Jumpin said:
TWRoO said:
Runa216 said:
Just to clear some stuff up, calling yourself an 'Atheist' doesn't mean you're some militant anti-religious nutjob...sure some go that far (like myself), but MOST atheists are happy to just...not bother themselves with the spiritual.
I'm kinda getting sick of people comparing the religious to atheists when by definition they are not the same.
Atheism is NOT "a belief that there is no god" (which is a belief in and of itself), an atheist who has no belief in God. Slightly different wording, entirely different meaning. I realize this is higher English and is a bit more complicated to decipher for forum users who often use abbreviations in lieu of punctuation, but the subtle syntax changes alter the meaning greatly.
Just because I hate religion and want it gone does not mean it's fair to assume EVERY atheist is as aggressive about it as I am, same as it's not fair to assume all christians are like the Westboro Baptist Church.
So stop labelling Atheists as god-haters. |
While I agree that most atheists are not extremists (in the same way that most theists are not extremists, then again using the term 'extremist' should give people a clue about that) I think the term atheist is in fact "a belief that there is no God"... Those who are agnostic would be the ones who "have no belief in God" (as well as no belief that there definately is no God)
I think the problem is that many people who don't really know or care like myself, use the term atheist for themselves when strictly speaking they are more just agnostic or skeptic.
Personally I would say I am agnostic, but generally think most religious practice is kind of pointless. (Well, I guess it makes some people happy, so in that way it's like a form of entertainment... then again it also makes some people bored or unhappy. I suppose you could compare it to a historical documentary, some people can enjoy watching it but if you don't enjoy it and are forced to watch anyway it's going to make you bored or unhappy)
|
The "Neo-Atheist" movement is in fact a bunch of people who hate religion of all sorts. It is the sole point of the movement, to try and eliminate religion.
Agnosticism is different than Atheism in that while Atheists feel they have enough evidence to assert a belief that God doesn't exist, the agnostic doesn't believe this; instead the agnostic feels the question of existence is open to them - they admit they don't know the answer and don't have the evidence to begin to understand it - the agnostic feels that there is not enough evidence to answer the question of why the universe exists.
An atheist will come up with criticisms like "the spaghetti monster" that are theologically absurd. The agnostic can generally recognize as well as a theist of what is theologically absurd. I think many agnosticsts are open to deism much more than general religion - many agnostics feel an anthropomorphic God is unlikely, but are much more open to other interpretations.
As a Liberal Christian, I generally feel I have more to talk about with agnostics than the atheist or the conservative Christian. I am very much a subscriber to religious pluralism: Liberal Hinduism, Budhism, Islam, etc... Are different ways to interpret something essential the same as what I believe. They received the same message in different words, and with a different cultural matrix.
|
I define my Atheism as: I don't know if there is a God or not, but I think it's unlikely.
Would you call that agnostic? Agnostic atheism?
If atheism is the lack of belief in a God, aren't all agnostics atheists?
