Tag Archives: religion

Is Atheism Simply a Statement of “Disbelief,” or Can It Be Religiously Adhered To?

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The following debate originally took place upon my Facebook wall…

"Atheism: It has it's own symbol. It's own Evangelists. It's won fundraisers and weekly gatherings. And there's no way to prove a [Creator] doesn't exist but they believe it strongly."

“Atheism: It has it’s own symbol. It’s own Evangelists. It’s won fundraisers and weekly gatherings. And there’s no way to prove a [Creator] doesn’t exist but they believe it strongly.”

Brian J.: Hey Rayn. After some further research, I’ve realized that atheism is not a religion. You’re just talking about fundamentalists and behavior patterns that make it look like a religion, but it’s not a religion. If you look up the definition of religion, it always involves something spiritual. And that’s why communism was a religion, that used atheism to not believe in other gods, but to worship the state. Which had nothing to do with atheism. Atheism simply means, “a lack of belief in god or gods.” Which is why I don’t believe in any gods, or creators. Now whatever a person does after that, has nothing to do with atheism. Being an atheist activists, doesn’t really have anything to do with the definition of atheism. Which is why atheism turns into an ideology, in spite of itself.

It’s not suppose to be an ideology, or a religion. But because of religious people, it gets turned into that, while having nothing to do with the definition of atheism. Atheism is just a statement. It’s an unbelief. I require no faith to have an unbelief in god or gods. It doesn’t take faith to believe in a time n chance universe. Especially since scientists like Richard Dawkins and Lawrence Krauss are starting to realize that there was something, before something else got created. And that everything didn’t happen by chance or randomly. Evolution and the big bang had a random component, but it wasn’t all random. So as an atheist, I don’t have to believe in a time n chance universe. Because not all of it happened by time n chance.

But as an atheist, I do have faith. I have faith in the natural world, and in things that I can see. I have the hope that a more secular world, can create a better world. But I have no evidence for this, so I rely on faith. 🙂

Rayn:  I did not say that atheism  in itself, is a religion. I said that atheism can be religiously adhered to, and that there are, in fact, a few religions of atheism in existence. With this in mind, being an atheist does not automatically make you a member of these religions of atheism, of course, nor does it mean that you religiously adhere to atheism.

According to you, “if you look up the definition of religion, it always involves something spiritual.” While I must emphasize dictionaries DO NOT create words, but only record their historical, popular usage, let’s still do exactly what you suggest, to see what we find:

RELIGION:
1a : the state of a religious* <a nun in her 20th year of religion>
b(1) : the service and worship of God or the supernatural
(2) : commitment or devotion to religious* faith or observance
2: a personal set or institutionalized system of religious* attitudes, beliefs, and practices
3 (archaic): scrupulous conformity : conscientiousness
4: a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/religion

RELIGIOUS:
1: relating to or manifesting faithful devotion to an acknowledged ultimate reality or deity <a religious person> <religious attitudes>
2: of, relating to, or devoted to religious beliefs or observances <joined a religious order>
3a : scrupulously and conscientiously faithful
b : fervent, zealous
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/religious

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Discussing the Merits of Individual Awakening Through Truth

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The following debate originally took place upon my Facebook wall, after I posted artwork being shared by an acquaintance from here…

Rayn: 

"We now live in a nation where doctors destroy health, lawyers destroy justice, universities destroy knowledge, governments destroy freedom, the press destroys information, religion destroys morals, and our banks destroy the economy." - Chris Hedges

“We now live in a nation where doctors destroy health, lawyers destroy justice, universities destroy knowledge, governments destroy freedom, the press destroys information, religion destroys morals, and our banks destroy the economy.” – Chris Hedges

Rayn: Indeed! 🙂

Raheem G.: Now? Hahaha does this guy not know history. The world has always been corrupt. Read the Prince, that book wasn’t written anytime recently, and yet the lesson that a ruler must be corrupt if necessary has always been. Man has an agenda. Some men are just less selfish than others.

Raheem G.: And religion doesn’t destroy morals. That would mean every atheist is the most moral person walking on earth. Sorta like guns don’t kill people, people kill people.

Rayn: Though I understand your sentiment, Raheem, Hedges said “we now live in a nation,” not “we now live in a world.” He apparently believes that America was not always in such a terrible state as today… I shared the picture because I ALWAYS appreciate a good story of individual awakening through Truth! 🙂

Rayn: As for the religion comment, I go by the following philosophy: “Morality is doing what is right regardless of what you are told. Religion is doing what you are told regardless of what is right.”

The problem with your atheist analogy is that most so-called Atheists worship the religion of government, the pagan deity, “Fortune,” or even most frequently, their own selves. Therefore, they are FAR from “religion-free.” In fact, most of them are so deceived, that they believe they are taking the “reasonable” approach in their Atheistic views, yet their viewpoint is just as faith-based and not provable as belief in the existence of a Universal Creator. The only true “reasonable” position on the issue would be the “agnostic” one, incidentally…

Rayn: And, since it is not scientifically sound to accept skepticism, nor lack of knowledge, as a final position, as they are transitional states, an agnostic should always be working towards a goal of better understanding, and not becoming intellectually lazy or complacent behind their label…. (Click Here to Continue Reading This Post) →

Blind Faith in the Religion of Centralized Government is Obsolete!

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As I scrolled through my Facebook news feed, I discovered the following artwork here, being shared by the page, “Fuck the Government,” and originally posted it to my own wall, along with commentary…

"I have certain rules I live by... My first rule... I don't believe anything the government tells me..." - George Carlin

“I have certain rules I live by… My first rule… I don’t believe anything the government tells me…” – George Carlin

My Commentary: Blind faith in the religion of centralized government is obsolete in a free society! Try critical thinking on the issue, and you may even learn why Individuals are willing to REPEATEDLY submit themselves to a plutocratic oligarchy of sociopaths, in the first place…

State of Israel Continues to Engage in Politics of Discrimination

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I originally posted the following information and commentary onto my Facebook wall…

"Meeting of university heads, 2008: One woman, Prof. Rivka Carmi, third from right, no Arabs."

“Meeting of university heads, 2008: One woman, Prof. Rivka Carmi, third from right, no Arabs.”

Israel’s Politics of Discrimination:
http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/israel-s-politics-of-discrimination-1.426528

(Eva Illouz) Discrimination is the sophisticated, less blunt, distant cousin of racism. It has the same effects as racism − ranking people by birth − without, necessarily, the same intentions, which is why discrimination is mostly and most often an invisible mechanism. This is also the reason why some legal provisions suggest evaluating discrimination on the basis of facts. But facts alone do not scrutinize the mindset of people working in organizations. If, for example, women represent 50 percent of the population, Arabs and Mizrahim constitute 60 percent of the population and if all three groups have almost never been represented among the rectors, presidents and deans, or been recipients of scientific awards of Israeli universities, we need not enter the minds of the people who make these decisions to suspect discrimination. The proof is in the famous pudding.

(Read entire article here…)

My Commentary: Discrimination based on gender, ethnicity, religion, etc… IS PURE FALLACY! Why do some countries get a free pass to engage in this disgusting behavior, while others are outright condemned? :sigh: Critical thinking is at an all-time low in this world.

Discussing the Imaginary Document Known as the “Social Contract”

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The following correspondence originally took place on my Facebook wall, upon my post, “Empty Tradition is the Religion of the Dead!“…

Rayn: Empty tradition is the religion of the dead! I choose Life!

“I can’t seem to find this mystical document called the ‘social contract’ that you claim I am party to.”

Mehrdad S.: :)))))))))))))))))))) Thanks Rayn. Shared.