Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Starman
Atheism is a philosophical category, while Christianity is a theological category, but atheism is not and organized group like Christianity. There are lots of different types of atheist, and I guess one can also say there are lots of different types of Christian.
The term atheist is a juxtaposition to Christianity, just like Muslims call non-Muslims “infidels.“ Jews call non-Jews gentiles, etc. Every religion has a name for those who are not part of their religion, this goes back many centuries.
But every religion is fractured into many sects or denominations, who practice their religion differently then other sects or denominations of their own religion. It is the same with atheism. All atheists are not the same. It is important to understand that atheism is but one perspective, or cosmological view. Commonly called theism, which is a person’s thesis on life.
Christians are deists, they believe in a deity called Jesus Christ, but there are also monotheists, which is what Jews are, atheists mostly believe in science, while agnostics may say prove that God exists. A pantheists believes that everything is God, while a polytheist believes in more than one God.
There are lots of different belief systems out there. The word religion means “bond” or to bind. To give reverence to God. But I do understand that you are sharing your view and the way that you see it.  |
Agreed. Atheism is a philosophical category and literally not a belief system. I often wonder about 'beleive in science' as if it were similar to believing in a religious fantasy. Science is a system of hypothesising, and then testing, to find out what is true. Science makes no religious claims because where's the repeatable experiment?' If you don't blindly believe in a religious convention because there is no conclusive evidence. If you want to be right in science, you have to prove to your peers that something works. Measure, test, and repeat. If repeatable, then the principle can be used to make accurate predictions, and on the whole, if it can be captured with mathematical formula, it just ain't science.
I think the Christians referred to non-Christians as 'heathens' or 'heretics'. The religious usually make up derogatory words for those without God(s). 'Heathen' implies savages, barbarians, uncivilised, immoral. Heretic implies someone who is hostile toward or at least against Christianity, and therefore evil. Such words are not used kindly. 'Infidel' is also derogatory - often coupled with 'dog' or some other slur. 'Gentile' seems non-judgmental - a neutral way of factually saying someone isn't Jewish.