Atheism

What about Stephen Hawkings? He believes in God, and rejects nothing for this belief. He is the one who wrote ‘A Brief History Of Time: From Big Bang to Black Holes.’ You can go as far up the ladder, as far as science has gone, and there is still a shitload that we can’t explain, and a shitload that we will probably never be able to. You can believe in evolution, big bang and a God. That’s not a contradiction.

Depends how you define god. Everybody has a different definition. You might be talking about one who started it all, omnipotent, but does not involve themselves in the matters of men. Then there is the psycho Christian God – he will send you to hell if you don’t follow these particular laid out rules (but he loves you). The god that Stephen Hawking (and Einstein) is referring to is nature (and definitely not the above).

Another god could be a programmer, who writes a simulation, carefully tunes its parameters to fire off a big bang of sorts (generating lots of data) – and behold, a universe teaming with life. But s/hes not omnipotent – a bit scared to change the parameters of the program, just in case s/he crashes the whole thing. Leaves it on to let it run its course.

I’ve watched Matrix too many times. ;)

Kinda too bad that by the time our species has developed to the point where our science can “explain it all,” we’ll probably be on the way out… enveloped by a red giant, or perhaps just branched off evolutionarily (is that a word?) into a form of life that has no need for, or interest in, religion or philosophy. [But until then, keep up the fight for reason, Jojo. It’s always a good thing when people start to think].

who cares. G-d is the best. Period.

And G-d said “Big Bang! Let there be light.”

Lots of big bangs and booms then echoed throughout the universe. It was very hot… Hundreds of millions of years later, the energy presence [G-d] let beautiful interstellar dust and gas coalesce! Thus the world was created [formed]. (^.) And so it was.

be real, acknowledge one G-d and keep it simple. It is what it is.

G-d= existence. Everything in the universe across the spand of time. Religion? Say what? Religious argumentum ad baculum, condemnation and the fire in brimstone speech are all pointless.

MUSEUMS ARE MY PLACES OF WORSHIP . Museums are definitely the new temples to woship in.

Mysticism rules. But I have to ask… where you there?

This is the best philosophy? It’s not even a philosophy, it’s a recognition or the lack thereof. It says nothing of one’s moral standards, and does little to predict one’s behavior. In fact, the top four items on the list deal with theism, but have no clear implications about how one conducts one’s self, and reacts to the physical world we live in… how disappointing.

Philosophy and religion don’t necessarily coincide. A philosophy is simply a system of beliefs, whereas a religion is centered around a supernatural figure. You can believe in something without that something being a deity.

I wouldn’t call Atheism a philosophy. If you take your beliefs a little further maybe, but this forum proves to be more anti-Christian than anything.

I also don’t believe that religion has to center around a deity. I would say when you enter into the supernatural realm, maybe have a few rituals, and few followers, then you have a religion. Cult and religion don’t have seperate definitions in my book.

I didn’t say that religion had to center around a deity. My point was that you can believe in things that aren’t associated with religion or the supernatural.

I wouldn’t call atheism a philosophy.

A philosophy is a system of beliefs, no matter how numerous or few, complex or simple those beliefs are. (True, along that definition you could call just about anything a philosophy. But how many things aren’t in some respect?) In atheism, there’s one: I believe in the lack of a god. I’ll leave the definition of “god” loose for brevity, but you could call most supernatural things gods.

Atheism leans towards a humanistic or materialistic (not necessarily possessive) philosophy.

Humanism is a moral and healthy way of looking at the world, without having irrational encumbrances of religion.

It’s just the most logical choice. Everything else is assertions based on thousands-year-old “holy” books written by primitives.

You’re only covering about three religions there bud.

Time does not exist so it doesn’t matter how old you think the earth is! Time is just a construct of your mind which you can use to compare against all the other constructs your mind has created. Remove your five senses and The Brain begins to shut down and consciousness disappears. You are the product of your five senses (or less). Darwinism is partially right but Darwins contempory Lanarkism has been shown to be partially right too. He suggested that livings things evolve in their own lifetime which has been proved. Proteins called prions can give yeast cells new powers (resistance to herbicide) in their own lifetime which are then inherited in new offspring (yeast). Both scientists are right it is just abit more complicated than we realised. If you look at everything, we are all made up of the same material! plants, animals, rocks, planets all made up of protons neutrons and electrons. No difference between anything. We are all one and the same and hence intrinsically connected to each other and everything in the whole universe-a fact.

god sucks..

