An Introduction and a question.
Offline Hail and well met fellow mammilian viruses (I'm a misanthropist, sue me)
I signed up to this site quite a while ago, wrote a single blog entry and then sort of had a spiritual... or I guess anti-spiritual... oh hell, I dunno, I had a philosophical crisis about the core of my belief system as pertaining to the existence or inexistence of any sort of "higher being". What I believe I came up with is that I'm an Adeist. Has anyone used this term before in popular theology? Maybe an explanation of what I mean by Adeist is in order.
I do not claim to know, one way or the other, if any sort of god or gods exist. To me, claim of such knowledge is a ludicrous assertion since we have no evidence eitherway. Now, this does not mean I think that the Atheist or the Theist is ludicrous based on lack of belief, or belief, alone, because obviously one can very easily become an Atheist based on the utter lack of any evidence for the existence of a higher being other than texts written by a bunch of people who still probably lacked an understanding of things as simple as basic algebra, science or biology. What I do claim is to not follow any god or gods. I refuse to bend my knee to anyone, mortal or immortal. Certain gods, like the Abrahamic one (or the Christian/Jewish/Muslim god as most would call him) are, if they do indeed exist, the utter definition of repulsive evil. A petty, small minded, psychotic dictator who claims to give you free will while he pushes a knife called "Hell" against your throat and tells you to choose. Jesus could float down from Heaven tomorrow, stand infront of me and prove his and his father (who are apparently the same guy? That's a level of incest I don't even want to try and map out) exist without a doubt, and I would still spit at his feet and tell him to go fornicate himself (something Jesus is in a unique position to do, since he's apparently two people at the same time).
Now, I do attempt to live my life by the teachings set down by another religion that, according to some recent archelogical evidence, is far older than the three monotheistic religions du jour; that being the religion of my germanic ancestors. I still do not bend knee to Woden, Odin, Wotenaz or whatever you want to call him, and his fellow Aesir nor do I even necessarily believe they exist, but the teachings speak to me in ways no other ever has and I can't readily ignore that just because my ancestors happened to believe that the creation of the universe involved a giant blue cow (though I do love telling Christians the Norse creation myth and hearing them say "that's just a stupid myth"... irony at its finest).
I'm ranting now, as it's 3am and I'm quite tired. To get back on track, by Adeist I basically mean "One without gods". I will walk my life as a goddless man until the day I die. So, my question is, what am I? Does Adeist fit? Has it been used before? I refuse to call myself an Agnostic because it has always had the flavour in my mouth of someone who not only doesn't know, but doesn't want to know, and I am far too inqusitive for that. I also don't think Atheist fits because I am not firm in my disbelief in a god or gods, though I do currently not believe any of them exist. Usually, I am refered to as an Atheist due to my strong Anti-Christian leanings and I despise being called a Pagan since most of them seem far too peaceful and willing to forget that Christianity put many of our type to sword and fire to spread the word of their ever so loving sheep herder; I've always been an eye for an eye sort, though I'd settle with the intellectual destruction of the Christian faith as opposed to stooping to their level of torture, murder and rape.
Anyhow, that's my introduction.
Have no pity for those mired in the prophet delusion, content to be servile for a lifetime; tis better to be king for a day
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Welcome to the hizzle.
Welcome, always glad to see a new face.
Welcome!
Let me see if I can address your post a little at a time.
It's not universally accepted, of course, but this is the basic stance of at least a sizeable minority, and maybe a majority of the atheists here. While many of us, myself included, maintain that many gods, including the Christian god, cannot exist, we don't claim to even understand what people mean when they say the word, "god." As far as we can tell, there's no coherent definition of god. Like you said, speaking of something that is not even coherent is, well, silly.
To put it simply, a-theist, to me, and to many here, simply means "not a theist," "one who does not believe in god(s)."
To not believe is not the same as to disbelieve. This is probably the most common argument here, and I find it kind of tiring, but the bottom line is that it seems you are on exactly the same page as many people here.
We're doing our best to convince people that when they say they are doing this, what they're actually doing is living by the teachings set down by people who molded their religion to what they already believed. In other words, we all make our own morals, but some of us don't feel the need to give credit to someone else.
I'd encourage you to spend some time thinking about why they speak to you. Is it because a so-called deity wrote them down, or because they make sense on a practical level to you?
You may not like it, but you're an atheist.
Around here, we find agnostic to be a useless word. If there are no gods, or no evidence for any gods, then there is obviously no knowledge of any gods. Therefore, everyone, theist and atheist alike, is an agnostic, whether they know it or not! (How's that for irony?)
I don't know if you're in America, but atheism gets a very bad name here. So many people think that atheists disbelieve in god(s). In other words, they claim that we assert the positive proposition, "No Gods Exist." While there are a few (ill-advised) atheists who do this, the vast majority of us hold to the proposition that the positive claimant -- theists -- must demonstrate the existence of god(s) before we take their claim seriously. Until there is any evidence of a god, we live as if there are none.
