what is an atheist?

master_g · Feb 19, 2007

hehe

smallrinilady · Feb 20, 2007

Yo itz Trong said: ↑

Uhmm...i apologize if I'm wrong. If GOD says that we should love our fellow men/women as stated above, then why were they killing other people in the first place? if muslims and christians believe in god, then why do muslims have to kill christians and jews? and also, isn't jesus a jew? so christians are followers of a jewish man. can someone make it straight for me? If something good happens you praise God. If something bad happens, he works in a very mysterious way. how so?
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this always confused me

fight your battles for the honor of god

huh? what does that mean
the bible is full of stories of war
war in the name of God

one of the many contraditinos of the bible

chiehc87 · Feb 20, 2007

^ i don't understand your question ... or is there even a question?

anyways, for me a definition of an atheist is simple.

'a person that refutes the existence of a 'Higher Being' that has the ability to control the presence of human development and civilization.'

i find it amusing that many 'atheist' has come to the conclusion that there isn't a God. when simply, there isn't any proof that God doesn't exist. and yes, there isn't any 'physical' proof (at least to be found to date) of the existence of God. However, the atheist are all accusing the 'creatists', where's you proof of God. when in reality, what are you (atheists) using to disprove our God?

and don't say, evolution is the proof that there isn't God. total bs (pardon me). read Darwin's Theory of Evolution again, thoroughly please ... and you will see that he is not disproving the existence of God. but simply evulating the link between generation of different species.

hiake · Feb 21, 2007

chiehc87 said: ↑

^ i don't understand your question ... or is there even a question?

anyways, for me a definition of an atheist is simple.

'a person that refutes the existence of a 'Higher Being' that has the ability to control the presence of human development and civilization.'

i find it amusing that many 'atheist' has come to the conclusion that there isn't a God. when simply, there isn't any proof that God doesn't exist. and yes, there isn't any 'physical' proof (at least to be found to date) of the existence of God. However, the atheist are all accusing the 'creatists', where's you proof of God. when in reality, what are you (atheists) using to disprove our God?

and don't say, evolution is the proof that there isn't God. total bs (pardon me). read Darwin's Theory of Evolution again, thoroughly please ... and you will see that he is not disproving the existence of God. but simply evulating the link between generation of different species.
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It's just sad that I prophesized the behaviour not long ago in that this message:

hiake said: ↑

It is a lovely article, but it will not be fruitful in stopping the misleading arguments from creationists -- since those who will make the argument in the first place will not cite this article, and those who will be convinced (by creationist) had not read this article.

My favourite part: "How does one disprove the existence of omnipotent intelligences?" -- one doesn't, it (the omnipotent intelligence) is there to be believed, not proved. <One ought not to insult Him in such ungratituous manner.> I added the middle part and the last quote is a live quote from an acquintance of mine
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This message was a reply to the below message with an attached SciAm link, probably you didn't read the article from SciAm? Otherwise you won't just repeat the so-called questions or convincing arguments mentioned in the article, go read, it's worth your God-praising time. To save you time, I quoted the message with the SciAm article in it below -->

countryboy said: ↑

interesting...hmmm
the definition, I posted, is from the "Atheist" organization of America.
and can you all tell I am a boy, so I am pretty bias on HE/HIS/HIM...hehehe.

for those who believe in God created everything read the following:

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanId=sa003&articleId=000D4FEC-7D5B-1D07-8E49809EC588EEDF

actually, it's good for everyone to read all 15 reasons for Godless-ness.
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[N] · Mar 18, 2007

an atheist is someone who masturbates (self lovin' homies)

無得頂 · May 15, 2007

I define an atheist as someone who does not believe a higher superior being exists.

BabyRain · May 15, 2007

NewAzNSensation said: ↑

an atheist is someone who masturbates (self lovin' homies)
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Just so you know.. there are some of us who believe in God and still do that OK? <_<

master_g · May 15, 2007

there is people who believe in God and do ALL types of things..

hiake · May 15, 2007

OMG I just rediscovered this thread... NewAzNSensation's post was kind of silly @_@b

But I guess he/she has a point since Christianity (at least the one sect practiced in most parts of the states) is all over abstinence... Maybe masturbation counts as perpetration of the abstinence rule? I don't know... -unsure

BabyRain · May 15, 2007

Oh well.. Lust is afterall part of the 7 sins... -rotfl
But without Lust; where is the passion?!

