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My religions professor is very adamant about convincing us atheists are just as religious as everyone else. What are your thoughts on that?

PiperMckenna 6 Aug 21
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0

We can be adamant and opinionated about religion! But to be religious can also mean to worship and that doesn't apply to us.

I disagree since Atheists do NOT necessarily worship anything,.
Yes, we do follow and have a personal 'relationship' with Logic, Reasoning and Reality, etc, BUT, imho, that is by no means actually worshipping those things.
To 'worship' in the true meaning of the word one first NEEDS an object/Idol/Icon upon/towards one must direct their 'worship' and adorations BUT atheists do NOT actually worship such things, Yes we see sciences, etc, as being something good and edifying BUT not exactly worshipful.
Plus, the Faithfools like to lump Atheists in with Satanists and the like BUT that is their convenient way of doing things, there are great differences between Atheists and Satanists, etc, simply because Atheists, like myself, ARE those who ARE A- ( meaning simply) WITHOUT, and Theist ( meaning simply) a God/Gods, ergo Those who choose/decide to live WITHOUT a God/Gods or anything similar such as Satan, etc, etc.
So, WHEN people finally stop thinking that Atheists are followers of alternate forms of belief, as per the propaganda fostered by the Religions, and realise that Atheists and Atheism IS NOT a system of belief/s then and only then will our detractors cease to 'bundle' us in with the Pagans/Heathens etc, that they have always falsely accused us of being.

@Triphid how is their grouping of "us" together any different than the grouping you are doing of the "faithfool"? they are both born of general ignorance about the respective sets of beliefs or lack thereof. I am certainly familiar enough with orthodox hinduism and nastika hinduism (buddhism, jainism) to know that faith is an issue in abrahamic belief sets and not vedic. the scientific method actually originated in Hindustan long before ancient greece. evangelicals and ignorant westerners think that all eastern religions are the same and all beliefs that involve "gods" use faith as a tool in bhakti. they don't. but they would actually have to learn something to figure that out.

@JeffMesser Well those are my personal opinions gained from well 50 years of life and over 7 years of studying for me ThD, a Doctorate in Theology and Comparative Modern Religions btw,
And, in my opinion, should the Faithfools ( Followers of Xrstianity and any of the 3 main Abrahamic religions in particular) wish to deem us as Pagans/Heathens and the like then 'turn about is fair game' for does not their bible tell them, " What you give so shall you receive in return,"

@Triphid so you belittle their beliefs and canon, but then for support you "cite" scripture? I'd need to see your CV before I accept you as a legitimate source.

@JeffMesser What, you want to see my 3 Degrees, Doctorates I may add, in Theology, Philosophy and Ancient and Dead Languages PLUS my 7 Bachelors Degrees as well.
How about the other subjects that I'm also studying for Degrees in, do you want those as well?
If that be so, then come to my home, you'd be welcome there that I can assure you of, and I'll ferret them out of the pile of papers, etc, that I have stashed them away in, then you CAN see them in PERSON.

@Triphid I couldnt care less about your degrees dude. good for you. now exhibit some of that knowledge and say something "knowing" about vedic religions. because including vedanta or buddhism with the abrahamic religions is like mixing oil and water.

@JeffMesser I have absolutely NOTHING against Hinduism, etc, some of their ideologies actually make sense whereas the Abrahamic ones, complete with their copious contradicts make about as much sense as pumping Petrol ( gasoline to Americans) onto a wildfire in the hope of extinguishing it.
Many parts of the teachings of the Buddha are truly wonderful things for any person to ascribe to and try to live by, I like them immensely, but not so the blatant contradictory supposed teachings ascribed to in the Christian/Abrahamic systems of belief.

@Triphid like what? Ayam brahmasmi? Vivekachudamani??

@JeffMesser I do vehemently disagree with ideology of the Caste system, it IS very divisive and discriminatory in my opinion.
No person/s should deliberately place or be placed above another merely because of their 'social' rank/standing, after all, we ARE all members of the same species are we not?

@Triphid why? because brit xtians came in and called them heathens? with the gokul the hindus had a literacy rate over 50% in the early 1800's ... and after the so-called "modern" xtian brits came in and destroyed temples and mosques that number dropped to below 10% 2 generations later. The caste system is an antiquated tool of the past that is obviously a human rights dilemma ... but with the puranas and brahmanas the hindus are able to update and revise their canon unlike other belief sets. the caste system seems like some rather low hanging fruit for a multi-doctoral theological academic like yourself. why don't you bust out some sanskrit so I can marvel at your knowledge!! jagat mitthya brahman satyam prajnaman brahman tat tram asi.