As much as I’d like believe in something aside from the guy who delivers my newspaper every now and then, I don’t. Atheism is accepting the truth, nowadays people use religion as a means to glorify hate or justify their own stupid actions.

“Why’d you shit on my cat?” “God told me to do it.” “Ohhhhhh well that’s okay then.”

I’m 100% for Atheism.

You’re just as bad as them. There’s a question mark hovering above our heads. We do not know everything about the universe. Those that conceptualize the question mark and mold it to what they want it to be are not any worse than those that completely erase it. I’m not saying don’t believe what you believe, but don’t state it as if it is a fact. Truth is not truth if it’s regarding something we could never (most likely) know.

I think in this modern world, it’s becoming more obvious that economic and political power have been the real evils all along. Religion is a mask. Remove ambition, and Religion is both harmless and helpful. The irony is that unlike Atheism, Religion seems to be the only thing that has been identifying ambition as an evil.

That sounds interesting. Can you expand? I might not be correctly interpreting it.

I always thought the bigger issue was dogma – be it political, economic or religious. I’ve always thought of “truth” as a process, not a starting point.

You’ll all go to hell. It makes me sad. :(

Well, see Claudz, the thing about Jesus is that he would doubtfully make a statement such as that, and if you understood that which Jesus represents and what he stood for, you wouldn’t have just typed that.

True!

Why do people look for an answer, a meaning to life? Just live your life. You need to know the question before you know the answer. I’ve decided I’m an atheist even though I went to a Catholic school all of my life and I still am. Some points that I don’t believe in a god are: - Faith is blief and trust in something that can’t be proven or shown. Blind belief.

- Why does a god desire unconditional love from its creations? If it really wants to be loved, why didn’t he make us love him? Why go through the mess of ‘free will’ and stuff?

- God loves. God is love. He shows emotion. Emotion leads to biased thought. This leads to flaws. God is perfect, he cannot be flawed.

And anyway, I’d rather spend my life doing what I want to do instead of playing kiss up to something no one is really sure exists.

To soothe my annoyance when some speaker or something starts talking about God( which apparently only follows the Christian definition these days), I like to connect God to the whole-concept of connectedness- I don’t want to explain it, just watch I Heart Huckabees, and now I feel stupid for saying it, because I just told Roguefork to watch it, and she’s part of the forum.

“When you get the blanket thing, you can relax because anything you could ever want or be, you already have and are”.

The Epicurean rule book: Don’t fear the Gods. Don’t worry about death. Worry is easily overcome. Good is easily attained. (Don’t overdo it though okay? Because I love you and want you to be a balanced person).

I personally would like to say that I don’t know. We don’t know. Don’t put your faith in outside sources though, be it God, doctors or your mother, because they aren’t going to make it allright, and denial doesn’t make everything go away. Suchness is how to roll. Such is the way of the body, move on to the mind, and become a walking Buddha. Email me first, and then we’ll walk through the park together and practice the universal middle way bojenga bojenga (that doesn’t mean anything, it just sounded cool). Don’t spam me: justinvanelsberg1989@msn.com (for those that really want to walk in the park). Word.

And what about the motherfucking Goddesses up in this bitch? What’s all this shit about ‘God’ man? Is this a fucking man’s universe?

Responding to your second post:

Men are generally the image of humanity. Women are just considered weaker and well, just not as strong. It basically is a man’s universe. If I was a god…I’d prefer the title ‘God’. Who in their right mind wants the title…”goddess”? [Or wo’man’? I prefer lady.] Like it all stems from men. In history, the men have held more power and privileges than the women. Therefore it makes sense that men…make their gods in their image. Some powerful male gods of war, etc.

Women have had their moments. Anyways, I like my female Godesses (which I believe sounds more poetic than “God”) and the warm embrace of a female is more comforting that a frightening male figure as portrayed by the Christian religion. I enjoy allowing my mind to picture nature as a female sometimes to feel more connected, such as the wind-she holds me in her arms. It’s lovely, and I’m not dependent on outside sources, so it isn’t unhealthy, more like the art my mind helps to create for myself.

Yeah, that sounds nice, and goddess has a certain ring…but the thing is, that’s it. The sterotypical thing is that females are generally considered gentle, comforting, and soothing. I haven’t heard of a goddess of war and slaughter yet. ...What if you imagined nature as a gentle, lovely male that holds you in his arms? Haha…

This is a little off topic…

Or what if it isn’t Goddess or God? What if it is both male and female, good and evil, symbolizing unity and the idea that everything is unified? That makes for a better balance. The uniGod is the same for war as for peace because balance is necessary. When we break it all apart, we run into trouble.

