What atheism really teaches

What atheism really teaches

Spirituality

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rc

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10 May 13
1 edit

Originally posted by Penguin
[b]ummm news flash, we are Christians and not Jews, the ten commandments which formed part of the Mosaic Law were incumbent only and exclusively upon Jews and Jewish proselytes, not Christians. That is why we no longer sacrifice animals, no longer celebrate the passover, no longer need to get circumcised, keep a Sabbath etc etc etc etc etc.

Not every ...[text shortened]... ing atheist would be more akin to joining a not making fairy cakes class.

--- Penguin.[/b]
they have some relevance in that as principles they still remain however your assertion was that they are incumbent upon Christians as some kind of evidence that they are still engaged in some kind of ritualistic worship which is a nonsense, and it remains to be seen if your professed atheism has any direct or indirect effect upon your behavior.

P

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10 May 13

Originally posted by robbie carrobie
they have some relevance in that as principles they still remain however your assertion was that they are incumbent upon Christians as some kind of evidence that they are still engaged in some kind of ritualistic worship which is a nonsense, and it remains to be seen if your professed atheism has any direct or indirect effect upon your behavior.
My atheism, by definition has the same amount of effect on my behaviour as my a-stamp-collectism and a-fairy-cake-bakeism or your a-hinduism and a-deep-sea-kayakism.

Until you can demonstrate that a-deep-sea-kayakism or a-hinduism (or a-<x>ism for any x at all) has an influence on behaviour then we must fall back on the null-hypothesis with regards to the affect of a-theism on behaviour.

--- Penguin.

rc

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10 May 13

Originally posted by Penguin
My atheism, by definition has the same amount of effect on my behaviour as my a-stamp-collectism and a-fairy-cake-bakeism or your a-hinduism and a-deep-sea-kayakism.

Until you can demonstrate that a-deep-sea-kayakism or a-hinduism (or a-<x>ism for any x at all) has an influence on behaviour then we must fall back on the null-hypothesis with regards to the affect of a-theism on behaviour.

--- Penguin.
yeah that will be shining bright, it has already caused you to reject theism, all we need to do is dig around a little further to see what else it has caused you to adopt.

P

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10 May 13

Originally posted by robbie carrobie
yeah that will be shining bright, it has already caused you to reject theism, all we need to do is dig around a little further to see what else it has caused you to adopt.
Sorry, did you accidentally delete half of your post? What will be shining bright?

Are you suggesting that my lack of belief in a god has caused me to not believe in a god?

You have yet to demonstrate any <x>ism where the lack of that ism causes a change in default behaviour, including but not restricted to where <x>="the".

I fail to see why we should assume that the lack of theism modifies behaviour until we see at least one other case where the lack of an ism does.

rc

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10 May 13
3 edits

Originally posted by Penguin
Sorry, did you accidentally delete half of your post? What will be shining bright?

Are you suggesting that my lack of belief in a god has caused me to not believe in a god?

You have yet to demonstrate any <x>ism where the lack of that ism causes a change in default behaviour, including but not restricted to where <x>="the".

I fail to see why we sho ...[text shortened]... theism modifies behaviour until we see at least one other case where the lack of an ism does.
shining bright is rhyming slang for right, as in, yeah that will be right, or that will be the day, etc etc and no i did not delete half of it, I am a minimalist at heart.

No i am suggestion your irrational and unscientific adoption of atheism has led you to reject theism, adopting a stance for which you have no evidence. I suspect that if I questioned similar like minded individuals a profile would emerge which demonstrated a correlation between your adopting atheism and values that you hold as a direct consequence, much in the same way that a profile could be built of a typical evangelical Christian, creationist, republican, pro gun, anti abortion etc etc

P

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10 May 13

Originally posted by robbie carrobie
shining bright is rhyming slang for right, as in, yeah that will be right, or that will be the day, etc etc and no i did not delete half of it, I am a minimalist at heart.

No i am suggestion your irrational and unscientific adoption of atheism has led you to reject theism, adopting a stance for which you have no evidence. I suspect that if I ques ...[text shortened]... uilt of a typical evangelical Christian, creationist, republican, pro gun, anti abortion etc etc
shining bright is rhyming slang for right, as in, yeah that will be right, or that will be the day, etc etc and no i did not delete half of it, I am a minimalist at heart.

Fair enough, I did not realise that was rhyming slang

No i am suggestion your irrational and unscientific adoption of atheism has led you to reject theism,

No, you are again misunderstanding the meaning of the word. My atheism has not led me to reject theism, my atheism is my rejection of theism.

I suspect that if I questioned similar like minded individuals a profile would emerge which demonstrated a correlation between your adopting atheism and values that you hold as a direct consequence, much in the same way that a profile could be built of a typical evangelical Christian, creationist, republican, pro gun, anti abortion etc etc

Now here you may well have a correlation. There may well be a match between atheism and support for things like abortion rights, assisted suicide, gay rights etc. However, I maintain that it is more likely the these beliefs lead to atheism than the other way round.

