Is Atheism Depressing?

[edthecynic]

Coleridge was an acknowledged loon and drug addict...everybody acknowledged it then and now. If he's your afterlife guide, well, it explains a lot.

Coleridge was only a "loon" to those who are insanely jealous of him!

 

[koshergrl]

Oh please. Lol.

Cripes you're as nutty as he was.

 

[edthecynic]

Oh please. Lol.

Cripes you're as nutty as he was.

You obviously wish you had the strength of mind and goodness of heart to be an Atheist. But you don't, so you are left with only your jealousy.

 

[koshergrl]

You bet. And I'll leave you alone with whatever you use in the place of opium.

 

[edthecynic]

You bet. And I'll leave you alone with whatever you use in the place of opium.

Music.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDt5kTVr3XQ]Billy Cobham - On a Natural High (HQ) - YouTube[/ame]

 

[koshergrl]

Uh huh.

 

[dblack]

Is Atheism Depressing?


No.

Watching relgious bigots try to come to terms with atheism is another matter. It's equal parts funny and depressing.

 

[rstrats]

I thought Bertrand Russell was an agnostic, because he did not think there was enough evidence to say whether there is a God or not.

And if he didn't have a belief - a conviction - that there is a supreme being, he was also an atheist .

 

[jillian]

I thought Bertrand Russell was an agnostic, because he did not think there was enough evidence to say whether there is a God or not.

And if he didn't have a belief - a conviction - that there is a supreme being, he was also an atheist .

no. it means he's not sure. that is agnostic.

atheists are certain

 

[rstrats]

What flabbergasts me is this...atheists willfully reject God...

Everyone is born atheist. And since a person cannot consciously CHOOSE to believe things, what is the person to do?

 

[jillian]

What flabbergasts me is this...atheists willfully reject God...?

no more than you wilfully choose TO believe.

they simply don't believe. that is no more or less wilful than what you do.

it's really none of your business what other people believe, allie... even if it's well-intentioned.

frankly, i believe in G-d, but i find the christian story uniquely not compelling. i figure G-d is okay with that.

and, frankly, if someone is a good person, i don't think it would much matter to G-d whether a human, who is supposed to not have full understanding, doesn't believe.

 

[rstrats]

Atheist means without theism. If Russell didn't have a belief in god, then he was atheist. A person who doesn't have a belief in god, but doesn't go so far as to say they believe - are convinced - that there is no god, is categorized as a weak atheist. However, if they say that they believe - ARE convinced - that there is no god, then they are categorized as strong atheists.

 

[PratchettFan]

I thought Bertrand Russell was an agnostic, because he did not think there was enough evidence to say whether there is a God or not.

And if he didn't have a belief - a conviction - that there is a supreme being, he was also an atheist .

no. it means he's not sure. that is agnostic.

atheists are certain

No. Agnosticism simply acknowledges the fact that we don't know. An agnostic understands that there is a difference between belief and knowledge. You can be an atheist or a theist and still be an agnostic.

 

[dblack]

I thought Bertrand Russell was an agnostic, because he did not think there was enough evidence to say whether there is a God or not.

And if he didn't have a belief - a conviction - that there is a supreme being, he was also an atheist .

no. it means he's not sure. that is agnostic.

atheists are certain

"Agnostic" isn't the same as "not sure". Agnosticism is the position that the we can't know for sure whether gods exist or not. You can be agnostic, yet still a true believer. You can also be agnostic AND atheist (you don't believe in god, yet acknowledge it can't be proven one way or another.

Also - and this is important - agnosticism isn't the claim that we haven't 'yet' proven the existence of gods, but rather the position that there is something about the concept which makes their existence un-provable. It's the position that we literally can't know whether gods exist. We have to take it on faith, or not. Most of the religious folks I know are agnostic. Which is to say, they believe in God, but they don't think their belief can be proven like more mundane forms of knowledge.

 

[PratchettFan]

Atheist means without theism. If Russell didn't have a belief in god, then he was atheist. A person who doesn't have a belief in god, but doesn't go so far as to say they believe - are convinced - that there is no god, is categorized as a weak atheist. However, if they say that they believe - ARE convinced - that there is no god, then they are categorized as strong atheists.