BabyRain · Jun 24, 2007

I posted this article in my Analysis thread in relation to Taxloss' question and I thought it's somehow suitable to be in this thread too...
"God would be An Atheist: Make Me a Buddhist"
By © Martin Foreman

I have always been attracted to Buddhism. When I was drifting in and out of my there-must-be-something-more-to-life phase in my twenties and early thirties, the eastern religion offered several advantages over Christianity.

Firstly, it was relatively uncomplicated. Instead of the God whose personality and form mutated from the Old to the New Testament, Buddhism offered no God at all.

Secondly, Buddhism was peaceful. Like Jesus, but unlike Jehovah, Siddhartha Gautama both preached and practised non-violence. And unlike Jesus, his life ended in wise and comfortable old age, not tortured on the cross.

Thirdly, Buddhism offered hope, not fear. Christianity’s message was obey all the rules during your one and only life or you’ll suffer torments throughout eternity. Buddhism merely said if you don’t get it right, come back and try again.

I was never devout. I skipped through books about Buddhism rather than studied the original texts. I could never remember the difference between Samsara, Nirvana and other states of being or non-being. I read and promptly forgot about the differences between Hinayana, Mahayana and the various other sects.

And while I was aware that there were Bodhisattvas – enlightened beings who had postponed their own stage of Buddhahood in order to help benighted beings like myself to reincarnate to a better life – I was sure that none were living in my neck of the woods.

Because I wasn’t ready for sexual abstinence, total vegetarianism and being nice to everyone 24-7, I kept postponing the moment when I would sit down and learn by heart the Four Noble Truths or the Eightfold Path. A would-be Augustine, I suggested to the God-who-didn’t-exist to make me Buddhist, just not yet.

Instead I took up meditation, In London and, several years later in Los Angeles, week after week I sat crossed-legged and eyes closed in a Buddhist center, beckoning Peace and Tranquility. Neither state came; instead, the enforced leisure heightened my physical and emotional energy and I needed half a day to recover from the stress of doing nothing.

Of course I had Doubts. Just how old did Buddhism say the earth was? Nor was I convinced by the idea of reincarnation, particularly as the earth’s population kept growing, And where did demons and spirits they fit into the picture?

But the idea that I could work out salvation at my own pace and still be guaranteed a pleasant afterlife swept such Doubts aside. Perhaps it was best not to look to closely at Buddhism, in case its foundation proved weak.

I stayed in that semi-believing state for several years, until my growing disgust at the immorality of fundamentalist Christianity and Islam prompted me to try and distinguish between “good” and “bad” religion.

The inevitable occurred. All religion proved itself an illusion and I was forced to recognize that Buddhist theology was as absurd as that of monotheism.

And yet… It depends on how Buddhism is defined. It grew out of Hinduism, a polytheistic religion with all the bells and whistles of reincarnation. It succeeded in demoting the Hindu gods and demolishing the idea of a Supreme Creator; perhaps 2,500 years ago it was too soon to abolish all the other supernatural trappings.

Or, equally likely, Siddhartha expected us to do that for ourselves. In the essential elements of Buddhism that he gave us – the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path – he made no reference to God or an afterlife.

Unlike Christianity and Islam, where we have to humor a deity, Buddhism's central message is that our moral and spiritual responsibility is to ourselves. At the end of our existence, our reward for living well is not submission to our capricious creator, but the final extinction of our consciousness.

How do we do live well? By recognizing that the conflict in our lives – conflict which spills over into our relations with others – stems from our egos. We commit acts of folly and crime for many reasons, but underlying them all is the desire to control events around us and the fear of being ignored.

Extinguish the ego and morality automatically ensues. With no ego, we have no desire. We cannot be offended, we cannot be hurt. Sin – however you define it – comes to an end.

This is morality and psychology, not faith. At heart, Siddhartha has more in common with Freud than with Christ and he leaves Mohammed far behind.

The religious aspect of Buddhism remains ingrained in the cultures of Asia. Even my most educated Thai friends believe in spirits and the afterlife. But for those who come to Siddhartha late in life, particularly through Zen and Zazen meditation, there is no contradiction in calling themselves atheist.

One day I may indeed become Buddhist. But give up meat and sex? I still don’t want it to happen yet...
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http://www.godwouldbeanatheist.com/cols2006/060702.htm

what is an atheist?

master_g .

smallrinilady Well-Known Member

chiehc87 Well-Known Member

hiake Vardøgr of da E.Twin

[N] RATED [ ]

無得頂 Well-Known Member

BabyRain Doppelgänger of da E.Twin

master_g .

hiake Vardøgr of da E.Twin

BabyRain Doppelgänger of da E.Twin

BabyRain Doppelgänger of da E.Twin