• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

What's the worst thing about being an atheist?

Page 2 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.
MovingTarget said:
Taking proper theology courses in college really does deepen your understanding of faith and its development over the past few millenia.
Click to expand...

Either that or it enables you to articulate what you've been thinking since you were about in 7th grade, which leads to a firm belief that gods either don't exist or don't matter. Either way that turns out though, I would agree that education is best for people with religious questions. Most people that go through that come out having "found themselves" which enables them to be much more productive citizens regardless of what they ultimately decided.
 
MovingTarget said:
Taking proper theology courses in college really does deepen your understanding of faith and its development over the past few millenia. But more to the point, although having/raising children is a big part of a life of faith (although not required), there is much more to it than that.
Click to expand...

Taking theology courses only deepens the understanding of faith if you don't understand what the courses are teaching you. "Proper theology courses" are the stepping stone to atheism, NOT faith. Only understanding the origin of the fairy tales allows a person to dismiss religion and invisible men in the sky with any degree of intelligence.
 
GagHalfrunt said:
Taking theology courses only deepens the understanding of faith if you don't understand what the courses are teaching you. "Proper theology courses" are the stepping stone to atheism, NOT faith. Only understanding the origin of the fairy tales allows a person to dismiss religion and invisible men in the sky with any degree of intelligence.
Click to expand...

I've seen it go both ways. Many who were atheist/agnostic end up finally accepting God, and sometimes the faithful lose their faith. I've seen more of the former than the ladder, but I have seen both. Personally, it strengthened my faith to understand the development of modern Christian belief. I also found it fascinating to study the details of other faiths as well even though Catholicism is where my faith is 'at home'. If you are going to accept/reject God as an adult, you should do so on a basis of knowledge and not ignorance - which far too many do.
 
nkgreen said:
Hahaha!! I drive by that every time I go to and from my parents house.
Click to expand...

I know that the sign is "kinda hokey", but I <3 that sign. It gets to be a very boring drive on that segment of I-65. I do wonder what those waterwheels are being used for. It would be pretty cool if they powered the lights for the sign (or something else).
 
Actually, some religions such as Jehovah's Witnesses do NOT celebrate days like birthdays or Christmas. No presents. Atheists certainly celebrate birthdays and Christmas, plus Atheists aren't obligated to waste 2 or 3 hours for Christmas Eve mass.
 
MovingTarget said:
I've seen it go both ways. Many who were atheist/agnostic end up finally accepting God, and sometimes the faithful lose their faith. I've seen more of the former than the ladder, but I have seen both. Personally, it strengthened my faith to understand the development of modern Christian belief. I also found it fascinating to study the details of other faiths as well even though Catholicism is where my faith is 'at home'. If you are going to accept/reject God as an adult, you should do so on a basis of knowledge and not ignorance - which far too many do.
Click to expand...
[csb]I attended a private Church of Christ university and took 3 semesters of religion classes as undergraduate requirements. I came out an atheist.[/csb]
 
DrPizza said:
Actually, some religions such as Jehovah's Witnesses do NOT celebrate days like birthdays or Christmas. No presents. Atheists certainly celebrate birthdays and Christmas, plus Atheists aren't obligated to waste 2 or 3 hours for Christmas Eve mass.
Click to expand...
Do Atheists even call it "Christmas"? I wouldn't think so as Christmas actually means "Christ's Mass." Would be silly for them to call it Christmas then wouldn't it? They could just more rightly call it FlyingSpaghettiMonster Day.

Of course Atheists aren't "obligated to waste" 2 -3 hours for Christmas Eve mass. Surely, you don't think Atheists missing out on that is "the worst thing about being an atheist". What would the answer to the thread title be then?
 
moshquerade said:
Do Atheists even call it "Christmas"? I wouldn't think so as Christmas actually means "Christ's Mass." Would be silly for them to call it Christmas then wouldn't it? They could just more rightly call it FlyingSpaghettiMonster Day.
Click to expand...
My family is traditionally religious, so I just go along with the traditions.
 
moshquerade said:
Do Atheists even call it "Christmas"? I wouldn't think so as Christmas actually means "Christ's Mass." Would be silly for them to call it Christmas then wouldn't it? They could just more rightly call it FlyingSpaghettiMonster Day.
Click to expand...

That would work if all atheists were Pastafarians 😉.

I'd hope that any "non-believer" just doesn't give a shit what you call Christmas. Hell... it's the name written on all the calendars, so who cares if the name is based in religion?

