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I’m an atheist but I want to ask a serious question.
Can the word God(s), Religion, Church, or any of these words related to theists have a positive place in the life of an atheist like me or other secular people?

SalC 6 Apr 23
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67 comments

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1

Meh. Words are largely bullshit. But I do enjoy the stained glass, incense, Gregorian chants and all the trappings of religion. The ideas cause murder, injustice, war, missionaries.

believe it or not "words are largely bullshit" is prolly the best way to restate "speaking in tongues"

@bbyrd009 ha ha yeah and you know I do say god damn and oh my god a lot

7

Absolutely . Here is my use of it .

Loveit, is it available on c.d., I'd enjoy playing that song, very loudly of course, through my speakers on my front veranda while I'm working outside, it would really upset my Evangeloon neighbour.....LOL
A bit of 'pay-back' for being subjected to his repeated, endless playing of Christian music over and over.

@Triphid play it from your phone / wireless speaker ! ♥️

@Pralina1 No mobile phone here, don't have nor want one.

6

Yep, if you like sitting in church during a service, or only putting up a Christmas tree, or reading mythology, its all fine. Because if you don't believe, then it is all meaningless, and if its meaningless it can not harm you. Just don't put too much money on the collecting plate.

Actually I have a problem, in that, I like visiting old buildings and in England there are many lovely old churches you can visit/shelter from the rain. But I always think that I should put something in the box to help keep the roof in repair, yet I know that a donation can not be ring-fenced for structure only and could be used to promote religion, so I give nothing but feel mean.

5

I have no use for religion. Gods are imaginary. Over the centuries, religion has caused horrendous wars.

Religion is one of the most sensitive issues. Although every religion encourages the idea of peace and tolerance, almost no one remains in peace or tolerates anything when it comes to their religion.

History is full of religious war. Some have continued for years and killed many.

4

Some churches do good charity work, feeding homeless running shelters etc

bobwjr Level 10 Apr 23, 2020
4

Handy when I drop a hammer on my foot.....as in gawddammit!

4

ABSOLUTELY! I think of all of the wonderful things that the love of god and religious minded people have brought into my life and it just fills me with the warmth of human kindness. 😉

3

If they are used in their true forms, then yes. For example, in the story of Little
Red Riding Hood, we read about the big bad wolf. Now we know wolves are real but the are no talking wolves that dress up as your grandmother to ambush and eat you. No one should take the big bad wolf seriously, nor a talking snake. However, a fairy tale like Little Red riding Hood can teach us about being cautious.

3

I think the bible has a few good things in it when read correctly. Love your neighbor, turn the other cheek (don't escalate an issue), welcome the stranger, help the needy, etc. ... and summed up well by Jim Jefferies: "Don't be a cunt."

True, the "teachings of Jesus" often encouraged common sense, decent behaviors and treatment of other people. You don't have to believe the whole god, son of god thing to admit there are positive teachings in the new testament. Old testament is a different story, IMO. Unfortunately, in recent years too many "christians" have walked away from the good parts and latched firmly onto anything that remotely upholds the hateful inclinations of their hearts.

3

I know an Atheist who redefines God to mean thanking the act of being, and some non-believers like Morgan Freeman believe we are are own Gods. I'm told many members of Universalist Churches are Atheists, and you could have a Church of Sex if you wanted. And it was either or both great non-believers Robert Ingersoll and Thomas Paine who said their religion was to do good, and some refer to football as a religion. You get the idea. I don't necessarily subscribe to these views, but I'm not necessarily opposed to them either.

3

Dude, seriously, words are words, they're not either positive or negative, they exist, nothing anybody says is going to remove these or any other word from a dictionary, google or any search engine or from books and/or encyclopedias. What are you going to use when you, let's say, cum instead of "oh my god!" Or if you don't say it, you won't be able to silence your partner when she or he say "oh my god!" Or if you blurt out bless you when someone sneezes? No need to be paranoid about words or labels unless you let them get the best of you.

