Is there a religion for atheists?
Alain de Botton, probably the closest thing Britain has to a celebrity philosopher, has a Big Idea. Religion, he asserts, isn’t “true”, but its lack of truth is the least interesting thing about it. Instead of indulging in the dogmatic anti-theism associated with the likes of Richard Dawkins or the late Christopher Hitchens, why shouldn’t atheists just “enjoy the best bits”, as the publicity for his new book Religion For Atheists has it?
Many of us love Christmas carols, after all. Bach’s cantatas are more profound and moving than anything written in the cause of atheism. Think of all those wonderful cathedrals, mosques and temples. Religion’s power to transport the human spirit, to offer consolation and hope, to create a sense of belonging and inspire ethical conduct is undeniable even if you don’t subscribe to the doctrines of a particular belief system. So let’s work out precisely what gives religions their strength, “steal” it, bottle it and create a kind of transcendent secular humanism that will speak to people as deeply as religion does.
Yes. It's called Humanism. Or, more appropriately, self-worship and self-exaltation.
-Linda F.Atheists are often just as insecure as Christians.
-davesAnd your evidence that Christians are "insecure" is…what, exactly?
-48kindagalMy experience with every human I have ever encountered is that they all have many insecurities.
-davesWhat are you, Klingon, Vulcan, perhaps?
-MexseikoNope, just another insecure human.
-davesIf I didn't believe in anything I'd be insecure too.
-Michael G.You do not believe in anything real. It is the same thing.
-Jeff DixonIt's being taught everyday in our government schools and colleges.
-edcrandallObviously this guy is missing the whole point regarding religion. It's not the religion, it's the Faith, it's the Faith, it's the Faith that transports the human spirit, that contains the hope that gives and provides consolation, and it's Faith that inspires ethical conduct. Religion has nothing to do with any of these attributes. Religion merely brings together those of like thinking for fellowship and growth in their Faith. Trying to make Faith something from the secular world, or relate it to secular and worldly things, will not work, no matter how you try.
-SargeE5Religion, from the Latin Religare, to re-connect or re-bind oneself (to God, from whom we are separated temporarily, and to whom we will be re-united through Jesus). So, true religion is of the heart and soul of the individual.
A lot of people showing up at a building one day a week has the appearance of a collective "religion" but we would hope that the real thing is what's happening inside individuals and families.
-JhanDavisOh, YES!! ….a wonderful Mosque; how inspiring….by the way, what are the rules of engagement for blowing one's self up in a crowd of innocent people?
-AlexYes, atheists have a religion. They make of Science a god and therefore they are believers. They have "dogmas" and worship to their wrongful ideas.
-Robert De LeonRobert.
Then do not be a hypocrite. Stop using anything that science has provided to mankind. Simply pray to your god for everything you need. No electricity, no running water, no sanitized water, no doctor vists, no food grown on a farm, no clothes made at a factory, no cell phones, no computers, ect.
Or stop making idiotic comments. We do not make of science a god, we use science to improve our lives.
-Jeff DixonNot all people who use the "modern" conveniences that are available worship the knowledge (science) that makes them possible. Instead, many give thanks to the living God that he has given such knowledge and the ability to apply the knowledge to all who have made the conveniences possible.
-JohnnyNo one is worshipping the knowledge of science. The comment is asinine.
-Jeff DixonJeff sez: "No one is worshipping the knowledge of science." I agree, atheists are not worshipping operational science, which has given us many modern advances and conveniences we now enjoy. But they are worshipping the pseudo-science of evolution, which cannot be observed, tested nor repeated as can the above-mentioned scientific achievements. Evolution is merely a speculation not based on any observable,.testable nor repeatable experimentation or phenomena.
-keyboardsharkMathematics is the Language of God. He used everything related to Physics and Chemistry to create the whole Universe. God is much more beyond of any human knowledge. As simple as that.
