Anonymous
Post 01/04/2017 09:15     Subject: Do atheists fancy themselves as nonconformists?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Buddhism is a spiritual and atheistic religion. It is not rare or bizarre to have spiritual beliefs and also lack a belief in deities. The Asian world has a few religions that are based on a collective consciousness, and not a deity.

Atheism is a lack of belief in a god. It does not define belief in an afterlife, spiritual powers or anything else. Look beyond your own narrow definition of religion, and you will see there is a very wide variance in beliefs. The focus on exactly what every atheist believes is bizarre.


could you answer how you define spirit and spiritual? are they beyond nature? are they entities that people can imagine but that other people don't imagine? are they like ghosts? Do the spirits have powers and abilities that humans do not have? can you call upon the spirits to intervene in your life or the lives of others?


I personally don't believe in spirits. I am not going to try to answer those questions for other people because those beliefs are not defined by the term "atheist.". You should do some reading on Buddhism, or any of the eastern religions. In monotheistic religions, god is a separate entity that acts kind of like a parent. In many eastern religions, people and earth are all part of god, or those things are together and not a god at all.
Anonymous
Post 01/04/2017 08:38     Subject: Do atheists fancy themselves as nonconformists?
Anonymous wrote:Buddhism is a spiritual and atheistic religion. It is not rare or bizarre to have spiritual beliefs and also lack a belief in deities. The Asian world has a few religions that are based on a collective consciousness, and not a deity.

Atheism is a lack of belief in a god. It does not define belief in an afterlife, spiritual powers or anything else. Look beyond your own narrow definition of religion, and you will see there is a very wide variance in beliefs. The focus on exactly what every atheist believes is bizarre.


could you answer how you define spirit and spiritual? are they beyond nature? are they entities that people can imagine but that other people don't imagine? are they like ghosts? Do the spirits have powers and abilities that humans do not have? can you call upon the spirits to intervene in your life or the lives of others?
Anonymous
Post 01/04/2017 06:48     Subject: Do atheists fancy themselves as nonconformists?
Buddhism is a spiritual and atheistic religion. It is not rare or bizarre to have spiritual beliefs and also lack a belief in deities. The Asian world has a few religions that are based on a collective consciousness, and not a deity.

Atheism is a lack of belief in a god. It does not define belief in an afterlife, spiritual powers or anything else. Look beyond your own narrow definition of religion, and you will see there is a very wide variance in beliefs. The focus on exactly what every atheist believes is bizarre.
Anonymous
Post 01/04/2017 01:58     Subject: Do atheists fancy themselves as nonconformists?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:When an atheist believes in atheism, what does the atheist believe is doing the believing?


Atheist is the lack of belief in a deity. Atheists don't believe in atheism just as non-addicts are not addicted to non-addiction.


But who goes around calling themself a "non addict"?

No one. So your analogy


FAILS


If we lived in a culture in which most people were addicts, the people who were not would distinguish themselves by calling themselves non-addicts


I didn't grow up with religion so I have never defined myself in relation to religion (or lack thereof). It's not part of my culture at all. I only call myself an atheist on DCUM responding to atheist-bashing threads. -AO


Per the analogy, you should call yourself non-religious. Not atheist.

NP.

But it's not just a lack of religion. One can not follow a religion and still believe in a spirituality; that's not what an atheist is or does.


Wrong. Not believing in god doesn't mean a person can't be spiritual.


how do you define "spiritual"? If it involves spirits - i.e., supernatural beings, then it can't apply to atheists, who do not believe in such things.


+1

It seems like a very bizarre definition of atheism that allows for spirituality

I have been in a lot of different spiritual practices- never encountered an atheist. And I've met a lot of people involved with various spiritual practices
Anonymous
Post 01/04/2017 01:54     Subject: Do atheists fancy themselves as nonconformists?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:When an atheist believes in atheism, what does the atheist believe is doing the believing?


Atheist is the lack of belief in a deity. Atheists don't believe in atheism just as non-addicts are not addicted to non-addiction.


But who goes around calling themself a "non addict"?

No one. So your analogy


FAILS


If we lived in a culture in which most people were addicts, the people who were not would distinguish themselves by calling themselves non-addicts


I didn't grow up with religion so I have never defined myself in relation to religion (or lack thereof). It's not part of my culture at all. I only call myself an atheist on DCUM responding to atheist-bashing threads. -AO


Per the analogy, you should call yourself non-religious. Not atheist.

NP.

But it's not just a lack of religion. One can not follow a religion and still believe in a spirituality; that's not what an atheist is or does.


Agreed. No religion, no gods, no spirituality, no special forces (Mother Nature, karma, etc). I don't really call myself anything IRL because it's not something I use to define myself. I'm just me. If someone were to straight out ask "do you believe in god?" I'd say "no", but I don't sit around thinking about how gods and religion do or do not fit into my life. Might be different though if you once did believe in god and are trying to differentiate what you thought before vs now. Maybe? -AO
Anonymous
Post 01/03/2017 23:35     Subject: Do atheists fancy themselves as nonconformists?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:When an atheist believes in atheism, what does the atheist believe is doing the believing?


Atheist is the lack of belief in a deity. Atheists don't believe in atheism just as non-addicts are not addicted to non-addiction.


But who goes around calling themself a "non addict"?

No one. So your analogy


FAILS


If we lived in a culture in which most people were addicts, the people who were not would distinguish themselves by calling themselves non-addicts


I didn't grow up with religion so I have never defined myself in relation to religion (or lack thereof). It's not part of my culture at all. I only call myself an atheist on DCUM responding to atheist-bashing threads. -AO


Per the analogy, you should call yourself non-religious. Not atheist.

