Do Atheists "Worship" Anything?

RexRed,

I'm trying to work out why you feel the need to project this concept of "worship" onto the one group which has clearly rejected it. A psychoanalyst would say either (a) you are subconsciously uncomfortable with "worship" or (b) you need to rationalize your own trait by the "false consensus argument" whereby all have been "created" with inbuilt "worship programs". Since (a) refers to the "subconscious" and (b) to the "conscious" they can both be valid simultaneously.

I suggest the reason you vocalise this projection at this time is in reaction to some recent heavy barrages on other threads which effectively weakened your position as a "worthy" opponent. In essence you are fighting to re-establish your "equality".

Oh, did I say that I worship the ground RexRed walks on? What does that make me? A Rexist?

I am trying to point out that all people must worship something...

What are you basing this on? YOUR need to worship something? I don't have this same need, nor do many others. Again, please speak for yourself.

If it is not the invisible God then this uncontrollable urge turns upon the self, others or toward objects and relics...

Again, I don't have this uncontrollable urge... but wait! I see my incense burner on the corner of my table - there you go, I can worship that. I need to develop a prayer to it.

It's that simple...

What's simple is that aetheists do not believe in a god. Period. End of story. I don't believe there IS a god. It doesn't matter why, I just don't. And I don't feel a lack or a need to worship myself, others, or objects. That's simple.

To borrow a line from Dylan... "You've got to serve somebody."

RexRed wrote:

I am trying to point out that all people must worship something...

What are you basing this on? YOUR need to worship something? I don't have this same need, nor do many others. Again, please speak for yourself.

If it is not the invisible God then this uncontrollable urge turns upon the self, others or toward objects and relics...

Again, I don't have this uncontrollable urge... but wait! I see my incense burner on the corner of my table - there you go, I can worship that. I need to develop a prayer to it.

It's that simple...

What's simple is that aetheists do not believe in a god. Period. End of story. I don't believe there IS a god. It doesn't matter why, I just don't. And I don't feel a lack or a need to worship myself, others, or objects. That's simple.

To borrow a line from Dylan... "You've got to serve somebody."

No, you don't 'got to serve somebody'... maybe you do, but I don't.

Please don't ascribe things to me that aren't true. You can only speak for yourself.

Luke was a physician...

"...There's glory for you!"

"I don't know what you mean by 'glory'," Alice said.

Humpty Dumpty smiled contemptuously. "Of course you don't--till I tell you. I meant 'There's a nice knock-down argument for you!'"

"But 'glory' doesn't mean 'a nice knock-down argument,'" Alice objected.

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

"The question is," said Alice, "whether you can make words mean so many different things. [...] "That's a great deal to make one word mean," Alice said in a thoughtful tone.

"When I make a word do a lot of work like that," said Humpty Dumpty, "I always pay it extra."

"Oh!" said Alice. She was too puzzled to make any other remark.

RexRed wrote:

Luke was a physician...

Jesus was a capenter... your point?

REX - You posted earlier that ou don't think many Christians are biblical. You more or less asserted that within the group "Christinas" the is a an asymetery between what everyone does and what the bible says, but not all, just most. More or less, you established that not every Christian believes thae same things.

So how can you assume that groups like athiests all believe the same things? Your claim that people worship themselves is not ridiculous until you assert that a whole group does it.

I can't say that ALL Christians believe in a Trinity, get it?

I Stereo wrote:

RexRed wrote:

Luke was a physician...

Jesus was a capenter... your point?

Read a few posts back and it may click...

RexRed wrote:

Atheists stand in ridicule and judgment of others who choose to worship a "higher" power while they (atheists) themselves set their own affections on earthly objects and ideals.

Yes, this is an argument that surfaces on A2K every so often... trying to trick atheists into being theists by claiming that any kind of attention to anything is the equivalent of "worship." According to this definition, being a fan of the Beatles qualifies as theism. Well, sure, if you want to dilute the word "worship" to such a vapid degree that it can include everything, go for it. Indeed, I can think of several atheists who would delight in the idea of equating the worship of God to enjoying the Beatles... it helps put things in their proper place.

Quite correct. That doesn't get you any closer to demonstrating that enjoying the Beatles is similar to belief in immaterial beings. But again, if you prefer to put religious devotion on the same plane as musical preferences, you're more than welcome. I rather like the idea.

Quite correct. That doesn't get you any closer to demonstrating that enjoying the Beatles is similar to belief in immaterial beings. But again, if you prefer to put religious devotion on the same plane as musical preferences, you're more than welcome. I rather like the idea.

Shapeless wrote:

Quite correct. That doesn't get you any closer to demonstrating that enjoying the Beatles is similar to belief in immaterial beings. But again, if you prefer to put religious devotion on the same plane as musical preferences, you're more than welcome. I rather like the idea.

The only problem i have with the thesis is that musical preferences can be and often are evidence of a sophisticated good taste. I know of no reason to assume the same about theistic superstitions.