Explain Atheism to Justinian2

[Ignosticist]

Ignostic here!

What do atheists do for Christmas?

I am an ignostic, but I'll answer anway (BTW I didn't know I was an Ignostic until I read about Ignosticism in wikipedia, I always felt that plain atheism didn't accurately capture my particular perspective)

What are your mores?

“Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones.”
― Marcus Aurelius

What is your profession?

Software Developer

What is your charity?

It depends, RedCross, Wikipedia... anything I feel makes me feel good about helping...

How do you vote?

Case by case basis, I guess I am not good at being consistent politically... I both despise politicians ... and believe they do a very hard job I am unwilling to do...

 

[lionking]

The IT industry has bred a disproportionate number of unbelievers.

 

[Hydrogen Hypothesis]

Perhaps, but maybe software designers are more likely to be online in general, thereby increasing probability that they will be posting anywhere.

 

[Explorer]

Justinian said a page back:

"I allow gays their rights because I think natural selection will make gays extinct eventually"

So if you didn't believe that gays were going to become extinct, would you still "allow..their rights"?

The latest research is showing that the hormones that are required to make a male (all embryos start as female) can vary in the placenta. Sometimes this level is lower than normal, and it has been suggested strongly that this can contribute to the effect of homosexuality. Where a male offspring has several older male siblings it is apparently, particularly prevalent, and indicates a reduction in the levels of the hormone levels that produce the heterosexual effect. It also explains how only one identical twin can be gay, whilst the other is hetero (my wife has one such example in her own family line).

So, if all finally proven, it means that gays are going to be with us, as they have been for millions of years, at least as long as homo sapiens do not become extinct as a species. Get used to it!

 

[Leumas]

Justinian2,

You have been proven by your own words to be DISINGENUOUS in your feigning of not having ever heard or known anything about Atheists.

As in this post and this post.

However..... out of general information to genuine enquirers I will add my two cents worth.

I was born and raised in a WASP town. I don't know anything about atheists. I never even knew they existed before recent posts on this site.

Not possible and if you are a scientologist then YOU DID know about atheists as shown in this post.

I thought they were an anomaly as uncommon as gay people.

No association intended. I just thought that each group, gays and atheists, were tiny - less than 1% of the total population. I now know I was wrong.

Either you are the most isolated human being on earth or you are not being genuine.

What do atheists do for Christmas?

What are your mores?

What is your profession?

What is your charity?

How do you vote?

I assume all the answers are different. No implication. Just trying to get a feel for who you are.

The answer to all the questions:

Just like every other human being on earth..... atheists are not ALIENS or a different SPECIES. And the variations in all sorts of things is just as it is in any group of people.

Only.... there happens to be a lot more representation of Atheists among scientists and TOP EDUCATED people...... go figure.​

 

[Justinian2]

I am an ignostic, but I'll answer anway (BTW I didn't know I was an Ignostic until I read about Ignosticism in wikipedia, I always felt that plain atheism didn't accurately capture my particular perspective)

That's an interesting position. You say that until God is defined, you can't say that he exists or not.

“Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones.”
― Marcus Aurelius

That's a good quote. But what is the definition of a 'good; life and what is the definition of 'just'? I personally think that the Justinian Maxims best define 'just'. The mamims state that you must live honestly, hurt no one, and give every one his due

Software Developer

I seem to find more agreement within the ranks of software developers.

It depends, RedCross, Wikipedia... anything I feel makes me feel good about helping...

I'm not too happy with charities that pay their CEOs big salaries.

Case by case basis, I guess I am not good at being consistent politically... I both despise politicians ... and believe they do a very hard job I am unwilling to do...

That's a good point. I think that a person has to have an almost unhealthy obsession with politics in order to dedicate a year of his life campaigning for a job he might not win.

 

[Brattus]

Same thing we do every night, Pinky. Roast another baby.

Did someone say roasted baby? Yum yum!

They should have named this thread "Circle jerk with the super troll"

 

[Lamuella]

What do atheists do for Christmas?

What are your mores?

What is your profession?

What is your charity?

How do you vote?

I assume all the answers are different. No implication. Just trying to get a feel for who you are.

for christmas I give presents to friends and family and have a lovely meal.

I'm not sure what this question means.