Our fight is not against gods, but against theists who claim to speak for them. If Thor wants to come to earth and set up some laws, good for him! I'll want to see the evidence before I submit to him, though. Theists all over the world ask us to respect their beliefs, and even to submit to the laws of their religions -- without a scrap of evidence. This is why we seem militant. It's not about the gods. It's about the theists. Their beliefs are not worthy of scholarly or political respect.
You're in very good company here.
Atheism isn't a lot like religion at all. Unless by "religion" you mean "not religion". --Ciarin
http://hambydammit.wordpress.com/
Books about atheism
I may have worded it wrongly, but I am perfectly aware that my ancestors wrote the stories of their gods as a way to create a rough framework of their own personal moral belief structure. I don't believe any holy text on earth was written by anyone other than a man (or woman). I do not believe that Odin or Thor or any of the other Aesir actually exist, though they very well may, but I do find the stories that my ancestors wrote down about them to be excellent examples of how to live one's life on this planet. I didn't bend my morality to that of my ancestors, I found I already had their morality, for the most part.
Strong over the weak. Strength in the face of adversity. Fighting tooth and nail even when you know for a fact you cannot win. Protecting your own. The Christians say the meek will inherit the earth, the Norse say that'll only happen if we're too drunk to stop it.
Have no pity for those mired in the prophet delusion, content to be servile for a lifetime; tis better to be king for a day
I love this.
Atheism isn't a lot like religion at all. Unless by "religion" you mean "not religion". --Ciarin
http://hambydammit.wordpress.com/
Books about atheism
Anyone can make a claim about anything. They can be flat out lying, or honestly believe what they are claiming. The fallacy theists commit is that they equate a claim to being on the same level as evidence which are two seperate issues.
"God is real"
"Allah is real"
"Yahwey is real"
" Horus is real""Vishnu is real"
"Bigfoot is real"
"Locness monster is real"
"Phsycics are real"
I dont doubt that most on this list you could find someone who truely believes, or evidence of anciencents who once believed in one of these claims. But you can find objectors of all other claims, but one on that list.
My point is simply making a claim should not constitute you saying, "Whatever floats your boats"
From a empathy standpoint human to human I cant deny autonomy and freedom of concious. But from an intelectual honesty standpoint I dont by a car because the salesman says it is blue. There is one reason and one reason only to accept or reject a claim.
"We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and nonbelievers."Obama
Check out my poetry here on Rational Responders Like my poetry thread on Facebook under Brian James Rational Poet, @Brianrrs37 on Twitter and my blog at www.brianjamesrationalpoet.blog
Adraedan, thanks for typing that friend, Hi god, .... we are real ! .... god ?
Aristotle's Metaphysics:
There is something moving.
Everything that moves is put into motion by something else.
But this series of antecedent movers cannot reach back infinitely.
Therefore, there must be a first mover (which is god). ???
hee hee ....
Atheism Books.
Greetings! I like your writing style, and I'm sure you'll contribute much to the discussions here.
I haven't read the other responses - I've no doubt someone's answered your question more thoroughly than I intend to - but I'll answer the best way I know how. You seem to be an atheist, my good man. To be one, you needn't have a "firm disbelief" in any gods. You just musn't hold any particular belief in one. I'd describe you as an agnostic atheist. I find "adeist," as you put it, too specific. A Christian could call himself one, as most Christians aren't deists either. A self-proclaimed "adeist" could be any other kind of theist, so it hardly describes your attitude toward religion.
Anyway, welcome to the boards!
Wouldn't a-deism allow belief in Jesus? It would only preclude belief in a deist god.
I think it's a bad choice.
(no offense.)
Atheism isn't a lot like religion at all. Unless by "religion" you mean "not religion". --Ciarin
http://hambydammit.wordpress.com/
Books about atheism
Bigfoot is real. Truly.
Thank you all for your opinions on the matter. I came to the realization that there is no name, nor should there be, for me. Somewhere in the middle of a convuluted mess consisting of Astaru, Atheism, Thelema, Satanism, Nihilism and a whole host of religions and philosophical ideals that don't actually exist (much love for Cthulhu and Crom) is where I stand. Between Theist and Atheist I choose to stand on the side of the Atheists because most Theists, specificially those following the Abrahamic god, disgust me down to the very core of who I am.
Religion belongs in a private setting with no voice in the public arena.
Have no pity for those mired in the prophet delusion, content to be servile for a lifetime; tis better to be king for a day
I have some historical interest in the traditional gods of my western European ancestors but I still don't believe in them. Nevertheless I am intrigued by the mystical symbolism of the various runes and in fact wear the symbols of "war" and "death" on a chain around my neck ( I guess I'm kind of morbid
)
I appreciate the fierce cultures from which these various pagan beliefs developed and enjoy reading about some the spectacular achievements that some of their adherents were able to accomplish, eg Gauls sack Rome in 390 BC, the illiterate, head-hunting Celts also sack Rome in 367 BC, the romanised Cherusci chieftan, named Arminius, who slaughtered over three Roman legions and their auxiliaries ( over 20,000 men ), in a single three day battle, etc....sorry, got on a tangent, there.
BTW, welcome to the forum.