Is Atheism Becoming a Religion?

Originally Posted by 002 Cents

I get the feeling there is a terrible miscommunication going on between us and I am not understanding why.

Do you think I am Christian?

Do you think I am not familiar with the history of Christmas and Christianity?

"I'm fed up with the whole argument of this religion versus that religion and until such time as someone bans religion (which I don't agree with) or until religions start talking to each other as adults it's always going to be there. I don't have a problem with any religion, what I have a problem with is what people use it for."

Right here, I couldn't agree with you more. For me I have taken this frustration to a point where I am more than just the person standing in the median criticizing all that is wrong with the world. Instead I try to encourage others to see what I have seen my whole life. That we aren't so much different as we are the same. Trust me in my case it is an uphill battle, as I was raised in a home that taught every kind of self importance, those who are closest to me will never see what I see.

Why is it you presume I don't understand the motivations behind his actions?

Without knowing him personally one can't assume to know his back history with religion to know why he has such a distaste for it. But you don't need to know the back story to know the difference between right and wrong.

As I have stated I see this as an "Eye for an Eye" maneuver on his part.

I am not going to dispute with you your idea of what constitutes enlightened. I don't assume I am or claim to be such. Nor do I believe 99% of the people who do, have any clue what enlightenment is. So I am not sure where you get that from. I think I would be best defined as a critical observer and a cheerleader of sorts. Trying to empathize for one mans blatant disregard for the beliefs of others is not a valuable investment of my time.

Regardless,

Unless you call spleen-venting communication, 002 Cents lol. From the snapshot of what I see of you in these forums, many of your views and beliefs are not so far apart from mine being honest. Perhaps the only major difference is you uphill battle, whereas I just wave my arm at it all and let people get on with it. People are going to think and believe what they want, it has been long since I stopped trying to change people's beliefs, I just state my case and have done with it. Laissez-faire works for me.

Billboard guy coming in from an anti-Christian standpoint won't endear him to many people I don't think, unless he wants to attract anti-Christian people. He's not the kind of guy I would like to have a friendly beer with anyway, although on saying that it might be interesting just the same. While I don't agree with his methods what I'd rather do is try and understand his reasoning behind them. Everyone can justify their own actions using the right words, and to him perhaps he's doing the right thing. Other than that, it's not for me to judge whether he's right or wrong.

I don't find the religion so interesting in itself, I prefer to look at the people themselves - which is why the Mary Magdalene texts caught my attention. It's as though there was a story of real people and not puppets for the metaphor as some of the Bible characters come across as.

Perhaps Atheism is becoming a religion and perhaps it already is. From what I can see it's an opportunity to observe, because there could well be the story of so many other religions and how they formed. Yes, the core beliefs might be different but I often wonder how many of the same old attitudes are still here 2,000 years on. I did a little digging into Christian history and before the Council of Nycea there were any number of sects, did these sects separate themselves by decrying another sect? Do the different 'flavours' of Christianity talk to each other? It makes me wonder if all we are seeing is history repeating itself over and over again.

Oh, by the way. I can't seem to find the shotgun icon.

[002 Cents]

I'm good with that.

Don't know if you ever watched this but it is a truly informative 4 hour history of Christianity.

It's 2 parts and I am hoping you can access them both from this page if you are interested. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/

Covers the different sects and how they were whittled down to just the Orthodox which spawned the faith as we know it today. From what I can tell Orthodox wanted to dominate the faith and were able to do so with the aid of Constantine. Much was omitted from the final text, the "Bible" as we know it. Mary's gospel was belonging to the Gnostic branch of Christianity as was the Gospel of Thomas. Another interesting read.

Not getting the shotgun blurb... unless you just don't like hugging smileys...

Sorry 002 Cents, the shotgun reference wasn't aimed at you :-) Sometimes I want to use a metaphorical one on some of the people in these here hallowed forums, but no doubt the moderators would frown on it.

