Atheism

Originally posted by Quiero Mota
Translation: you pulled them out of thin air.

In theory, anything can be fought over.

That's kinda my point. And everything I listed is a plausible reason for going to war, given the right circumstances in a group of people.

You're trying to make it sound like everything I listed is absurd to think about as a cause for war, which is misleading/false/etc. How about actually adressing my point with counter-arguments that use some rational thought? All this response was, was pulling a few words out of context, then offering a glib retort as though it settles everything.

QM: I think you are coming dangerously close to proposing a "theory of war". As if all human conflict can be boiled down to even a dozen or so factors...

Atheists should kill themselves to prove that there is no God.

Originally posted by Zeal Ex Nihilo
Atheists should kill themselves to prove that there is no God.

Originally posted by Zeal Ex Nihilo
Atheists should kill themselves to prove that there is no God.

LOL. You are pretty stupid aren't you?

Anyway, there is a god.

Originally posted by Zeal Ex Nihilo
Atheists should kill themselves to prove that there is no God.

Originally posted by Zeal Ex Nihilo
Atheists should kill themselves to prove that there is no God.

You'd be better off posting something that is constructive, and not borderline spam. Even if this is a joke, it's a stupid one.

I consider myself a non-dualist. Does that make me an atheist? I am not certain...

I consider myself spiritual, not religious. I do not believe in the classical, Christian definition of "God".

I am a big fan of Richard Bach, whose philosophy can be summarised as: "Our true nature is not bound by space or time, we are expressions of the Is, we are not truly born nor truly die, and we enter this world of Seems and Appearances for fun, learning, to share experiences with those we care for, to explore - and most of all to learn how to love and love again."

It is not that I necessarily BELIEVE there is life (however you define it) after death, but I definitely, and most fervently, HOPE so - simply because I enjoy adventures and I hope this is not the only experience waiting for us in an infinite and timeless universe.

Nondualism can be described as "...the belief that dualism or dichotomy are illusory phenomenae. Examples of dualisms include self/other, mind/body, male/female, good/evil, active/passive, and many others. A nondual philosophical or religious perspective or theory maintains that there is no fundamental distinction between mind and matter, or that the entire phenomenological world is an illusion..."

It is similar in many aspects to Taoism, Zen, Buddhism and Sufism, which I consider to be philosophies, rather than religions...

One of my favourite philosophers is Michel Foucault (1926–1984), who maintained a "scepticism about absolutes, such as right and wrong, sane and insane, and human nature. His method was not to deny such notions, but to historicize them, examining what in the supposedly necessary may be contingent, and demonstrating the relationships between knowledge and politics, power and knowledge..."

So, perhaps I am an atheist - but probably not in the classical sense of the word.

Originally posted by Dreampanther
we are expressions of the Is

What does that mean?

Originally posted by Dreampanther
Nondualism can be described as "...the belief that dualism or dichotomy are illusory phenomenae. Examples of dualisms include self/other, mind/body, male/female, good/evil, active/passive, and many others. A nondual philosophical or religious perspective or theory maintains that there is no fundamental distinction between mind and matter, or that the entire phenomenological world is an illusion..."

How would you support the position that differences between male and female are illusory?

Originally posted by Dreampanther
So, perhaps I am an atheist - but probably not in the classical sense of the word.

The details of one's philosophy don't matter when it comes to being an atheist or not. If you don't believe in God you're an atheist, if you do you're not.

Originally posted by Symmetric Chaos
How would you support the position that differences between male and female are illusory?

What does that mean?

The great Is refers to the fact that we are spiritual as well as .. well, organic, I suppose you could say. The argument stipulates that there is something more to us than just our bodies or minds (I guess you could say souls, although that tends to refer to a religious interpretation). In other words, as I said, I don't believe in the classical definition of "God" (you know, old white guy, beard, wrath, etc.) but I do HOPE that there is something more to life than just merely being born, living for a blink of an eye, and then dying. What is out there, Bach just calls the IS, the great unknowable, the yet-to-be-discovered, the yet-to-be-explored...

How would you support the position that differences between male and female are illusory?

Sociology refers to sexual differences and gender differences - sexual differences refer to biological differences, in other words we are born in different bodies with different functions, but gender differences refers to the fact that we treat people differently based on perceived differences (i.e. Gender (or race, or age, or sexual preference, or religion, etc)). In short, just because we are born in different bodies, doesn't mean that we ARE different - we all experience love, and loss, and joy, and grief, etc.

