Knightmarre
Member
Not really. I am just glad he has seen the light.
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Mark Zuckerberg Says He's No Longer An Atheist, Believes "Religion Is Very Important"
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Not really. I am just glad he has seen the light.
ftfy
StalkerUKCG
Banned
I could see it
Beer Monkey
Member
Do not ever, ever believe that people dependent on the masses for their wealth have "seen the light". Bottom line is people don't like atheists, and power is a seductive mistress. There are way more atheists in elected offices than will ever admit it.
Familienoberhauptvogel
Banned
name me 1 major religion that doesn't
because unreligious people live in eternal darkness
Melkezadek
Member
So question, why is it ok to openly mock atheism, but the slightest criticism of religion is met with hostility?
When I was younger, my mother met a man who was a devout Seventh Day Adventist. I had to witness her be stripped of all she was. I was robbed of any ambition to do anything because "Jesus was returning at any moment". I couldn't make friends. I was afraid all the time. Life was hell. To this day, I still go to therapy because I have waking dreams of "the second coming " which is terrifying. I resent the notion that those of us who choose to abandon that way of life are fools or "think they know it all". Some of us have been abused from it. The mocking isn't appreciated.
As far as the topic goes, I'm not sure what he means exactly. There is a world of difference between believing in god, and being religious. I could see an atheist coming around to a kind of deism, but I can't imagine any evidence would come around that would convince one that a man walked on water, turned water into wine, and rose from the dead.
Some people change their mind though. No harm in that in and of itself. Just continue being a force for good. At the end of the day, that's all that matters.
Langdon Alger
Banned
I don't believe in climate change.
Yup. Pretending religion isn't important is ignoring a large part of the human races culture. Pretending it isn't important as an atheist is especially ignorant.
Monocle
Member
I don't think you'll find many atheists at all who would claim religion isn't influential. I mean, religion's widespread influence is the reason atheist is a defined position, and something of an identity for some people. We don't have a name for leprechaun skeptics or Easter Bunny unbelievers.
Beer Monkey
Member
I don't think you could find any.
Bounceounce
Member
Does said light blind you to reality?
Knightmarre
Member
Nope, it just guides you when you need it.
Melkezadek
Member
Ah, so painting atheists with the same broad brush because of internet immaturity. Makes sense.
John Kowalski
Banned
What a shame.
Monocle
Member
*CRINGE*
Oh wait, these people actually seem normal.
I'm seeing this the same way. He coincidentally finds God right before the Republicans take control.
ginger ninja
Banned
What are you talking about. Religion is mocked WAY more on the internet than atheism. I mean look at any terrorism related threads, people are found shitting on Islam from great heights. The trend of mocking atheism is actually new and it has started because some atheist are taking it way too seriously, to the point that because kind of pseudo-religion itself.
I hate preaching, that why I can't stand religious folks. But when it starts coming for atheists, it gets even more ridiculous. You are guys are supposed to be the rational ones !
I am sorry about your experience growing up. I too was religiously brainwashed when I was young which made me miss out on a lot of life experiences. But I don't necessarily blame religion for it. Sure the doctrine is fucked up sometimes, but its like any other idea which can either be used for good or utter stupidity.
True evil isn't in ideas, either they be religious ideas or scientific. True Evil is in human beings that implement said ideas for their own nefarious goals.
Melkezadek
Member
Yea I don't get it either. It's part of the culture.
I'm guessing because of the "War on Christmas" some Christians like to perpetuate here in the States, that celebrating it openly is seen as a profession of faith.
More Fun To Compute
Member
Yes it's very important for control freak narcissists for people to love them and nobody loves people for being an atheist.
Melkezadek
Member
Atheism doesn't say there is no god. It's that there is a lack of evidence for one.
Claiming that you know there is one, is arrogant.
Atheists don't have the numbers for this to be true. Atheists make up less than 15% of the human population.
womfalcs3
Banned
"Atheism is, in the broadest sense, the absence of belief in the existence of deities.[1][2][3][4] Less broadly, atheism is the rejection of belief that any deities exist.[5][6]"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atheism
Chainsawkitten
Member
Your quote doesn't agree with your argument. Maybe read it more carefully.
More Fun To Compute
Member
It's more arrogant to claim to not believe in something there is no evidence for than to invent elaborate stories about the universe and say that people will suffer for all eternity if they don't believe them.
That always made me laugh hard
womfalcs3
Banned
It says atheists don't believe in God... they don't believe He, or other deities exist. I would be more accepting of agnosticism... which says there's no evidence and therefore the jury is out.
Lol have you even read what you quoted?
Don't believe, not actively believe there is nothing. Agnosticism is not what you seem to think it is. Agnosticism is a stance on belief, nothing to do with theism.
You can be an agnostic atheist, just as you can be an agnostic theist.
Abstruse Moose
Member
We don't know anything, but God surely exists?
You give humanity too little credit. Our understanding of reality leaves no room for an interfering God. Nothing, not even the big 3 gods, gets to violate the laws of nature.
Many people confuse "rejection of belief" with "belief that there is nothing."
Melkezadek
Member
Do you accept those who absolutely believe in a god, if the "jury is still out"?
Chainsawkitten
Member
"I don't believe deities exist" != "I believe deities don't exist"
Agnosticism is not an alternative to atheism. It refers to the certainty of knowledge, you can be an agnostic theist, or an agnostic atheist.
Familienoberhauptvogel
Banned
You would be? So you're not actually accepting at all.
FTFY.
I live in a country where churches are closing from a mixture of low attendance and insufficient numbers of priests, but the population still claims to be 84.2% Catholic according to the last census. Cultural Catholicism is a real thing.
NoblesseOblige
Banned
For something to be the root it needs to be... well the root. Religion doesn't exist without people. So no, religion is not a root of evil. People are. Religion is just an implement by people.
More Fun To Compute
Member
Atheist and Agnostic do not apply to the same thing.
Agnostic means you don't claim to know if something is literally true. But you can claim to have faith in some doctrine and be an agnostic theist or not have any faith and be an agnostic atheist. People who claim to be fence sitter agnostics who deny being atheists while not demonstrating a commitment to a faith are what can be called agnostic atheist liars.
Chainsawkitten
Member
People wouldn't exist without the sun, so the sun is the root of all evil.
Disillusionment with the institutions of religion is different than atheism. I don't know anybody who goes to church either, but almost everybody I do know believes in a god or gods.
Melkezadek
Member
This was definitely true this past summer. Fuck the Sun. And fuck sweat.
Lol, what ? If a group earns the "arrogant" title it would certainly be the theists, who are far less likely to also be agnostic compared to atheists.
ginger ninja
Banned
I said on the internet.
Those people who are mocking atheism in public are usually the same people calling all other religions but theirs as false. They usually represent the extreme fringe and are not mainstream.
I would however say that it is still nowhere close to being easy to be an openly atheist person in non Western countries. But again this is about mocking on the internet and not actual day to day behavior.
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