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WHAT DO NON-BELIEVERS ACTUALLY BELIEVE IN?
Tags: non-belief
Posted in Religious Matters
Posted by Exeo March 7, 2012 at 8:42 am

You may know the expression “herding cats” and how this is often applied to the difficulty of getting those of us who lack religious faith to agree on anything. So, in a world in which non-believers are generally as politically diverse as we humans get, it’s interesting to look for the common denominators in the world views of the non-believers. In an interesting article found on Psychology Today they do just that, and we get to see some of the beliefs that the non-believers generally do share. According to the article they boil down to seven general tenants of common sense;

-Everything since the Big Bang can be explained naturally
-We can only speculate about what “caused” the Big Bang
-Ethics do not require a God
-Religion is man-made
-The God of the Bible is especially implausible
-The idea of prophecy is even less plausible than a God
-Only humans can solve human challenges

To read more about each of these points the non-believers can agree on, find your way to Psychology Today where they are discussed in more detail. Or you can jump right into the nitty-gritty of a general non-religious world view by reading a good book about humanism.

With a thanks to writer Ken MacLeod for providing this great link. He has an excellent new dystopian thriller out called Intrusion, which you may want to check out. It’s already been compared to Orwell’s 1984, set in near-future English setting.

lead us not into temptation or a crowded house but deliver us geyer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=wmS6jHcKR0U

I stole the quote below from another forum. It is allegedly from this book, but I don't own that book and can't say. Nor can I claim to know if the figures are accurate. I only post it because, if true, it is eye-opening data (for me, anyway):



The book referred to in the quote: http://www.amazon.com/Churching-America-1776-2005-Winners-Religious/dp/0813535530

That's a great quote, startling, fbm.

I'll get that book if I see it. I only buy at used book stores, but sometimes those stores have some great stuff.

Yeah, I wish I had used book stores around here. I'd like to investigate that data and find out how it was compiled and if there's been any criticism of it.

I find those figures suspect. However, Arthur Schlesinger, Sr. did a study back in the 1940s in which he concluded that more than half of the population of the colonies were "unchurched." The figure was less than that in colonies with religioius establishments such as Massachusetts and Connecticut, and much higher--two thirds or more--in places where there were large convict populations, such as Maryland and Virginia. I'd be interested to know what scholarship the author refers to.

From the "preview" on the book's Amazon page, I gather that they worked directly from primary sources. On that basis, they claim that much of the scholarship about the numbers consists of factoids uncritically copied from the last generation's scholarship about the numbers. Sometimes the process repeated itself through a chain of six previous generations.

That's their claim anyway; I'd have to read their book to decide if I believe it. But I wouldn't dismiss it out of hand. This kind of thing does happen in academia. It got much easier to catch when libraries became digitized and computer-searchable. I'm actually tempted to read the book now.

where does Jar-Jar Binks come in to the equation?

Schlesinger, Sr. made his reputation with his research on the American Atlantic colonies, of course from primary sources. For my part, i'd have to be convinced that they'd done original scholarship to arrive at their numbers. I don't doubt the premise, just how low the numbers are. There has been a trend in acaemic history over the last 40 years to fudge the numbers. Attack and Die, pulished in 1980 by the University of Alabama had as one of its two major premises that the Confederacy assured their own defeat by a fanatical adherence on the tactical offensive. The authors fudged the numbers to support the premise, which toughtful military historians, including just gifted amateurs, have recognized for 50 years or more. Historians immediately after the civil war came to the same conclusion. So, although new to a new generation, the idea wasn't new, and the data support it without fudging the numbers.

Wikipedia's article on George Anson's naval expedition of 1740-43 makes extravagent claims about the number of deaths due to scurvy. First, they underestimate the number of men on the expedition--they leave out betweeen 100 and 200 soldiers sent with his ships in an era before the Royal Marines existed. Then, they attribute all deaths not directly related to hostile combat or recorded as lost at sea to scurvy. So they say that 1400 men out of 1900 died of scurvy. Well, the true number was probably between 800 and 1000 out of somewhat over 2000. That's bad enough as it is, nearly 50% of the original complement lost to scurvy. They didn't need to fudge the numbers to show how horrific scurvy was in those days.

It's because of things like that that i tend to be skeptical of such claims until i can review their sources myself.

I have had this thread collapsed for a considerable time. I am gratified that atheists continue to post here. I don't have anything new to add at this time.

A
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Well--it isn't God's law. It certainly isn't the Christian version and it can't be the atheist's version because there is no God's law for atheists.

