Atheism/Agnosticism

Atheism/Agnosticism (Full Version)

All Forums >> [Casual Banter] >> Off the Grid

Message

cabernet -> Atheism/Agnosticism (11/21/2006 9:06:51 PM)
Ok, I have a question. But before I ask it I want everyone to know that I am not trying to offend anyone. Nor do I want to start any controversy between those who are religious or spiritual and those who are not. Earlier, I was looking at profiles on collarme and once again found a person who listed Atheism and/or Agnosticism under "Lives For" on his interests list. I don't quite understand this as I thought that one of the aspects of being an atheist or agnostic was so that you didn't spend any part of your life thinking about it. And to me if you "live for" something it would mean that you would be actively spending a lot of time or thought on it. And if you were spending much thought on it, wouldn't that mean that maybe you weren't as sure about your beliefs (or non-beliefs) as you thought? Any thoughts? Comments? Pearls of wisdom?

lulu346 -> RE: Atheism/Agnosticism (11/21/2006 9:26:25 PM)
agnostic and athiest are actually not the same thing, athiest believe there is no religion nothing to believe in, where as agnostics believe there is a religion but and a greater being but without proof of that being they won't put faith in it. so both are something you can believe in greatly so it is posible for someone to live for that

michaelOfGeorgia -> RE: Atheism/Agnosticism (11/21/2006 9:28:11 PM)
i prefer "idontcareism"...LOL

juliaoceania -> RE: Atheism/Agnosticism (11/21/2006 9:51:10 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: lulu346 agnostic and athiest are actually not the same thing, athiest believe there is no religion nothing to believe in, where as agnostics believe there is a religion but and a greater being but without proof of that being they won't put faith in it. so both are something you can believe in greatly so it is posible for someone to live for that Kinda but not really... Atheism = believing there is no God, religions are not all built around believing in deities Agnosticism = not knowing whether there is a God or not. Agnostic literally means "unknowing" or "not known". Gnostic means "knowing".

Zensee -> RE: Atheism/Agnosticism (11/21/2006 10:22:18 PM)
Perhaps the person in question is an Evangelical Atheist.

Lordandmaster -> RE: Atheism/Agnosticism (11/21/2006 11:08:29 PM)
Why not ask the person himself? Strangers can't possibly know what was going through his mind...

MasterKalif -> RE: Atheism/Agnosticism (11/21/2006 11:35:46 PM)
cabernet, like veryone has stated, an agnostic is someone that doesn't have enough information to have "faith" in God or a religion....an atheist is someone who doesn't believe in anything (perhaps in science?). I suppose that by putting them in their profile, they are trying to show that they dislike people who are religious minded or who go to a local church every sat. or sun....or simply because they are militant in being informed agnostics or atheists and will fight against what they might see as an imposition of religion in some form or another (a waste of time in my opinion). so I take it you like cabernet sauvignon? try the Casillero del Diablo, from Vinya Concha y Toro...[;)]

Level -> RE: Atheism/Agnosticism (11/22/2006 12:53:12 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: cabernet Ok, I have a question. But before I ask it I want everyone to know that I am not trying to offend anyone. Nor do I want to start any controversy between those who are religious or spiritual and those who are not. Earlier, I was looking at profiles on collarme and once again found a person who listed Atheism and/or Agnosticism under "Lives For" on his interests list. I don't quite understand this as I thought that one of the aspects of being an atheist or agnostic was so that you didn't spend any part of your life thinking about it. And to me if you "live for" something it would mean that you would be actively spending a lot of time or thought on it. And if you were spending much thought on it, wouldn't that mean that maybe you weren't as sure about your beliefs (or non-beliefs) as you thought? Any thoughts? Comments? Pearls of wisdom? Many people spend large amounts of their life "thinking about" religion, and are either atheist or agnostic, that's how they reached that particular viewpoint. Bertrand Russell is one example of a person that wasn't a "believer", and he devoted both time and effort in his work thinking and writing on the subject. C.S. Lewis is another, although he went from non-believer back to believer, eventually.

ScienceBoy -> RE: Atheism/Agnosticism (11/22/2006 12:53:54 AM)
I'd say it is a good way to live your life, to actively and constantly question the things you believe, any faiths you may have, and your understanding of the universe! (I'll bet you a dollar that's not what they meant though - I'd guess that they just really dislike the idea of a god.) Atheism is a belief in the non-existence of God/god/deities - a position of irrational faith ;) (It also tends to imply a distaste for the structures of religions, but makes no real comment on them besides that those centred around a deity are based on a false assumption). Agnosticism is the acknowledgement that it is not at present, or likely to be in the future, possible to prove, or provide good evidence for either case. (Scepticism, as opposed to cynicism) I'm a militant agnostic myself. Can't stand preachy atheists! Worse than the dreaded doorknockers if they corner you at a party..

seeksfemslave -> RE: Atheism/Agnosticism (11/22/2006 1:19:41 AM)
I havent looked anything up but I always thought Atheists were those who "knew" that a Deity does not exist. Since this is a logically impossible position to hold it doesn't add much to anything. As has been mentioned Atheistic religions exist....Buddhism for example. I am not sure whether this really is true but I believe until a certain nation decided to improve the lot of the Vietnamese people by killing millions of them, that bit is true, Buddhists had never been involved in organised conflict.