I believe that if you take the candy floss from around religion, none of them are so far apart after all. A rose by any other name, etc? At this time of year, the message is the same no matter if you're Christian or Pagan. Most Pagan religions all say the same about this time of year, the darkest day being the turning point to lighter days and more sunshine - Hope springs eternal and all that. Christian beliefs are not too far behind, but then they wouldn't be. Mind you, in all of these Atheist versus Christian discussions I have never seen anything that says that Atheists could well be doing God's work after all, that didn't seem to occur to people. Looking behind the mask, perhaps billboard guy is doing some good after all because both Atheists and Christians are up in arms about it. Not many people seemed to pick up on that one. Perhaps behind the shock and horror there's something else worth looking at?

Thanks, I'll take a bimble through the link and see what's there. I tend to dib and dab all over the place when it comes to this kind of stuff. Have a look at http://www.goldenageproject.org.uk/genesis.php What they're doing is taking a different slant on the Biblical Genesis by looking at a more direct translation. The first line at the very top of the page captures my imagination - ". . . and the ruah of the Shining Ones hovered over its waters ". The Shining/Golden Ones crop up all over the place in history.

I personally think that atheism provides needed balance against the extreme fundamentalists.

Originally Posted by iolite

I personally think that atheism provides needed balance against the extreme fundamentalists.

Perhaps there are already extreme fundamentalist Atheists already waiting in the wings. It's never religion that's the problem but what people do with it.

[002 Cents]

Originally Posted by Greenslade

Looking behind the mask, perhaps billboard guy is doing some good after all because both Atheists and Christians are up in arms about it. Not many people seemed to pick up on that one. Perhaps behind the shock and horror there's something else worth looking at?

See this is why I like conversing with you so much cause every now and again you have this brilliant little bit that I had not considered myself.

Sorry I had to lol at the "Atheists doing God's work". The irony of the concept cracks me up.

Thanks for the link.

Originally Posted by 002 Cents

See this is why I like conversing with you so much cause every now and again you have this brilliant little bit that I had not considered myself.

Sorry I had to lol at the "Atheists doing God's work". The irony of the concept cracks me up.

Thanks for the link.

More than welcome, and if it brought a smile to your face even better :-)

It's been said that once upon a time there was a single Consciousness in the Universe, all alone in the night. Then one day that Consciousness did something that changed the Universe forever. It asked the question - Who Am I? In order to answer that question it split itself into two so that it could look at itself. Whether that's true or a metaphor I don't know because I wasn't there at the time, but it makes so much sense. Everything in this Life - including these forums - is about I Am and I am Not. I Am not one to take offence as I believe it is as bad to take offence as it is to give it. Paradoxically I Am someone who doesn't see things as black and white in this Universe but as shades of grey. While I'm still human I seek that place beyond right and wrong, beyond judgement. I Am someone who tries to look behind the mask of what's in front of my face while still very much aware that I'm in Plato's Allegory of the Cave.

What has all that to do with the billboards? Everything. What I see is two diverse religions (if Atheism in this case is classed as religion but the jury is still out on that one) doing what they believe in is right for them. Being honest, if it came to court it would be an interesting case because while there is evidence to support Christianity and its beliefs there's just as much to support the Atheist case on this one. If it came down to the Truth about Christmas then my money is with the Pagans here. While there's historical evidence around Christianity to be what it purports to be, there's also enough to say it isn't. Coming down the the core, the original belief system in that area came from the Sumerians and everything that came after - including Christianity - is a variation of that theme. Like it or not religion is based on beliefs and not facts, and there aren't enough facts to state a solid case either way. I Am someone who gets past his indignation and offence and tries to see the reasons behind what is really going on here. I can also see reasoning on both sides and none of them have the right to take any moral high ground.

[Fresco]

Atheism is definitely becoming more popular, thats for sure. Especially militant atheism!
I almost get the feeling guys like Hitchens and Dawkins wont be happy till Christianity (and its followers) has been entirely removed from earth.

Its kinda funny since most atheists are Liberals, and Libs tend to pride themselves on their tolerance

[Chrysaetos]

Originally Posted by Fresco

Its kinda funny since most atheists are Liberals, and Libs tend to pride themselves on their tolerance

Tolerance is not the same as moral nihilism.
And Dawkins does a good job for showing the bad sides of religion, Hitchens is just a douchebag.

Moral nihilism? Where did that come from? While I'm an Atheist I can't talk for all Atheists, but moral nihilism doesn't even get a look in for me.