Share your personal journey of faith, skepticism, or atheism, why you believe in God or trust in science instead. This is a place for SUPPORT and AGREEMENT only, not a place to tell someone their experience and feelings are wrong, or why we disagree with them.
'atheists' do not fit that rubric, and cannot be properly confined to any type of broad similarity type statement (we can say things like 'all/most Buddhists believe X' but we cannot do that for atheists). This is because the lack of something is not a defining characteristic of anything in particular.
So here is a question that popped up for me. If atheist do not share things in common, have no commonality, or have no things in common interest then who goes to these Atheist themed/hosted rally events, conferences, and conventions? And why would they ever want to go to a common event, join for a common cause, or gather to hear a common speaker or topic when they by definition the group has no defining characteristic or anything in particular in common? It is a lack of commonality that defines them (or so I am willing to accept) so it seems NOT rational or reasonable to host any event for atheist. That would seem to suggest there is an interest group of some kind in order for such events to be successful.
In fact a great Atheist is quoted as saying where one is gathered in the name of atheism then there is no vacancy.
BTW, I had some pumpkin spice cake dessert at work and when I complimented the person she says loudly "It's called 'better than sex' cake...so what did you think". I thought it was very good but I did not detect any nuts, pecans or walnuts.
Isn't the world wonderful...I am all for rational optimism and I am staying positive.
There's even an atheist CHURCH, and I have to say, I find that really funny.
I suppose 'atheists' are kind of like other single interest groups - like, say, 'golfers' or 'birdwatchers', and they get together with other people with that interest for mutual support and to talk about scores or something. But outside of golfing or birdwatching, they may have next to nothing in common.
I think that people who are in any kind of minority (as atheists are) might also get together for support, because they may not know many others, and they have at least that one thing in common. Sort of like those families how have a child with something weird and rare.
History is the fiction we invent to persuade ourselves that events are knowable and that life has order and direction. That's why events are always reinterpreted when values change. We need new versions of history to allow for our current prejudices.
Yes, there are many different groups of atheists that do things together for lots of different reasons. The vast majority of atheists (myself included) have never been part of one. Most atheists don't advertise. Most atheists probably have t identified themselves as such to most people, if anyone. Heck, I'd bet, on average, every church with more than 100 members has an atheist or two in their pews most weeks in the US. I'd also bet there is a small but very real percentage of preachers and clergy that are atheists. You know what I have in common with activist atheists, clergy atheists, indifferent atheists, etc?
Absolutely nothing, except one thing and one thing only. Ayn Rand was a conservative hero activist and an atheist. Stalin was an atheist. Thomas Paine, one of the most influential minds behind the American Revolution, was also an atheist. Some unknown schlub in his moms basement playing Warcraft at age 37 no one will ever hear about is also an atheist.
Anybody remember where the 'atheist church' is? I do remember an article online about it fairly recently, but (sad to admit) I didn't read past the lede.
Speaking of ledes, why is that not a word in Scrabble?
History is the fiction we invent to persuade ourselves that events are knowable and that life has order and direction. That's why events are always reinterpreted when values change. We need new versions of history to allow for our current prejudices.
If you think about it a church is just an assembly. I know christians like to talk about THE church, it's not the same concept at all. So, yeah some atheists gather together on Sundays. Calling it church is really tongue in cheek. There are lots of these groups in the US and Europe, and more are forming. They are often called assemblies or meetings, and are generally independently formed.A lot of the people who attend them are former religionists who feel the need for support and community and they aren't getting it elsewhere, from family or friends. There are no obligations or expectations of the attendees beyond civility.
The idea was kind of pioneered by Alain deBoton, a UK philosopher. You can see a YouTube video of his TED talk, Atheism 2.0. He has a YouTube channel and blog called the school of life.
It's not funny to me. I think it is a sad commentary on our society. Also, it is not true that all atheist's have nothing in common besides their atheism, that seems to be a deliberate misunderstanding of what has been said. There is no requirement or commonality to Being an atheist, besides non belief in the supernatural. One wonders how many times that needs to be stressed before it sinks in. It does not follow that no atheist has anything in common with another atheist.
Do all non-stamp collectors automatically have nothing else in common? Some things they do have in common are their struggles to live in a world that misunderstands and mischaracterizes them. They almost all have to find ways to deal with the religionists around them, especially family and friends. They all have to live in the modern world with its attendant issues. And most of all they are all human beings with thoughts and feelings that they would like to share and experience the sympathy and empathy of others. The Sunday assemblies address many of this things in a helpful, no dogmatic way. They also often provide education and enlightenment by having a variety of speakers give talks on topics dear to them. No one is expected to believe or buy into any particular ideology. They are free to come and go as they please.
Last edited by Turtle on Fri Nov 13, 2015 9:50 am, edited 1 time in total.
Sometimes questions might hit sensitive places, so we would like to see all posters take a generous view and consider that ignorance is far more likely to be going on, than malice, when questions hit those sensitive spots.
Especially when there is some topic with a whole lot of misinformation generally floating around!
Sorry Turtle - yes atheists have more in common than non-belief in a god, however, that thing they do have in common is the root cause of their culturally minority status (currently), and their common experience of being marginalized and misunderstood. It is quite normal for any marginalized and misunderstood group to want to band together (once in a while anyway) and bond over common experience, if not over common beliefs.
I mean, this is what humans DO: we form communities for mutual support.
History is the fiction we invent to persuade ourselves that events are knowable and that life has order and direction. That's why events are always reinterpreted when values change. We need new versions of history to allow for our current prejudices.
chrisso99 wrote:Yes, there are many different groups of atheists that do things together for lots of different reasons. The vast majority of atheists (myself included) have never been part of one. Most atheists don't advertise. Most atheists probably have t identified themselves as such to most people, if anyone. Heck, I'd bet, on average, every church with more than 100 members has an atheist or two in their pews most weeks in the US. I'd also bet there is a small but very real percentage of preachers and clergy that are atheists. You know what I have in common with activist atheists, clergy atheists, indifferent atheists, etc?
Absolutely nothing, except one thing and one thing only. Ayn Rand was a conservative hero activist and an atheist. Stalin was an atheist. Thomas Paine, one of the most influential minds behind the American Revolution, was also an atheist. Some unknown schlub in his moms basement playing Warcraft at age 37 no one will ever hear about is also an atheist.
We're everywhere. We're everyone.
Wooooooo woooooo woooooo
Yeah, it is funny how now I notice the large numbers of famous, influential people who are atheists but don't make a big deal out of it. In fact, I see christians quoting them on facebook and I laugh, because I know they wouldn't if they knew.
Yet - it is that same reticence that makes people think that atheists are strange unnatural creatures 'other' than - all those distancing things, because most people keep their non-belief to themselves. It is sort of like being in the closet; such that people think they don't know any people 'like that' and that nobody they know (and respect) are 'like that'.
In this case, keeping silent (or being discreet or whatever) is just helping the loudmouths who denigrate atheists as 'different'.
Which I guess is my way of saying 'thank you' for starting this thread in the first place. I'm all for 'education'.
History is the fiction we invent to persuade ourselves that events are knowable and that life has order and direction. That's why events are always reinterpreted when values change. We need new versions of history to allow for our current prejudices.