I'm a library manager.

The charity I've probably given most to is the multiple sclerosis society.

I used to vote for the candidate most likely to beat the tories. Now, I vote Labour as I won't be complicit in a lib dem getting into power.

THese are my answers alone and not meant to be representative of anyone except me.

 

[Justinian2]

Justinian2,

You have been proven by your own words to be DISINGENUOUS in your feigning of not having ever heard or known anything about Atheists.

I've always known the definition for an atheist. I've just never met an atheist in person. I grew up in a neighborhood much like Beaver Cleaver. I led his life.

Leave It to Beaver is an American television situation comedy about an inquisitive but often naïve boy named Theodore "The Beaver" Cleaver (portrayed by Jerry Mathers) and his adventures at home, in school, and around his suburban neighborhood. The show also starred Barbara Billingsley and Hugh Beaumont as Beaver's parents, June and Ward Cleaver, and Tony Dow as Beaver's brother Wally. The show has attained an iconic status in the United States, with the Cleavers exemplifying the idealized suburban family of the mid-20th century.

One of the first primetime sitcom series written from a child's point-of-view, the show was created by the writers Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher. These veterans of radio and early television found inspiration for the show's characters, plots, and dialogue in the lives, experiences, and conversations of their own children. Like several television dramas and sitcoms of the late 1950s and early 1960s (Lassie and My Three Sons, for example), Leave It to Beaver is a glimpse at middle-class, white American boyhood. In a typical episode Beaver got into some sort of trouble, then faced his parents for reprimand and correction. However, neither parent was omniscient; indeed, the series often showed the parents debating their approach to child rearing, and some episodes were built around parental gaffes.

 

[Lamuella]

here's the simplest explanation of atheism I have:

Theists are people who believe that one or more deity exists.

Atheists are everybody else.

 

[Brattus]

As I understand it "Atheist" was a term first coined by believers in a god (Theists). As the existence god was the "default conclusion" at the time "Atheist" meant a person that denied or rejected god. I don't accept this meaning because I see no evidence that a god exists to deny or reject. By this meaning I'm not an atheist.

In more recent times "Atheist" seems to have changed to mean - "A person that doesn't believe in a god". I don't like this meaning because it doesn't address Theism (belief in a god). The concept of a god existing only exists because some people claim one does. If the concept and claim didn't exist there wouldn't be anything to believe in or not. Atheism is a response to Theism.

I prefer "Atheist" to mean - " A person that doesn't accept the claims of Theists that a god exists". By this meaning I'm an Atheist.

I like this post!

 

[devnull]

I've always known the definition for an atheist. I've just never met an atheist in person. I grew up in a neighborhood much like Beaver Cleaver. I led his life.

so then

The most immoral people I have seen call themselves Atheists and haven't a clue what morality is.

was a lie? Is this the typical behaviour of those that have attained OT8?

 

[Seismosaurus]

I allow gays their rights because I think natural selection will make gays extinct eventually.

Oh? What is natural selection going to do eventually that it hasn't done in the last million years or so?

I am strongly for human rights.

...because you think natural selection will make humans extinct eventually?

 

[Foster Zygote]

I've always known the definition for an atheist. I've just never met an atheist in person.

How do you know?

 

[P.J. Denyer]

A couple of years in a CofE school gave me a reasonably good grounding in the bible which struck as about as believable as any other set of ancient myths (or indeed, Marvel comic). So atheist=not believing in gods...



What do atheists do for Christmas?
Family friends, food, drink, the usual mid winter revals

What are your mores?
Basically humanist with a small 'h'

What is your profession?
Enterprise level software support.

What is your charity?
Monthly contributions to Barnardos and a couple of heart and cancer and asthema charities. Contribute to, and have helped raise money for the local Air Ambulance service, various others as and when.

How do you vote?
I make a cross next to the candidate I prefer. I'm not commited to a particuar party and will vote for the person I consider the best candidate for the circumstances at the time of the election.

 

[Justinian2]

How do you know?

I've always known the definition for an atheist. I've just never met an atheist in person. I grew up in a neighborhood much like Beaver Cleaver. I led his life.

