04 Jan 12
Originally posted by googlefudgeWe both live in the real world, but you imagine your world as one in
No I am living in the real world where neither of those imaginary boogie men exist.
And I am not talking about theories (you really need to learn what that word means seriously)
I am talking about meanings of words. Labels specifically.
Which has nothing to do with the validity of either position.
Also, threatening me with hell, or any of your f ...[text shortened]... pointless.
Because I DO live in the real world, it's you that lives in the imaginary one.
which theories are facts and facts you don't understand are fantasies.
😏
04 Jan 12
1 edit
Originally posted by twhiteheadThe Harold Camping lunacy suggests otherwise.
Not so. Many people like to pretend that they believe that. I bet you that you cant find a single one that will actually give you all his money before that date, or place a serious bet that the world will end on that date.
04 Jan 12
Originally posted by AgergWell, go out and get rich then. Eat, drink, and be merry today for
The Harold Camping lunacy suggests otherwise.
tomorrow you may die. As an atheist, that is all you have to look
forward to until you turn into a pile of bones and then to dust like
the earth you evolved from. 😏
05 Jan 12
Originally posted by googlefudgeDisagree.
Nope. theist and atheist are exhaustive and exclusive labels. you are one or the other.
This doesn't mean you are pinning yourself down to some fixed position, or are closing
your mind, and you can swing from one to another, but at any one time you are either
one or the other.
If you can't work out if you have a belief in god then you don't hav ...[text shortened]... file has more on this and has links to websites that also cover this if you are interested.
You always have a tendency to forget Buddhism, which isn't a small group or clan, by any means. OK, accepted as a philosophy by most, and not a religion of sorts, but Buddhism is generally, more than most, described as atheistic.
However, Buddhism doesn't rule out the possible existence of a serene being, a God, but awaits scientific evidence of such as Buddhism is based upon direct physical experience and learning.
Buddhism doesn't therefore rule out possibilities of a God, nor does it currently wish to ascertain one without evidence and scientific experience, and yet is considered atheist.
Where is the line in the sand on that one? 😞
-m.
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05 Jan 12
Originally posted by mikelomNo I don't forget Buddhism, If you don't have a current belief in the existence of a deity then you are an atheist,
Disagree.
You always have a tendency to forget Buddhism, which isn't a small group or clan, by any means. OK, accepted as a philosophy by most, and not a religion of sorts, but Buddhism is generally, more than most, described as atheistic.
However, Buddhism doesn't rule out the possible existence of a serene being, a God, but awaits scientific evidence ...[text shortened]... ience, and yet is considered atheist.
Where is the line in the sand on that one? 😞
-m.
regardless of your other philosophy.
So yes any Buddhist who doesn't believe in a deity is also an atheist.
Whether or not the more useful label to use would be Atheist or Buddhist would depend on circumstance.
For example; if you go to a skeptics conference many people there will probably introduce themselves as a
skeptic as that is their 'belief system' as it were, the description of the way they think. The vast majority would
also be atheists, but they think of themselves as skeptic first, and atheist as just a logical consequence of that.
Ditto secular humanists, if you are a secular humanist then you are an atheist. However many people will identify as
secular humanist because that is what they think of themselves as, and it's a positive statement about what
they do believe and not a negative one about what they don't believe.
I suspect Buddhism would be similar, with people introducing themselves as Buddhist, not atheist, however this
isn't a problem either for the definition of the term or for it's use.
As they are open minded and don't claim to know there is no god they would also be agnostic, this is also not an issue
with them being Buddhist.
So no, I don't forget Buddhism, I just don't mention it much, mainly because I spend most of my time arguing against
westerners who are seldom Buddhists.