Do you believe in a god?

Do you believe in some sort of god?

  • Yes

    Votes: 82 45.1%

  • No

    Votes: 100 54.9%
  • Total voters
    182
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Kyo said:
Can we all agree that each of us is insane and hence not in a good social order to debate on such concepts as ones beliefs?
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No, because I enjoy correcting people when they're wrong. :D
 
Nat Turner said:
No, because I enjoy correcting people when they're wrong. :D
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Concurred. :) Although it's tiresome to repeat the same things again and again.
 
Yeah and at the very worst, I get to learn something new or further my own ideas.

It sounds cheesy, but it's true.
 
Aethism is not the belief in something. It is the knowlege, the absolute and driving conviction that there is no god(s).

And Buddhism isn't a religion. It's a philosophy. Depending on which sect, of course.
 
yeah jintor. remember, atheism is whatever absinthe and nat want it to be ;)

but its true that with many atheists it is indeed a conviction. a few atheists ive met are acutally bitter, because they didn't find any proof of god/gods. so then they ardently oppose the idea.
 
now absinthe, im going to start over, so put your bad feelings toward me aside, clear your head, and answer me this question if you will, keeping in mind that I dont think they are pointless, even if you do.

first, whats the definition of atheism you subscribe to?
 
Who disagrees with this....

Atheism is the belief that there is no god/s.

?

Atheism is not a religion, it's a philosophy which requires no belief in gods.
 
Tantalus said:
Who disagrees with this....

Atheism is the belief that there is no god/s.

?

Atheism is not a religion, it's a philosophy which requires no belief in gods.
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the first sentence is correct, but the second fragment is not. by definition atheism can be considered a religion, according to definition 4 on webster.com

4 : a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith
 
poseyjmac said:
the first sentence is correct, but the second fragment is not. by definition atheism can be considered a religion, according to definition 4 on webster.com

4 : a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith
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Okay, I can agee with that.

Nat and Abinsthe, do you agree?
 
Atheism cannot be considered a religion - the beliefs of atheists is that there is no God, and religion itself is defined as faith and service that stems from a higher supernatural power. The two blatantly contradict each other.
 
Axyon said:
Atheism cannot be considered a religion - the beliefs of atheists is that there is no God, and religion itself is defined as faith and service that stems from a higher supernatural power. The two blatantly contradict each other.
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i think you missed my post. or do you challenge the dictionary?
 
Axyon said:
Yeah, I can quote dictionary responses too:

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=define:+religion&btnG=Google+Search&meta=

85% of those results mention that the faith must tie to a supernatural being.
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ive got 2 unbiased definitions from actual dictionaries: webster.com, dictionary.com, while you are posting links of definitions from user pages on angelfire and other random less-reputable sites.

until these defintions disappear from these 2 sources, the fact remains, atheism can be called a religion.

oh but i dont know, that definition found on that random guy's geocities page is pretty official!
 
No, atheism is not a religion. A religion requires certain beliefs, morals, and rules governing behavior.

Like if you went from house to house converting people to atheism, your flyer would have 0 words on it. Haha.
 
poseyjmac said:
ive got 2 unbiased definitions from actual dictionaries: webster.com, dictionary.com, while you are posting links of definitions from user pages on angelfire and other random less-reputable sites.

until these defintions disappear from these 2 sources, the fact remains, atheism can be called a religion.

oh but i dont know, that definition found on that random guy's geocities page is pretty official!
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Okay then, I'll cite from a more reputable page; the BBC.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/atheism/index.shtml

Read up and learn to understand about what you're talking about. Atheism is not considered a religion, and that's why that site talks from the standpoint that faith tied to a higher power is known as religion:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/atheism/features/criticism/index.shtml

"Not all atheists are hostile to religion, but many do think that religion is bad."

