Atheist Chat

Originally posted by Byrd
I would wake up screaming from nightmares where I was trapped in this "heaven," locked into eternally worshipping this huge thing and never able to break away from worshipping and praising.

hehehee... this reminds me of my friend's favorite saying, "one man's heaven is another man's hell."

If I were in God's shoes I would get mighty pissed off with the unending, eternal praising and worshipping by my subjects.

While I am pretty sure there are beings out there who are extremely Egocentric with an unlimited appetite for it, I am glad that I do not share this desire.

I do not see the need to worship anything or anyone, and I do not worship myself, which some theist find very difficult to understand. They automatically assume that I must be worshipping myself and secretly hoping for others to worship me.....

I find it amusing that they cannot relate to someone not like them and have to comfort themselves by thinking that I am in denial to idolize or be idolized..... hahahaaaa cute.

Once someone/something is being idolized, anything that the idol does or does not do, is considered gospel and is worshipped by his/her fanatic fans. The idol can never be wrong, it is perfect in everyway, his/her works/plans is flawless in the eyes of the followers.

This in my opinion leads to ignorance and denial to anything that maybe wrong. (Gods, religions, political figures, music stars, movie stars, etc. etc.)

[edit on 15-8-2007 by ixiy]

Originally posted by MajorMalfunction
What was the hardest superstition for you to give up?

fortune cookies and horoscopes...granted the latter i have trouble giving up because of all the pretty girls i meet that seem to be into it...

and fortune cookies tend to just be fun but i still tend to acknowledge them.

Originally posted by madnessinmysoul
fortune cookies and horoscopes...granted the latter i have trouble giving up because of all the pretty girls i meet that seem to be into it...

Personally, I go for palmistry. Gets you in touch faster, so to speak.

'Ah, I see you have a well-developed Mount of Venus...'

Originally posted by MajorMalfunction
What was the hardest superstition for you to give up? Was it Christianity? Yoruba? The I-Ching? Feng Shui? Numerology? The Great Pumpkin?

Well I was never raised in a religious household so for me it has been more about accepting the fact that many peoples beliefs run against the grain of logic and who no supporting evidence what so ever. I have also had to accepted that people have to figure out for themselves that a higher power doesn't exist.

Originally posted by Astyanax
Personally, I go for palmistry. Gets you in touch faster, so to speak.

'Ah, I see you have a well-developed Mount of Venus...'

ooo, thanks for the good idea...

Question du jour:

My attorney has gone into the hospital for cardiac bypass surgery. Like me, he is an atheist, and has asked everyone he knows not to pray for him based on the study that showed patients who knew they were prayed for did worse than patients who were not prayed for at all.

I wanted to wish him good luck, but that's a superstition too.

All I could do was say he'd be in my thoughts.

But that got me thinking ... what does an atheist say when someone else would say "good luck"? Perhaps, may the law of probability skew in your favor?

Any ideas? We need a platitude people!

I'd say; 'Get better soon!'
How more blatantly could you 'wish' anyone good health!

But I agree.
It is very hard to disregard the fact that, at least me, has very often used the curse-word 'faen', which translated into English means Satan.
I see myself as an agnostic, but I often call satan if something doesn't go the way I wanted it.
It is basically the opposite of what i experience when english people call out 'Aww, my gawd!' -continuously.
Why don't we not just say "Oh #!"?

To MM,

sent encouragements,

Get well soon.
You will be back on your feet in no time.
Think positive.
Love will see you through.
Take care.
Be strong.
What doesn't kill you makes you stronger....
etc, etc.

heheheee.

From an unbiased perspective I believe the animals with the highest form of morality are probably iguanas.
Also, I have a question for you non-theists...why do you think that the majority of gods in history display human-like behavior and characteristics, does this represent something in the human psyche? Or does it evoke some sort of pride in being human? I've always wondered, because though some new-agers these days say that god is some invisible nebula thing floating around in the void...,generally all the stories I have read regarding deities describe them in the light of having human traits and features.

Originally posted by laiguanaAlso, I have a question for you non-theists...why do you think that the majority of gods in history display human-like behavior and characteristics, does this represent something in the human psyche? Or does it evoke some sort of pride in being human?

I think it does. Man made god in his image to make god(s) familiar and less intimidating. I guess people can "feel closer" to an anthropomorphic god than one with a lizard's head

Why do you think iguana's have the most developped morals?

[edit on 16-8-2007 by DarkSide]

Originally posted by MajorMalfunction
But that got me thinking ... what does an atheist say when someone else would say "good luck"? Perhaps, may the law of probability skew in your favor?

