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Atheist alert!

kittynh

Penultimate Amazing
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this is taken from a reading Doglefox has from her school this week....
"A New Religious America" by Dr.Diana Eck



"Even humanists, even secularists, even atheists have to rethink their worldviews in the context of a more complaex religious reality. With multitheistic Hindus and nontheistic Buddhists in the picture, atheists may have to be more specific aobut what kind of "god" they do not believe in".

doglefox thinks this is very very funny......:D
 
This does not make any sense! Atheists don't have to identify what "god" they don't believe in, it doesn't matter - it's any "god." I'm amazed at the apparent stupidity of this "dr."
 
I dont believe in the Christian God, I dont believe in Hindu gods, I dont believe in any gods.

Whats the problem?
 
Yahweh said:
I dont believe in the Christian God, I dont believe in Hindu gods, I dont believe in any gods.

Whats the problem?
Click to expand...

Do you just believe in you,
Yoko and you?


Obscure song lyric reference but your post put the song in my head.
 
Of course I can specify which god I do not believe in. Prove your god. If you can't, that's exactly the god I don't believe in.
 
I think the point she's trying to make, is that the simple definitions for religious thought are no longer so clear-cut anymore. We don't have a simple society of 101 fruity flavors of Christian, plus maybe some 'Jews' here & there. She's just trying to be clever. Sounds like an introduction designed to provoke dissent so she can drive a point home.

You certainly could be a Buddhist and not believe in any gods, and Buddhism is a religion. Most people don't understand that concept, for having a very narrow religious upbringing.

I just don't have 'religion', and don't believe in putting any extra stock in fairy tales just for being told by an 'authority' that they're 'true'. I don't believe in Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Islamic, Hindu/Islamic (Sikh), etc. religions. Some of the moral lessons each teaches are certainly very good. It doesn't mean I believe in a 'second comming' (or even a first), or reincarnation or whatever other nonsense.
 
evildave said:
I think the point she's trying to make, is that the simple definitions for religious thought are no longer so clear-cut anymore. We don't have a simple society of 101 fruity flavors of Christian, plus maybe some 'Jews' here & there. She's just trying to be clever. Sounds like an introduction designed to provoke dissent so she can drive a point home.

You certainly could be a Buddhist and not believe in any gods, and Buddhism is a religion. Most people don't understand that concept, for having a very narrow religious upbringing.

I just don't have 'religion', and don't believe in putting any extra stock in fairy tales just for being told by an 'authority' that they're 'true'. I don't believe in Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Islamic, Hindu/Islamic (Sikh), etc. religions. Some of the moral lessons each teaches are certainly very good. It doesn't mean I believe in a 'second comming' (or even a first), or reincarnation or whatever other nonsense.
Click to expand...

I agree with what you say here, Evil. The only issue I have is that there are some flavours of Buddhism (like the one I practice) that can't even be called a religion is the truest sense, since it does not deal with the supernatural, reincarnation, or anything not having to do with the real world.
 
There are 'cultural jews' as well, and all sorts of shades of grey, which is all sort of the point the author of the book is apparently making.

There are certainly 'unreligious' people who are as superstitious as the creepiest cultist you could ever imagine, too.
 
I wish I could say that the author was that interesting. Actually, the book has an "agenda". At another point in the book she claims that atheists have unhappy lives since they never find an answer to the ultimate questions of life.

Ugh, right. Nobody finds those answers lady! Oh, and the fear of death just holds those old atheists back. tsk tsk...

I'm not an atheist, but oddly enough my daughter who is doing the religious study unit is finding that she very well might be an atheist! The thing I am proud of is that she is truly interested in all the relgions they are studying, asking lots of questions, and pondering this important decision. I know most teenager go throught that "atheist" phase, but I've found via JREF that many of them stay atheists. Her main topic is Buddhism. Her best friend at school is a Buddhist that is of Thai ancestory. She practices a bit of a different form than the American version. One of the questions is "what is the role of women in the religion". Boy, that has been an eye opener for her. I heard her talking to Khidt (her friend) and saying, "The monks aren't allowed to even TOUCH women? What is one is having a heart attack of something?" Not a lot of religions are very women friendly.

The funny thing is that this is driving her one teacher nutty. He's finding the girls are thinking that no religion would be kind of nice. I also borrowed from Scott a tape of the Julia Sweeney lecture and it was shown in class. The girls would follow her if she would set up a "religion"! All the kids loved her lecture!

I'm far from an atheist, but I've met enough really moral, wonderful atheists through JREF that if my daughter decided to join their ranks I'd be proud. Well, I'm proud of her all the time. :D
 
Funny??

Obviously the author is 'trying' to be funny, so there is no 'sense' to be made of it. Also, it would seem that the author is making a lame attempt to poke fun at Atheists, since I can not imagine that an Atheist would think this contains a point to be made.
 
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