Quoted: [ You guys claim you are an agnostic , athiest . but act like you are religous.  why?

I do not recall the source, just the quote.

"If Atheisim is a religion then not collecting stamps is a hobby."

Hi OldGuy!

There's always been an aspect of atheists I've thought deserving of respect...simply 'cause it certainly takes a lot of faith!

Best,

Ed

Quoted: Quoted: [ You guys claim you are an agnostic , athiest . but act like you are religous.  why? I do not recall the source, just the quote. "If Atheisim is a religion then not collecting stamps is a hobby."

its been around forever, I'm not sure who came up with it originally.  Sound like something Penn Jillette or James Randi would say.  I've seen it attributed to James Randi, but I can't confirm that.

Quoted: Hi OldGuy! There's always been an aspect of atheists I've thought deserving of respect...simply 'cause it certainly takes a lot of faith! Best, Ed

I disagree on that.  It takes no faith for me to  be an atheist.  The lack of evidence for and philosophical problems with the existence of a omniscient, omnibenevolent, and omnipotent deity makes atheism the only possible choice for me.   I could fake belief, but on the off chance that there is a God, I would prefer to go before him an atheist than a hypocrite.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: [ You guys claim you are an agnostic , athiest . but act like you are religous.  why? I do not recall the source, just the quote. "If Atheisim is a religion then not collecting stamps is a hobby." its been around forever, I'm not sure who came up with it originally.  Sound like something Penn Jillette or James Randi would say.  I've seen it attributed to James Randi, but I can't confirm that. Quoted: Hi OldGuy! There's always been an aspect of atheists I've thought deserving of respect...simply 'cause it certainly takes a lot of faith! Best, Ed I disagree on that.  It takes no faith for me to  be an atheist.  The lack of evidence for and philosophical problems with the existence of a omniscient, omnibenevolent, and omnipotent deity makes atheism the only possible choice for me.   I could fake belief, but on the off chance that there is a God, I would prefer to go before him an atheist than a hypocrite.

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Re:

"I disagree on that.  It takes no faith for me to  be an atheist."

I would disagree with you upon my statement of an old joke.

Any adherance to a philosophy or lack thereof does indeed imply a faith, regardless of formal religious belief of lack thereof.  Any set of belief implies a strongly held principle.  Simply by not affiliating yourself does not imply that your are without your own, strongly held principle, which itself is by definition a faith.

That your position of an atheist is not a faith is similar, too, then that you would be unable to maintain a "faithfulness" to yourself or others.

You simply fell into a word-usage trap...and are just too sensitive!!

agreed, but the word "atheism" tells you nothing about my faith.  Its an expression of my lack of faith in a supreme being.

If you want a word that expresses what I believe in or have faith in you could use words like Unitarian Universalist, Jeffersonian Republican, Rationalist, or Secular Humanist.

If someone tells you I am an atheist, it tells you nothing about me other than the fact that I don't believe in God.   Someone could tell you I am a Dallas Cowboy fan and it would tell you more about me as a person.



 

Quoted: agreed, but the word "atheism" tells you nothing about my faith.  Its an expression of my lack of faith in a supreme being. If you want a word that expresses what I believe in or have faith in you could use words like Unitarian Universalist, Jeffersonian, Rationalist, or Secular Humanist.

I appreciate the uniqeness of your situation...not trying to belittle you...though any adherence across the religious or political spectrums implies the term "faith" by which one associates themselves which was part of my quote.  Sorry to have offended.

B'Shalom,

Ed

no offense was given or taken

just a discussion between gun owners

Thanks,

Ed

Quoted:

 I could fake belief, but on the off chance that there is a God, I would prefer to go before him an atheist than a hypocrite.

"On the off chance there is a God" , I am sure he would MUCH prefer Atheists to hypocrites.

I know I do.

Faith  - The reason that muslims strap bombs on their bodies and blow themselves up in public knowing in their own evil little hearts that they will end up in heaven with 72 virgins.

Quoted: Faith  - The reason that muslims strap bombs on their bodies and blow themselves up in public knowing in their own evil little hearts that they will end up in heaven with 72 virgins.

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Please enlighten us more!  

Thank you for playing.  

It could be argued that atheists have faith:  faith that there is no Allmighty.

Deists and many agnostics have faith in Science and Reason.

I grew up with absolute faith in Newtonian Science.  Now that I have become aware that Quantum Physics empirically disproves some of Newtonian Science, I now tend to believe in Quantum Science.

Has my essential faith in the scientific method changed? Not at all.

Quoted: It could be argued that atheists have faith:  faith that there is no Allmighty.

By that argument it would also require faith to not believe in bigfoot, leprechauns, the loch ness monster,   invisible pink unicorns, Zeus, Odin, etc..  Most people view their lack of belief in those things as simply logical.   Generally,  you have faith for things you believe in and lack faith for things you don't believe in.  I think the idea that I have faith because I don't have belief in something is flawed;  unless you decide to change the fundamental meaning of faith.  

Most atheists I know do have faith, its just not faith in God.   I have a lot of beliefs that I cannot prove to be true, any defense of them is not proof, only apologetics.  (for instance my view that its wrong to take advantage of people is easily disputed, yet I still believe it to be true)  

I do have faith, but it its the set of principles and beliefs I live my life by.  There is no relation in my mind between my faith and God.  

So yes, most atheist have faith, just not in the way that you mention.

Quoted: Deists and many agnostics have faith in Science and Reason.

A lot of atheists (most in the Western world I would say) also have faith in science and reason.  
A lot of atheists are also agnostics