Yeah, I could see that if atheism was considered a religion, they would think that their own beliefs are bad :rolleyes:

The site even gives examples of areas of faith that are not considered religious, as they do not involve a God:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/atheism/types/index.shtml
 
Axyon said:
Okay then, I'll cite from a more reputable page; the BBC.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/atheism/index.shtml

Read up and learn to understand about what you're talking about. Atheism is not considered a religion, and that's why that site talks from the standpoint that faith tied to a higher power is known as religion:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/atheism/features/criticism/index.shtml

"Not all atheists are hostile to religion, but many do think that religion is bad."

Yeah, I could see that if atheism was considered a religion, they would think that their own beliefs are bad :rolleyes:

The site even gives examples of areas of faith that are not considered religious, as they do not involve a God:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/atheism/types/index.shtml
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bbc is pretty reputable, though its not a dictionary. despite that, it doesn't make my sources any less reputable, which strangely is what i think you were trying to accomplish.

so atheism can still be considered a religion. what more can i say, you can't simply will these definitions to disappear.
 
poseyjmac said:
bbc is pretty reputable, though its not a dictionary. despite that, it doesn't make my sources any less reputable, which strangely is what i think you were trying to accomplish.

so atheism can still be considered a religion. what more can i say, you can't simply will these definitions to disappear.
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You can't just keep saying that atheism is a religion just because a dictionary says so (very) INDIRECTLY. I think that if you were to ask each atheist individually, they would tell you that they consider their beliefs to be non-religion, regardless of what a dictionary says.
 
Axyon said:
You can't just keep saying that atheism is a religion just because a dictionary says so (very) INDIRECTLY. I think that if you were to ask each atheist individually, they would tell you that they consider their beliefs to be non-religion, regardless of what a dictionary says.
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that very well may be true. and as fun as it is to make up my own definitions for words to dodge the truth, im kinda partial to concrete meanings so that discussions and debates can have the potential to actually get somewhere. also it might be just me, but i don't think making up your own defintions for words in debate class would get you a very good grade.
 
poseyjmac said:
yeah jintor. remember, atheism is whatever absinthe and nat want it to be ;)
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Driving conviction? That's not a qualifier for atheism. Read the site.

first, whats the definition of atheism you subscribe to?
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The disbelief or denial of gods. Although if we're to get pedantic about this, a denial of gods would require a disbelief in them beforehand. So when it all comes down to it, atheism is the disbelief in deities. If you wish, you can fallaciously (albeit conveniently) split atheists into two grounds: "weak" atheists that simply lack belief in gods and "strong" atheists that take a pro-active stance and assert outright that there are no gods.

the first sentence is correct, but the second fragment is not. by definition atheism can be considered a religion, according to definition 4 on webster.com
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No, no, and no again. Atheism is not a religion. It has no system, no doctrines, and no causes. It is not a philosophy, but a descriptor. In no way is it a religion unless you were to define religion on such broad terms that it loses all meaning. Read the site.

All your arguments are based on extremely poor and narrow (closeminded LOLzorz) interpretations and a general lack of understanding.
 
You know, if it doesn't conform to Smart's Seven Dimensions it's not a religion. :sleep:
 
it all started off as seven days, not seven dimensions...its all bs i tell ya... BS :D
 
http://www2.kenyon.edu/Depts/Religion/Fac/Suydam/Reln101/Sevendi.htm
ssh.gif
 
Absinthe said:
The disbelief or denial of gods.
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i deleted the rest of that reply, because it was just fluff. but thanks for answering the question ill get to the next one in a while.

Absinthe said:
No, no, and no again. Atheism is not a religion. It has no system, no doctrines, and no causes. It is not a philosophy, but a descriptor. In no way is it a religion unless you were to define religion on such broad terms that it loses all meaning. Read the site.

