"Attaching a label to something carries real liabilities, especially if the thing you are naming isn’t really a thing at all. And atheism, I would argue, is not a thing. It is not a philosophy, just as “non-racism” is not one. Atheism is not a worldview—and yet most people imagine it to be one and attack it as such. We who do not believe in God are collaborating in this misunderstand
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When you say Einstein said, "I am, of course, and have always been an atheist." is dishonest. The real quote is, "From the viewpoint of a Jesuit priest I am, of course, and have always been an atheist." - Albert Einstein, letter to Guy H. Raner Jr, July 2, 1945, responding to a rumor that a Jesuit priest had caused Einstein to convert from atheism; quoted by Michael R.
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Wow, for quoting Einstein, Dawkins, Harris and Sagan, all of whom didn't have a hell of a lot of nice things to say about Atheists? Any wonder the 1.6% of Americans who are Atheist are the most mistrusted and disliked people in America, including rapists? http://atheism.about.com/od/atheistbigotryprejudice/a/Atheists-Trusted-Less-Than-Rapists.htm
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Much less respond. Give yourself a rest.
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Same here. I became nothing in the wake of my profound disillusionment with religion after 9-11. I figured Nietzsche was right, God was dead. Or as good as dead since He didn't care enough to intervene to prevent 9-11. That was depressing and left me feeling really hopeless. I began my search for meaning without religion. I found it through reading about the historical figures I admired, Jeffer
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When only 1.6% of Americans are Atheist, why are so many ExMo's Atheist? I've been called a stupid coward for not identifying myself as an Atheist on this board. I guess Einstein and Sam Harris would be considered stupid cowards by many Atheists in this group, so that doesn't bother me at all, but it just speaks to the intolerance of many ExMormons towards those of us who don't want to identify o
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Honestly I'd love to see a survey of what percentage of ExMo's are Atheist. It seems like a disproportionately large percentage. Although Nones (people who do not identify with any religion in particular) make up 20% of the population http://www.pewforum.org/2012/10/09/nones-on-the-rise/ only 1.6% of Americans identify themselves as Atheists, according to the latest statistics I've seen.
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and all give great reasons for rejecting the Atheist label for good reason, not just because identifying yourself as an Atheist is the worst thing you could do for your love life http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2014/06/24/all-in-the-family-not-for-atheists/ Or that Americans trust Atheists about as much as they trust rapists. http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/religion/story/2011-12-10/
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"I have repeatedly said that in my opinion the idea of a personal God is a childlike one. You may call me an agnostic, but I do not share the crusading spirit of the professional atheist whose fervor is mostly due to a painful act of liberation from the fetters of religious indoctrination received in youth. I prefer an attitude of humility corresponding to the weakness of our intellectual un
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74% of Americans believe in God, that's 26% of people who don't believe in God, yet only 2.4% of Americans are Atheists. That means that for every Atheist in the US, there are 10 people who don't believe in God, who are NOT atheists, (23.6%) like me. I'm not that unusual. I'm 10 times more usual than Atheists, among those who don't believe in God.
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Pray for what? That always seems so pointless to me, UH, God, I know you're supposed to be omniscient and everything, but uh, I know better than you what course of action you should determine for the world, please spare the old man's life so that some other old man doesn't have to take over for him! Thanks Jesus!!! Oh and just for future reference, if want to check with me before making a
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No, not creepy, just curious. Sent you an email. Thanks for reaching out.
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#1. I don't like the idea of trading one religious identity for an identity that depends upon my former identity. IOW, I don't like the idea of identifying myself in terms I reject, like theist or atheist. I'm not a gnostic nor an agnostic. I'm not a stamp collector or a Non-stamp collector. #2. Why identify myself in terms that are meaningless to me? #3. If I had to identify myself as
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Cryptic. But I contacted the Webmaster. I don't have Susan's contact info or yours. How am I supposed to contact you?
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It'd be good if we did a social experiment to see if Christians would take money that said, "In Allah We Trust" any less than the average Atheist. But I doubt anybody would fund it, haha
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http://www.harrisinteractive.com/NewsRoom/HarrisPolls/tabid/447/ctl/ReadCustom%20Default/mid/1508/ArticleId/1353/Default.aspx But that number is in decline. At what point do we take "In God We Trust" off of our money? When that figure hits 49%? Take a look at the people we Americans elect to make our laws for us. 76% of them identify with some religion. While only 20% are una
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...what do you intend to do about it? Stop accepting money that says, "In God We Trust" on it? I doubt you've got THAT big of a problem with it.
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I've never seen a comment by Einstein that addressed our Nation's Motto, but I suspect he wouldn't have a problem with it either, since he used the word, "God" all the time, as in, "We should take care not to make the intellect our god; it has, of course, powerful muscles, but no personality." "Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge
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...to the part of the universe that is a mystery?" Because we have better names than the name, "God" for the things that are no longer mysteries. Of course, when scientists freely admit that 96% of the Universe is composed of a great big giant mystery we call "Dark Matter/Energy" what isn't a mystery? I think "Dark Matter/Energy" is a pretty stupid nam
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Yes, I realize that "In God We Trust" was adopted as the official motto of the United States in 1956 as an alternative or replacement to the unofficial motto of E pluribus unum, which was adopted when the Great Seal of the United States was created and adopted in 1782.[1][2]" Just as I am well aware that the phrase, "In God we trust" first appeared on U.S. coins i
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I'm not an atheist, nor am I a theist. I don't believe in the God of the Bible or any other God. I believe the word, "God" is a metaphor for the creative forces of the universe, which combine to permeate and animate the Universe, which tends towards life and consciousness, since we exist. I trust that mystery will continue to maintain the balance that has existed for billions of ye
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I KNOW! That's the point!!! He totally and completely rejected any kind of a personal God as naive and childish. I'm not asking about any kind of a personal God. I don't believe in a personal God either. But I do believe in Einstein's God, just like Dawkins says he does in the first Chapter of "The God Delusion" where he calls himself, "A Deeply Religious Non-Believer" just l
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I agree with what you've said so far. Trust me, we have much more in common than different. The first thing I said to myself in response to 9-11 was, "Nietzsche was right. God is dead." I was at that deepest darkest point of my life, a nihilist. And I agree with Nietzsche, to a certain extent. I think what he meant was "God is dead in the hearts of the people". IOW, the
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http://www.brainpickings.org/2015/01/09/krista-tippett-einsteins-god-janna-levin/
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What the hell did he know?
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Can you imagine? http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v703/brotherofelijah/CHURCH.jpg
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doesn't mean our higher needs, for community, belonging, love, self actualization and self transcendence evaporate. We still have those needs and there are ways of fulfilling those needs outside of religion of course, but they're just not as obvious or convenient. I honestly think that the "cosmic religion of the future" that Einstein spoke of, is probably a lot like Buddhism. Sayi
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"God" "Expression of Human Weakness" Thanks for your response in the closed thread about Einstein's God. But it didn't really answer my question. Are you okay with Einstein's God? Einstein clearly used the word, "God" to communicate an idea, not of a personal Sky Daddy, but of a kind of divine clockwork behind the movement of celestial bodies in our night s
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Damn, somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed! What a jerk! Newsflash: Just because you're an atheist, doesn't mean you have to be an asshole.
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Actually, the word, 'God' is synonymous with the ancient Greek word, "Logos" which is where we get the word, "Logic", but it means much more than logic. Even in the Bible the word "God" is synonymous with Logos. The original Greek version of the Bible said, "In the beginning was the Logos, and the Logos was with God, and the Logos was God. Logos was wi
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