Atheism

That's rich, you calling anyone else's responses lame.

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The Number Of Sunday Assemblies, Or 'Atheist Churches,' More Than Doubled Over One Weekend
Carol Kuruvilla Huffington Post 10/01/14 03:36 PM ET

On Sept. 28, 35 towns around the world launched new Sunday Assembly groups for secular humanists, freethinkers, skeptics, atheists and agnostics who want a sense of community -- without having to deal with any of the God stuff.

“The central idea we have to spread is that we have only one life, which means that life has to be lived to the fullest,” Mano Singham said to a newly-formed godless congregation in Strongsville, Ohio. “There is no second chance, no opportunity to have a do-over, there is no afterlife where wrongs are righted and cosmic justice meted out to the evildoers.”

The U.S. has been a particularly fruitful ground for this type of thinking, with 16 new congregations starting last weekend.

The meetings are filled with songs--Bon Jovi, Journey and Monty Python seem to be favorites--readings, and even a moment of silence where congregants are left alone with their own thoughts.

Some of the congregations intend to organize small groups, where a few people can gather to read books and discuss philosophy.

Not everyone who attends is an atheist. Some are just interested exploring what it all means.

Nicole Ciaramella, 29, was raised Roman Catholic but says she now takes pieces from a number of different religions to form a personal spirituality. She falls into the growing number of people in the United States who consider themselves "spiritual, but not religious." Although a Pew Study suggests the number of "nones" in America are growing at a rapid pace, for Ciaramella, the experience of being religiously unaffiliated was quite lonely.

When she moved to North Carolina, people told her she should attend a church to find community. But that wasn’t an option.

“For many churches, if you don’t share their belief, you’re an outcast,” she told The Observer.

Two British comedians, Sanderson Jones and Pippa Evans, launched the first Assembly in January of 2013 as a place where skeptics could feel welcome. The movement has grown as doubters around the world started their own chapters, bringing the number to 28 by Aug. 2014.

More: http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/5915830

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@Olivier5,

Quote:

“The central idea we have to spread is that we have only one life, which means that life has to be lived to the fullest,” Mano Singham said to a newly-formed godless congregation in Strongsville, Ohio. “There is no second chance, no opportunity to have a do-over, there is no afterlife where wrongs are righted and cosmic justice meted out to the evildoers.”

Interesting comment here.

I wonder how Mano Singham knows all this...or if perhaps it is nothing more than a blind guess...sorta like the blind guesses theists have in the other direction.

Do you think it is something Mano knows, Olivier...or just something he is guessing?

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@Frank Apisa,

Can you live with the fact that ordinary people have BELIEFS?

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@Olivier5,

Olivier5 wrote:

Can you live with the fact that ordinary people have BELIEFS?

Oh, I thought you would answer my question, but instead you counter with a question of your own. So I will answer it.

Of course people can make blind guesses...and call them beliefs.

Now...will you answer the question I posed you.

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@Frank Apisa,

I think Mano knows something that you don't know, Frank.

1 Reply

@Olivier5,

Olivier5 wrote:

I think Mano knows something that you don't know, Frank.

You didn't answer the question.

But I doubt Mano KNOWS whether or not there is anything after death...or if, in fact, death actually happens.

I also doubt you have the integrity and strength of character to ever acknowledge any of that.

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@Frank Apisa,

Quote:

But I doubt Mano KNOWS whether or not there is anything after death...or if, in fact, death actually happens.

I guess that depends what you call death. If by that you mean the end of life as we know it, I can assure you it happens. A lot, even... Did you know that some plants can be immortal? But no animal. They all die, as individuals. Too many moving parts.

I have a question for you: what happens to one's poor "soul" when by some unfortunate accident, half of one's brain is destroyed?

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@Frank Apisa,

You don't define belief well, sir.. "A sense of something un-known to be true." If you try, there is a faithful feeling.

1 Reply

@Olivier5,

Olivier5 wrote:

Quote:
But I doubt Mano KNOWS whether or not there is anything after death...or if, in fact, death actually happens.

I guess that depends what you call death. If by that you mean the end of life as we know it, I can assure you it happens.

No...you can't assure me of that, Olivier.

And the "we" in that comment of yours may not even exist.

Quote:

A lot, even... Did you know that some plants can be immortal? But no animal. They all die, as individuals. Too many moving parts.