Perhaps I met closet atheists that never announced the fact they were atheists. Nobody has ever announced the fact "I am an atheist" to me in person. The percentage of people not believing in a deity in the USA is about 16% according to the poll I showed you. I believe the number of closet atheists is/was even smaller in the traditional towns where I grew up.

People may be moving away from religion today, so the percentage of people willing to say they are atheists might be increasing. However, I've recently sat in labs where I've worked and discussed theology with the employees. None mentioned that they were atheists.

As there are more atheists in other countries, the percentage of atheists is higher in international forums. Consequently, I met some atheists in forums over the past year. My only sudden exposure to them was in the forums while discussing religion. Those atheists violently bigoted against religion made a super poor impression on me.

Americans are just learning to have tolerance toward race, color and creed. We are aspiring to that goal and respect that goal. We respected both the race and creed of the Jewish people during WWII and fought, in part, for them.

Americans have just learned to respect races of Africian, Oriental and Native American descent.

In the witch trials of the 1600's the people of Salem MA had no respect for the creed of some women. We tried them and hung them as witches. Key to their conviction was that they talked in tongues, had a different religion, made magical potions and did other magic. Most Americans are proud to have evolved into more tolerant people.

 

[Justinian2]

http://dwd.wisconsin.gov/er/discrimination_civil_rights/publication_erd_14009_pweb.htm

The Law

The law has prohibited discrimination based on race, color, national origin and ancestry for over 50 years. Yet, significant levels of employment discrimination based on race, national origin and ancestry continue in Wisconsin.

The law covers all employers, employment agencies, licensing agencies and unions. Employers may not legally discriminate because of a person's race, color, national origin, ancestry, creed, age, sex, disability, arrest or conviction record, marital status, sexual orientation, military status and use or nonuse of lawful products away from work.

Unfair treatment is not necessarily a violation of the law. Some employment actions may be harsh, insensitive or unjust. Adverse treatment violates the law when it is based, at least in part, on a person or group's race, color, national origin, ancestry or other protected class characteristic.

 

[the PC apeman]

I've always known the definition for an atheist.

Except for those times when you thought it was a belief system and/or a religion.

In the witch trials of the 1600's the people of Salem MA had no respect for the straw creed of some women.

FIFY

 

[Dave Rogers]

I'm about a third generation atheist; nobody in my family even takes the idea of gods seriously. It's just another fairy tale, like Santa Claus, the tooth fairy and the thetans.

What do atheists do for Christmas?

Christians have adopted the generally sound idea of having a midwinter festival of gift-giving and feasting when the weather's really depressing. There's no real reason we atheists shouldn't adopt it too, given that it has no less to do with atheism than it has with Christianity.

What are your mores?

Treat other people as you would want them to treat you.

Incidentally, if I ever say anything monumentally stupid on an Internet forum, I'd be more than happy for you to point it out, using ridicule to emphasise the point where appropriate. I value a nicely-constructed snarky reply.

What is your profession?

Scientist. This includes, among other things, checking that the conclusions I make are actually valid.

What is your charity?

Singular? Is there some reason I should only support one?

I give to Oxfam on a direct debit, to whatever Comic Relief is supporting this year, to the local hospice, and to anything else that strikes me as a good idea at the time.

How do you vote?

By marking a cross on a piece of paper and sticking it in a box, usually.

Dave

 

[Foster Zygote]

So then, may we conclude that of the two contradictory statements you were asked about, the false one was, "The most immoral people I have seen call themselves Atheists and haven't a clue what morality is"?

Nobody has ever announced the fact "I am an atheist" to me in person.

Given the vitriol that has been leveled at atheists, how often do you suppose atheists announce their atheism in small town America?

We respected both the race and creed of the Jewish people during WWII and fought, in part, for them.

Sadly, no. The OWI was careful to make little to no mention of the plight of Jews in fascist Europe due to the strong antisemitism in the U.S. After the war, the same antisemitism led to the efforts to block European Jews from emigrating to the U.S. (and Britain).

In the witch trials of the 1600's the people of Salem MA had no respect for the creed of some women. We tried them and hung them as witches. Key to their conviction was that they talked in tongues, had a different religion, made magical potions and did other magic. Most Americans are proud to have evolved into more tolerant people.

The women murdered during the Salem Witch Trials were not actually witches. They didn't actually speak in tongues, practice magic, make potions or practice a different religion.