The funniest part is that the last part of that definition "especially without proof" and the entirety of the second definition are conveniently absent from your post.
Rejecting something is not a belief.
-
Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.
A woman told me that my atheism offends her.
- Thread starter CassCade
- Start date
The funniest part is that the last part of that definition "especially without proof" and the entirety of the second definition are conveniently absent from your post.
Rejecting something is not a belief.
There's nothing confrontational about it.
Friend 1: "I believe Brazil will win the World Cup"
Friend 2: "I believe Germany will win the World Cup"
You're really suggesting these two friends are being confrontational and should take offence from each other?
"Not believing in the same thing" and "rejecting their belief" both mean the same thing.
Do you really need a link to merriam webster? Are you being purposefully obtuse?
Cool, I guess. That sounds super irrational.
Second part makes no sense. Not believing in something doesn't obligate you to believe in some substitute.
It's not rare and it's even worse when it's coming from your family
Poor example. Here is the correct analogy:
Friend 1: "I believe Brazil will win the World Cup"
Friend 2: "I believe Brazil will LOSE the World Cup"
Thats a bit closer
Okay so, this is another Christian Apologist claim. You don't "believe in Science". You accept science.
These are the same people that call people who accept evolution "Evolutionists", or people who believe in evolution. It turns things into an "us vs. them" kinda argument rather than a "here's my stance, and here's how it differs from yours" kinda thing.
Whatever. You think in your example that both friends should take offence and are being confrontational?
You are not incorrect in using the term but the comparison seems faulty. Knowledge is often seen as Justified True Belief. All of the three criteria must be taken into account to count as knowledge. It has to be justified, you have to have a good reason for your belief (seeing something, hearing, feeling etc.). It has to be objectively true, and basically you have to belief in the knowledge as well.
This is not the same as just believing in something. Science is the opposite.
Actual Friend 2: "I don't believe Brazil will win. How do you know they will? Where's your proof?"
Well that's the definition. If you want the dictionary, here it is
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/belief
First definition particularly around God.
Not to mention that we already effectively have a word for "believing in what they can see or experiment on", it's called Materialism, and wouldn't necessarily apply to all atheist either. You can be atheist and still believe in superstitions.
Besides overheard conversations being offensive, another thing HR would have to consider is whether or not people are disrupting work in some way. I would still think that people talking about religion out in the open for their coworkers to hear would qualify as a topic that's too distracting for work. It elicits too many emotional responses, even if it's being discussed in inoffensive ways.
And I didn't mean to use such a harsh word when I said the conversers could be "potentially disciplined," or whatever I said. It's more like they'd just be asked to steer clear of hot topic issues.
I agree im not trying to go there, 'belief in science' is a poor phrase and you are right it is used as a fang against Scientists. Naturalism is a belief that only natural laws and forces operate in the world.
Did you read my anecdote? It's just one of many; had numerous people tell me their horrible thoughts on atheists. It's a self preservation thing.
And I don't have a problem with this statement at all; I'm speaking more from the standpoint of an individual it's one of those things you can fairly easily hide and thus get the treatment you are looking for. It's not like sexuality or other aspects of ones self where "hiding it" is detrimental on it's own; not being able to tell people I'm atheist to avoid persecution is hardly some horrible thing to me personally.
However I desire a world where I wouldn't have to worry about that; and I think it's fine for some to belief it's worth fighting for. As an overall statement I'd agree, as an individual I'd say not worth it for me. For a religious person religion is going to be important to them; for most atheists the entire point is that isn't an important aspect of their life, or any aspect of their life. There's far less to fight for.
Yeah its easy for people on this board to say that when its not the opinion of someone they disagree with.
Tolerance isnt tolerated, think as I do or burn in hell.
/s
Which is not what athiesm is. You can be atheist but still believe in unicorns or a Flying Spaghetti Monster.
My impression is that this happens when Christians develop a sectarian interpretation from the Bible, notably seen in the Gospel of John. This "us versus them" division. "They will hate you for my namesake", says Jesus. So when you expect the world to be vehemently against you, yet you live in a country with religious freedom, especially one with a Christian majority, you start getting offended at small things like Starbucks employees wishing you "Happy Holidays".
I don't know, that's my takeaway.
I don't know, that's my takeaway.
Yup. Atheism is just a lack of belief in a god or gods. A lack of theism. It doesn't say anything about spirituality, morality, political alignment... anything. It's why you should assert things about Atheists. You shouldn't just... talk to them. Ask them what they view on certain things.