-Robert De LeonDo you know what? I am still praying for you. As same as myself you'll die and then you will find Him.
Robert.
Sorry, Jeff. But it's because of Christianity that the world has "electricity, running water, doctor visits, healthy food, decent clothing and factories, technology and REAL science. REAL science and the Bible are NEVER, EVER in disagreement. The Bible can stand up to ANY scrutiny. It always has and it always will. If you think God is sitting up there biting His nails, worrying that mankind will come up with some discovery that disproves His existence, you can rest your little head about it. It ain't gonna' happen. I don't think you really believe half of what you say. I think you're running from God because you know in your heart of hearts that He is there. You also know He loves you.
-48kindagalNonsense. the Romans developed running water hundreds of years before Jesus was ever dreamt up.
Romans, at first, turned to the Tiber River, local springs, and shallow wells for their drinking water; but water obtained from these sources grew polluted and became inadequate for the city's growing population. It was this necessity that lead to the development of aqueduct technology. The date of the first aqueduct is assigned to the year 312 B.C.
http://www.waterhistory.org/histories/rome
Medicine has been developing long before Jesus.
The ancient Egyptianss had a system of medicine that was very advanced for its time and influenced later medical traditions. The Egyptians and Babylonians both introduced the concepts of diagnosis, prognosis, and medical examination. The Hippocratic Oath, still taken by doctors today, was written in Greece in the 5th century BCE.
-Jeff Dixonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_medicine
Using the ability to think matters through after observing the workings of gravity and the effects of different plants and compounds on the human body, these ancients came up with the knowledge that was beneficial.
-Johnny"Jesus was ever dreamt up?" What are you driving at?
-Michael G.Jesus is a myth.
-Jeff DixonTalk about idiotic comments. Do you ever read your own stuff? If you did you probably wouldn't write it.
-Michael G.Athiesm in and of itself is a religeon and is being enforced as the State Religeon.
-Ben EOf course. I am sure that the President made a reference to having atheism bless America at his State of the Union address this week.
-Jeff DixonYou may be right on the State of the Union address, but It is the Athiest's prayers we hear in public schools today, which is the real state of the Union.
-Ben EGive me an example of these prayers.
-Jeff DixonYou can't be that dumb. No prayer at all is the athiests prayer.
-Ben ESo, the prayers you hear in school are no prayers at all. Wow, talk about idiotic gibberish.
-Jeff DixonExcept that Johny is using devices invented by me – an atheist. Fortunately I spent more time reading about science and engineering so I figured out how things work rather than wasting time reading a so called "inerrant" book that is full of nothing.
-ChrisPerhaps you should spend a little time reading about what the God who brought you into being has done in giving his creation the materials for you to use in your knowledge and engineering.
-JohnnyI'm sorry. I nodded off. What were you saying, Chris?
-Linda F.I love your comment.
-Michael G.So, just like when you were in science class.
-Jeff DixonAnother witty, thought-provoking comment from the atheist who obviously has nothing better to do with his time.
What's wrong, Jeff? Slow day?
-Linda F.Of course not. They are all exciting days.
Now, given that you believe we are in the end times, your days must be dismal.
-Jeff DixonChris sez: "Except that Johny is using devices invented by me – an atheist." And those devices you invented are….. ?
-keyboardsharkAnd THAT, ladies and gentlemen, is the RELIGION of the last days. This article by this philosopher describes the precise problem with atheists. They simply DO NOT understand the different between religion and God. They are not the same. They are, in fact, mutually exclusive.
-48kindagalMy take is that all gods exist, but that they aren't what most humans think they are. I choose to worship those I feel most comfortable with, and take pleasure in the fact that my connection to those 'feeds' all the others they're networked with.