It would make economic sense to atheists though assuming the robots are mass produced cheaply, hence imported, and just have a different number on their rear ends.

What is the "christian" version then? I thought that if you didn't accept jesus then you don't get to hang out with god. You end up in a place where there is no god. You don't get to go to the party. You have to sit out. No?

I think it is absurd for one that people respect this as being a resonable thing. That if you don't accept that a god became a human and then got tortured and murdered just so that people could be forgiven for something they didn't actually do themselves. Why people admire this or think it is reasonable is silly.

Why would a god need to go through all of that just for this outcome? Why would you not be allowed to join the final party if you don't accept this nonsense? If there is a god, and this is how this god opperates them I am more than happy not to be invited. I don't admire any being who thinks a torture is necessary for forgiveness to work.

christianity is absurd and many christians know it and that is why they are trying to change it to be something other than how it actually is. Trying to sell a turd by calling it by a different name.

Atheists “Marching” to New Orleans for 71st Annual American Humanist Association Conference
Gloria Steinem to receive Humanist of the Year award

For Immediate Release


(Washington, DC – May 23, 2012) – “The Atheists Go Marching In” is the message on a New Orleans streetcar advertisement to inform the city that humanists, atheists, freethinkers and skeptics are coming to New Orleans June 7-10 for the 71st Annual American Humanist Association (AHA) Conference. The New Orleans Secular Humanist Association, the local chapter of the AHA, will also be running a billboard ad near the Superdome welcoming conference attendees to town.

The streetcar ad will run through June 28. The highway billboard will run June 4-10.

Picture of ad on the street car can be found here: http://www.americanhumanist.org/system/storage/63/15/9/3148/NOLA_Street_Car_Ad_POP.jpg
The streetcar ad image can be found here: http://www.americanhumanist.org/system/storage/63/37/4/3118/Nola_ad.jpg
The highway billboard ad image can be found here: http://www.americanhumanist.org/system/storage/63/7e/e/3117/NOLA_AHADigital.jpg

The American Humanist Association’s 71st Annual Conference will feature American cultural icon Gloria Steinem, recipient of the 2012 Humanist of the Year award. The award-winning author, journalist and activist for equality is best known for her work against gender bias, abuse of children, and protecting the rights of indigenous peoples.

“Gloria Steinem’s life’s work of standing up for the disenfranchised is the embodiment of humanist values,” said American Humanist Association Executive Director Roy Speckhardt. “Without her dedication to achieving equality for all, America might still be in the dark ages.”

The others accepting awards by the American Humanist Association are host of NPR’s Science Friday Ira Flatow (Isaac Asimov Science Award), anti-war activist Debra Sweet (Humanist Heroine Award), host of Current TV’s The Young Turks Cenk Uygur (Humanist Media Award), leading skeptic and magician James Randi (Lifetime Achievement Award), student activists Jessica Ahlquist (Humanist Pioneer Award) and Damon Fowler (Humanist Pioneer Award). Actor George Takei will accept the LGBT Humanist Pride Award via recorded video message. The keynote speaker will be Herb Silverman, Secular Coalition for American president and author of Candidate Without A Prayer: An Autobiography of a Jewish Atheist in the Bible Belt.

Other speakers, including some of the country’s top authors and activists, are Margaret Downey, Marshall Brain, John Barry, Anthony Pinn, Katherine Stewart and Sean Faircloth, among others. Australian singer-songwriter Shelley Segal will also be performing.

“This year’s attendees will be not only have the vibrant city of New Orleans to enjoy, but our excellent lineup of speakers and awardees will make this a distinctively rewarding experience for humanists and atheists across the country,” Speckhardt said.

Conference details can be found on the official website: http://nola.americanhumanist.org

It's a shagging festival ed.

Millennials Losing Faith In God: Survey
www.huffingtonpost.com
More young people are losing faith in God, according to a recent Pew survey. About 68 percent of Millennials say they never doubt the existence of God, a decline of 15 points since 2007, while the number of older Americans with a firm belief in God remains stable.

I've often wondered about the younger generation and their belief in the existence of god. My impressions were correct that the younger generation will continue to lose their faith in god, and the shifting of the seniors vs younger generation will make our politics more liberal and result in less discrimination against gays and women.

Atheist Clubs Spring Up In High Schools Across The U.S.
www.huffingtonpost.com
Since January of this year, students representing 73 different high schools have requested “starter kits" to

Oh Gawd! What's next? Soon kids will be thinking for themselves? NAhhhh....too optimistic.