We shouldn't need the word Atheism. If people didn't keep inventing gods I wouldn't have to keep explaining why I don't believe in them :)
— Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) November 22, 2015It is only through aggressive proselytizing that we are convinced that the supernatural is natural.
It isn't.
Agnosticism is our natural state. One becomes either religious or atheistic via aggressive proselytizing.
ReplyDeleteI have found that most people do not really understand atheism. "Atheism is not a disbelief in gods or a denial of gods; it is a lack of belief in gods. Older dictionaries define atheism as "a belief that there is no God."
DeleteLack of belief in something is not active disbelief. Thefere atheism IS our natural state.
2:39 -- we aren't born believing in a god or not.The brainwashing begins early, however. I would say agnosticism is YOUR natural state.
DeleteFor more and more people, this God-NO-God stuff is just irrelevant.
It is superstitious stuff that gets people through the night, I guess.
Nope -- kids don't think about a god or no god. YOUR natural state is agnosticism.
ReplyDelete"Agnostic: a person who believes that nothing is known or can be known of the existence or nature of God or of anything beyond material phenomena; a person who claims neither faith nor disbelief in God."
DeleteKids don't think like this…..
That's how i CAME to think after 30 years of indoctrination in an extremely ritualistic branch of organized religion.
DeleteKids don't think about differential calculus or European world history. But once theyre educated, they develop ideas & opinions, so I don't buy that argument. Sorry.
DeleteAtheists like you and Ricky are assholes.
ReplyDeleteThat's mighty Xian of you to say.
DeleteLook in the mirror.
DeleteRicky Gervais is incredibly articulate. Does the truth hurt?
DeleteI believe in God, am a follower of Jesus, and a liberal Democrat, I am proud to say.
ReplyDeleteMy problem with atheists is not that they don't believe in God (that is their business and I don't care), but that they make fun of those of us who do believe in God.
I don't proselytize, but I do proudly proclaim my belief in God and Jesus. Signed, liberal Democrat.
I would say your proclamation is almost militaristic.
DeleteI liked the comment i read somewhere where a guy had taught his children to proclaim whatever religion it took to keep themselves alive...
Delete... since he and his family were atheists, anyway.
4:34: I don't mean to make fun of anyone; however I seriously have a problem with those that believe stories written in a book by people who didn't know where the sun went at night. And o have a problem with people who demand proof of evolution; but counter by saying 'they' don't have to prove the existence of God and an afterlife because they have 'faith.' Now if that isn't a double standard, I don't know what is.
DeleteThe atheist proselytizing on this blog is borderline militaristic.
ReplyDeleteMaybe because an atheist owns and writes it?
DeleteWhy are you here?
But the constant 24-hours a day christian proselytizing everywhere else is not?
ReplyDeleteI see from the above comments that this could get fun. I believe Gervais pretty much nailed it.
ReplyDeleteNotice I wrote, "I believe."
Maybe the term should be shifted to 'secular humanism'. Few people would know what that meant, and fewer would look it up. Therefore the stigma of atheism is abolished, and Xtian people can quit hating those who do not follow their dogma. WWJD?
ReplyDeleteWhat Would Jessie Do?
DeleteWhy should atheism be stigmatized and why should atheists bend over backwards to appease those who feel threatened by the word. A-theism: lack of god. It is as simple as it gets. It reninds of those who abandoned the word "liberal" and allowed the right wing to make them feel threatened.
DeleteI remember back in the 70s and 80s when conservatives threw the term "secular humanism" around using about the same tone that a person would use when saying "child molester."
DeleteSo no, that wouldn't work. I also don't see why someone should tiptoe around what they believe to try to please people who will never be pleased.
I refuse to cede the word to the ignorant who want to stigmatize it.
DeleteTalking to a Muslim guy a while ago and he just couldn't accept that I didn't believe in some version of Yahweh. Daesh says the same thing. Christians can just submit and pay them a tax but us Atheists must die! I say cool, I'm glad to be enemy #1.
ReplyDeleteLosers.
Sorry, but "a non-belief in gods" is NOT the natural state of humans. Humans have always believed there was something bigger and higher than themselves. Their precarious lives, the powers of nature to kill and heal, and the vast starry sky above them proved this to them. Do not doubt for a minute that they believed in these higher powers.
ReplyDeleteEarly on, of course , their conception of the Divine was *not* the form of deity most people now think about when they hear the word "God." That came much later in human history.
But the natural state of humans IS to believe in a higher power or powers, along with a tendency to placate it/them to their own advantage. And that's pretty much in the archeological & anthropological records, such as they are.
Nope. Wrong again.
DeleteThese believers were Early Man. It's 2015 and science has stepped into the picture. It's comforting to think of the Higher Power looking after you, but heaven and hell are what you make of your life on earth -- where you only live once, a miracle to be sure, but the life force is strong and been shown to spontaneously erupt and evolve over eons, multiple times if need be. Watch science documentaries. :D
DeleteBarbara--I like your comment and definitely agree, especially about the "heaven and hell" part.
DeleteWe participate in helping create heaven and hell on this earth for other people, too. Any responsible secularist I have ever spoken with takes that responsibility very seriously---sad to say, unlike many of the religious people I know.
Did y'all know that the term 'catholic', when pronounced with the emphasis on the second syllable, is Greek for 'universal'?
ReplyDeleteYup.
DeleteThere is only one God. And nobody is waiting for Ricky Gervais to explain why he does not believe in God. Nobody cares Ricky. You are just seeking attention. If you don't believe in God NOBODY gives one iota, you don't have to keep broadcasting it.
ReplyDelete"There is only one God."
DeleteZeus, Athena, Odin, Thor, Ra, Shiva, Vishnu, etc. would like a word with you.
Says you. And nobody cares what you say or what you believe. You are just seeking to raise yourself above others by raising your god above others.
DeleteReligion keeps its adherents in a perpetual state of childhood and immaturity. It keeps people from growing up psychologically, being accountable and taking responsibility for their own lives. It's a big scary world and it is easier to believe in a sky daddy than deal with reality and take responsibility for self determination.
ReplyDeleteWe need a new word for it, let's call all religions fairy tales. No offense to real fairy tales.
ReplyDeleteRicky is spot on.