KatyLied -> RE: Atheism/Agnosticism (11/22/2006 3:22:52 AM)
My comment is the following: Atheism and/or Agnosticism do not belong together. I don't know why people continue to group them together.

DesertRat -> RE: Atheism/Agnosticism (11/22/2006 7:23:53 AM)
Fast reply: In my profile, I have atheism in the "Loves (expert)" categegory, just below "Lives for". There aren't many things I'm willing to avowedly "live for", but cats, love, singing, and a few other things rank pretty highly. At any rate, I don't view the stating of my preferences in my collarme profile as a philosophical exercise worth spending a bunch of time agonizing over. As was said by someone earlier in this thread, I fully expect and welcome requests for clarification of anything I say on this site and that especially applies to my profile. Now...if I WERE to have atheism listed under the "Lives for" heading, it would be for a pragmatic reason: to let a certain segment of the population know that they might not want to contact me, even if we seem compatible in other areas. It's not an issue I lit candles and meditated upon. Bob

Zensee -> RE: Atheism/Agnosticism (11/22/2006 8:07:34 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: seeksfemslave I havent looked anything up but I always thought Atheists were those who "knew" that a Deity does not exist. Since this is a logically impossible position to hold it doesn't add much to anything. Then the same must be said for those who "know" god does exist, as that too is a logical impossibility. You make a semantic distinction, not a substantive one. The words faith, knowledge and belief are used, confused and abused pretty much universally.

Lieren -> RE: Atheism/Agnosticism (11/22/2006 9:49:20 AM)
Or perhaps it's just a result of the fact that the choices are limited when using a checklist system [8D] I feel pretty strongly about my spirituality and the only way one can represent that with the choices given would be select the "Lives for It" category. Just my 2 cents...

sophia37 -> RE: Atheism/Agnosticism (11/22/2006 10:05:39 AM)
Maybe it was meant as a cosmic joke. Only those of us who "get it" on that persons profile need write. Or maybe that person knew it would be a great issue to raise on this board, and so was thinking waaaaay ahead. Seems to have done the trick!

fergus -> RE: Atheism/Agnosticism (11/22/2006 12:16:12 PM)
Certainly there are those that are just as zealous about their aetheism as some religious fundementalists. fergus

FirmhandKY -> RE: Atheism/Agnosticism (11/22/2006 2:24:51 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: fergus Certainly there are those that are just as zealous about their aetheism as some religious fundementalists. fergus I would put forward the proposition that the zealous atheist is more of a zealot than most (Christian) zealous believers. I don't mind them having their beliefs, either way but many zealous atheist often seem on a crusade to "open our eyes", without seeming to understand that atheism (and in particular atheistic Humanism) is a belief system as much as any religious belief system. shrugs Makes for some interesting discussions, sometimes. FirmKY

juliaoceania -> RE: Atheism/Agnosticism (11/22/2006 2:28:00 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: fergus Certainly there are those that are just as zealous about their aetheism as some religious fundementalists. fergus I know many people that would fit that description. There used to be a room in the religion and beliefs section of Yahoo chat dedicated to Christian V. Atheists screaming and arguing about who was right and who was wrong. It was so hateful I only stopped by once, and unfortunately it was an atheist that was more militant than the Christians were. I have seen this in other circumstances as well. I have to say most Atheists I have met in real life were among the most moral and ethical people I have ever met. Atheism is a belief, it is a belief that there is no god whatsoever.

Lordandmaster -> RE: Atheism/Agnosticism (11/22/2006 2:37:38 PM)
Have I mentioned that atheists have larger penises than Christians? It was a little-publicized discovery by the PEW Foundation. quote: ORIGINAL: FirmhandKY I would put forward the proposition that the zealous atheist is more of a zealot than most (Christian) zealous believers.

KatyLied -> RE: Atheism/Agnosticism (11/22/2006 2:39:05 PM)
quote: I have to say most Atheists I have met in real life were among the most moral and ethical people I have ever met. And they do this without dependence on a book of code to fall back on. It is within.

Page: [1] 2 next > >>

Collarchat.com © 2025

Terms of Service

0.03125