Are You A "Dictionary Atheist"?
by cofty 36 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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cofty
How freaking hard is it for people to understand that some of us just dont have a God to worship? There is no movement, no organization no affiliation. - cyberjesus
Until I read Myers' article I would have agreed with you entirely but he has got me thinking. Perhaps its a mistake to pretend that its that simple. We are not blank slates who happen to be lucky enough to have escaped the god virus. We are people with particular views of the world that is different from the majority. Is it really the case that we carefully considered the case for god, rejected it and then carried on as before? When Myers says that rejection of god is a consequence not a cause I think he may have a point.
When I escaped the borg I became an evangelical for almost a decade - essentially nothing had changed. I eventually learned a new way of understanding the world. It was about not caring in the least what was popular or traditional or what otheres expected of me. It was about being able to stand back and examine my most basic beliefs objectively and follow the evidence regardless. Rejection of god followed from that new way of thinking, a new set of values. It didn't begin with rejecting god and didn't end there. I agree with Myers that there is more to it than a simple dictionary definition.
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cofty
Hi LeavingWT - sorry I missed that thread, I didn't mean to duplicate it. I will have a read at it.
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cyberjesus
Rejection of God? how can you reject something you dont believe exist? I read the article. My process was simple. I used to believe in a God, not because I forged a belief but because I trusted my parents and their religion. When the time came to analyze why i believed I realized it was just "because" and not based on any solid evidence. So I just stop believing. I dont reject god. I dont believe in any and that is because I dont have a reason to believe. I HAVE NOTHING to cause me to believe...... it is that simple.
If there is a word in the dictionary that describes that state then I would like to use it. As of today is ATHEIST but if it changes I will change it.
It is that simple.
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cofty
Rejection of God? how can you reject something you dont believe exist? - cyberjesus
I said that as atheists we have rejected the evidence for god.
Believers and atheists have access to the same evidence. One difference is that believevers think it a virtue to insert "faith" inot the gap where evidence ends. Athiests see no virtue in doing so and follow the evidence as far as it goes and no further.
Its a different way of thinking that affects far more than the simple rejection of deities
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unshackled
Unshakled I think Myers' point is that this really doesn't say anything. It's a natural defence when believers repeat the old canard about atheism being "just another religion" or "I don't have enough faith to be an atheist" etc but it is an empty statement.
Yeah Cofty...that makes sense. My comment was not neccessarily directed at the Myer's comments. I get off track from the OP.
I had started a thread on this rough analogy some time back, but I'll post it again. Here's my simplified analogy of humans on this earth...and what atheists stand for:
Picture a group of people that find themselves on a deserted island, with amnesia, therefore no knowledge of anything about how they got there or why they are there.
One third of the group notices the SUN everyday and the warmth it brings, etc. They decide that must be a "god"...they must worship it.
Another third of the group notices the MOON and decide that must be "god" and therefore they're going worship the moon.
The SUN group and the MOON group eventually argue over their "gods" and who has the right one. They even begin to fight over it, hitting each other with sticks and coming to blows. Some people are injured, and some have even been killed.
The final third of the group, which didn't sign up for either the moon group and the sun group steps in and says: "whoa, whoa, whoa everybody. We DON'T know how or why we are here. But let's keep looking for clues and stop jumping to conclusions and fighting over it."
That non-believing third group represents what an atheist is trying to do today. Offer a voice of reason to stop the fighting over their assumed "gods". If everyone would abandon their made up story and we all continued to attempt to unravel the mysteries of the universe, this world would be much better place. -
NewChapter
Not to detract from your post but I thought this was going to be about people who don't believe in using dictionaries
.If you can prove to me that dictionaries do indeed exist---I will worship them!
Until then, I reserve my right to give extremly lame responses, and don't feel the need to completely explain and define myself to a believer. I don't want to organize or proselytize or defend my NON faith. I reject nothing--I simply believe what I can prove. If I'm rejecting the notion that there is a god, then I'm also rejecting the notion that ants have pigtails, bricks can think, bees whisper love poems...
It seems the only people that struggle with what atheists believe are theists. I'm happy to keep that their problem.
But this guys sounds very intelligent, and he has thought deeply on what he says. I respect what he is saying, I just don't feel an obligation to defend or define myself.
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cyberjesus
Sorry I must have misenterpreted this:
When Myers says that rejection of god
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tec
There is no movement, no organization no affiliation.
Um... Myers was speaking at the "Atheist Alliance International 2010 Convention", wasn't he?
CJ, you might not be a part of a movement, organization or affiliation, but that doesn't mean that they don't exist :)
Tammy
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tec
Unshackled, the flaw I see in your analogy of the deserted island is this: Where did this concept of 'god' come from, that they just decided the sun and the moon to be gods?
Tammy