Atheism

That may be true in some cases, but I tend to think that it isn't quite that simple. We are socialized to believe in something. It's only anecdotal, but most of the folks that I know who've had bad experiences with mainstream religion, particularly the varying forms of Christianity, and have left that faith have moved on to something else. Invariably, it tends to be some form of neo-paganism or spirituality.

Of course, it's always fun just to join up with probably the most despised minority in America. Not only are we going to hell, we are un-American to boot.

http://www.ur.umn.edu/FMPro?-db=rel...ewsreleases/releasesdetail.html&ID=2816&-Find

 

You're right, atheism is generally a form of rebellion against religion, either on a societal level or personal against parents or other individuals. One reason it's so popular among people who style themselves intellectuals is that they use it as a means of establishing an illusion of superiority over the masses. It's a self-esteem booster, in effect. Logically you would never actually get past agnosticism to atheism, and as such, atheism itself is an article of faith. To say you know that there is no supernatural being is like saying that you know what exists outside the universe. We can guess and speculate and argue about it all we want, but we don't know, and saying that there is no god is not something supported by reason.


Touching on this subject, here's something from TMQ:
"Publishers Slam Religion; Hollywood Cozies Up: Because we have a president who is ostentatiously religious -- as an active Christian, I really wish George W. Bush and other politicians would bear in mind that the First Amendment mandates separation of church and state -- there has been a fad for God-is-a-fraud books. But you can't prove God does not exist any more than you can prove God does! (See Kant's football column.) Recent anti-religion best-sellers by Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens read like Middle Ages papal bulls, pronouncing a new orthodoxy in which everything about faith is bad, none of religion's good points and virtues are permitted to be mentioned, and godlessness is the new God you must obey! TMQ pal Leon Wieseltier of The New Republic just had a wonderful line about this: "Religion may confer a preposterous cosmic significance upon the individual, but atheism is the true friend of egotism." It is one thing to suppose there is no divine power, the universe coming into being solely through natural forces; this might turn out to be correct. It's quite another to suppose God is impossible -- that nothing can possibly exist that is greater than a 21st-century pundit with a book to sell. Pretty egotistical, huh?"

 

Of course, it's always fun just to join up with probably the most despised minority in America. Not only are we going to hell, we are un-American to boot.

http://www.ur.umn.edu/FMPro?-db=rel...ewsreleases/releasesdetail.html&ID=2816&-Find[/QUOTE] It's a choice, part of being a christian requires us to love you anyway. It really is that simple. You can try to make it complicated with theories and postulating about this or that, I can accept that you choose not to believe in God.

 

Thanks for bringing more good stuff from the ESPN Tuesday Morning Quarterback column into the discussion.

So far, it's been a relatively civil conversation with some personal sharing.

C, tell us a bit about your personal beliefs? I know you have some pretty standard preconceptions and stereotypes about certain belief systems so I'd be interested to hear about yours.

 

Why thank you. I have warm fuzzies for most folks myself.

I don't think it's at all complicated. It's much simpler to not believe than it is to accept all the things that belief entails.

 

So you've chosen the easy road?....hmmm It is not un-christian to question, and sometimes love is tough, it doesn't create warm fuzzies.

 

Do atheists ever get accused of being hypocritical if they slip up and believe in something or someone?

 

I would say that non-belief in our culture is far from the easy road. I would say for myself it wasn't a choice either, simply a natural progression.

 

Atheists can believe in many things and many people. Not sure what the question is asking.

 

Often christians are accused of being hypocritical if our actions are not consistent with what our beliefs are, if you don't have a particular belief system you adhere to, aren't you free to act any way at anytime?(within the laws of the land) For instance, if you bowed your head before a meal, are you "acting" christian?