converted to Atheism?
Posted on: December 6, 2010 - 1:23pm
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converted to Atheism?
There's a section on NNDB that deals with Atheists and/or people who have converted to Atheism.
I think it's a mistake to list people as having converted since all you have to do is open your mind and recognize all the BS.
Is that correct or is there some kind of initiation to go through?
Morality is doing what is right regardless of what you are told. Religion is doing what you are told regardless of what is right
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Well, according to google, nndb is just a db based web site that documents linkages between people. Since many people are atheists and publicly known as such, it makes a certain amount of sense to track that data. So I don't really see a problem with that.
As far as an initiation into atheism, yah, I can do that for you but it will be as humiliating and degrading as possible. We can start with a game I just made up for the purpose. I call it sexual roulette. Sort of like Russian roulette but you have to pick a person to have sex with from six possible hotties. One of them will be a rather convincing female impersonator.
If you get past that round, there are seven game altogether and I will make them up as I go along.
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I like referring to someone who leaves religion behind as someone who has deconverted. You are born as an atheist, then you are taught religion and convert to it. People who leave that religion behind undo that change and therefore de-convert. I must admit however that my spell check is picking up the word deconvert.
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What's NNDB?
Well, I only know of it from this thread but having googled it, I come to a web site that documents the connections between people who are deemed to be significant to the world in some way and who they are associated with.
For example, a search on Gene Simmons shows that he is a founding member of KISS, which links to all the people who have ever played in the band, which reveals that the lead singer used to date one of the biggest porn stars from the 70's and so on.
I suppose that it would be a more profitable use of the website to explore the connections between noted scientists or humanitarians than rock stars who date porn stars but I am shallow that way.
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a process of deconversion on the boards - which applies to former god people anyway. I did feel elevation as I let go of the god myth and I still do. I was chewing on Carl Sagan's Cosmos a bit last night and it's that Sagan sense of awe minus the anthro god that atheism means to me. It's opening yourself up to whatever is possible - no threats, no restrictions. Somehow, in my brain - atheism - which I think of as a position of mentally listening for something new - produces a frequency.
Ummmmm. Help me, Lumie...you're my only hope.
"Experiments are the only means of knowledge at our disposal. The rest is poetry, imagination." Max Planck
Is it Friday night already?
Deconverting makes me think of changing from one set of beliefs to another set of beliefs. If I convert from Xianity to Hinduism I have decided I don't believe in the Xian ideals but now believe in the Hindu principles.
Atheism doesn't have any principles so there is nothing to convert to. All atheism has is a definition, a statement of the absence of a belief system. If people pick up the ideals of pantheism or humanism then I would say you have converted to those... but atheism isn't a thing - its the lack of a thing.
Well in my case, a couple of guys knocked on my door. They said "Hello, have you heard the Good News ? .".
To which I replied "Harley's are going on sale at half price tommorrow ?,".
To which they replied "NO, EVEN BETTER. THERE IS NO GOD,".
"I don't know about that,". I answered. "I have wondered but I just am not sure,".
"Well it is right here son,". One of them stepped forward with a Richard Dawkins book. "Mind if I read you something ?,".
"Sure,". I answered, even though I was a little put out.
They read a selection. It sounded good. They invited me down to the First Atheist Hall on Sunday night to hear more. They were on fire. I had to admit, they looked happy, they looked like they had purpose. But, I was told that every Atheist believed in nothing and was filled with despair. I even told them this. They said not to worry, come to the First Atheist Church and all my questions would be answered. I could give my life over to myself.
They even told me that I could now be free to think for myself, that nothing out there wanted me to do any different, and I could use the qualities that evolution had given me, like common sense and reason to be a free man.
I firmly believe that I gave my heart over to , well NOTHING, that night.
“It is proof of a base and low mind for one to wish to think with the masses or majority, merely because the majority is the majority. Truth does not change because it is, or is not, believed by a majority of the people.”
― Giordano Bruno