Subject:
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Re: Is religion dead in the water?
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Fri, 15 Oct 2004 15:57:49 GMT
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Viewed:
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1593 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, David Laswell wrote:
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Larry Pieniazek wrote:
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Many people view atheism as a belief system rather than a religion. Your
points still stand, nonetheless, but I did want to point it out.
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What is a religion, if not a “belief system”? Just because atheism is not an
organized religion doesn’t mean it’s not a religion at all.
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It is entirely dependent on approach. I’ve seen atheists who approach it as a
religion, and others that do not. Generally, the more strident and absolutist
an atheist is, the more it approaches a religion. The more dispassionate and
scientific it is, the more the religion tag fails. Science is not a “belief”
system, it is a non-belief system - everything must be proved, and not
accepted (believed) on faith.
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I’ll go farther, and state that I feel that people who consistently call
atheism a religion are, in my view, exhibiting a false understanding of the
nature of religion. I suspect (without proof) that you were shortcutting
rather than that you actually hold that belief.
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You must have missed my lengthy discussion with Mr. Schuler regarding the
fundamental differences between atheism, agnosticism, and
Unitarianism/Universalism. The only areligious state is to be a true
agnostic (by the original definition, not the modern “I believe in god, but I
can’t decide which one” version), where you have not firmly decided against
the possibility of a supernatural power, but you refuse to accept any of them
as being real without concrete proof. When you’re a true atheist, you have
clear beliefs regarding supernatural powers and their role in the origin of
the universe. As I said then, there is a big difference between not
believing in any god and believing in not-god.
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I would call the modern miconception of agnosticism as “maybe there is a God or
maybe there isn’t”, which is simply indecision and not agnosticism (which seems
to be what you are saying in your elaboration, which doesn’t seem to match your
original definition in quotes).
-->Bruce<--
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: Is religion dead in the water?
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| (...) ...until it becomes agnosticism, the only true non-religion. The fundamental difference between atheists and agnostics is that atheism, like all religions, makes firm dogmatic claims regarding the existence of a supernatural being and the (...) (20 years ago, 15-Oct-04, to lugnet.off-topic.debate, FTX)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: Is lgbt dead in the water?
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| (...) What is a religion, if not a "belief system"? Just because atheism is not an organized religion doesn't mean it's not a religion at all. (...) You must have missed my lengthy discussion with Mr. Schuler regarding the fundamental differences (...) (20 years ago, 15-Oct-04, to lugnet.off-topic.debate, FTX)
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