3

Yes. Like with anything, we keep the positive and discard the negative. I would suggest that we keep:

  • Social community
  • Our appreciation for beautiful architecture
  • Charity
  • The good (secular) values that are embraced by some religious systems

I would suggest we discard:

  • Unrealistic beliefs
  • Science denial
  • The bad values that are embraced by some religious systems
palex Level 6 Apr 23, 2020
3

We atheists are not a singular group of people but are all individuals..what is meaningful for me is not necessarily meaningful for another nonbeliever. However as you have posed the question I will answer, but purely on my own behalf. As I see it, all of these words are significant because they are relevant to the history of the world, they have influenced and changed its course, causing wars and bloodshed and also defining our culture, laws, art, music and architecture. Today, where I live in Northern Ireland, we are still experiencing the result of differing factions of two strands of Christianity, the wars in the Middle East also have the toxic mix of differing religious factions and ethnicity driving them over decades or even centuries. Taking it down to a more personal level, they are meaningful to me only because they still control the thinking behind many of the decisions which are made by others, and that in turn can impact on my life and activities. Are any of these words - God, religion, church, a positive influence on my life...in that case the answer must be a definite No.

3

It depends on how you interpret those words. There is Religious Naturalism that offers a positive outlook. If you see “God” as the ground of all being or as ultimate reality, or the great unknown, then there is a place for the word IMO.

I am an atheist with respect to the god of the Bible, but just because something has been falsely described does not negate that thing.

If to be religious means to have deep awareness and awe for reality and to live in joy and reverence, then religion can have a positive place. But if to be religious means believing in a bunch of ridiculous church dogmas we are better off without the word

Yes, this way of looking at religious words seems to be alright. But I have mixed feelings about this because of the way a subjective god could easily slip over into thinking of a literal god. So part of me thinks we should just get rid of all these concepts for humanity’s sake. Still not 100 percent sure.😎

3

Outside of fictional literature for the sake of enhancing a story, what would be the point? Do the words wizards, sorcery and magic castles have a positive place outside of fictional literature? Do they need to?

3

Nothing about false Gods or their religions contribute positively to the human experience.

However, gathering weekly at a community center to discuss problems of the community could have more merit if religion were kept away.

3

Only when i use them to point out the fallacy of religious ideals. That's the only positive i see.

3

Not in this atheist's life.
I see nothing remotely "positive" about any of that garbage.
Except for maybe yelling out "oh, god!" during sex.
That would be it.

2

Not for me personally. Although the word "god" comes in handy sometimes when I am pissed off (goddammit, for instance).

2

I avoid using those types of words because even though my intent might mean something else when using that word, the person on the receiving end is going to attach their meaning to the word based on their beliefs, cultural history, etc.

"According to the symbolic interactionist perspective, people attach meanings to symbols, and then they act according to their subjective interpretation of these symbols. Verbal conversations, in which spoken words serve as the predominant symbols, make this subjective interpretation especially evident. The words have a certain meaning for the “sender,” and, during effective communication, they hopefully have the same meaning for the “receiver."
[cliffsnotes.com]

Yes, this is why I have issues with these words as well. Good response.❤️

except practically speaking we each have a different definition for even words like "tree" 🙂
"speaking in tongues"

2

under myths and legends is fine with me.

2

Some of the more enlightened churches do very good charities

bobwjr Level 10 Apr 23, 2020

Unless you include the Op-shop' style 'charities' that some religions operate where they get the things they sell for absolutely NOTHING and then proceed to sell them at almost retail prices.
For example, after my daughter succumbed to Lymphoma I donated her clothes to the Salvation Army Op-Shop only to find out a few weeks later that they had been selling them for around a dollar less than I had originally paid for them
In my opinion, IF that is 'charity then I am a one-eyed, legless, deaf, dumb and blind mute of a Chinaman,no offense meant to Asians of any nation btw.

2

I use the word god or maybe gods when I think those words refer to what another person is talking about, or to answer something in some sort of religious concept. The word "god" is not really a name and I have no other use for the name. I'm not sure why some people can only say "dog" and reverse the word. This is dumb to me but I do recall as a young person when we would swear openly by saying "mad dog backwards." (Nobody ever got that one. )

Religion is a belief system that has a set of rules and rituals to it.

Church
is the building which houses the believers of a religion today but in early times the church was the people.

2

It all depends on your previous experience with it all.

2

I am anti-religious so my immediate answer would be nope.

2

Why not...

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