Would you label me as an atheist? (souls, agnostic, Baptist)

[Jumbo10]

I have trouble believing in other people's God and the concept of a single creator and ruler. Seems more psychologically driven to me (which I can understand) and I'm trying to focus more on individuals and character than personal religious beliefs.

I believe there is something greater than human life but accept that humans will never know. I don't believe in an exclusive heaven and I'm not sure about any sort of afterlife, since as far as I know I haven't died yet Hopefully there is an afterlife, but the thought that there isn't actually makes life more precious and meaningful to me.

I don't feel very spiritual but believe in the human soul and feel there are blessed and troubled souls and we can all work to improve our souls.

Seems like a lot of theists stereotype atheists as not at all spiritual and being 100% certain there is no God or any sort of afterlife.

So how would you label me? Feel free to poke fun too, especially if it makes you feel better - just don't do it in a prejudice way

[BaptistFundie]

Originally Posted by Jumbo10

I have trouble believing in other people's God and the concept of a single creator and ruler. Seems more psychologically driven to me (which I can understand) and I'm trying to focus more on individuals and character than personal religious beliefs.

I believe there is something greater than human life but accept that humans will never know. I don't believe in an exclusive heaven and I'm not sure about any sort of afterlife, since as far as I know I haven't died yet Hopefully there is an afterlife, but the thought that there isn't actually makes life more precious and meaningful to me.

I don't feel very spiritual but believe in the human soul and feel there are blessed and troubled souls and we can all work to improve our souls.

Seems like a lot of theists stereotype atheists as not at all spiritual and being 100% certain there is no God or any sort of afterlife.

So how would you label me? Feel free to poke fun too, especially if it makes you feel better - just don't do it in a prejudice way

You'd be considered an "agnostic". A true atheist believes there is no God. An agnostic simply doesn't know.

Incidentally, Romans 1 says there is no such thing as a true atheist. People know by looking at nature, at the universe that something created it.

[badlander]

Originally Posted by BaptistFundie

You'd be considered an "agnostic". A true atheist believes there is no God. An agnostic simply doesn't know.

Incidentally, Romans 1 says there is no such thing as a true atheist. People know by looking at nature, at the universe that something created it.

Please stop making up or using false definitions. This is one of the reasons, I suppise, there is a thread on how we can all get along. So you got to definitions out of two wrong however there is no prize for doing that. On another thread you made statements on who were and we're not Christians. And to those that posted on the Oreen thread, this is one of the reasons atheist post on this forum, to correct the falsehoods about atheists that some believers spread.

[Tired of the Nonsense]

Originally Posted by Jumbo10

I have trouble believing in other people's God and the concept of a single creator and ruler. Seems more psychologically driven to me (which I can understand) and I'm trying to focus more on individuals and character than personal religious beliefs.

I believe there is something greater than human life but accept that humans will never know. I don't believe in an exclusive heaven and I'm not sure about any sort of afterlife, since as far as I know I haven't died yet Hopefully there is an afterlife, but the thought that there isn't actually makes life more precious and meaningful to me.

I don't feel very spiritual but believe in the human soul and feel there are blessed and troubled souls and we can all work to improve our souls.

Seems like a lot of theists stereotype atheists as not at all spiritual and being 100% certain there is no God or any sort of afterlife.

So how would you label me? Feel free to poke fun too, especially if it makes you feel better - just don't do it in a prejudice way

If you are angry with God, or still in someway suppose that God exists, then you cannot be an atheist. We are not excluding you. To be an atheist means to have no belief in God. If you still suspect that God exists you are not an atheist by definition.

Give it time. The more you actively consider the idea of God the more you will come to recognize that God never existed to begin with. OR... you will fall back into your believing ways because you never really got over the idea that there is a God.

[Murk]

Atheist -- a person who does not believe in the existence of a god or any gods

Agnostic -- a person who holds the view that any ultimate reality (such as God) is unknown and probably unknowable

BaptistFundie was basically right. (I got these from Merrian-Webster dictionary)

What other definitions of these words supposedly exist?

I think lots of people are on a sliding scale when it comes to spirituality or religion and there really aren't any set terms for them (or need to find one).

