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Forums → WEPR → [answered a long time ago]Whats it mean to be an atheist, I have one in my class, I need to know what it means, PLEASE REPL...

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schuetteg6
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schuetteg6
270 posts
Nomad

PLEASE IM CONFUSED

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wipe42
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wipe42
819 posts
Nomad

We burn all crosses and tatoo anti religous symbols in our skin. Then we burn a pentagram into the ground.
That was what people probably thought atheists did a few hundred years ago.

In todays day and age we basically don't believe in god, gods/godess, holy books, etc... Sometimes people have good reasons others will say just because it's the cool thing now. That does sum it up fairly well. Now if you want to go into reason then well ask that on another thread.

nichodemus
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nichodemus
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Grand Duke

We burn all crosses and tatoo anti religous symbols in our skin. Then we burn a pentagram into the ground.
That was what people probably thought atheists did a few hundred years ago.


No.....I definitely don't think this was the case, at least in general.

Two early Hindu schools of philosophy rejected the notion of God. Diagoras of Melos, Strato of Lampsacus and a whole host of Greek thinkers rejected atheism centuries before Christianity's emergence. Matthias Knutzen, the Baron d'Holbach, Spinoza (disputable) all were sophisticated and cultured personalities who espoused atheism.

Barbaric acts such as burning of religious symbols wasn't really what they did in the past.

we burn a pentagram into the


The Pentagram is a Satanic symbol, i.e it has religious connotations.

Your post might have been tinged with sarcasm, hopefully and maybe you were joking. Just thought to correct you.

In todays day and age we basically don't believe in god, gods/godess, holy books, etc... Sometimes people have good reasons others will say just because it's the cool thing now. That does sum it up fairly well. Now if you want to go into reason then well ask that on another thread.


Yep yep. Admittedly, I didn't philosophize when I made up my mind to reject God. The worse kind of atheists are those who just think it's cool and hip.
MageGrayWolf
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MageGrayWolf
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Farmer

The Pentagram is a Satanic symbol, i.e it has religious connotations.


That's not exactly all there is to it, the symbol is far more often used as a means of spiritual protection.

The worse kind of atheists are those who just think it's cool and hip.


The question then becomes, are some of them really atheists? Just calling yourself an atheist just because you think it's cool doesn't mean you hold no belief in a god.
nichodemus
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nichodemus
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That's not exactly all there is to it, the symbol is far more often used as a means of spiritual protection.


Yep, I know that, but I'm just assuming the Satanic relations since most people these days stereotype it as such.
Highfire
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Highfire
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Nomad

The worse kind of atheists are those who just think it's cool and hip.

At which point they're not worth being called Atheists, it'd give the people who genuinely think that there's no real God / Deity a bad name.

Alas, all "factions" have their weak spots.

- H
MageGrayWolf
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MageGrayWolf
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Farmer

At which point they're not worth being called Atheists, it'd give the people who genuinely think that there's no real God / Deity a bad name.


Reasoning as to why someone is an atheist is meaningless. There is no worthiness to be call an atheist. Though as I said just thinking it's cool doesn't mean they actually lack belief in a god.
loloynage2
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loloynage2
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Peasant

if most people around me had blond hair would it be wrong for me to describe my self as the guy who doesn't have blond hair?

But, if somebody asks you what hair color you have, will you say "not blond"? It wouldn't be wrong, but it wouldn't answer the question. Instead you would of just eliminated an answer which would be that you have blond hair. So, that's why, to answer the question appropriately, (and precise), you would have to say the color of your hair.

"I have 'x' hair" <-------- better
"I do not have 'y' hair" <------- vague
nichodemus
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nichodemus
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There is no worthiness to be call an atheist.


To each his own, though I would say ''worthiness'' is not something we should judge our beliefs by.
MageGrayWolf
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MageGrayWolf
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Farmer

But, if somebody asks you what hair color you have, will you say "not blond"?


Translating this back to question of theistic beliefs, if someone were to ask me what god I believed in I would say "non". This is exactly what atheist means.
dair5
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dair5
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Shepherd

I think it's like asking a bald man what color hair he has. He has no hair. So he'll say he's bald. Like an atheist will say I'm atheist because they don't belive in god. Although if they're spiritual then it would be good to inlude that because it helps to answer the question.

wipe42
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wipe42
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Nomad

The Pentagram is a Satanic symbol, i.e it has religious connotations.


That is true, and I wasn't trying to say that t didn't have religious connotations. I was trying to say that a few hundred years ago or so people probably would have seen atheists in that way. Especially with the church controlling just about everything at that time.

The worse kind of atheists are those who just think it's cool and hip.


I hate people like this. There is a guy at my school who has this mind set, and personally I just think that it's idiotic. I know he believes in god but her doesn't seem to want to go with his belief.

That's not exactly all there is to it, the symbol is far more often used as a means of spiritual protection.


Really? I didn't know that. See the things you learn on this site.
loloynage2
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loloynage2
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Peasant

Translating this back to question of theistic beliefs, if someone were to ask me what god I believed in I would say "non". This is exactly what atheist means.

But you could just say no gods. Why is there a word for something that is, default state, if you want. Like is there a special name for somebody that does not practice football? Is there a special name for somebody that does not teach mathematics at a high-school?
dair5
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dair5
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Shepherd

But you could just say no gods. Why is there a word for something that is, default state, if you want. Like is there a special name for somebody that does not practice football? Is there a special name for somebody that does not teach mathematics at a high-school?


There just happens to be a name for it. Like the name for people with no hair is "bald".
loloynage2
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loloynage2
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Peasant

There just happens to be a name for it. Like the name for people with no hair is "bald".

Not saying it's really a problem, just saying it is a little bit odd.
Btw, bold is not natural, the standard of a human being is to have hair (unless sick), so bald people are moved from the average person in the category of hair, and so are called bald.
MageGrayWolf
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MageGrayWolf
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I think it's like asking a bald man what color hair he has. He has no hair. So he'll say he's bald. Like an atheist will say I'm atheist because they don't belive in god. Although if they're spiritual then it would be good to inlude that because it helps to answer the question.


Good analogy.

Why is there a word for something that is, default state, if you want.


It's because of the prevalence of theism. As I recently said to someone on profile.

Atheism is reactionary to theism.
If an atheist doesn't get beat over the head with threats of hell, facing religious based laws they have to live by, being hated and feared for not believing, dealing with the suppression of science for theistic belief, etc... There wouldn't really be much of anything to say. Atheist then would have about as much meaning as a word for someone who doesn't believe in fairies.
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