Religion, whether it involves specific gods, a world animist spiritual experience, or simply following 'concepts' that promote smooth and flexible human social interaction, is where the spiritual experience driven away from many scientific situations ends up. Most people believe in something, whether it's a popular god or pantheon, a more obscure pantheon of cantankerous gods, or some secular guidepost like Hammurabi's code, money, the USA Constitution, or some charismatic human organiser. So long as we don't hate and murder each other over our beliefs, we should manage to make it all work. The differences between our 'religious' followings should do nothing worse than inspire us to choose sports teams to follow the competition of or join and participate while learning about each other.
-MalikTousIn other words, you worship nothing.
-Michael G.I say YES. We are not alone, no-matter what anybody say's. There is a God even for atheists.
-Carla MYour world view is your "religion". Whatever your foundational "beliefs" are (especially concerning origins), upon which you live your life, make up your "religion" (belief system).
All of science (the search for the knowledge of the TRUTH) is based upon FAITH, whether one wants to admit it or not. The faith that the laws of physics (including chemistry), will "faithfully" continue as you "believe" they will.
for example: Evolutionism is at least as religious as Creationism, and Creationism is at least as scientific as Evolutionism.
Neither can be experimentally duplicated in a laboratory. (see the forward to Darwin's "Origin of Species" 1945)
Suppose, if you will, that there is a GOD who created the universe and everything in it, would the TRUTH not be permitted to be presented in school classrooms because a particular religion embraces the TRUTH and has been established upon it?
Should only a LIE be allowed and substituted for it?
By the way, the attributes ascribed to the GOD of the Biblical Texts (YHWH) give Him a "1/1" (definite) probability of creating the universe and everything in it.
These historic texts also, testify to and verify Yeshua of Nazareth's life on earth ( YHWH GOD manifested in the flesh), and His " repeatedly "observed" presence and miraculous works among and by multiplied thousands of people, proclaims and IS the EMPIRICAL evidence of GOD's existence!
grace, peace, TRUTH (true science)
-toothfulWrong.
Bacteria make major evolutionary shift in the lab
A major evolutionary innovation has unfurled right in front of researchers' eyes. It's the first time evolution has been caught in the act of making such a rare and complex new trait.
And because the species in question is a bacterium, scientists have been able to replay history to show how this evolutionary novelty grew from the accumulation of unpredictable, chance events.
Twenty years ago, evolutionary biologist Richard Lenski of Michigan State University in East Lansing, US, took a single Escherichia coli bacterium and used its descendants to found 12 laboratory populations.
The 12 have been growing ever since, gradually accumulating mutations and evolving for more than 44,000 generations, while Lenski watches what happens.
Mostly, the patterns Lenski saw were similar in each separate population. All 12 evolved larger cells, for example, as well as faster growth rates on the glucose they were fed, and lower peak population densities.
But sometime around the 31,500th generation, something dramatic happened in just one of the populations – the bacteria suddenly acquired the ability to metabolise citrate, a second nutrient in their culture medium that E. coli normally cannot use.
Indeed, the inability to use citrate is one of the traits by which bacteriologists distinguish E. coli from other species. The citrate-using mutants increased in population size and diversity.
"It's the most profound change we have seen during the experiment. This was clearly something quite different for them, and it's outside what was normally considered the bounds of E. coli as a species, which makes it especially interesting," says Lenski.
-Jeff Dixonhttp://www.newscientist.com/article/dn14094-bacte…
And contrary to your unsupported comment, the attributes of the god of the bible cannot even co-exist with each other.
For example, free will and god being all knowing
If I have free will, I can make any choice I want. However, if god is all knowing, he is aware of every choice I will make before I make it. Therefore, I am unable to make a choice that god is unaware of. If I am unable to make a choice that god is unaware of, then my choices are not actually choices. They have been predetermined. I am incapable of making an an actual choice because the choice I end up making is pre-known by god. If the choice is known before it is actually made, then it is simply a completion of a pre-arranged event. Therefore, my free will is meaningless. I am not capable of actually making a real decision. In other words, if God already knows the future, then humanity is destined to corroborate with his knowledge of the future and not have true free will to deviate from it
The only way free will can exist is if god is not all knowing. However, if god is not all knowing, then he is not all powerful and is not god. The two concepts are mutually exclusive.
