Why Is There An Athiest Board?

speedboatchase

I'm an Athiest but seeing as it's not really a religious belief system, what is there to discuss? "No god eh..."; "Yeeeeep... pretty awesome stuff", "Cool, I'll catch you later?:

Being an Athiest I don't particularly care about what other people believe and I don't try to "convert" anybody (as somebody suggested in a thread), I just leave them be.

"Athiests buy Catcholic.ie MEGALAWLZ ROFL "

"I may come across as arrogant to these people but I do think that I am intellectually superior to devout muslims, christians etc"


I hate the stereotype that if you're an Atheist you have to be smug towards people's beliefs or insult them for being "sheep" or whatever. Seems to me people on here are doing their best to live up to the stereotype by making this an Anti-Catholic board for "edgy" non-comformists. Ron Paul '08 I suppose too guys?

Webmonkey

Eh? - why is there a Christianity Forum then?
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=333

Maybe a common place for Athiests to discuss stuff - debate to each other on issues maybe?

speedboatchase

Well because this is a sub-section of "Religion & Spirituality", so religions will naturally be discussed. Athiesm isn't a religion so its inclusion smacks of tokenism to me. This site is barely about issues in any case, it's just smug anti-religion posts which confirm bible bashers worst stereotypes of us.

My best mate is an Athiest but never do we bring it up, what "issues" are there to talk about anyway? How stupid everyone else is outside our little bubble?

Dades

I agree completely.

All the Athiests in here give atheists a bad name.

LaVidaLoca

I would have thought there was a good deal to more to talk about in Atheism than in the others.

Far more than in Religion, for example. In religion there's one, primitive, childish, hide-bound, idiotic or nonsensical answer for pretty much any question you ask (What is the meaning of life? Why are we here? What is good? What is Bad?) and that answer is "God says..."

Whereas Atheists, by definition have to actually engage with these questions and try to find a real answer to them. We dont have have an imaginary friend and his magic guidebook to tell us what to beleive. We've gotta figure it out for ourselves.

adamd164

speedboatchase wrote: »

Being an Athiest I don't particularly care about what other people believe and I don't try to "convert" anybody (as somebody suggested in a thread), I just leave them be.

Christopher Hitchens said something along the lines of this: I don't care what other people believe. You are free to have "faith" that the world is 10,000 years old and is the centre of the Universe. Good luck to you. But when you try to teach my children that nonsense, it becomes a war.

Xhristy

This post has been deleted.

Dave!

Check out all the pages in the forum... there's no shortage of discussion and debate

adamd164

Xhristy wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Why would he do that? It's not populist.

Red Hand

OP, you are liable to be banned for bringing up or discussing certain topics in the other Religion fora on boards.ie. Plus, people who are questioning aspects of their faiths, which might get them banned in the other fora, can discuss them in this sheltering harbour of butterflies and sanity.:)

Zombrex

speedboatchase wrote: »

I hate the stereotype that if you're an Atheist you have to be smug towards people's beliefs or insult them for being "sheep" or whatever.

Well then just stick to insulting atheists .... :rolleyes:

kelly1

Why is there an atheist board?

It's an outlet for people who are addicted to using words such as:

irrational
illogical
ignorant
stupid
nonsensical
ridiculous (occassionally fu**ing is added for emphasis)
absurd
silly
unintelligent
idiotic

all directed towards those silly theists of course.

Zombrex

kelly1 wrote: »

Why is there an atheist board?

It's an outlet for people who are addicted to using words such as:

irrational
illogical
ignorant
stupid
nonsensical
ridiculous (occassionally fu**ing is added for emphasis)
absurd
silly
unintelligent
idiotic

all directed towards those silly theists of course.

Hey, no one is forcing you to be irrational illogical ignorant stupid nonsensical ridiculous absurd silly unintelligent and idiotic

Scofflaw

Dades wrote: »

I agree completely.

All the Athiests in here give atheists a bad name.

Yup, we really are complete tools. After all, when you no longer have faith, there's nothing left to discuss.

pointlessly,
Scofflaw

Dades

Dades wrote: »

All the Athiests in here give atheists a bad name.