But religion doesn’t function that way. The thing that bothers me about religion is that there is a clean cut ‘right’ and ‘wrong’. You do good, you are rewarded. You do bad and you are damned. Religion never defines the grey area. But you are also branching into the ‘what if’ range.

For example, the Christian God is neither sex but is referred to eternally as a he. There is something wrong. Why is it not ‘it’? This God does not exemplify unity in good and evil or any kind of balance. This god has an opposite, a devil, Satan.

Speaking of a combo god for war and for peace, this further weakens the god’s image. It contradicts itself and therefore makes the god seem flawed. Humans didn’t break good and evil apart, the supposed god set done the line and dictates what is right and what is wrong in it’s eyes. This reminds me of a ying and yang thing you’re describing though.

You’re still speaking of religion just in terms of Catholicism. However, I’m very impressed. You are an amazing and intelligent person. There was an Egyptian God called Abraxas that was a bird God with similar traits to what I discribed. Christianity is not the only religion. Religion can be good for people, but for most, it’s a way around the truth. It’s a way to accept things as they are-accept reality. By this I do not mean accept that there is no God-whatever “God” could be. I’m saying we don’t know, and we don’t have to know. We don’t have to have a side. We can just be, and accept things as they are.

Thank you. You seem well spoken as well as intelligent too. Good point, but I feel this discussion has gone full circle though.

“I’m saying we don’t know, and we don’t have to know. We don’t have to have a side. We can just be, and accept things as they are.”

This is kind of what I was trying to say. Accept ‘your’ reality, not everyone else’s. Everyone has their own views, opinions, and religious standing, but you’ve got to live according to yourself. Think for yourself but if this thinking leads you to any type of religion, then that’s your choice and perhaps you need the refuge.

I know we’re well past the subject but I would like to add that there are goddesses of war and power. Athena the greek goddess of war and wisdom is probably the best example.

http://ancienthistory.about.com/library/bl/bl_wargods.htm

I encourge you all to look at this page with a whole list of war gods and goddesses from numerous different cultures from numerous different time periods. I think you will be suprised that not all religions viewed women as weak creatures whose only abbilities included the birthing of children and the comforting of men.

Though there is a considerably larger amount of war gods than war goddesses we shouldn’t assume that some cultures didn’t value their goddesses as warriors and wise leaders.

Do women want to be associated with killing in the first place? Is it weaker to stand up and fight or to stand up in the name of peace? Anyone can kill. We are Gods in ourselves. Can you however, bring that person back once you have killed them? That's power, that's impressive. I just wanted to ask you that.

Thanks Amarie. I was trying  to speak or thought I was trying to speak generally. And I did realize Athena was a goddess of war after I posted as an afterthought. [This happens a lot to me] But thanks for the link.

I'm not sure who you're asking Vano, probably Amarie, but I like the idea of killing, but then again, I'm a morbid and different person than most others. To fight, one needs strength physically, courage, will power, strategy and some other stuff depending. To stand for peace you need much more will power, a sense of self righteousness, intelligence and other stuff also depending. Both of those may overlap in some qualities, I know.

 No, the dead are gone forever and can never come back. But to be able to kill, to take a life, to put an end that is permanent, that takes power as well. It's much harder for the average person to kill than you think. Not everyone can kill. So in the end, killing someone and standing for peace are both hard tasks. Unless you're sorta trained or something...

The fight or flight response. If you are cornered, is it harder to fight (whether you win or not) or take the passifist approach. Oh, and most anyone in the right situation, unless they have a trained mind, can and will kill. It doesmn't take anything to fight. Under certain circumstances it takes those things to "win" (if you can ever truely win doing something like this), but not to fight.

I have a motto for you (should you chose to accept it). "Destruction is a form of Creation".

