48 replies to this topic

[Hostile]

Well actually there is...
http://www.atheists....eist_clubs.html

American Atheist headquarters, or:
Jim Heldberg
National Affiliation Director, American Atheists
P. O. Box 1741, Pacifica, CA 94044
650-359-6874 / mailto:jheldberg@atheists.org

[Silent_Killa]

Rofl... but yeah, Athiesm isn't Catholicism, it's Christianity. You don't have to belong to a church to be a Christian, and you don't have to belong to an organization to be an Athiest.

[MSpencer]

Atheism is the absence of religion. It's preposterous to say that an organization like American Atheists is the equivalent of the Catholic Church. That would be like saying the presence of the NAACP proves that skin color is a religion.

[Hostile]

Let's get past preposterous. Obviously atheism isn't a religion. But they sure behave like one somtimes. At least the organized organizations do.

Let's get back to the real point and not get bogged down in details.

The real message is fanatics, some people have a neurotic drive to force feed thier beliefs on others. Across a large spectrum of idealogies.
The End...

[Silent_Killa]

Exactly what I've been trying to get at, the problem has nothing to do with the belief itself, but the fanatical obsession of making everyone else believe what you do. Hence why Athiesm can be just as dangerous as Christianity.

Atheism is the absence of religion. It's preposterous to say that an organization like American Atheists is the equivalent of the Catholic Church. That would be like saying the presence of the NAACP proves that skin color is a religion.

Why, are they trying to convert white people now?

[Comrade Kal]

I think certainty in religious beliefs is impossible and dangerous, but only if it is trying to impose some sort of morality or culture upon people. Religion *is* about rules. It's about a supreme authority for people with no imagination or moral compass of their own. What would be the point in Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism if they did not come with ideas about how to live your life?

[Cheshire Fox]

Well here we go again. So is religion really Christianity or Islam? Do all religions have the exact same laws? Do they all say the same thing? Please, look into religion before you make base assumptions about it. There is much, much more to religion than a set of laws and orders to kill people. Actually, Kal is being about as ignorant and offensive as a hate preacher, with statements like:

It's about a supreme authority for people with no imagination or moral compass of their own.

Where do you think the original moral compasses came from? Much of religion has become obsolete, yes. But You can't just trash it and throw it aside. Do you think civilization could have started without religion? Religion was needed to set down some base laws. What was a more effective tool for setting up these laws than the belief in a supreme diety, real or not? Why must you assume religion is the root of all evil?

In most of the religious wars fought, religion was not really the cause. Religion was an excuse. The real reason was fear of others cultures, racism not based on religion but on other things. There were fanatics of course, fanatics in high places who used religion as a tool and a rabblerouser to start wars.

Also, I'd like to say that not all of religion is completely set in stone. Not every religious person follows these rules and believes them set in stone without room for interpretation. I am a fairly religious Jew, I keep kosher, go to shul every saturday, pray first thing when I wake up and last thing before going to sleep. But do I follow phrases like: "With a double edged sword in their hands and praise of God on their lips they shall bring judgment upon the nations!" No.

I am prochoice, pro gay marriage, friends with Catholics, Protestants, Sikhs, atheists, and muslims. I think that all religions can find room for interpretation and adaption, and find quite unfortunate that so many do not. People like Hezbollah, Al Quieda, Baruch Goldstein, Hitler, the door to door people trying to convert me, and the girl in my math class who said: "______ number of people pray to god each day. And no one's even listening."

Just my two cents.

Oh and Hostile, youare seriously paranoid. If someone believes in God and practices their religion in a public place, that makes them a terrorist? The actions taken there were downright fascist. I can't wait to get the fuck out of this country.

And Oasis is better than Blur!

Edited by Darkskul, 07 February 2007 - 03:39 AM.

[Pastinator]

Well here we go again. So is religion really Christianity or Islam? Do all religions have the exact same laws? Do they all say the same thing? Please, look into religion before you make base assumptions about it. There is much, much more to religion than a set of laws and orders to kill people. Actually, Kal is being about as ignorant and offensive as a hate preacher, with statements like:

It's about a supreme authority for people with no imagination or moral compass of their own.

Where do you think the original moral compasses came from? Much of religion has become obsolete, yes. But You can't just trash it and throw it aside. Do you think civilization could have started without religion? Religion was needed to set down some base laws. What was a more effective tool for setting up these laws than the belief in a supreme diety, real or not? Why must you assume religion is the root of all evil?

In most of the religious wars fought, religion was not really the cause. Religion was an excuse. The real reason was fear of others cultures, racism not based on religion but on other things. There were fanatics of course, fanatics in high places who used religion as a tool and a rabblerouser to start wars.

Also, I'd like to say that not all of religion is completely set in stone. Not every religious person follows these rules and believes them set in stone without room for interpretation. I am a fairly religious Jew, I keep kosher, go to shul every saturday, pray first thing when I wake up and last thing before going to sleep. But do I follow phrases like: "With a double edged sword in their hands and praise of God on their lips they shall bring judgment upon the nations!" No.

I am prochoice, pro gay marriage, friends with Catholics, Protestants, Sikhs, atheists, and muslims. I think that all religions can find room for interpretation and adaption, and find quite unfortunate that so many do not. People like Hezbollah, Al Quieda, Baruch Goldstein, Hitler, the door to door people trying to convert me, and the girl in my math class who said: "______ number of people pray to god each day. And no one's even listening."

Just my two cents.

Oh and Hostile, youare seriously paranoid. If someone believes in God and practices their religion in a public place, that makes them a terrorist? The actions taken there were downright fascist. I can't wait to get the fuck out of this country.

Hear Hear!
Thats the thing, religion, even if gods aren'y real, is a great excuse to get people tp do good.
Trouble is, nasty people use it as an excuse to do evil.
But moderates, and genrally nice people, like darkskul pose no-threat, and in fact, because of their religion, tend to do more charity work, so in fact help people more.

[duke_Qa]

wouldnt this be a better reply for the "Is this a mostly an atheist board."-thread?

plus, i don't think anyone in these forums has anything against religion done in a modern and civilized fashion. but since religion is as old as civilization itself and was often a beacon of what it meant to be civilized, it has been caught up by the industrial evolution and the age of enlightenment. the most fundamentalistic and conservative religions reminds many of us who don't believe in religion the same way that people did before of a dark past.

People who believe that abortion and prevention are a deadly sin is one example of bad religion. but the ones who believe that they should follow governmental laws written in their holy book even though they are compared to others extremely barbaric is another. don't think that those who are against religion are so liberal that they will allow those kind of rules to gain a foothold in todays society.

if anything, human rights is the best book of rules for one who does not want to follow a specific religion. if there is any rules that the human rights have missed that a religion does have i would be pretty surprized. they also gives you freedom of religion so if you want to follow a codex you can do that.



which brings me to an interesting question which is partially relevant for the topic. if people started putting more faith into the human rights than religions, would this cause less violence and arguments? since human rights is conveniently placed higher than religion in its hierarchy because it has the "-Liberty rights that protect freedoms in areas such as belief and religion, association, assembling and movement".