I personally don't believe supernatural claims. But there are Atheists that believe in ghosts and spirits and shit.
Last edited:
No it doesn't happen to me. I'm positive most my friends are atheists, and they aren't offended by my faith (or vice versa).
Also, you did the right thing. Insecure people like that, you'll gain nothing but a high blood pressure attempting to engage.
Also, you did the right thing. Insecure people like that, you'll gain nothing but a high blood pressure attempting to engage.
I remember there was this one time that my cousin decided to post "Atheists disgust me" on Facebook so I made sure to talk more about my Atheism after that.
Fun fact: If Germany wins the World Cup, Brazil loses the World Cup.
My sister is this one and it baffles me so much, she just swears by some supernatural experiences she claims to have had.
Last edited:
As if the burden of evidence should be on the non-believers, what a truly ridiculous notion.
More and more people seem to believe that their human rights are being violated every time they find something new that offends them. It's pretty horrifying.
More and more people seem to believe that their human rights are being violated every time they find something new that offends them. It's pretty horrifying.
Last edited:
In this analogy, wouldn't an atheist be someone who doesn't watch soccer? Atheists aren't against any one specific religion, we just don't participate in any of them.
Last edited:
We're not talking about family, though.
We're talking about: "this lady overhead us and asked me to stop because I was offending her"
That, to me, is a special kind of insecurity. But maybe this is common where you live, I have no idea.
Some posts are just ignoring this lady butting into a conversation she wasn't invited to in order to declare "I'm Christian" but OP answering his friend's question with "I'm atheist" is confrontational, or too strong a word, or needs to be avoided. Like... whaaaa? She can mind her own business and pearl-clutch away from the scary atheist next time.
Never really had this happen, the only time I got asked was by my sister and her reaction was just "How can you not believe in God?" before we moved on to something else. My family isn't particularly religious anyway, we stopped going to church when I was in middle school.
Never really had this happen, the only time I got asked was by my sister and her reaction was just "How can you not believe in God?" before we moved on to something else. My family isn't particularly religious anyway, we stopped going to church when I was in middle school.
Go for it, if you think they actually listen. There's certainly plenty of opportunity to discuss beliefs because that's what they want to do. They want you to talk about your beliefs because that's how they get to talk about theirs. Don't believe for a second that they're actually listening to you, because all they really want is the opportunity to indoctrinate you to their religion. It's what they are taught to do and use every opportunity available to do it. They're all over the TV. The televangelists on sundays and even complete channels dedicated to religion. They would love to be in the schools. Kids are an easy target. They're regularly knocking on my door, at least once a month. They approach me in subway stations and bus stops. There's always a loud one on a street corner downtown preaching. Others handing out pamphlets. They sure do love talking beliefs and would love to fake listening to yours. I just politely refuse on all occasions.
Yet they seem to think that atheists are the confrontational ones. Funny how I never have atheists knocking on my door wanting to talk about my beliefs.
To be fair, not all religions are aggressive to indoctrinate. I know plenty of church goers who are thoughtful and reasonable. Perhaps until they encounter an atheist. It really is unfortunate that so many christians are hateful and intolerant of all atheists. We're the bad guys aggressively attacking them. Imagine that.
As someone who left the church as I entered adulthood, when I'm at family events or sometimes stumble into a religiously oriented situation, it's always quite shocking when the cult chant kicks in, or just how zany some of this stuff is after you've been away from it for so long. I just quietly wait till it's over.
It was definitely rude for them to take the initiative to insult you if that's what they did, I hope you extend thoughts on acceptance toward others whose beliefs you find to be insane or silly as well.
Seems troubling that they would deny the existence of a paranormal supreme being, but they are OK with other paranormal beings.
Why? Christians deny the existence of hundreds of thousands of paranormal beings that other cultures honor.
It's almost like atheists don't have a homogeneous belief system.
Nope.
Stop denying the existences of real people. Stop denying the existence of my own damn sister.
User Banned (3 Days): Bad Faith Trolling
Your sister is a ghost? Talkin bout ghosts here.
Why though? Saying you're an atheist isn't saying you don't believe in the supernatural, they just don't believe in a god.
You: What race are you?
Me: Caucasian
You: Ok but where are you from? Where did you grow up? 'Caucasian' doesn't tell me all that. We should come up with a new word to encompass all those things.
This is the conversation we're having now. "Atheism" is the answer to a simple yes/no question about a specific thing.