Atheism Explained

Atheism: The belief that there was nothing and nothing happened to nothing and then nothing magically exploded for no reason, creating everything and then a bunch of everything magically rearranged itself for no reason whatsoever into self-replicating bits which then turned into dinosaurs.

Makes perfect sense.

You can find this several places on the web such as here just as one example. A friend of mine sent it to me; I'd never seen it before.

IMO it is terribly simplistic, but still compelling. in an odd sort of way.

Thoughts?

reply to post by schuyler


hmmm I'm a Christian and I would say that is not a fair portrayal of atheism.

atheism is simply a disbelief in God or gods. That's it...try to ascribe more than that and your speculating and generalizing.

reply to post by schuyler

Yes, it is compelling. It has a good message I suppose, but it seems overly simplified and almost mocking. There is a lot of science behind that statement if you care to look into it. Science tries to find answers for everything almost like a religion. The difference between science and religion is that science is testable and verifiable.

I am not trying to create a flame war here, but the brightest minds in the world tend to be atheist. That is some food for thought. Also, don't forget about Agnostics. They are usually #2 on IQ levels, and probably much happier for it.

Here is a link to an atheist website. I do not agree with the term "infidel," but some may find relevant information there. If you are an atheist/agnostic, MENSA is also probably a good place to find like minded individuals.

Personally, I am not a group follower. I come to my own conclusions. I feel that is the best way to find oneself.

Atheism is merely a lack of belief in a deity or deities, people seem to think it encompasses a lot more then that for some reason but it doesn't.

EDIT: guy two posts up beat me to typing this apparently lol.

It's overly simplistic , it's like me calling Jesus a zombie. Keep in mind , I'm agnostic....I've got no horse here...

Christianity: The belief that there was one magical "god" who magically created everything for no reason.

Originally posted by homeslice
Christianity: The belief that there was one magical "god" who magically created everything for no reason.

edit on 4-10-2011 by homeslice because: (no reason given)

i wonder if I know you...did you play in a band called homeslice? very shortly? in the past?

Originally posted by homeslice
Christianity: The belief that there was one magical "god" who magically created everything for no reason.

edit on 4-10-2011 by homeslice because: (no reason given)

Yeah, I saw a good post over on the "post a picture I'm bored" thread very much in this line of (cough) reasoning. I guess what is "compelling" to me here is that the phrase is basically saying, "OK. YOU explain it, and here's the 'scientific' explanation so far." The phrase probably shouldn't call out "atheism" as much as it should say, "The scientific explantion so far is" which is kind of how I take it.

reply to post by schuyler


I dont see how its ANY different to your (cough) "reasoning".

A friend of mine told me that an agnostic is an atheist who doesn't like getting yelled at.

I'm agnostic, and I think that's really funny. Similar to the OP, it's simplistic and tongue-in-cheek, but there's truth to it...

As an atheist, and on chance discussing it on encountering other atheists, I've found that like myself, we tend to define it on an individual basis where the core lies with absence of any belief of mythologies in anything other than the anthropological and historical sense, everything else comes from personal experience and choice.
There are extremists, anarchists, nihilists, and even some forms of solipsism I've met calling themselves atheist.
I've met atheists that are way better 'christians' in the genuine sense than any actual christian I've met.
We make up our own rules to guide our moral compasses, and through that you'll get many differing results.
Just like with religions, there are fanatics, and those that could care less, but, regardless the extreme or medium, each other atheist I've met are usually an island their own.
You can find similarities between two or more atheists, but, on the other shoe, you'll likely find, on a personal level, much that can be disagreed on too.
It's not a simple category.
10 atheists = 10 different views on atheism and what it means, doesn't mean, or how it effects, or doesn't effect them.

Originally posted by homeslice
reply to post by schuyler

 

I dont see how its ANY different to your (cough) "reasoning

In which case, we agree. I didn't see much difference from the two points of view either.

reply to post by homeslice


Haha right. The theory that something just was there always and something just made somethings just want to explode. Can't anyone find a common ground? Why would you look toward religion for scientific proof?