Any ideas? We need a platitude people!

i always say "May the force be with you" because whenever i hear "good luck" i always think of the obi-wan quote about how there is no luck..

but it always gets a laugh and then i follow it up with "stay strong"

Removed double post.

[edit on 17-8-2007 by Astyanax]

Dad Upstairs

Originally posted by laiguana
Why do you think that the majority of gods in history display human-like behavior and characteristics, does this represent something in the human psyche?

Human beings anthropomorphize instinctively. I don't know about iguanas, but some folk happily attribute human emotions and motives to snakes, which have sensoria so decentralized they cannot be said to have consciousness, and even call their enemies 'snakes' based on their misunderstanding of serpentine character. Such people may attribute malice and beneficence to the weather or to inanimate objects.

We've all done it. As a five-year-old I used to rate cars as nasty or nice depending on the expressions on their 'faces'. When I grew up I discovered that artists and professional designers do the same. I imagine our brains are simply designed to work that way; there is sure to be some obscure evolutionary reason for it.

I think you are wrong, however, in suggesting that ancient deities were nearly always human in appearance. The appearance of Yahweh in the Old Testament is deliberately veiled, but such glimpses as worthies like Moses and Elijah were permitted don't seem to describe anything remotely human. A pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night?

Primitive fetishes and totems are usually animals or inanimate objects, though the 'spirits' animating them may sometimes take on human shape temporarily. Egyptian deities often had human bodies surmounted by animal heads, as does the Hindu god Ganesh (one of the most ancient of gods; his worship almost certainly pre-dates Vedic Hinduism). Another Hindu god, Hanuman, is a monkey. Gods with multiple arms, tails, wings, etc. might still be anthropomorphic in a technical sense but the deification of the pure, unmodified human form was actually, I think, rather rare. Or rather, it was rare until those pesky Classical Greeks turned up and humanized everything.

Some new-agers these days say that god is some invisible nebula thing floating around in the void...

New Agers can't invent anything. Don't be silly.

The divine attribute of incorporeality has been around since Plato at least. It wasn't very popular with ordinary folk, who like something to hold on to while they're praying, but philosophers went for it. As human knowledge of the world increased through science and exploration, the vision of God as Dad Upstairs became increasingly untenable, so the philosophers' and theologians' God began to supplant it even amongst the general public. It was a cop-out, but it lasted three centuries and was only buried for good in August 1883.

Here's an exercise in ethics.

My ex is a deadbeat, who is over $23,000 in arrears on child support. He only pays the bare minimum he can get away with so that the Department of Child Support Services don't take his driver's license and truck registration and throw him in jail. I live on Social Security Disability, for which my kids and I get a grand total of $1438 a month.

My daughter is starting kindergarten in two weeks. I can't afford all the school supplies she needs, and her dad won't pay for them. He feels that anything the kids need should be supplied from his "generous" $300 to $500 monthly stipend (keeping in mind the man buys a motorcycle and XBox 360 for himself so he can play Guitar Hero, goes to New York with his girlfriend for a romantic week away, etc. ad nauseum).

A neighbor of mine told me that one of the big churches about a mile away are giving away brand new back packs full of school supplies this Saturday. All I have to do is show up at noon with proof I have a daughter (as this is her weekend with her father).

I'm not sure I feel right taking anything from a church because of my stance on religion. But my kid needs school supplies. The idea of going there makes me uncomfortable. On the other hand, sending her to school without the things she needs makes me feel even more uncomfortable.

What's a good atheist to do in this situation? What would YOU do?

Do it. It's for the kid. It'll be irrelevant to the church whether you're an atheist or not. They want to help kids that need help. It's a community reach-out thing, not a preaching to the choir thing.

Some day when/if you're able, pay it forward.

Thanks YR, I know it's a community outreach thing, but it still somehow feels I'm taking advantage of something meant for their flock. I was always uncomfortable eating in the religious soup kitchens when I was on the street too, though mainly it was because we had to pray before we ate and listen to a sermon, which I doubt will be happening on backpack day.

But you're right. My kid needs the stuff. I'm interested in others' thoughts on this, but I'm leaning towards going and dealing with the guilt pangs with an extra-long nap tomorrow afternoon.

For anyone who hasn't seen Jesus Camp yet, here it is online:

www.atheistnation.net.../00118/atheist/jesus-camp/

Interesting site it's hosted on too ... I'll be perusing it in depth once my legal troubles have calmed down again. If, that is, they ever do. Sigh.

You guys need to watch this video.

I was laughing my proverbial synonym for donkey off.

Hi everyone! I've been busy. Sorry I've missed so much!

That video was great, MM! Love it!

I too have a video for those on this thread, it's the new dawkins show "the enemies of reason"

it's a bit long at about 48 minutes, but it's incredibly interesting.