I don't believe in pixies, is there a label for me, and is that a belief system?

a reply to: grainofsand

This is a perfect argument to compare with religion and gods and we all know this is where you are going here, so let's jump into it because i am tired of people simply deciding that this is not a perfect argument. Sure you can decide to use the term "piskey" to circumvent the the core of this point. Or you could take the course of making the term refer to a slang word for homosexuals, this is also a common diversion tactic used in the religios/atheist argument.
When you define the term of the word as a magical winged being, as the stories describe, we have absolutely no evidence to back up this claim except for mythological stories. That is to say, we don't have one. We now cannot witness it doing anything and therefor cannot make any claims to what properties it may possess.

Great point.

originally posted by: grainofsand
a reply to: notmyrealname

Hmm, sounds serious, maybe I should question my lack of faith, I wouldn't want to be put on any med's.
Possibly a better option just to pretend I believe, but remember I have never asserted pixies 'do not' exist, just that I have not been made aware of enough evidence to draw me towards believing.

Although I am not an MD, I completely agree with your assertion and concur with the subtle agnostic approach as to not alert any overly sensitive Pixie Community Action Foundations (PCAF); they can be damn scary sometimes!

a reply to: DISRAELI

Ah no, quite a few more letters after the 'Pen' in my surname.
It is a bit of a pain to be honest, when I Google or Bing my first and surname in "quotation marks" the only result is me.
I only use my first and middle names on facebook for that reason...professional image and all that, some pictures from drunken nights are best not associated with my family name lol.

...but back to pixies/piskies, is it a belief system in itself that with the overwhelming local word of mouth and written historical evidence I still do not believe?

a reply to: Woodcarver

Okay, you got me
I'm more drawn towards wondering why lack of belief in pixies is not deemed a faith in itself, like the claims regarding those who do not believe in gods, and why there is no descriptive term for one who does not believe in pixies.

There is overwhelming local historical belief in pixies here in my area, together with written record of claims, so I don't see much of a difference with claims of gods, be they Norse, Greek, Abrahamic, or Hindu. They all equally lack any testable evidence as far as I see it.

So, if one who lacks faith in gods has a label, then why not a label for those who lack belief in pixies?
...and is that lack of belief then a religion or a position of faith I wonder?

a reply to: grainofsand

I think the Pixie's are very prominent in Scandiavia and eastern Europe.

Maybe there are words in other cultures just not in English or Cornish?

Edit: Just googled and got a similar question on yahoo answers!

link

One answer.

People who believe in bigfoot, pixies, fairies, leprechauns, nessie, etc., aren't trying to make their beliefs into laws that those of who disagree with them will also have to live under.

People who believe in bigfoot, pixies, fairies, leprechauns, nessie, etc., also aren't trying to get their views into public schools, while shoving science out.

And, people who believe in bigfoot, pixies, fairies, leprechauns, nessie, etc., don't have a history of mass killings of people who disagree with them.

“Theists, especially Christians, try to control and restrict us based on their views.
If all Christians stop crusading against science, education, culture, art, sex and sexuality, religious freedom and such, stop dishonestly misrepresenting your beliefs as facts, and stop telling everybody else they're going to be tortured throughout eternity unless they join you, I assure you that you won't encounter nearly as much hostility.”

‘Religious apologists complain bitterly that atheists and secularists are aggressive and hostile in their criticism of them. I always say: look, when you guys were in charge, you didn’t argue with us, you just burnt us at the stake. Now what we’re doing is, we’re presenting you with some arguments and some challenging questions, and you complain.’ A.C. Grayling

a reply to: nonspecific

Perhaps they are not just local to my area then, if the Scandinavians believe as well maybe I should rethink things.
They have the hottest women in the world so to me that provides support to any claims they might make regarding pixies.
That said, maybe the Norse gods are the true gods as well if they have pixies in those parts?

a reply to: grainofsand

We are getting into skunkworks territory here.

As I remember Pixies came from a world within the world and could be linked to hollow earth theory.