I'm just realising that probably no-one noticed the difference in spelling in my sentence above. It was meant as a signal of irritation at people who complain about atheists and can't even spell the damn word (see OP).

Oh, and Noel, you feed fuel to those flames you complain of!

Zombrex

Dades wrote: »

I'm just realising that probably no-one noticed the difference in spelling in my sentence above.

I did ... gold star for me :cool:

stakey

Scofflaw wrote: »

Yup, we really are complete tools. After all, when you no longer have faith, there's nothing left to discuss.

pointlessly,
Scofflaw

You sure about that? Once you get past faith and the huge amount of damage it has done to human endeavour and thought there's a universe of amazing scientific wonders to discuss.

One of the great things about this fora (and others) is people can discuss these things without having the definitive answer being 'God made it'.

pH

Dades wrote: »

I'm just realising that probably no-one noticed the difference in spelling in my sentence above. It was meant as a signal of irritation at people who complain about atheists and can't even spell the damn word (see OP).

I don't know about you, but the thread *I'm* most looking forward to is :

Athiests : How did you loose you're faith?

robindch

pH wrote: »

I don't know about you, but the thread *I'm* most looking forward to is

Oh, go on!

stereoroid

speedboatchase wrote: »

I hate the stereotype that if you're an Atheist you have to be smug towards people's beliefs or insult them for being "sheep" or whatever.

Hey, we didn't start the "sheep" thing - see Psalm 23.

There's a big difference between (a) criticising a person's beliefs and behaviour, and (b) insulting the person... or there used to be. I keep seeing complaints of "persecution" by Christians and Muslims, when their beliefs are criticised.

IMHO this relates to the difficulties theists have in keeping their beliefs to themselves. If they did that, they would not be so liable to criticism. Here in Ireland, however, you're "swimming" in Catholicism, from a young age, and it's only recently that other voices have been heard at all. I think these are the "growing pains" of the Enlightenment in Ireland.

I'm not Irish, but from a country (Scotland) that had an Enlightenment 200 years ago. I don't post here to insult or grandstand, but in the hope that something I say will encourage people to examine their beliefs, and actions resulting from those beliefs. Whatever it is you're thinking or doing... why? Are there reasons behind it? If so, what? Are they reasons based on logic and knowledge, or on tradition, dogma, inertia, or authority? The unexamined life, and all that...

An Fear Aniar

kelly1 wrote: »

all directed towards those silly theists of course.

I'm glad you use that word - theist.

I'm a theist but not signed up for any religion. Couldn't possibly ever be religious.

But the absurdity of human religious groups does not in any way disprove the existence of a universal Capo di tutti Capi.

This board is supposed to be about atheism but in practice it's merely religion-bashing.

I'd have thought atheism would be an "ism" of some kind.

People possibly working out how competing human wills can live together well in the absence of threats of some post mortem payback.



.

PDN

kelly1 wrote: »

all directed towards those silly theists of course.

In the light of the OP shouldn't that be thiests?

FruitLover

LaVidaLoca wrote: »

Whereas Atheists, by definition have to actually engage with these questions and try to find a real answer to them. We dont have have an imaginary friend and his magic guidebook to tell us what to beleive. We've gotta figure it out for ourselves.

The Philosopy forum already covers this.

pH

An Fear Aniar wrote: »

But the absurdity of human religious groups does not in any way disprove the existence of a universal Capo di tutti Capi.

This board is supposed to be about atheism but in practice it's merely religion-bashing.

Good to see you've embraced the board's ethos so completely, and then had a little moan about it - lovely!

Zombrex

An Fear Aniar wrote: »

People possibly working out how competing human wills can live together well in the absence of threats of some post mortem payback.

We do that through religion bashing ... its all part of the plan ...

zenith

FruitLover wrote: »

The Philosopy forum already covers this.

Philosophy forum does not automatically exclude flying-spaghetti-monster related 'solutions', though.

lostexpectation

speedboatchase wrote: »

Well because this is a sub-section of "Religion & Spirituality", so religions will naturally be discussed. Athiesm isn't a religion so its inclusion smacks of tokenism to me. This site is barely about issues in any case, it's just smug anti-religion posts which confirm bible bashers worst stereotypes of us.