All your arguments are based on extremely poor and narrow (closeminded LOLzorz) interpretations and a general lack of understanding.
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im not interpreting anything here, that would be too much for you to digest at this point. im quoting the definition for you word for word. you simply cannot say 'no' to a standard definition of a word. i know you want to 'win' this internet argument, but you are denying standard dictionary meanings. the basis for the meanings of words...do you have any idea how ridiculous that is?

you know its possible to level here. im not claiming that these standard dictionary definitions are global truth. what im saying is due to these defintions being standard it would be valid for someone to say that atheism is a religion. from there ones personal definition of religion could be discussed. but by default, its an accepted definition.
 
In no way does the dictionary say atheism is a religion. For ****'s sake, get rid of this percieved little competition you are trying to convince yourself exists for the sole sake of inflating your petty ego. I only reply to you because you're dead wrong about everything you say.

Take some time to point out exactly how atheism can be considered a religion. Because you keep on pointing at the same "support" for your argument every time and, strangely enough, it's actually working against you.
God damn, there is some serious inverse correlatory shit going on when you becoming increasingly resolute in your conviction of correctness despite being proven increasingly wrong.
 
Absinthe said:
In no way does the dictionary say atheism is a religion. For ****'s sake, get rid of this percieved little competition you are trying to convince yourself exists for the sole sake of inflating your petty ego. I only reply to you because you're dead wrong about everything you say.

Take some time to point out exactly how atheism can be considered a religion. Because you keep on pointing at the same "support" for your argument every time and, strangely enough, it's actually working against you.
God damn, there is some serious inverse correlatory shit going on when you becoming increasingly resolute in your conviction of correctness despite being proven increasingly wrong.
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here, ill make this very digestable. you can reference webster.com, but the definitions are almost exact at dictionary.com. lets see..

atheism - a disbelief in the existence of deity b : the doctrine that there is no deity

deity - a god or goddess

now we know a disbelief in something is still a belief. if you disbelieve something to be true, then you believe it to be not true. so you have a belief.

religion - 4 : a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith

now since atheists disbelieve in the existence of gods, they have faith that they don't exist, because obviously one cannot prove gods do not exist.

therefore atheists hold to the cause/principle/belief that there are no gods with faith.

religion - 4 : a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith

ardor(extreme vigor or energy) doesn't apply because all religions have some who have ardor for their religion, and some who do not. unless you can prove that all religious people have ardor.
 
poseyjmac said:
atheism - a disbelief in the existence of deity b : the doctrine that there is no deity
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A disbelief in a deity is not the same as ruling out the possibility of its existence. It's certainly no doctrine.

now we know a disbelief in something is still a belief. if you disbelieve something to be true, then you believe it to be not true. so you have a belief.
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No, a disbelief is not a belief. It is, by definition, a lack of belief.

now since atheists disbelieve in the existence of gods, they have faith that they don't exist, because obviously one cannot prove gods do not exist.
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This only applies to strong atheists and is not a requirement of atheism itself.

therefore atheists hold to the cause/principle/belief that there are no gods with faith.
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Read above.

So you've done nothing to substantiate your claim that atheism is a religion. The best I can surmise from your argument is that holding a belief constitutes a religion and, to a deepr extent, makes you close-minded. Well, then I guess that means we're all on the same boat, including you. But that's a ridiculous assertion and surely you're not suggesting that... are you?
 
you just denied the validity of standard definitions. congratulations, you've reached a new low. me and my friends are getting a laugh out of it though.

how about this. absinthe do you believe that there are no gods out there at the moment, but that you would change your mind if proof was presented to you? yes or no.
 
I agree with JIMmEH, insert head up bum now if this debate continues further.

I wanna hear what Angry Lawyer has to saw, you know, considering he's a lawyer. I dont think ive ever seen such a heated debate concerning a dictionary term.

Sheesh!
 
There's nobody to sue, so I've not got an opinion.

But why are you arguing over the meaning of a word? Arguing what Atheism actually means isn't going to suddenly change whether Atheists are believers.

-Angry Lawyer
 
Little FYI...Atheism is considered a religion. My anthropolgy teacher told me:).
 
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