Atheism

Spendi wrote:

I'm not insisting upon anything. I'm fighting for the freedoms which our culture has delivered for us which I think the widespread acceptance of atheism would take away. Or which another religion would take away.

I'm not trying to convert anybody. I don't see why atheists are trying to convert people. I cherish our heritage and I'm not up for any dramatic changes. What I think is immaterial.

As far as I'm concerned, your comment is full of contradictions.

Your fight is permanently insisting on points there aren't..

My atheism never denied others their religiousness.

I even see in religions some social usefulness.

But saying that atheists are trying to convert people is really an overboard and unfounded statement, to say the least.

Why don't religious people give me a break?

1 Reply

@Francis,

Francis wrote:

Or is god avoiding me, as heathen as I am?

Well, it's possible. After all you are in France.

Have you read "The Hound of Heaven" by Francis Thompson ?

I am no longer particularly religious, but I cannot conceive of our existence without a creator. I have also accumulated - over many and varied experiences - a fairly deep appreciation of human vanity and our doomed lust for autonomy.

However, as Omar (or, more accurately, Edward Fitzgerald) told us "He's a good fellow; 't'will all be well."

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@georgeob1,

Brilliant, god leave us alone, in France!

Yes, I've read the Hound of Heaven and came again to the conclusion that god is a vengeful entity:

'Naught shelters thee, who wilt not shelter Me.'

But we are in agreement about human nature: how inane and vain!

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@Francis,

You continue to impress me Francis. I'm glad I know you.

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@georgeob1,

Mutual feeling, George..

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I can conceive of no greater vanity than to believe that humanity was created by a being who made them the centerpiece of a vast and complex cosmos, and which allegedly omniscient being spends eternity concerned with nothing more weighty than our failings and venalities.

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@Setanta,

Well said.

That would be a crappy being, making us this way and punishing us for what we are..

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@Francis,

The fault lies with the manufacturer. Nice Francis.

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@Setanta,

"Let pigeons and doves
Select their own loves,
and grant to them millions of ages.
Then doubtless youll find
That theyve altered their kind,
and changed into prophets and sages."

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Setanta, Francis and hingehead--

There is not much more vain than three flat-ribbed and inconsequential eating and shitting machines (see La Mettrie) deliberately and obtusely missing the point and going through life with nothing new to say from one year to the next, and boring the arse of everybody they come in contact with, in order to try to justify the beta minus versions of sexual depravity and creating in the process such an entity as the Tea Party and a lurch to the right in American politics.

As if Presidents Obama, Bush, Clinton, Bush Snr, Carter, Kennedy, the Archbishop of Canterbury, H.M. The Queen, the Pope and all points back forever had never heard of that fatuous argument.

And as if vanity was abnormal and these three gents are entirely free of the condition. What intellectual pygmies they are.

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Spendi wrote:

What intellectual pygmies they are.

As far as I'm concerned, I never denied it, never pretended to be a beacon of Christian civilisation..

However, I feel sorry for those who make such statements out of thin air..

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@Francis,

It wasn't out of thin air Francis. It was in relation to the three previous posts. Do you think that the dignitaries I mentioned hadn't heard of such baby arguments as Setanta produced and which were approved of by you and hinge?

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@Francis,

Quote:

I even see in religions some social usefulness.

Will you specify what you mean?

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@spendius,

I believe they heard that countless times, as uttered by themselves and their peers.

You are mistaken in that these dignataries possess some kind of hidden qualities that we commoners are deprived..

Even in the dubious case that these arguments present no character of novelty, they, then, aren't different from yours.

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@spendius,

I mean that religions are a strong bond, usefull for structuring a society and even a civilisation.

But some humans don't feel the need for such bond and find it a brake for the improvement of said societies.

As such, religions tend to make people slaves of the rules, often denying non-believers improvement and making their lives miserable..

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@Francis,

In your daily rounds Francis have you observed more slaves to the rules of religion than slaves to the law.

In what respects do you think the need for bonds is a brake on the improvement of society? It is well known that the totalitarian mission seeks to break all bonds except that of the individual to the great leader. Informers are encouraged and even within family circles.

What policies would an individual who feels no need for bonds suggest we legislate for?

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@spendius,

I obviously have, Spendi, and by a great margin...

No law obligates me to attend a church on Sundays, or any other day for that matter.

No law imposes me any moral constraint like a religion does.

Look at the result in man/woman relationship, given the number of threads open on this site, related to moral constraints and christian conditioning.

This is a brake in the pursuit of happiness, which I find a valid life goal.

I do believe that no more legislative actions are need in this field.

A global effort on education would be an improvement, especially if no religion were taught in school.

Critical thinking should be encouraged, therefore excluding blind faith.

Spendi, in an unfortunate lapsus, wrote:

It is well known that the totalitarian mission seeks to break all bonds except that of the individual to the great leader. Informers are encouraged and even within family circles.

Yes, it is the totalitarian mission of any religion... Twisted Evil

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@Setanta,

And to know for a fact that humans have created gods since our early evolution, we can conclude that humans need for any religion serves a social function; mostly to control the masses.

I am constantly impressed by visiting poor countries around the world where their religious buildings are always the biggest and most beautiful.

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@cicerone imposter,

cicerone imposter wrote:

And to know for a fact that humans have created gods since our early evolution, we can conclude that humans need for any religion serves a social function; mostly to control the masses.

How do you know this for a fact?

Quote:

I am constantly impressed by visiting poor countries around the world where their religious buildings are always the biggest and most beautiful.

Why do you think this is?
Do they build elaborate atheist buildings?

1 Reply

In that atheists only have in common that they don't hold a certain belief, they have no need of an edifice in which to celebrate not having something.

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