a difference between believing something does not exist, and not having a belief about it at all.
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The reason the semantics are even there to be argued in the first place is due to the flawed logic that suggests that a belief in nothing can be defined as a belief in something.

A belief that something doesn't exist isn't conceptually the same as a belief that something does exist.

A belief that something doesn't exist = A lack of belief that it does exist, which is why atheism cannot be labeled as a belief.
 
Russ86 said:
A belief that something doesn't exist = A lack of belief that it does exist, which is why atheism cannot be labeled as a belief.
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A belief that something doesn't exist...

A belief that something...

A belief...

Ok, a belief is not a belief. That clears it up.
 
geomark said:
A belief that something doesn't exist...

A belief that something...

A belief...

Ok, a belief is not a belief. That clears it up.
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So you have a belief that there is no Santa, or a belief there are no Unicorns? No, it's a lack of belief, two different things.
 
BluuueJammm said:
So you have a belief that there is no Santa, or a belief there are no Unicorns? No, it's a lack of belief, two different things.
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It kind of amazes me that people just come right out and say a belief is not a belief. I mean seriously.

Maybe what you really mean is that you don't hold any belief about it. You think maybe Sanata exists, maybe not, you don't believe either way. Or maybe you don't think about it at all so have no belief. But if you say you *believe* he doesn't exists...wtf is wrong with you that you say you don't have a belief when you just said you have a belief?
 
My interpretation for dictionary definitions for "believe" is that they allow for the belief in the absence of something.

The concept of "nothing" gets labeled in math as "zero."

I can believe that there are zero cupcakes in my home. Technically speaking, zero is not a number and you can't have zero cupcakes, but the concept of "nothing" can only be communicated and understood in contrast to "something."

I believe there are zero cupcakes in my own home = lack of belief in cupcakes

I don't know if there are cupcakes in a random stranger's home = lack of belief in cupcakes, but also lack of belief in zero cupcakes

belief a team will win today's game = belief the team will have zero losses today

Yet a lack of belief that a team will win, does not necessarily mean that you believe they will lose. You can have both a lack of belief that they will win and a lack of belief that they will lose. Going by the way most people use the english language though, if they say "I don't believe the team will win" that usually means that they are saying they believe the team will lose, not that they are saying they don't know who will win.
 
BluuueJammm said:
So you have a belief that there is no Santa, or a belief there are no Unicorns? No, it's a lack of belief, two different things.
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You can't really only a lack of beliefs on this topic, you can only have different beliefs. If you "lack belief in God", its only because you BELIEVE it was created another way. You believe in science, reincarnation etc.

So your argument is moot and your basically just arguing semantics.
 
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