14

Is anarchy a form of government?
Is silence music?
Is your Religion Professor a preacher in disguise?

Is a teetotaler addicted to abstinence?

Sometimes the best answers are questions. Nicely done.

8

Atheism is a religion like abstinence is a sex position.

Nuke Level 5 Aug 21, 2019
8

Ask your professor if anyone is not religious. If he says no, then ask why the word ‘religous’ was invented. If he says yes, enjoy the comical explanation.

8

its fucking bullshit. its like telling a vegan salad is made of meat.

7

your religious professor is an idiot?

I was thinking moron, before I said anything I checked the dictionary and its first description is idiot.

7

I’d ask him which mythical entity do we believe in?

Varn Level 8 Aug 21, 2019
6

Invite him to post his thoughts on this site and we can engage with him directly.

6

So many times I come across "The elephant and the Polish problem." * Where people (especially religious ones) view everything else from their own perspective and cannot conceive a view outside of it. They have faith and it is part of their world. The fact that all their bs is about as much concern to us as the 27 Eskimo words for snow, does not compute. They think that faith in fantasy is the default position and "One must believe in something"
We atheists look at all the conflicting views and see that our position is the factory setting and all the rest is simply the imprint of culture.

  • I have told the elephant and the Polish problem joke so often before, that I will only type it out again if requested.

Please do. I like a good joke especially one with wisdom, and you could just copy and paste.

@Fernapple A school for embassy children of different nationalities and the new teacher asks all the kids to write a story about an elephant. Everyone writes a story as she asks except for the Polish child, whose story is called "The elephant and the Polish problem"

I second the request for the joke. 👍

6

I'd like to debate your religions professor.

6

Definitions!

“If you wish to converse with me, define your terms.”

― Voltaire

5

If someone watches Dr. Who and absolutely loves it and goes to all the conventions and dresses up as a doctor, we say they are part of the Dr. Who Fandom.
If someone watches Supernatural and loves it! and they go to the conventions and pays into the system to meet the cast, has pentagram jewelry and so forth, we say they are part of the Supernatural Fandom.

Any show or movie (or set there of) can have a fandom of it's own; Marvel, Star Wars, Star Trek, Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, WWE, even sports... Of course someone who watches the show or sport has a few items related to the show/sport, but doesn't rush home to see it, is also a fan, but just not as passionate.

Someone can be a part of one fandom, or many, or none.

The person who isn't a part of any fandom isn't a fan.

Seems to me, the same logic can be applied to religion.

Edit - The difference, of course, being that typical fans don't believe the show is real, where as the same can't be said about religion.

5

Ask him or her if they know what an Atheist is. Then explain that all an Atheist is, is a person with a lack of belief in any gods.

4

My thought is first to define what does the word “religious” means for your professor.
Taken from the Merriam-Webster on line dictionary:
Religious - adjective re·​li·​gious | \ ri-ˈli-jəs \ Definición of religious (Entry 1 of 2)
1 : relating to or manifesting faithful devotion to an acknowledged ultimate reality or deity
a religious person
religious attitudes
2 : of, relating to, or devoted to religious beliefs or observances
joined a religious order
3a : scrupulously and conscientiously faithful
b : FERVENT, ZEALOUS
religious noun
plural religious
Definition of religious (Entry 2 of 2)
: a member of a religious order under monastic vows

My hunch is that your professor is referring to te “fervent zealous” part. In that sense, yes, us atheists can be fervorous about our dismissal of magical thinking. The problem with your professor’s assertion is that, in ignoring or skipping the true essence of the word, he is being dishonest, to say the least, because he is purposely using the least important meaning of the word to mount a petty description of atheism. Standing on a higher ethical ground, it can be said that atheists hold their belief as strongly and seriously as a religious person can hold hers or his. So, your professor, by using an assertion that is lexicographically correct, but ethically inappropriate, is asserting that us atheists are religious, which in the true sense of the word, we are not.

we have to many sheep that will believe anything they are told!

4

A religion assumes an unshakeable belief. As an atheist, I don’t believe, I think of, presume, guess, wonder, accept or question phenomena/things. When I find out more about them, I revise my thoughts/attitudes. I don’t think a religion implies that?