My best mate is an Athiest but never do we bring it up, what "issues" are there to talk about anyway?

if you have kids sometime in the future where are you going to send them to school?

Galvasean

Dades wrote: »

I agree completely.

All the Athiests in here give atheists a bad name.

Even me?

Dave!

Especially you.

Dades

Galvasean wrote: »

Even me?

Are you an athiest?

(See my post here for clarification)

Cantab.

speedboatchase wrote: »

Seems to me people on here are doing their best to live up to the stereotype by making this an Anti-Catholic board for "edgy" non-comformists.

My thoughts too. (And I'm a Catholic). Atheists post more drivel in the Christianity forum than they do inside their own forum. It's as if atheism is rooted in anti-Catholicism.

cormie

I don't believe in God, but I'd like to. The same way I loved believing in Santa when I was younger. Something magical, something special and something to look forward to, be it at Christmas, or when I pass away. I don't know if the fact I'd like to believe in God and like to be somewhat spiritual makes me a non-atheist and to be honest, I don't care and I'm not bothered in finding out what group, if any, I fit into. I am what I am and I don't care for being categorised.

Even though I don't believe in God, I've never had an interest in visiting this forum, I've clicked the odd post, as I would in any other forum, even the likes of the Muslim and Christianity forums. This is my first reply in this forum.

One of the posts I have read here is the buying of catholic.ie, or christian or whatever one it was. I find this pretty pointless unless it was actually going to be used as a proper website or a commercial venture because of the "controversial" choice of domain name which could possibly spark more traffic.

The only thread I could imagine myself starting here would be one asking for something like a list of schools that don't try push a certain belief on my child if I ever have one. But that would be probably more suited to the parenting or education forums:)

kelly1

cormie wrote: »

I don't believe in God, but I'd like to. The same way I loved believing in Santa when I was younger. Something magical, something special and something to look forward to, be it at Christmas, or when I pass away. I don't know if the fact I'd like to believe in God and like to be somewhat spiritual makes me a non-atheist and to be honest, I don't care and I'm not bothered in finding out what group, if any, I fit into. I am what I am and I don't care for being categorised.

At least you're not a cynical atheist (or don't appear to be). The world would be a better place if all atheists were like you!

cormie wrote: »

One of the posts I have read here is the buying of catholic.ie, or christian or whatever one it was. I find this pretty pointless unless it was actually going to be used as a proper website or a commercial venture because of the "controversial" choice of domain name which could possibly spark more traffic.

Many atheists claim to simply have no belief in any god, and far from being impartial are in fact very anti religion. Those who rubbish Christianity are picking a fight with God.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

if we rubbish dentists are we picking a fight with the tooth fairy?

kelly1

Mordeth wrote: »

if we rubbish dentists are we picking a fight with the tooth fairy?

Honestly I get tired of people comparing God with the tooth fairy, Santa, the Flying Spaghett Monster, Thor and Zeus etc. It's like me telling you that evolution is totally random. It's a bit childish really.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

how so?

what makes the jewish god any different than the roman, greek or celtic gods?

Beruthiel

kelly1 wrote: »

Honestly I get tired of people comparing God with the tooth fairy, Santa, the Flying Spaghett Monster, Thor and Zeus etc.

They are one in the same. There is no proof of existance for any of the above.

Zulu

Beruthiel wrote: »

They are one in the same. There is no proof of existance for any of the above.

Because they can't be proved doesn't make them the same.
The tooth fairy, santa and the FSM are different.
Completely different.


...the FSM doesn't actually give you anything.

kelly1

Mordeth wrote: »

how so?

what makes the jewish god any different than the roman, greek or celtic gods?

We know that the tooth fairy, FSM and Santa are fabrications and have absolutely nothing to do with God. So why bother mentioning these fables unless you're just trying to wind people up?

Some religions can be eliminated on the basis that they contradict logic so not all hold up to close scrutiny. Hinduism is self-contradictory because it incorporates a myriad of conflicting beliefs so I think that can safely be ruled out. Islam was fabricated and is derived from Judaism and Chrisianity but with the inconvenient bits thrown away. It came after Christianity and contradicts it.