I've never heard a really good argument for believing in God, or had any experience that made me want to. I didn't know what the word "God" meant until I was five, and even then it was still such a strange concept to me, and I never really understood it. I still find "God" a strange concept. Something about it doesn't make sense to me. I like learning about Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, and other originally Eastern religions, just because they offer up such a different way of living, a different life philosophy, than most Western belief systems, but Christianity is... just rife with contradictions. In general religious faith can be a good thing ethically and morally, as a system to live life by, but at the same time religion has caused a lot of pain and suffering in the past and present, something that Jesus Christ would never have endorsed. While Christianity does create a community and unify people, the Bible also endorses slavery, the subjugation of women, and condemns homosexuality. It doesn't match up to me. The Christian portrayal of God, as has been mentioned before, as both "loving" everyone while condemning sinners to hell, just doesn't make sense, and the idea of God as "loving" doesn't match with the God portrayed in the Old Testament, who kills and punishes and ultimately leads His worshippers to a life of fear. Atheism makes the most sense to me in this aspect. A lot of things in the universe can't be explained, but why should they need to be? We are smaller than tiny dots in the universe, and it's utterly presumptuous to believe that we can explain it all, even if the explanation is a God. God has never even come into the equation for me, and why do I need pity for that? I'm happy without a God in my life.

 I've also noticed a great deal of stereotyping, bigotry, pretension, and presumption in this forum, from both sides. Isn't this superfluous? My point is that people should try to learn and listen, not regurgitate stereotypes.

Thanks for that breath of fresh air, Sabina!  Religious debates are far too heated for my liking, but for some reason I follow them and participate in them anyway.  Yours is the first neutral opinion I've ever heard that wasn't "They're both stupid."  Namaste!

Any time you try and put something into words, you are bound to contradict yourself. Any time you talk about any belief system, you are bound to contradict yourself. Even Buddha contradicted himself.

I just got an idea! Let's all go on Ebay and buy up all the ancient epic poems and Allegories, take the symbols out of context and worship them. Oh well, in the grand scheme of things it doesn't matter. The universe will eat up every last one of us eventually. It's so much easier to be like the Buddha, and once again, take the middle path. No beliefs. Now, I will admit in the modern world, it's the hardcore believers that bring forward or turn away the masses, thereby shaping our trail of history as we know it, but I'm hungry and want some cheese, even though I probably shouldn't because of my current existential affairs that will probably just get even more agitated. In conclusion, let's all just get off the computer before we all forget that we aren't robots, and Jesus forgets he's dead. 

Cheese is good.  Worth even agitating existential affairs.  Go for it.

religion is for cowards, and is a crutch for those who don't want to see the world as it is in fact. it was created >2000 years ago when humanity didn't understand the world or its working intricacies like we do today, and so we invented explanations and built belief systems around those.

Maybe for some. I truely believe that others are only searching for Truth. Of course there are those that deal with their suppressed fear of meaninglessness and impermanence by hiding behind the image of 'God'. I say it's time to develop the 'What the fuck do you care?' scenario in which we all focus on our own existential problems which could be societal problems, the wordly, whatever is fueling our angst. Why point finger at invisible generalizations desperatly seeking Truth, grasping only narrow specks of the whole? This is a question that can be accepted and interpreted only by the individual. I suggest you start digging inside yourself, after all, you create your own reality, and we citizens of the lonely planet Earth wouldn't want to deprive you of your own potential would we? Maybe. Nothing is solidary. No single opinion is fact. Once again, it always is directed back to you. Not me. Not they. You. The universe has no opinon Mr. Hologram.

There's a shitload of stuff that I, for one, don't want explained, because the beauty of it all is in its mystery.

Atheist – The Real Ghost Busters

Athiesm makes no sense. G-d is better.

Okay, I must say that from some of the comments i read earlier "yay i am going to heaven and you are going to hell because i am Christian" is bullshit. Why the hell would you deserve to go to "Heaven" if there even was one when you make comments like that? That doesn't sound like the "christian" thing to say.

I have nothing against people that are religious. It's not their fault they are ignorant. Some people grow up in a religious family and it is all they know. It is a very depressing time realizing there is no god. I once believed in god and went to church. If it makes you feel better about life than whatever, but it isn't based on facts. i myself like steady ground when i can find it.

I was also very surprised to find that many people don't believe in god… i felt like i was the only one because everyone i knew believes. Then i realized it was all just fake.

That picture of the little kid is quite amusing by the way.

i'm atheist by upbringing.  we didn't go to church when i was a little kid, so by the time i heard about this guy God, science had already established its fell hold

i agree with your first comment, panda…fire-and-brimstone 'christians' (only because they worship christ, not because they adhere to his principles) are all going to hell.  and if hell doesn't exist, i'm sure they'll find a way to get themselves there anyway.

I love how sheep believe that we are going to hell because we are not sheep. that makes me laugh.
there is no hell!  DUH!
We are not heathens, we are not witches and worlocks, we are not satanists, we just are!