Or it means the belief there are no gods. That would be the strict interpretation of the word. However, it really doesn't matter what definition is applied to the word, all that does matter is the behavior of the person. If someone says there are no gods, then they certainly do not lack belief. Whether positive or negative, belief is belief.

 

[PratchettFan]

And if he didn't have a belief - a conviction - that there is a supreme being, he was also an atheist .

no. it means he's not sure. that is agnostic.

atheists are certain

"Agnostic" isn't the same as "not sure". Agnosticism is the position that the we can't know for sure whether gods exist or not. You can be agnostic, yet still a true believer. You can also be agnostic AND atheist (you don't believe in god, yet acknowledge it can't be proven one way or another.

Also - and this is important - agnosticism isn't the claim that we haven't 'yet' proven the existence of gods, but rather the position that there is something about the concept which makes their existence un-provable. It's the position that we literally can't know whether gods exist. We have to take it on faith, or not. Most of the religious folks I know are agnostic. Which is to say, they believe in God, but they don't think their belief can be proven like more mundane forms of knowledge.

I don't agree. How do you know what you can't know? As an agnostic I can only say that I do not know, not that I cannot know. To say I cannot is just another unverified belief.

 

[uscitizen]

Coleridge was an acknowledged loon and drug addict...everybody acknowledged it then and now. If he's your afterlife guide, well, it explains a lot.

And Revelations was written by a crazy man in prison.

 

[mjollnir]

communism and atheism have nothing to do w/each other.

I've been posting the evidence. Why are you ignoring the facts? You seem closed-minded.

I'm neither.

Soviet poster showing Jesus thrown out:

And? You're showing a poster from an authoritarian police state. It has zero to do with communism, which the USSR was in only the most cosmetic sense. LOL! Why are you ignoring the facts?

Child, why are you not only failing to back up your own words, but running in fear of mine?

When are you going to make a coherent statement that I can respond to?

I already have, and you still haven't addressed it.

This isn't hard, but it requires intellectual honesty.

I'm not so sure you can make it.

More name calling. Boring.

Please admit that atheists have been as intolerant and as anti-scientific as anybody.

Atheists are human. They, like you, can be stupid as humans can be.

 

[dblack]

no. it means he's not sure. that is agnostic.

atheists are certain

"Agnostic" isn't the same as "not sure". Agnosticism is the position that the we can't know for sure whether gods exist or not. You can be agnostic, yet still a true believer. You can also be agnostic AND atheist (you don't believe in god, yet acknowledge it can't be proven one way or another.

Also - and this is important - agnosticism isn't the claim that we haven't 'yet' proven the existence of gods, but rather the position that there is something about the concept which makes their existence un-provable. It's the position that we literally can't know whether gods exist. We have to take it on faith, or not. Most of the religious folks I know are agnostic. Which is to say, they believe in God, but they don't think their belief can be proven like more mundane forms of knowledge.

I don't agree. How do you know what you can't know? As an agnostic I can only say that I do not know, not that I cannot know. To say I cannot is just another unverified belief.

Cool. I suppose many people reject agnosticism on those grounds. But that is what agnosticism is about - it's a viewpoint on the possibility of real knowledge (of god's existence). Agnosticism is the position, call it a 'belief' if you will, that we can't prove it one way or another. And from that perspective, belief in gods can only ever be a matter of faith.

 

[Jimmy_Jam]

I respect everybody's beliefs.

Having said that ... it must be sad not to believe in anything greater than we are!

I personally do believe in something ... I am not too set in what it is though ... I don't want to be too disappointed once I get there if it so happens it wasn't what I expected!

I see. So if I were to tell you that I believe children should be treated to cigarette burns twice daily as a healthy form of discipline you would respect that?

It doesn't take a genius to work out that I am only talking about positive, sensible, humane and common sense belief!

Let's not get too silly about this, shall we?

You mean it isn't common sense that children need discipline?

Silly is what I do, especially when the thread is silly.