Of course nobody can prove that any religion is the true but it's logical that either all religions are false or at most one is true. And in my opinion, in the context of theism, the one that most stands up to scrutiny is Christianity.

So please don't insult people by comparing God to the tooth fairy. Atheists need to start having respect for people beliefs and stop being so arrogant.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

well of course you think christianity stands up the best to scrutiny, you're christian.

ye gods.

Dades

kelly1 wrote: »

Hinduism is self-contradictory because it incorporates a myriad of conflicting beliefs so I think that can safely be ruled out. Islam was fabricated and is derived from Judaism and Chrisianity but with the inconvenient bits thrown away. It came after Christianity and contradicts it.

kelly1 wrote: »

Atheists need to start having respect for people beliefs and stop being so arrogant.

I think that's priceless!

Jim

People do love to label themselves.

pH

kelly1 wrote: »

We know that the tooth fairy, FSM and Santa are fabrications and have absolutely nothing to do with God.

How do we know this? (this is a serious question - on what basis can we distinguish a fabrication from reality?)

Some religions can be eliminated on the basis that they contradict logic so not all hold up to close scrutiny. Hinduism is self-contradictory because it incorporates a myriad of conflicting beliefs so I think that can safely be ruled out. Islam was fabricated and is derived from Judaism and Chrisianity but with the inconvenient bits thrown away. It came after Christianity and contradicts it.

The above is so self-contradictory that I originally thought you were joking! Christianity is so self-contradictory it's not funny, incorporating many conflicting beliefs, and came after and contradicts Judaism therefore it *must* be wrong by your own logic.

Of course nobody can prove that any religion is the true but it's logical that either all religions are false or at most one is true. And in my opinion, in the context of theism, the one that most stands up to scrutiny is Christianity.

And of course in my opinion (and I presume some other atheists) none of them stand up to scrutiny *any more* than the tooth fairy, Santa Claus or the FSM.

So please don't insult people by comparing God to the tooth fairy. Atheists need to start having respect for people beliefs and stop being so arrogant.

Dades has said all that needs to be said about this one I think!

kelly1

Mordeth wrote: »

well of course you think christianity stands up the best to scrutiny, you're christian.

ye gods.

So you just attack at the weakest point and ignore the rest of my post?

Obni

kelly1 wrote: »

We know that the tooth fairy, FSM and Santa are fabrications and have absolutely nothing to do with God. So why bother mentioning these fables unless you're just trying to wind people up?
[clipped]
So please don't insult people by comparing God to the tooth fairy. Atheists need to start having respect for people beliefs and stop being so arrogant.

Clearly, the role played by god in a believer's life is immeasurably more important that played by the character's listed above. If your comments on hinduism or islam plunge you into a debate with other believers, then while you differ in your beliefs, the different gods you believe in hold a comparable significance in both of your lives.

Apart from the fact that treating the sombre and serious doctrines of a religion from which you have lapsed in a facetious manner is mildly amusing (or if you prefer you can replace factiousness with arrogant disdain) , there is a more serious dimension to the comparison of god to the tooth-fairy etc...
When you stop believing in god, religion's temporal components - the role it plays in an individual's psychology, its political power, and its cultural and social influence - remain a very real factor in your life. However, the spiritual component immediately loses all significance. Belief in god has as much influence over your intellect as belief in the tooth-fairy.

Don't forget, this is the atheist and agnostic forum (although it seems to be primarily the former). If you consider many atheists in Ireland were brought up as roman catholics, then god can legitimately be defined within this forum as a fictional character, that we believed in when we were children, but which we outgrew as we matured. The fact that you still choose to take it seriously not only is not, but indeed should not, be a primary concern of ours.

kelly1

Dades wrote: »

I think that's priceless!

How so? Because my belief is not based on science as if science was the only thing that mattered!? Your attitude is just so blinkered and pompous! Are you so arrogant that you can't see that?

Jimeatsmenu wrote: »

People do love to label themselves.

Do you guys ever stop and think to yourselves, "hmm, maybe I am being an arrogant prig"?!?!?

pH

kelly1 wrote: »

How so? Because belief on science as if science was the only thing that mattered!? Your attitude is just so blinkered and pompous! Are you so arrogant that you can't see that?

