Atheism

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It's hard to understand what you are getting at too.. unless you quote me precisely and.. either question.. or field some kind of argument.

Are you saying that it is correct to read the scriptures literally then.. and it is correct to believe.. or disbelieve.. on a literal basis.. ?

Please clarify your argument..

Mine in simple terms is..

Think poetry..........

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“To you it is granted to understand the sacred secrets of God, but for the rest it is in illustrations, in order that, though looking, they may look in vain and, though hearing they may not get the meaning.

I publicly praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have carefully hidden these things from wise and intellectual ones, and have revealed them to babes.”

Jesus

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I reckon you very well may be the only one who calls atheism A-Theism
Atheism was from greek, meaning godlessness, the greek word was Atheos, there isn't really many other words that describe not believing in god in a simple, single word, I definately don't believe in theism, I think of those that do very lowly until they prove that they are more intelligent than a great deal of them, like a person I know, he is against the death penalty, so I class him as a reasonable human being, therefore he is my equal, those that call themselves christian then stand outside of a prison while a possibly innocent man fries is hardly what I call human

Greek mythology makes enjoyable reading.. as does Jewish and Christian mytholgy.. however when people start discussing whether these gods and godesses exist of not.. I really do wonder about their sanity.. especially when it gets round to the supernatural beings..

Can you blame me for feeling puzzled.. ?

Is it rational to claim.. "The god messenger Mercury doesn't exist.."

If you get my drift.

I'm sorry.. but I see symbolism where others might see gods and godesses.. which is why I dismiss all theism.. including atheism.. as being unrealistic.

Realistically.. the word.. "God" is a symbol.. representing the idea of Wholeness..

It is not a noun.. that is naming some thing.. that we can either believe.. or disbelieve.. in.

It is a concept that there is a part of us which connects us to the All.

Just as every star is connected in the universe.

It can be known through meditation.. or even through magic mushrooms.. if one consumes enough.

The inner experience is real..

But has nothing to do with theism.

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"Being" is not this or that, it just is, and Pure Being is innocent! It is all that, because if it singled out one aspect of its Being, it would be whole no more. It then would be back in the realm of the "this" and "that's", the realm of opposing incomplete. I AM is ALL-

There_Is, is GOD, the holiest of holies, the sacred spring of my Being, the fountain of life. I AM sees your I AM as my I AM, therefore we both are ONE I AM. There is not one I AM in all the universes that is greater, more worthy, more intelligent than yours."

I AM by Peter O Erbe

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Whence then comes religion? If all people are born atheist and must be taught religion, how could religion ever have originated? I tend to distrust such arguments as these, that claim some natural order exists and that said natural order is violated by "corruption" from society.

How does anyone know how to play Bach? If all people are born not being able to play Bach on the piano and must be taught how to play Bach, how could Bach's compositions have ever originated?

I must not have consumed enough magic mushrooms.

Some people are born with great musical talent, and produce music. They can then teach others who were not as naturally gifted, and teaching will also help the more talented to develop to greater heights. But if all humans default to atheism, who started religion going?

Accelerator,
Correct me if I'm wrong, but basically what you're saying is that scripture isn't meant to be taken literately but you enjoy reading it, as you do Greek mythology. If that's the case I couldn't agree more, although the reason I have to use the title Atheist is because in this world there literately are people out there who do take these stories literately and it's frightening. To me it is frightening to see people arguing about whether Santa, Yahweh or Zeus existed, it's pure stupidity if not just ignorance. I don't feel anyone should actually take old stories and myths as literal fact. But as you asked, is it rational to say you disbelieve in Mercury the Messenger, well technically yes but it's silly to actually say such a thing. But still many people take it as a serious topic and even might be offended if you suggest debating their view. I'm an Atheist because I believe these stories shouldn't be taken literately as most who read them do.

People who asked "why are we here?". This led people from Sun Worship to the modern organized religion that we have today. However, of course today there are other methods of finding answers than just choosing an answer for the sake of believing in something or any of this other ridiculous crap.

But even great musical talents had to learn at some point. Their minds may be wired to integrate information neccessary to create music more easily. But like anyone else, they still had to learn by sensually experiencing their enviornment and interacting with it. Musical compostitons don't just appear in a flash of inspiration, they are assembled from learned information by a skilled and creative mind.

This is also how religions were started. If you actually look at what a religion is, you'll see that it is just a metaphysical system (usually contains some ethics as well) made up of a web of simple abstractions. These abstractions are based on things people have experienced, little heuristic shortcuts that make thoughts easier to communicate. Religion was started by atheists who were struggling to understand their enviornments but lacked the knowledge and tools they needed to do this adequately. So they just used what was available to them, their surroundings, everything they knew. Of course, these ideologies evolve over time and new ones spring up as the societies they exist in change, but the principle remains the same: religion is one possible product of creative minds.

How are all people born atheists? That makes zero sense. How do all these people when born automatically understand what the word "god" is suppose to mean? I mean, to be an atheist, don't you have to at least acknowledge the word "god" is meaningful or is a meaningful concept?

Not necessarily. Atheism falls into three broad categories.

1. "I do not believe in God." This implies that the person believes that God may exist, but they've chosen to not believe.

2. "There is no god to believe in." Hard-core Atheism follows this rule. Such folk also tend to scoff at the very idea of paranormal things and events.

3. "God? God who? Never heard of Him. So what?" Atheism borne of ignorance and/or indifference. These people virtually would not care at all if God introduce Himself to them in person. This is the natal state - infants are not equipped to understand the concept of a divine being, and would know one if they saw one. Peaople are naturally born Atheists, and must learn about gods and such when they get older.

Fnord, I know what an atheist is. Atheist acknowledge that the word "god" has a meaning to it. Just curious how a new born can understand that concept

If you knew what an Atheist is, then you would understand the rest.

I do understand the rest.

Lets go for the basic definition of an atheist. Atheist - (n) a person who denies or disbelieves the existence of a supreme being or beings.

Fnord, please explain how a newborn child understand the concept of a "supreme being" or "god." If they have zero knowledge of what these things are or what they are supposed to mean, how then, is a newborn an atheist? Makes no sense at all.

Atheists typically believe that the word "god" is meaningful or has some sort of meaning to it. The word "god" to me is meaningless. So, I just curious how a newborn child can understand whatever it is that they are supposed to be denying or not believing in?

You go atheist boy/girl fnord

I'm not really an atheist, but I subscribe to no religion because of the huge risks it has. I just detest religion and all the ways people willfully will use it to their own advantages.

I seriously do not understand why some Atheists claim that Atheism actually means "without a belief in God " and not just " belief that there is no god" as if there were a meaningful distinction between the two in real life.