It is also suggested that Pixies are what we now refer to as greys.

a reply to: grainofsand
By analogy, the word for someone who doesn't believe in pixies would have to be formed from "A" + "[Greek word for pixie]" + "ist".
I suppose you could say "Apixist", but words of mixed origin tend to sound barbarous (I once knew a laundrette which labelled itself as a "Washeteria").
I would not call it a belief system, but then I don't call atheism a belief system either.

a reply to: nonspecific

Aren't all faith based claims 'skunkworks' territory though?
As I said, if I met a pixie then I would be open to changing my opinion, after considering my state of mental health first of course, but with all the historical claims (certainly locally) how can they be any more or less believable than any gods?

a reply to: DISRAELI

Hahaha! Thanks for the genuine laugh about the 'Washeteria' I've seen one of them!
...I also would not call lack of belief in pixies or anything else a belief system, and if I'm correct in my thinking you have religious/spiritual belief yourself, so your position is one I completely respect in an ATS filled with rabid believers of whichever flavour who seem desperate to claim non belief as faith in itself.

a reply to: grainofsand

I would personally say you are correct in that there is no difference between the 2 as far as evidence and belief is concerned.

That said I'm off as this could get messy quickly saying things like that.

Good luck.

a reply to: nonspecific

Clearly a masochistic personality disorder, can't help myself lol, my thread about consent and rape when a woman lies got much more anger/hate and the replies were hard to keep up with.
This thread seems more like a chat over a cup of tea in comparison.

a reply to: grainofsand

Agreed.

Not exactly Pixies but a real world example of a similar situation.

A few years ago I took my son to a pagan festival and also took a freind(who was not pagan) and his 4 year old daughter. It was 300 hippies, witches ect in a campsite chilling out and having fun.

When my mates ex wife found out where we had been on holiday she consulted with her mother who was a devout christian and proceed to take the child to church to make sure she had not been affected by this heathen event and then contact social services who came round and asked lots of questions as to exactly what had gone on?

Had we taken the children to a christian event then social services would have not questioned any of the activities or our motivation for exposing children to something based entirely on fiction.

Apparently some fiction is more equal than others.

originally posted by: nonspecific
Apparently some fiction is more equal than others.

From reading your story it very much seems that way.
I can't comment about your mates area but I know a few of the child protection team social workers in my area and they have to 'investigate' after a complaint so they maybe were just going through the motions even if they thought it was a load of bull#.
All the ones I know don't believe in any gods...or pixies.

a reply to: grainofsand

Maybe you should start taliking about pixies in public and see how you get on? It would be an interesting experiment.

As I see it you can be a politician or a doctor and also a christian or a muslim but if a lolly pop lady starts talkiing about the wee folk your looking at a social media storm and a trip to the loony bin.

After experiencing it first hand it baffles me.

Also I think I may have been wrong about scandinavian pixies, coulden't find anything about them.

a reply to: nonspecific

It is strange how some myths are more accepted than others, perhaps it is down to popularity?
Certainly on ATS it would appear Christianity is the most popular myth, never hear any Hindus bitching that atheists have faith in their lack of belief.

Regarding Scandinavia though, it seems they have Elves, not Pixies:
en.wikipedia.org...

The elves of Norse mythology have survived into folklore mainly as females, living in hills and mounds of stones. The Swedish älvor, (sing. älva) were stunningly beautiful girls who lived in the forest with an elven king. In Romantic art and literature, elves are typically pictured as fair-haired, white-clad, and (like most creatures in the Scandinavian folklore) nasty when offended.

a reply to: incoserv

Just because they choose to not show themselves to nonbelievers does not believe pixies do not exist.

a reply to: grainofsand

I think the issue causes many problems both here and in the real world.

If we agree that some beliefs are allowed and it is offensive to say anything that could upset someone over it why not all of them.

Take ancient aliens for example. I think the idea has merit, it sounds plausable given the technology we can percieve but I do not hold it as a "belief system". Some people do actually "believe" in the theory yet there is nothing to stop others mocking them because of it.

Someone suggested a magic forum and it was ridiculed by many yet we have two forums about christianity here on ATS, My sons School is managed by a church!!

I say if you wish to have a system of belief you should by default respect any other system regardless of the obvious flaws in logic and lack of proof.

originally posted by: Ultralight
a reply to: incoserv

Just because they choose to not show themselves to nonbelievers does not believe pixies do not exist.

True, but what do you think about someone not believing because they are unaware of any evidence to support the claims? Is that a belief system or faith in itself similar to the claims by the religious about atheists?

...and because many folk do not believe in pixies, even mocking those who do, does that make it a religion?

a reply to: Ultralight

I think(from memory) that they supposedly retreated from our realm in the 19th century.

Round about the time we started the industrialisation and commercialism of the world.