[vodyanoj]

Originally Posted by GeeBee

You're just begging them to strike you with limpness.

Ha ha! That was facetious! Bad joke! ::looking around nervously:: :D

[Analog Rebellion]

Originally Posted by vodyanoj

Excellent! Except for the only deities I pray to are pagan phallic deitieis before I get laid, to make sure my parts function properly, and I do it facetiously.

[The Personist]

Originally Posted by thespearkid

I think we should have a group prayer before we start the thread.

To Satan.

[Analog Rebellion]

Originally Posted by ArtfullyAborted

To Satan.

To Ted Haggard.

[GeeBee]

Originally Posted by PlayRadioPlay

To Ted Haggard.

Speaking of phallic...
...with a male prostitute...on meth...

[The Personist]

Originally Posted by PlayRadioPlay

To Ted Haggard.

To Jason Tate.

[Analog Rebellion]

Originally Posted by GeeBee

Speaking of phallic...
...with a male prostitute...on meth...

Hey now, don't hate on meth and male whores. There are plenty of perfectly non-hypocritical people that enjoy both of those things.

[vodyanoj]

Originally Posted by PlayRadioPlay

Yes; my admission of lack of seriousness may have been the cause of much impotence; however, I am not relieved, since I remembered that MY gods are not omnipresent or omnipotent, and, in fact, if they don't pay mind to me I can always challenge them to a fair fight. And Freyr gave his sword away, too, so he would be unarmed.

[x togepi x]

Originally Posted by Nevuk

Does neo-atheism merely replace faith in god with faith in an equally ubiquitous version of science and technology?

yes.

[GeeBee]

Originally Posted by x togepi x

yes.

Please elaborate. These posts do little to further the discussion.

[FemaleCuckold]

Originally Posted by Nevuk

Does neo-atheism merely replace faith in god with faith in an equally ubiquitous version of science and technology?

I'd say neo-atheism replaces faith in god with faith in oneself. Or at least that's the ideal to strive toward. Although, I'd say "believing" would be a better word for the latter "faith."

[derekmoyer4]

Originally Posted by FemaleCuckold

I'd say neo-atheism replaces faith in god with faith in oneself. Or at least that's the ideal to strive toward. Although, I'd say "believing" would be a better word for the latter "faith."

i would most certainly agree with that assessment for the most part. but i am sure it can be interpreted in many various ways.

[Nevuk]

Originally Posted by x togepi x

yes.

Originally Posted by vodyanoj

No; there are atheists who are also anti-technological, and even anti-scientific. They only share their disbelief in the one god; besides that, anything goes.

I was referring to the very specific set of neo-atheists like Dawkins, Hitchens, etc. However, I probably fall
under the categories you're referring to, but I have really weak and fluid principles that alter to justify whatever I feel like doing at the moment like making posts on a message board (and yes, I've done some other horrible things) despite thinking technology and science are probably evil.

Originally Posted by GeeBee

Here's some good info on atheism from August Berkshire, president of the Minnesota Atheists:
THE FOUR C's OF ATHEISM
"Atheism is a conservative position. We make no leaps of faith. We accept statements only so far as there is reason and/or evidence to back them up. Anything else is speculation. Atheism is also consistent. We apply our skepticism equally to all supernatural claims. We do not say, “All prophets, saviors, or gods are false – except ours.”

Ball lightning. Spontaneous human combustion. The big bang. These are things people would call magic, attribute to god, but what does an atheist do?

Quote:

We make no exceptions or special pleadings, which makes us consistent.
Another benefit of atheism is that it is contradiction-free. We don’t have to try to reconcile an all-loving, all-seeing, all-powerful god with the existence of evil. We don’t have to define love exactly the opposite of the way we normally define it in order to make it applicable to our god. We don’t have to claim a poor supernatural designer is intelligent.

You're defining yourselves based upon differences from christianity rather than in and of yourself. I'm a pagan. Earlier in the post I was an atheist but like I said, fluidity. I need an excuse to do hallucinogenic drugs, damnit! (and also insert random phallic imagery here for me to dance around) So your definition doesn't really make sense to me - I don't care about Christians, at all. Yes, I've slept with several because they were easy lays, but I'm not sure if this was because they were Christian or if it was just due to their horrible sense of self-worth.

And here is the question that atheists have to struggle with, how can you reconcile the distinction between good and evil without an absolute foundation? Some people have chosen Essentialism, others have gone the Dawkins route of "well it's hard to say hitler was evil " (I'm paraphrasing). That's not a contradiction per se, but it is a problem. I personally have sepia blinders on when it comes to morality- it's not even relative to me because it's all the same. Christian morality has very little to do with Christianity, as many atheists practice it. I'm considered surprisingly moral given my total lack of convictions, but it's only because I'm good at lying and deceiving people. Then let's examine essentialism a bit closer - if humans have an inherent nature and an inherent morality, where did this originate from? Why can we break it? Why do some people not seem to have any? It doesn't solve the problem, it just dislocates it a bit further
edit :
here is a moral dilemma for you : if you tell a lie, but your lie is actually the truth, but you do not know it, what is it that you've told? Is it the intent, the actions, or the repurcussions. You can say that this doesn't matter to an atheist - but it does, because the way our legal code is set up it is actually the actions that are punished usually, that's the philosophy we go by, which is not exactly the christian moral code.

Quote:

An atheist also possesses clarity in his or her thinking processes. An atheist has the courage to follow the trail of reason and evidence wherever it may lead. If there should some day be a compelling reason or piece of evidence for a god, then we would acknowledge it and change our views. This is also known as intellectual honesty."

Yes. This is exactly what I was referring to - unending faith in reason and logic, which are fallible principles and fall under the category of "Science" in my mind, as science that is somewhat a term of the Enlightenment.

[Nevuk]

Originally Posted by FemaleCuckold

I'd say neo-atheism replaces faith in god with faith in oneself. Or at least that's the ideal to strive toward. Although, I'd say "believing" would be a better word for the latter "faith."

Faith in oneself sounds like a line a lifetime inspirational movie would have as the turning point of the main character finally divorcing her wife-beating husband, after having had every other character tell her "get out now" for the past 2 hours, plus commercial breaks. Wait, what?

The self doesn't exist, though. Believing in yourself has always reminded me of a justification for egocentrism.

[FemaleCuckold]

Originally Posted by Nevuk

Faith in oneself sounds like a line a lifetime inspirational movie would have as the turning point of the main character finally divorcing her wife-beating husband, after having had every other character tell her "get out now" for the past 2 hours, plus commercial breaks. Wait, what?

The self doesn't exist, though. Believing in yourself has always reminded me of a justification for egocentrism.

I agree the "self" doesn't exist. If you want to get literal, I meant believe in your " bundle or collection of different perceptions, which succeed each other with an inconceivable rapidity, and are in a perpetual flux and movement [- Hume]."

Believing in yourself shouldn't be taken to mean believe only in yourself. You can still believe in other people. I don't know where the egocentrism comes in. I've always taken it as a euphemism to mean, basically, feel good about yourself, trust yourself, etc. etc. etc.