[mstelm]

This is describing to me a line of questions that will lead you to answer but its not an answer you'll get from other equal people ( as all people are on the same level)

these are questions that will be answered by life

cheers

[badlander]

Originally Posted by Murk

Atheist -- a person who does not believe in the existence of a god or any gods

Agnostic -- a person who holds the view that any ultimate reality (such as God) is unknown and probably unknowable

BaptistFundie was basically right. (I got these from Merrian-Webster dictionary)

What other definitions of these words supposedly exist?

I think lots of people are on a sliding scale when it comes to spirituality or religion and there really aren't any set terms for them (or need to find one).

BaptistFundie claimed that an atheist believes there are no Gods. And yes some atheists do believe there is no God. The definition you provided is different, a lack of belief and that is different from a belief in no God. One can be agnostic and an atheist or agnostic and a theist. The OP was looking for a proper definition of what he was and the narrow definition that BaptistFundie gave could not assist the OP in determining where he sat. BaptistFundie would only be basically correct for a small segment of atheists.

Wikipedia gives a much more detail explanation about both terms. The definition that BaptistFundie gave not only is of that segment of atheists but also places a positive claim by them.

[Tired of the Nonsense]

Originally Posted by BaptistFundie

You'd be considered an "agnostic". A true atheist believes there is no God. An agnostic simply doesn't know.

Atheism is NOT a belief system. A true atheist does not "believe there is no God." A true atheist does not subscribe to any belief in the existence of God. There is a serious difference here. DO you "believe" that there is no Santa, or Odin, or Zeus? Or do you simply not for a moment suppose that these things are or ever were real and valid?

Originally Posted by BaptistFundie

Incidentally, Romans 1 says there is no such thing as a true atheist.

Paul was a firm believer, by the way. He had no concept of what it meant to be an atheist. As we can see, believers are the very LEAST LIKELY to understand atheism.

Originally Posted by BaptistFundie

People know by looking at nature, at the universe that something created it.

For thousands of years people knew by looking at the night sky that all of creation revolves around the earth.
For thousands of years, as it has turned out, people were fulla bulla.

[Arach Angle]

Originally Posted by Jumbo10

I have trouble believing in other people's God and the concept of a single creator and ruler. Seems more psychologically driven to me (which I can understand) and I'm trying to focus more on individuals and character than personal religious beliefs.

I believe there is something greater than human life but accept that humans will never know. I don't believe in an exclusive heaven and I'm not sure about any sort of afterlife, since as far as I know I haven't died yet Hopefully there is an afterlife, but the thought that there isn't actually makes life more precious and meaningful to me.

I don't feel very spiritual but believe in the human soul and feel there are blessed and troubled souls and we can all work to improve our souls.

Seems like a lot of theists stereotype atheists as not at all spiritual and being 100% certain there is no God or any sort of afterlife.

So how would you label me? Feel free to poke fun too, especially if it makes you feel better - just don't do it in a prejudice way

well, when people have a visceral reaction to the word "god" that is an indicator of a brain state. When we look at the cause of the physical reaction it quickly becomes apparent that religion isn't the primary issue.

That's just a fact, nothing we can do about those types. certainly, don't let them decide what is valid or invalid based on their personal instability, that is for sure. "practical" isn't a reason to change "how the universe works", especially when its a gut wrenching event that is determining the practicality.

no omni dude belief ... atheist. thats it. don't bite on the milli version, look how stalin, castro, lenin, and others (po pot or whatever his name is) did once they gained power under the flag of "activist for equality."

[BaptistFundie]

Originally Posted by Tired of the Nonsense

Atheism is NOT a belief system. A true atheist does not "believe there is no God." A true atheist does not subscribe to any belief in the existence of God. There is a serious difference here. DO you "believe" that there is no Santa, or Odin, or Zeus? Or do you simply not for a moment suppose that these things are or ever were real and valid?

Of course it is. You function according to what you believe. It's why you act as you do--it's why you come here to tell all of us rubes we're wrong.

Paul was a firm believer, by the way. He had no concept of what it meant to be an atheist. As we can see, believers are the very LEAST LIKELY to understand atheism.

He was also inspired and his writing was "God-breathed".

For thousands of years people knew by looking at the night sky that all of creation revolves around the earth.
For thousands of years, as it has turned out, people were fulla bulla.

OK? Good for you.

It's interesting that you used the word "creation", by saying that it revolved around the earth. Obviously they had part of it wrong, but they do realize that there is a Creator.