The details of one's philosophy don't matter when it comes to being an atheist or not. If you don't believe in God you're an atheist, if you do you're not.

Ah - but first you need to DEFINE God - because like I said - it will depend on your definition of God, before I know whether our definitions are compatible. I definitely do NOT believe in the classic, Christian definition of God.

Originally posted by amnesia
LOL. You are pretty stupid aren't you?

Anyway, there is a god.

prove it..

Originally posted by FistOfThe North
prove it..

Originally posted by FistOfThe North
prove it..

I don't have to prove anything, lol. I don't believe in the Christian god.

Originally posted by amnesia
I don't have to prove anything, lol. I don't believe in the Christian god.

No one will understand.

Originally posted by amnesia
I don't have to prove anything, lol. I don't believe in the Christian god.

Originally posted by King Kandy
I didn't realize burden of proof only applies to christians.

Oh. i don't have to prove shit because i honestly don't care.

Originally posted by King Kandy
I didn't realize burden of proof only applies to christians.

Read back dude! He was originally responding to this:

Originally posted by Zeal Ex Nihilo
Atheists should kill themselves to prove that there is no God.

His commit was in defiance of a stupid post, therefore, he does not have to prove shit.

Originally posted by Dreampanther
I consider myself a non-dualist. Does that make me an atheist? I am not certain...

I consider myself spiritual, not religious. I do not believe in the classical, Christian definition of "God".

I am a big fan of Richard Bach, whose philosophy can be summarised as: "Our true nature is not bound by space or time, we are expressions of the Is, we are not truly born nor truly die, and we enter this world of Seems and Appearances for fun, learning, to share experiences with those we care for, to explore - and most of all to learn how to love and love again."

It is not that I necessarily BELIEVE there is life (however you define it) after death, but I definitely, and most fervently, HOPE so - simply because I enjoy adventures and I hope this is not the only experience waiting for us in an infinite and timeless universe.

We all HOPE there's an afterlife, atheists included (most of us, at least). That's not the exclusive property of theists.

Originally posted by Dreampanther
Nondualism can be described as "...the belief that dualism or dichotomy are illusory phenomenae. Examples of dualisms include self/other, mind/body, male/female, good/evil, active/passive, and many others. A nondual philosophical or religious perspective or theory maintains that there is no fundamental distinction between mind and matter, or that the entire phenomenological world is an illusion..."

It is similar in many aspects to Taoism, Zen, Buddhism and Sufism, which I consider to be philosophies, rather than religions...

One of my favourite philosophers is Michel Foucault (1926–1984), who maintained a "scepticism about absolutes, such as right and wrong, sane and insane, and human nature. His method was not to deny such notions, but to historicize them, examining what in the supposedly necessary may be contingent, and demonstrating the relationships between knowledge and politics, power and knowledge..."

So, perhaps I am an atheist - but probably not in the classical sense of the word.

There's a difference between materialism (nothing outside physical reality) and atheism. And one can be an atheist without being a materialist, but not vice-versa.

I'm also not sure what you mean by "classical sense of the word" but semantic discussions are rarely fruitful. Atheism isn't proclaiming that there is no god. I've never met even extremist atheists who would claim definitive proof of such. It's a belief like any other. So it's very possible that you are an atheist, just unwilling to label yourself as such.

Because I'm a fan of Taoism too, and enjoy its teachings and philosophy. But I'm also a materialist. The two aren't mutually exclusive.

And dualistic interpretation of consciousness is the only credible field right now that has a chance at actually breaking through to a legit idea of dualism, and I won't discount that possibility entirely. Everything else is mostly smoke and mirrors, littered with either speculation, misinterpretation, outright ignorance, or simply anecdotal wishing.

{edit} nvrmind, I see you're speaking of dualism in a different sense. I was using in the sense that there is something other than physical reality. I have no qualms with your opinion on dualism, but I'd point out that being a non-dualist as you define it isn't necessarily at odds with being a theist or atheist. Your "nondualist" actually sounds a lot like materialism, that there isn't a separate entity of "mind" apart from the physical world, and other such examples.

Originally posted by Shakyamunison
Read back dude! He was originally responding to this:

His commit was in defiance of a stupid post, therefore, he does not have to prove shit.

Well, if he actually believes it he should want to prove it, he definitely has to prove it if he wants it to be accepted by certain people here (obviously proof of god is not necessary for all people in order for them to believe it)