NP.

But it's not just a lack of religion. One can not follow a religion and still believe in a spirituality; that's not what an atheist is or does.


Wrong. Not believing in god doesn't mean a person can't be spiritual.


how do you define "spiritual"? If it involves spirits - i.e., supernatural beings, then it can't apply to atheists, who do not believe in such things.
Anonymous
Post 01/03/2017 21:04     Subject: Do atheists fancy themselves as nonconformists?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:When an atheist believes in atheism, what does the atheist believe is doing the believing?


Atheist is the lack of belief in a deity. Atheists don't believe in atheism just as non-addicts are not addicted to non-addiction.


But who goes around calling themself a "non addict"?

No one. So your analogy


FAILS


If we lived in a culture in which most people were addicts, the people who were not would distinguish themselves by calling themselves non-addicts


I didn't grow up with religion so I have never defined myself in relation to religion (or lack thereof). It's not part of my culture at all. I only call myself an atheist on DCUM responding to atheist-bashing threads. -AO


Per the analogy, you should call yourself non-religious. Not atheist.

NP.

But it's not just a lack of religion. One can not follow a religion and still believe in a spirituality; that's not what an atheist is or does.


Wrong. Not believing in god doesn't mean a person can't be spiritual.
Anonymous
Post 01/03/2017 21:00     Subject: Do atheists fancy themselves as nonconformists?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:When an atheist believes in atheism, what does the atheist believe is doing the believing?


Atheist is the lack of belief in a deity. Atheists don't believe in atheism just as non-addicts are not addicted to non-addiction.


But who goes around calling themself a "non addict"?

No one. So your analogy


FAILS


If we lived in a culture in which most people were addicts, the people who were not would distinguish themselves by calling themselves non-addicts


I didn't grow up with religion so I have never defined myself in relation to religion (or lack thereof). It's not part of my culture at all. I only call myself an atheist on DCUM responding to atheist-bashing threads. -AO


Per the analogy, you should call yourself non-religious. Not atheist.

NP.

But it's not just a lack of religion. One can not follow a religion and still believe in a spirituality; that's not what an atheist is or does.
Anonymous
Post 01/03/2017 20:59     Subject: Do atheists fancy themselves as nonconformists?
My husband is an atheist, and I'm a mostly-secular Jew. Neither of us thinks of ourselves as non-conformists, nor would we ever call ourselves that. We don't bring up religion at all in conversation unless pressed to do so, and the same goes for the rest of our social circle, regardless of religion (we have friends and family who are Jewish, Protestant, Catholic, Muslim, Buddhist, agnostic and atheist).
Anonymous
Post 01/03/2017 20:51     Subject: Do atheists fancy themselves as nonconformists?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:When an atheist believes in atheism, what does the atheist believe is doing the believing?


Atheist is the lack of belief in a deity. Atheists don't believe in atheism just as non-addicts are not addicted to non-addiction.


But who goes around calling themself a "non addict"?

No one. So your analogy


FAILS


If we lived in a culture in which most people were addicts, the people who were not would distinguish themselves by calling themselves non-addicts


I didn't grow up with religion so I have never defined myself in relation to religion (or lack thereof). It's not part of my culture at all. I only call myself an atheist on DCUM responding to atheist-bashing threads. -AO


Per the analogy, you should call yourself non-religious. Not atheist.
Anonymous
Post 01/03/2017 19:01     Subject: Do atheists fancy themselves as nonconformists?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:When an atheist believes in atheism, what does the atheist believe is doing the believing?


Atheist is the lack of belief in a deity. Atheists don't believe in atheism just as non-addicts are not addicted to non-addiction.


But who goes around calling themself a "non addict"?

No one. So your analogy


FAILS


If we lived in a culture in which most people were addicts, the people who were not would distinguish themselves by calling themselves non-addicts


I didn't grow up with religion so I have never defined myself in relation to religion (or lack thereof). It's not part of my culture at all. I only call myself an atheist on DCUM responding to atheist-bashing threads. -AO
Anonymous
Post 01/03/2017 17:56     Subject: Do atheists fancy themselves as nonconformists?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:When an atheist believes in atheism, what does the atheist believe is doing the believing?


Atheist is the lack of belief in a deity. Atheists don't believe in atheism just as non-addicts are not addicted to non-addiction.


But who goes around calling themself a "non addict"?

No one. So your analogy


FAILS


If we lived in a culture in which most people were addicts, the people who were not would distinguish themselves by calling themselves non-addicts
Anonymous
Post 01/03/2017 16:31     Subject: Do atheists fancy themselves as nonconformists?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:When an atheist believes in atheism, what does the atheist believe is doing the believing?


Atheist is the lack of belief in a deity. Atheists don't believe in atheism just as non-addicts are not addicted to non-addiction.


But who goes around calling themself a "non addict"?

No one. So your analogy


FAILS


Lots of people do.

"Neurotypical" is the phrase that covers people who are not addicts and who don't have other mental health issues.
Anonymous
Post 01/03/2017 16:24     Subject: Do atheists fancy themselves as nonconformists?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:When an atheist believes in atheism, what does the atheist believe is doing the believing?


Atheist is the lack of belief in a deity. Atheists don't believe in atheism just as non-addicts are not addicted to non-addiction.


But who goes around calling themself a "non addict"?

No one. So your analogy


FAILS
Anonymous
Post 01/03/2017 16:02     Subject: Do atheists fancy themselves as nonconformists?
Anonymous wrote:When an atheist believes in atheism, what does the atheist believe is doing the believing?


Atheist is the lack of belief in a deity. Atheists don't believe in atheism just as non-addicts are not addicted to non-addiction.