Is Atheism a religious cult? (believe, scientific, debate, atheist)
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An Atheist's Creed
I believe in a purely material universe that conforms to naturalistic laws and principles.
I believe that the life we have is the only one we will have, that the mind and consciousness are inseparable from the brain, that we cease to exist in any conscious form when we die, and that it is therefore incumbent on us to enable each person to live their one life to the fullest.
I believe in the power of science and reason and rationality to further deepen our understanding of everything around us and to eventually overcome superstition and erase the petty divisions sown by religion, race, ethnicity, and nationality.
An important point of clarification is necessary. When the word 'believe' is used in the creed, it is in the scientific sense of the word. Scientists realize that almost all knowledge is tentative and that one knows very few things for certain. But based on credible evidence and logical reasoning, one can arrive at firm conclusions about, and hence 'believe', some things such as that the universe is billions of years old or that the force of gravity exists. It is in this sense that the word 'believe' is used in the creed below, as an implicit acknowledgment of our lack of absolute certainty.
This use is in stark contrast to the way that the word is used by religious people. They not only believe things for which there is little or no evidence or reason, but even in spite of evidence to the contrary, and defying reason.
Some religious apologists try to exploit the fact that the same word belief is used in both situations to suggest that atheism is as much an irrational act of faith as belief in god. This is sophistry and is simply false.
Here's a different statement of belief by Penn Jillette
Here's a different statement of belief by Penn Jillette
Thanks for including the source, my bad.
Saying I believe there is no God is basically a belief system and no different than saying I believe there is a God. Nevertheless, your explanation regarding "BELIEVE" is quite elegant.
It looks like it because it uses rather elevated prose in a series of statements reminiscent of the Nicene creed - probably deliberately. That can make it look like a cult, but it isn't. It is no more than a series of conclusions that tend to follow from a worldview that is not based on a god - belief.
Based on logic, reason and evidence, rather than Faith, Dogma and supposition.
That is why it differs from the Nicene or any other religious creed and that is why it does not indicate a cult or religion.
It looks like it because it uses rather elevated prose in a series of statements reminiscent of the Nicene creed - probably deliberately. That can make it look like a cult, but it isn't. It is no more than a series of conclusions that tend to follow from a worldview that is not based on a god - belief.
Based on logic, reason and evidence, rather than Faith, Dogma and supposition.
That is why it differs from the Nicene or any other religious creed and that is why it does not indicate a cult or religion.
Nevertheless it is a belief system, perhaps much more accurate, but still a belief system. I rather be an agnostic.
Nevertheless it is a belief system, perhaps much more accurate, but still a belief system. I rather be an agnostic.
Not necessarily. There is a constant debate about what the word "atheist" really means. Some stipulate it is the active belief that there is no god. Others say that it is the lack of belief in any god. The difference might seem minute, but they really are two distinct thought processes, with very different conclusions.
Nevertheless it is a belief system, perhaps much more accurate, but still a belief system. I rather be an agnostic.
Atheists are agnostics. By refusing the 'belief system' an agnostic is simply refusing to arrive at conclusions based on the evidence. The atheist Belief system is not, like religion or cult, a Faith system.
Not necessarily. There is a constant debate about what the word "atheist" really means. Some stipulate it is the active belief that there is no god. Others say that it is the lack of belief in any god. The difference might seem minute, but they really are two distinct thought processes, with very different conclusions.
You are correct, but the differences, while real, make nether a belief system that goes so far as having faith in what is not reasonable. It is simply a refusal to buy into the unverified god - belief.
How strongly one does that may lead from a lack of belief in a god to a definite belief that there is no god, but I rather think that depends on just what one means by 'god'.
I believe there is no Biblegod. I do not believe in any other kind of god. Two different god - concepts, to different degrees of disbelief.
Nevertheless it is a belief system, perhaps much more accurate, but still a belief system. I rather be an agnostic.
So you believe that you don't know what you believe, or you believe that you don't believe in a deity.
I don't believe that makes you part of a cult, any more than I believe that a statement in which the non-believer says what he or she does believe in makes the non-believer part of a cult.
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