MovingTarget said:
I know that the sign is "kinda hokey", but I <3 that sign. It gets to be a very boring drive on that segment of I-65. I do wonder what those waterwheels are being used for. It would be pretty cool if they powered the lights for the sign (or something else).
Click to expand...

Where is it on I65? I'm wondering if I've ever missed it.
 
Aikouka said:
That would work if all atheists were Pastafarians 😉.

I'd hope that any "non-believer" just doesn't give a shit what you call Christmas. Hell... it's the name written on all the calendars, so who cares if the name is based in religion?



Where is it on I65? I'm wondering if I've ever missed it.
Click to expand...

It is just north of Prattville, which is near Montgomery.
 
moshquerade said:
Do Atheists even call it "Christmas"? I wouldn't think so as Christmas actually means "Christ's Mass." Would be silly for them to call it Christmas then wouldn't it? They could just more rightly call it FlyingSpaghettiMonster Day.
Click to expand...

LOL @ religiotards who still think Christmas is a religiotard holiday.
 
MovingTarget said:
I know that the sign is "kinda hokey", but I <3 that sign. It gets to be a very boring drive on that segment of I-65. I do wonder what those waterwheels are being used for. It would be pretty cool if they powered the lights for the sign (or something else).
Click to expand...

Yeah, I do a lot of driving from my parents place about a hour north of Mobile and either Huntsville or Tuscaloosa, and occasionally from Tuscaloosa to Huntsville.

There's also that huge Confederate flag around that area too.
 
The worst would be trying to live with the personal cognitive dissonance of cursing others out with "Goddamn you" or "Go to hell."

But then, I don't believe in hell (a later Christian concept which postdates Christ and all the surviving apostles) or a corporeal God (you know, a Joe God who lives at One Heaven Place) who could or would damn anyone or anything and yet I exclude no Christian based curse from my lexicon, either. <shrug>

Nevertheless, personally, I stand with such luminaries as Big Al Einstein in having a strong and enduring sense of the divine:
"Science without religion is lame. Religion without science is blind."
-- Albert Einstein
Click to expand...
And if you don't like it, Goddamn it, you can go to hell. 😉
 
moshquerade said:
Do Atheists even call it "Christmas"? I wouldn't think so as Christmas actually means "Christ's Mass." Would be silly for them to call it Christmas then wouldn't it?
Click to expand...

Why wouldn't an atheist call Christmas Christmas? Do Christians refuse to refer to Mohammed as Mohammed, instead calling him 'Prophetic Arab Guy'? Would Jews refer to Kwanzaa as 'Made-up Bullshit Harvest Time'?

Just because an atheist doesn't believe in the "divine definition" of Christmas doesn't mean they can't use that term to refer to that particular day.
 
nkgreen said:
Yeah, I do a lot of driving from my parents place about a hour north of Mobile and either Huntsville or Tuscaloosa, and occasionally from Tuscaloosa to Huntsville.

There's also that huge Confederate flag around that area too.
Click to expand...

IIRC that is maintained by the Sons of Confederate Veterans. I'm not sure if that is the big flag next to one of the old battlegrounds though. It could be.
 
Perknose said:
Nevertheless, personally, I stand with such luminaries as Big Al Einstein in having a strong and enduring sense of the divine:
And if you don't like it, Goddamn it, you can go to hell. 😉
Click to expand...

Oh dear, still perpetuating the myth the Einstein was religious? Talk about grasping at straws.
 
sactoking said:
Why wouldn't an atheist call Christmas Christmas? Do Christians refuse to refer to Mohammed as Mohammed, instead calling him 'Prophetic Arab Guy'? Would Jews refer to Kwanzaa as 'Made-up Bullshit Harvest Time'?

Just because an atheist doesn't believe in the "divine definition" of Christmas doesn't mean they can't use that term to refer to that particular day.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Besides, even the most ardent Atheist should realize the extent to which Christian beliefs are tied up in western culture. Anything from architecture, legal precedents (common law), art, science, philosophy, etc. are all influenced by Christianity. It is a cultural reference point. To completely avoid any reference to Christianity in our common language and culture is a fool's errand.
 
sactoking said:
Why wouldn't an atheist call Christmas Christmas? Do Christians refuse to refer to Mohammed as Mohammed, instead calling him 'Prophetic Arab Guy'? Would Jews refer to Kwanzaa as 'Made-up Bullshit Harvest Time'?

Just because an atheist doesn't believe in the "divine definition" of Christmas doesn't mean they can't use that term to refer to that particular day.
Click to expand...

Christians don't think things through very well when they make comments.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top