Instead, turn to science for answers of that which can be explained with numbers, and turn to religion for morals and a way to live, something that cannot be dictated purely on a numerical system. That's how I see it anyway... I'm neither atheistic nor christian.

I believe that the Universe (or multiple universes) has always existed and always will because non-existence is impossible (my personal belief).

I think that universes either expand and contract in cycles, or multiple universes collide causing "big bangs". Either way it's more likely than a magical being creating himself out of nothing and then creating everything else.

I don't completely rule out the possibility that our universe was created by super powerful being(s), but the god of the bible is definitely bogus.

reply to post by CB328


Or was just mistaken for a being from another planet...

IMO the more simple it is, the true it is.

Atheism is the FAITH in nothing. How sad when you can't even have enough faith to believe in yourself.

As soon as someone labels themselves atheist, christian, agnostic or what-have-you, they become a follower of someone else's beliefs and, not coincidentally, someone incapable of seeking their own truths.

Heres creationism.

There was nothing, then a something came out of nowhere and made a bunch of somethings for no discernible reason. Then went on a rampaged favoring and killing the somethings, that something made, again for no discernible reason.

Unfair? Simplest? So that drivel up there(the OP not the poster above me). The whole thing reeks of trying to discredit something someone else hasn't studied nor understands fully. Just like my little tid-bit up there. Not how I actually view religion in general just trying to make a point.

Atheism is the arrogant belief that a speck of a human on a speck called Earth, in a speck called the Milky Way, in a speck called the local group, in the universe which may be a blast pattern on a single brane of a potentially infinite number of brane-worlds, has conclusive evidence about the contents of all of that and beyond, and/or is simply "smart enough" to prove or "know" the negative: that a God or gods do not exist.

Atheism is also the spreading and evangelizing of that, yes, religious belief.

One unifying trait of the religion of Atheism, beyond simply an inflated, unjustified belief in one's own intellectual superiority over most of the masses (due not to personal accomplishment, nor to actual enlightenment and betterment of self through the search for ultimate truth and wisdom, but in the irrational proof of a negative) is the group mockery of any person of faith.

The evangelizing Atheist is relentlessly driven forward by 3 goals:

1.) Desire to feel a sense of belonging to the group system of beliefs (this one is shared by theistic religions)
2.) Desire to reaffirm and replenish one's own beliefs by inflicting them on others (this one is also shared by theistic religions)
3.) Desire to take away and extinguish any light of faith in others, both to punish others for possessing what they themselves do not and cannot have, and also to make one's own existential atheistic suffering more bearable. This one is in direct contrast to almost all theistic religions, particularly Christianity, whose goal in evangelizing is to increase the peace and joy of others by sharing their own positive, affirming beliefs.

Also, like other religions, Atheism will happily cite the worst examples of competing religions (crusades, jihadists) in order to paint a biased, warped picture of reality in which their religion is correct and best. The flaws of their own religion (many, many murders by Atheist states) are downplayed or ignored entirely.

At the end of the day, as an enlightened human, I judge the practitioners of religions on their actions, not their words. As an agnostic/undecided, I can state very definitively that the core New Testament principles of the Christian religion, though sometimes abused by flawed human beings, are the closest the western world has gotten to truth, wisdom, and enlightenment, and have more or less created the better points of western civilization as we know and enjoy it. Furthermore, I would certainly rather be around most Christians than most Atheists. While I have met quite a few ignorant, boneheaded Christians I can't stand, I have yet to meet a self-proclaimed Atheist whose entire state of being wasn't one of negativity, arrogance and anger toward others.

Originally posted by NiNjABackflip
As soon as someone labels themselves atheist, christian, agnostic or what-have-you, they become a follower of someone else's beliefs and, not coincidentally, someone incapable of seeking their own truths.

True and even when they do not label themselves as such they are a follower of someone else's beliefs. Its seperation is only a matter of degree. Something cannot be formed from nothing, therefore ALL has and always will exist. Its just a matter of if you can transmute the higher to the lower. How you use this is your own. But its existence was never your own.