This also presupposes the problem of an omniscient god who has free will directly in arguing that the will of God himself would be bound to follow whatever God foreknows himself doing throughout eternity.
According to Jeremiah 18, god does not know what he will do in the future. "At one moment I may declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, but if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will change my mind about the disaster that I intended to bring on it. And at another moment I may declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, but if id does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will change my mind about the good that I had intended to do to it" (Jer. 18:7-10).
-Jeff DixonThe Christian god is considered to be all powerful and all knowing. That is not possible. If god is all powerful, then he can make any change that he wants. However, if he is all knowing, then he already knows how everything will turn out. If he makes a change, then something new occurred that he was not previously aware of. He, therefore, would not be all knowing. However, if he does not know everything, then he can’t be all powerful, as there is something he does not have complete control over. The two concepts are mutually exclusive. Just as a cubic circle cannot exist, the biblical god cannot exist either.
-Jeff DixonYou just argued yourself right into a hole. It seems that you want everything both ways. Can't work that way.
-Michael G.By the way free will, the way you describe it is called "License," and is always wrong. True free will is doing what is right even when no one is looking.
The road to Hell is paved with free will. But then, you probably don't believe in Hell either. So am I wasting my time with you–or not?
Of course I do not believe in hell. I am an atheist. How can I believe there is a place for unbelievers when the concept of an unbeliever is nonsensical?
-Jeff DixonLots of intersting views about religion here. Every now and then Heaven condescends to re-instruct men on the subject with a visitation to Earth. e.g. Guadalupe in 1531,paris in 1830, la Salette 1846,, Lourdes in1858, Pontmaine in1871, Knock in Ireland in 1879; Beaurang in 1933; Banneux in 1933; Akita, Japan in1933 and many other less famous.
-Bud MacGuireBut to those who have no use for Heaven or its messages to men of good will a special place has been reserved..
The religion of atheism is worship of the creation rather than the creator. It's also known as materialism, or evolution.
-sandykramerThere is a GOD for everyone .Someday we will all meet him face to face. I do not want to be in the shoes of an atheist.
-Carolyn SpaydPART 1
Atheism is the belief that there is no god. According to the Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy:
“Atheism is the position that affirms the non-existence of God. It proposes positive disbelief rather than mere suspension of belief.” Atheism will be defined in the contemporary western sense: not just the lack of belief in a god, but the assertion about the non-existence of any gods, spirits, or divine or supernatural beings. Atheists in this sense are metaphysical naturalists, and as will be shown, they DO follow a religion.
A better way to determine whether a worldview is a religion is to look for certain characteristics that religions have in common. The framework set forth by Ninian Smart,6 commonly known as the Seven Dimensions of Religion, is widely accepted by anthropologists and researchers of religion as broadly covering the various aspects of religion, without focusing on things unique to specific religions.
-keyboardsharkPART 2
The seven dimensions proposed by Smart are narrative, experiential, social, ethical, doctrinal, ritual and material. Not every religion has every dimension, nor are they all equally important within an individual religion. Smart even argues that the “secularisation” of western society is actually a shift of focus from the doctrinal and ritual to the experiential.
Atheists often claim that their belief is not a religion. This allows them to propagate their beliefs in settings where other religions are banned, but this should not be so.
Contemporary Western Atheism unquestionably has six of the seven dimensions of religion set forth by Smart, and the remaining dimension, ritual, has also started to develop. Thus it’s fallacious to assert, “Calling Atheism a religion is like calling bald a hair colour”. Perhaps a better analogy would be calling a shaved head a “hairstyle”. Other than the denial of the divine, there is little difference between Atheism and other worldviews typically labelled as religions.
http://creation.com/atheism-a-religion
-keyboardshark