Dades was comparing and contrasting your arrogant and disrespectful dismissal of the Hindu faith (among others) with your accusation that atheists are arrogant and lack respect for religious beliefs. I don't believe it has anything to do with science.

Do you guys ever stop and think to yourselves, "hmm, maybe I am being an arrogant prig"?!?!?

Do you?

kelly1

pH wrote: »

How do we know this? (this is a serious question - on what basis can we distinguish a fabrication from reality?)

Nobody has any reason to believe in the tooth fairy etc. These are clearly childrens fables. So why compare these with the Judeo-Christian God of revelation? The Judeo-Christian God is not a fabrication. It is my belief that God revealed Himself to the Jews over many, many years. You have no basis for saying that this God is a fabrication unlike the FSM etc.

pH wrote: »

The above is so self-contradictory that I originally thought you were joking! Christianity is so self-contradictory it's not funny, incorporating many conflicting beliefs, and came after and contradicts Judaism therefore it *must* be wrong by your own logic.

Your lack of understanding does not make Christianity contradictory. I suggest you educate yourself.

Dades

kelly1 wrote: »

Your attitude is just so blinkered and pompous! Are you so arrogant that you can't see that?

Noel, the only difference between you and me is that where you dismiss two of the worlds biggest religions, I would dismiss three! How does that make me arrogant!

I'm not the one who thinks the entire universe was created for me, one of God's chosen squadron. I think we evolved from pond life - and back to the pond we'll go.

Wreck

kelly1 wrote: »

We know that the tooth fairy, FSM and Santa are fabrications and have absolutely nothing to do with God. So why bother mentioning these fables unless you're just trying to wind people up?

Some religions can be eliminated on the basis that they contradict logic so not all hold up to close scrutiny. Hinduism is self-contradictory because it incorporates a myriad of conflicting beliefs so I think that can safely be ruled out. Islam was fabricated and is derived from Judaism and Chrisianity but with the inconvenient bits thrown away. It came after Christianity and contradicts it.

Of course nobody can prove that any religion is the true but it's logical that either all religions are false or at most one is true. And in my opinion, in the context of theism, the one that most stands up to scrutiny is Christianity.

So please don't insult people by comparing God to the tooth fairy. Atheists need to start having respect for people beliefs and stop being so arrogant.

How can you even suggest this? The whole Christian definition/desription of god is logically inconsistent. On the other hand it is at least arguable that it is not logically impossible for the tooth fairy to exist. The bible itself is full of contradictions and inconsistencies, and for you to state that it holds up to scrutiny is laughable.

And can you please tell me why I need to respect your beliefs? You obviously don't respect other religions, and the hypocritical attack on the 'arrogance' of atheism just shows the lack of rigour in your thinking.

kelly1

Obni wrote: »

Apart from the fact that treating the sombre and serious doctrines of a religion from which you have lapsed in a facetious manner is mildly amusing (or if you prefer you can replace factiousness with arrogant disdain) , there is a more serious dimension to the comparison of god to the tooth-fairy etc...
When you stop believing in god, religion's temporal components - the role it plays in an individual's psychology, its political power, and its cultural and social influence - remain a very real factor in your life. However, the spiritual component immediately loses all significance. Belief in god has as much influence over your intellect as belief in the tooth-fairy.

The point I'm making is that we all know the tooth fairy etc are fabrications designed to amuse and delight children. You can't say with any certainty that the God of Abraham and Jesus Christ is a fabrication. People have very good reasons for believing in this God and your lack of belief is your choice. And don't tell me you have no evidence for God's existence as it makes no difference to those people who have lots of sound reasons for belief.

Obni wrote: »

Don't forget, this is the atheist and agnostic forum (although it seems to be primarily the former). If you consider many atheists in Ireland were brought up as roman catholics, then god can legitimately be defined within this forum as a fictional character, that we believed in when we were children, but which we outgrew as we matured. The fact that you still choose to take it seriously not only is not, but indeed should not, be a primary concern of ours.

Belief in God has nothing to do with maturity. Equating belief in God with childishness is simply wrong not to mention arrogant and insulting.