Reply to Re: You people are idiots.
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September 4th 2009, 08:12 PM
SkeleTony
Metatarsal:
"You might be right theoretically, but in practice this just doesn't work. If a person tells me he is an atheist he would be like WTF if I asked him if he was a Buddhist. If he told me he was a non-theist I might still ask. In practice there is a difference, even though theoretically there is not. And now we're at it are you a Buddhist?"
This is due to your own ignorance of the terms. And of course a Buddhist(even an atheist one which most of them ARE) would be like "WTF?". Just like if someone said he was a mechanic and you said "Are you fabulous?". What I think you are mixed up on here is that the fact that people can possess traits such as atheism and Buddhism at the same time does not mean that they put each on the same 'rung' for self-description. I myself am an atheist and an artist. But if someone is checking out my artwork and asking "You don't do conte crayons do you?" I will not answer "No...I am an atheist".
And the fact that the term itself is not well understood, even by many if not most atheists, does not help. Carl Sagan and Albert Einstein(very smart people) also fell victim to such a poor understanding at times even though THEY were atheists. They both, like Bill Maher recently, were under the mistaken impression that atheism implied some greater degree of 'certainty' about whether any gods might exist.
"[i]It's all a matter of scale. When is a religion still a religion? You're trying to make an arbitrary border."
False. That is like saying that a tree can be a rainbow. This can only happen for the guy who is trying to redefine the words for his own agenda.
"Religion" has a pretty specific meaning and involves ritual, a belief in something transcendent, a hierarchy of appointed(even self-appointed) clergy/holymen, doctrine etc.
Atheism cannot be "a religion" for the same reason THEISM cannot be "a religion". Think about it. What church or dogma is specific to the religion of "theism"? None, because there is no such religion.
Atheism ONLY pertains to BELIEF in gods. Can there be atheistic religions? Sure! As I have already explained, Buddhism, Scientology etc. But the only way to make atheism "a religion" is to re-define these words som that no one else can understand what you are trying to say.
"You might be right theoretically, but in practice this just doesn't work. If a person tells me he is an atheist he would be like WTF if I asked him if he was a Buddhist. If he told me he was a non-theist I might still ask. In practice there is a difference, even though theoretically there is not. And now we're at it are you a Buddhist?"
This is due to your own ignorance of the terms. And of course a Buddhist(even an atheist one which most of them ARE) would be like "WTF?". Just like if someone said he was a mechanic and you said "Are you fabulous?". What I think you are mixed up on here is that the fact that people can possess traits such as atheism and Buddhism at the same time does not mean that they put each on the same 'rung' for self-description. I myself am an atheist and an artist. But if someone is checking out my artwork and asking "You don't do conte crayons do you?" I will not answer "No...I am an atheist".
And the fact that the term itself is not well understood, even by many if not most atheists, does not help. Carl Sagan and Albert Einstein(very smart people) also fell victim to such a poor understanding at times even though THEY were atheists. They both, like Bill Maher recently, were under the mistaken impression that atheism implied some greater degree of 'certainty' about whether any gods might exist.
"[i]It's all a matter of scale. When is a religion still a religion? You're trying to make an arbitrary border."
False. That is like saying that a tree can be a rainbow. This can only happen for the guy who is trying to redefine the words for his own agenda.
"Religion" has a pretty specific meaning and involves ritual, a belief in something transcendent, a hierarchy of appointed(even self-appointed) clergy/holymen, doctrine etc.
Atheism cannot be "a religion" for the same reason THEISM cannot be "a religion". Think about it. What church or dogma is specific to the religion of "theism"? None, because there is no such religion.
Atheism ONLY pertains to BELIEF in gods. Can there be atheistic religions? Sure! As I have already explained, Buddhism, Scientology etc. But the only way to make atheism "a religion" is to re-define these words som that no one else can understand what you are trying to say.