As I have repeatedly said, my lack of belief in a God is as likely to be a direct influence on my thoughts and actions as your lack of belief in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism or Islam. When you can explain how your lack of belief in those influences your thoughts and actions, then I will agree that there is a case to answer. Until then I am afraid the ball is in your court.

What I will give is that my reasons for consciously affirming my disbelief in a deity (rather than just being atheist without really realising it) may also have influenced my views on other things. But that is not what you are saying.

--- Penguin

rc

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10 May 13

Originally posted by Penguin
[b]shining bright is rhyming slang for right, as in, yeah that will be right, or that will be the day, etc etc and no i did not delete half of it, I am a minimalist at heart.

Fair enough, I did not realise that was rhyming slang

No i am suggestion your irrational and unscientific adoption of atheism has led you to reject theism,

No, you a ...[text shortened]... so have influenced my views on other things. But that is not what you are saying.

--- Penguin[/b]
its exactly what i am saying.

P

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12 May 13

Originally posted by robbie carrobie
its exactly what i am saying.
No, its not. Back on page 15, you said:

no, it does not tell the whole story, if you are atheistic, you are much more likely to have certain views, for example, acceptance of homosexuality as a valid and legitimate way of life, support for abortion, removal of Biblical insignia from coinage, civic buildings, the taking of a secular oath etc, clearly then these values have been formed and found definition by a rejection of the supernatural, is it not the case?

So you are explicitly saying that my lack of faith in the supernatural causes my other humanistic beliefs.

--- Penguin

rc

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1 edit

Originally posted by Penguin
No, its not. Back on page 15, you said:

no, it does not tell the whole story, if you are atheistic, you are much more likely to have certain views, for example, acceptance of homosexuality as a valid and legitimate way of life, support for abortion, removal of Biblical insignia from coinage, civic buildings, the taking of a secular oath etc, [b]clearly ...[text shortened]... t my lack of faith in the supernatural [i]causes my other humanistic beliefs.

--- Penguin
I have not mentioned a lack of faith, I stated a rejection of the supernatural. If you what to construe that your behavior is a product of your humanism then fine, to me its simply the extension of an atheistic disposition, call it what you like.

P

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13 May 13

Originally posted by robbie carrobie
I have not mentioned a lack of faith, I stated a rejection of the supernatural. If you what to construe that your behavior is a product of your humanism then fine, to me its simply the extension of an atheistic disposition, call it what you like.
But you have still to describe how an 'atheistic disposition' can have any influence on behaviour.

Again I will ask, how does your a-buddhism affect your behaviour?

--- Penguin.

P

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Originally posted by robbie carrobie
you need to be a religion to have teachings, wow.
You need to be a religion to have religious teachings. If you are a lawyer or a doctor or a carpenter, you an "teach" others your skills but that is not religion. If you believe in democracy you can teach the core beliefs of democracy but that is not religion.

P

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Originally posted by RJHinds
He said that because of his arrogance. He even thinks he is a programmer. A programmer of what he fails to say, but it must not be computers.
The problem with this discussion is that it is deteriorating into name calling on both sides. Just accept that others do not adhere to your beliefs, whether the belief be in atheism or Christianity. Please note that atheism is not considered a proper noun because it is not the name of a religion hence it is not capialized in the middle of a sentence.

P

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Originally posted by Penguin
But you have still to describe how an 'atheistic disposition' can have any influence on behaviour.

Again I will ask, how does your a-buddhism affect your behaviour?

--- Penguin.
Buddhism is often thought of as a philosophy because there really is not a god head figure. It seems to me, and I am no expert, that the core of Buddhism is that one must learn to control the ego, that part of our personality that often isolates us from others by feeding our worst attributes: greed, selfishness, hatred, envy, hostility, me-first and damn all others, fear, insecurity, low self esteem .... Once the ego is under control, one is free to act with compassion and loving kindness throughout the day. Scienntific research has shown that people who practice even the smallest acts of compassion and kindess, even just thinking about doing such acts, produce more of the internal chemicals that make one feel happy; seratonins, dopamines, etc. There is evidence based on research primarily at UW-Madison, that even fairly brief daily meditation sessions can be s or more effective for controlling clinical depression than drugs.

rc

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13 May 13

Originally posted by Penguin
But you have still to describe how an 'atheistic disposition' can have any influence on behaviour.

Again I will ask, how does your a-buddhism affect your behaviour?

--- Penguin.
yes i know, its just not that easy.

Cape Town

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14 May 13

Just saw a good one one from Bill Maher:

"Atheism is a religion like abstinence is a sex position."