Sonya Level 4 Aug 21, 2019

Absolutely. Rational thought means you can assimilate new information and change your behaviour in accordance with it. Religious dogma... not so much.

I like this site - feeling intelligent in here! )

4

I spent six years in a university, and took to calling academia "macadamia", like the nut. Because you meet a lot of nuts there. Just 'play along' with your profs, even if you think they are 'mentally challenged'.

4

Atheism is just a lack of belief in gods. There are no dogmas, rituals, holy books, beliefs (supernatural or otherwise), doctrines, etc. Theists will often try to argue that "lacking a belief" is a belief. It is not. That's what the word "lack" means.

There is a legal sense of "atheism" being a stance on religion that is still protected under the constitution, but that still doesn't make atheism a religion.

Some subsets of atheists have some similar beliefs, such as humanism, skepticism, etc., but none of those are required to be an atheist. Still other groups of atheists may have extremely wacky beliefs, such as the Raelians, members of a UFO religion who believe aliens scientifically created humans, yada yada yada, without any aid (or the existence of) a god (Raelians are atheists also).

Generally theists try to convince atheists that they are just as religious as theists as both an arguing technique, and because it is psychologically comforting to them.

There is a really old episode of "The Atheist Experience" where a caller tries to tell Matt that Matt "believes in no god on faith", and Matt says the caller is saying something like, "I believe in god on faith and you believe in no god on faith, so ha-ha-ha, we're equally stupid." Matt goes on to say, "One is a faith-based claim and one is the rejection of a faith-based claim". Moreover, "rejection" doesn't mean a counter-claim. It means the faith-based claim hasn't met its burden of proof, and thus cannot be accepted as true until such time as it does. I'll look for that clip and post it here if I can find it. Edit: Here is the entire episode, but I embedded the time stamp at the beginning of the call. The part in question is at 1:04:30. (I had forgotten the caller was Muslim)

Very good explaination.

4

Your PROFESSOR doesn't know the difference????! I would be demanding a refund from the school!

Sounds more like Gilligan than a Professor 😉

@Varn I agree!

@Varn Sounds like Norton, but with a malicious intent.

3

that he's an idiot

3

As evidence by this website the overwhelming majority of atheist have replaced their lack of belief in god for a desire for big powerful socialist government to take care of them from cradle to grave so your professor may be right as most atheist seem to worship big government. It’s just us very few conservative atheist who don’t have that problem. @bigpawbullets, @Captain_Feelgood, @veteran229

🤣🤣🤣😃

Do you get paid to be a professional douchebag?

What a load of old cobblers!

Liberal atheists do indeed have the characteristics of a religious cult .It has become like a religion for its followers.Any group that would follow and admire an Imbecile like AOC Exhibits blind faith, lack of logic, and a follow the leader brainwashed mentality

@richiegtt That they do. You are definitely right about AOC.

Of all 70 and some comments here, does anyone know why the comment from a conservative person is so... disingenuous?

@richiegtt That sounds more like the followers of Trump to me.

3

My daughter's freshman religious prof, at a "good" Jesuit college knew nothing about Unitarians and thought everyone in the class was Christian - until my daughter raised her hand and said not her. My daughter got an A.

3

I think a few atheists, mostly those who have been harmed by religious upbringings, may practice their atheism in a way that resembles religious belief and that for religious persons, it may appear to be religious, as religion has trained or "conditioned" them to not examine details too closely, but no atheism is defined by a lack of belief in teh supernatural, so no, it is not religion.

2

Interesting take on religion but not necessarily true. If atheists do not congregate, do not agree on definition, and do not seek others for conformity and solace, it is not a religion.

2

Bullshit. I kneel before no one. We are our own gods. We decide our own fate.

2

Sure let me just get out my atheist prayer book and read a few verses, or go to my atheist church, or follow my atheist tenets, oh wait... Those don't exist because we aren't a religion. Atheists have no set of core beliefs or rules to follow beyond the non belief in God.

Atheism is as much of a religion as not collecting stamps is. You just don't do it because ya think it's dumb. Lol.

2

Atheists can be adamant about their belief that belief in a god is silliness, and some mistakenly see this as indication of a religious fervency. A religion is an organized entity, and atheism has no such organization. The various atheist and Humanist groups do not translate into an organization.

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