Atheism Examined

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By and large, atheists believe that life is purposeless.

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All nihilists are atheists, but not all atheists are nihilists... Is that the gist?Kind of like all Floridians are Americans, but not all Americans are Floridians?

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"Somewhere at the back of my father's mind, at the bottom of his heart, in the depth of his soul, there was an empty space that had once been filled by God and he never found anything else to put in it... At the centre of me is always an eternally terrible pain - a curious wild pain - a searching for something beyond what the world contains." -Bertrand Russell

Hmm. How about all Appalachian snake handlers are Christians, but not all Christians are Appalachian snake handlers?I tried to retain your geographic flavor while refocusing on relevant beliefs. P.S.
"Don't be a coward, show some faith:
Praise the Lord and pass the snakes!"
-Hot Tuna

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Hi guys and girls I am new at this so please bear with me. I have not been in a debate since 1957 when I was on my high school debating team. But as I recall before we had a debate we agreed on how the terms we were going to use was defined.As I have read this thread it seems no one knows what an atheist is
and I know for a fact no one knows what a Christian is from all the posts I have read. Religion and a Christian are two totally different things.As I have always understood it an atheist was someone who did not believe in god.A Christian is someone who is living a life like Christ did.Straggler I believe in God for many reasons but one specific is that the alternative to me is unbelievable. I can find no one in science that can tell me where the singularity came from that all of our universe came from (the big bang), or can show me one piece of evidence of macro evolution. Neither can I find a creationist that can tell me when Genesis 1:1 took place.
They can tell me when Genesis 1:2 took place but not 1:1 as I believe you cannot come up with a number large enough to tell me when Genesis 1:1 took place.I have an atheist friend in the Cayman Islands who I have known since 1989, He told me I was going to be surprised when I died and found out that it was over and that was all there was to it (life). I came back with, How can I be surprised if that is all there is to it? On the other hand if you die and find out there is a God you will be the one surprised.You did say you wanted to know why people believe certain things.

crashfrog are you saying religion was responsible for Adolf Hitler's destruction of 6 million plus Jews, and the communist Soviet Union abuses on its people.I agree the Inquisition was religious motivated percution against those of other religious beliefs.But if I remember correctly Hitler did not believe in God, nor does communism.

Well, they weren't in concentration camps because Hitler hated matza, were they? You remember incorrectly. Hitler was a proud Lutheran till the day he died, and Soviet-style communism deified the state ("God is the state; the state is God" - maybe you've heard that slogan), so it doesn't count as atheist, either.Good try, though. It's fairly common for religion to try to pass off it's worst excesses onto atheists.Edited by crashfrog, : No reason given.

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But if I remember correctly Hitler did not believe in God...

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Who in the world told you that?-

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...nor does communism.

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Communism is not a person, so communism doesn't have beliefs. People have beliefs.Now communists, on the other hand, are people, and so communists do have beliefs. However, "communist" is a very broad label that covers a very broad range of ideologies. Other than "capitalism is bad", I would be very hard pressed to state with any certainty any common belief among all communists.

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Actually, if their god makes better pancakes, I'm totally switching sides. -- Charley the Australopithecine

I stand corrected. But I found the following in:Adolf Hitler
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaAdolf Hitler was brought up in his family's religion by his Roman Catholic parents, but as a school boy he began to reject the Church and Catholicism. After he had left home, he never attended Mass or received the Sacraments.[citation needed]In later life, Hitler's religious beliefs present a discrepant picture: In public statements, he frequently spoke positively about the Christian heritage of German culture and belief in Christ. Hitler’s private statements, reported by his intimates, are more mixed, showing Hitler as a religious man but also critical of Christianity.I can assure you Hitler did not know my God.

So he's an atheist? How does that make sense?

So he knew a different one, and therefor was not an atheist.

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Just a monkey in a long line of kings.
If "elitist" just means "not the dumbest motherfucker in the room", I'll be an elitist!
*not an actual doctor

Are you sure? Seems he was baptized and confirmed Catholic, and confessed himself to be Catholic when pressed, though not in agreement with the church altogether.

No, I'm not sure. No atheist, though.

You are correct Communism is not a person, just as Christianity is not a person, just as Atheism is not a person, just as Religion is not a person. They are all a way of life. (Beliefs, practices, etc.)You know it does not make a bit of difference what I believe about God or Evolution, or anything else, just because I believe something does not make it true.

I have a question for you and for nator, and for any other ex-christian atheists.If nemesis or anyone else claims that they have been atheist, and you deny this, to say that they were simply lapsed Christians...have you ruled out the possibility that you are lapsed at this moment as well? What if you went back to christianity? Would you say that you have no idea what an atheist is? You may assume that you won't go back, but that is hardly critical. What is honest is to say that if you ever feel a reason to go back you will. Are you basing your judgement of others on the simple fact that you are STILL atheist? Does it even cross your mind that no one is made to be a certain way, and that anyone could 'become' whatever they wish?If you think not, you are a sort of hard determinist. If you acknowledge choice, you must acknowledge that there is nothing special about any of us. I can choose to be atheist if I want to at any time. If I can't, that means I really believe something. If you can't picture changing beliefs, you pretty much really believe there is no God. That takes a certain amount of faith. You have enough faith to believe that you will never experience God or any symptoms of religion.

Well, that is ok. I am not sure that Hitler himself knew. He got lost somewhere along the way in identifying himself with the Reich. He had no personal meaning, in a sense.

NJ was a lapsed Christian because he didn't stop believing in God - he just stopped being a fan of God. Isn't that what he told us, himself?I don't believe in God. Therefore I'm no lapsed Christian. I didn't choose to be an atheist. The choice I made was to follow the evidence. I can imagine evidence that would change my mind, but I haven't seen it yet.