You do not know that for sure, Olivier...because you do not know the true nature of the REALITY of existence. Death does seem to be inevitable for all animal life...but that may all be an illusion.

You do not know the true nature of the REALITY of existence.

Quote:

I have a question for you: what happens to one's poor "soul" when by some unfortunate accident, half of one's brain is destroyed?

I have no idea.

Now I have answered two of your questions after posting my question to you. Why not answer my question?

1 Reply

@MWal,

MWal wrote:

You don't define belief well, sir.. "A sense of something un-known to be true." If you try, there is a faithful feeling.

In a discussion about REALITY...such as is being had here...

...all "beliefs" are merely blind guesses...dressed up in the word "belief" to give the blind guess more gravitas.

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Blind faith might be a "blind guess," but not all belief is a guess. That's just self-serving rhetoric. One can hold a belief based on experience, such as that it is safe to enter an intersection on a green light. Onc cannot know that no one will run the red light, but one can believe, based on previous experience that it is safe. You're just playing one of your word games, and it's meaningless.

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"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean - neither more nor less."

--Humpty Dumpty in Through the Looking Glas

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"In a discussion about REALITY"...is a qualifier that pretty much discounts the notion of "I believe the GIANTS are going to be in the Super Bowl this year" as a blind guess.

It also discounts the notion of entering an intersection under certain conditions as being a blind guess.

But when someone says "There is a GOD" or "There are no gods" or "This is not an illusion" or "“there is no second chance, no opportunity to have a do-over, there is no afterlife where wrongs are righted and cosmic justice meted out to the evildoers"...

...that person IS making a blind guess.

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@Frank Apisa,

No beliefs are based on our ability to sense knowledge, and truth.

1 Reply

@MWal,

MWal wrote:

No beliefs are based on our ability to sense knowledge, and truth.

Yeah, sure!

You "believe" there is a GOD, correct?

So tell me...why is that not a blind guess?

1 Reply

@Frank Apisa,

Frank Apisa wrote:

"In a discussion about REALITY"...is a qualifier that pretty much discounts the notion of "I believe the GIANTS are going to be in the Super Bowl this year" as a blind guess.

It also discounts the notion of entering an intersection under certain conditions as being a blind guess.

But when someone says "There is a GOD" or "There are no gods" or "This is not an illusion" or "“there is no second chance, no opportunity to have a do-over, there is no afterlife where wrongs are righted and cosmic justice meted out to the evildoers"...

...that person IS making a blind guess.

So, what is it, exactly, about your qualifyer that discounts beliefs about sports games and traffic intersections, but not beliefs about gods, afterlives, etc.?

1 Reply

@InfraBlue,

InfraBlue wrote:

Frank Apisa wrote:

"In a discussion about REALITY"...is a qualifier that pretty much discounts the notion of "I believe the GIANTS are going to be in the Super Bowl this year" as a blind guess.

It also discounts the notion of entering an intersection under certain conditions as being a blind guess.

But when someone says "There is a GOD" or "There are no gods" or "This is not an illusion" or "“there is no second chance, no opportunity to have a do-over, there is no afterlife where wrongs are righted and cosmic justice meted out to the evildoers"...

...that person IS making a blind guess.

So, what is it, exactly, about your qualifyer that discounts beliefs about sports games and traffic intersections, but not beliefs about gods, afterlives, etc.?

Guesses about sports, games and traffic intersections are, as Setanta so clearly put it, based on experience...and calculations. They may be right...they may be wrong...we may find out they are either one or the other...or we not.

Guesses about whether gods exist or not...or whether there is more to life than what appears to be...

...are just blind guesses, InfraBlue.

Guesses about the true nature of the REALITY of existence...are blind guesses.

Or so it seems to me. If you disagree...tell me what "beliefs" you have about the actuality of the REALITY of existence...that are not blind guesses.

If you present a reasonable, compelling argument, I am certainly willing to change my position...partly or in total if appropriate.

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A possibly apropos article on belief, bias and Bayes theorem

http://www.theguardian.com/science/life-and-physics/2014/sep/28/belief-bias-and-bayes

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@hingehead,

That's an interesting concept, but I doubt very much understanding math has much to do with one's beliefs. The ability to logically analyze statements is one thing, but how anyone perceives the 'truth or fact' of it are in conflict.
IMHO

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