Should atheists be banned from the "Religion and Spirituality" forum IF (big IF) they are not a religion?

Question

And once they are banned, who is next on the list?

And after a while, which groups WILL be allowed?

No, I am not proposing this. I have seen in in other posts. I've seen a lot of really not so nice things around here.

As far as me being paranoid - "just because I am paranoid does not mean that they aren't out to get me" - Woody Allen.

Answer 1

You can lack religion and still be Spiritual. So no, you can't really ban them because they might still fit under the "Spirituality" clause of "Religion & Spirituality". They might not believe in a higher power, but still believe in spirits, ghosts, and that everything has a soul.

I think the people that SHOULD be banned are just the people out to start a fight. The ones that go into the category, or any other category for that matter, just to harrass people and put others down should be kicked out of the respective section for a certain period of time to show them that their attitude isn't welcome. That would include Christians and other religious people too. Anyone that asks questions like "Why are atheists so stupid? When will they learn that if they just convert, we'll leave them alone" should be temporarily banned too. That's a lack of respect for others beliefs too.

We just all need to get along and accept everyone else's beliefs whether we agree or not. Just because it's not something we personally agree with, doesn't mean they don't have a right to believe it (or not believe it).

I'm an Agnostic myself (which is NOT the same as an Atheist even though I get shoved in that category pretty hastily). I just honestly don't know what to believe and I don't pretend to know. So I get really upset when people don't respect that and try to shove the "right" way down my throat. I basically just don't feel like it's right for anyone to be openly banned from any section for any reason other than sheer disrespect.



To answer your other two questions in the additional details part:

Assuming they were banned, which they probably would not be because that wouldn't be fair, people would probably start attacking the non-english speaking questioners. That also wouldn't be fair because their obviously doing their best and TRYING to learn, but people just jump down their throat and punish them for not already being a native speaker. I get so annoyed when people do that. If the person is obviously TRYING, then SUPPORT them! And if you don't understand the question, DON'T ANSWER IT. Simple as that.

After a while, the only groups that would be "allowed" would be the ones that had the least opposition. But people would sneak into the category anyway. With over 10 million users, Yahoo wouldn't have the power or ability to weed out all the "not allowed" people.

It's impossible to determine who's allowed and who's not. That just fuels discrimination. Think back to the 50s. Was it "right" to say white people were allowed in certain restaurants and blacks were not? Not really, but it happened. And see how the world is now? It's slowly getting better and people are slowly starting to build more respect and tolerance for one another. It's by no means a perfect place yet, but you have to admit that the world's come pretty far in just 50-60 years. That's barely the blink of an eye in the amount of time our universe has existed. So I'd like to think that one day... one day... we will all learn to accept one another and co-exist peacefully... It will take time though. I know.

Answer 2

If you start banning certain groups of people then why have an open board in the first place. Some atheists had another belief system at some point so quite a few know about religions. And spirituality usually transcends organized religion so that does not mean an atheist cannot be spiritual.

If one group is banned then close the whole board down.

Answer 3

Why should they? Saying that a "phenomenon X" doesn't exist still comes under the topic of "things concerning phenomenon X".
If there was an "invisible pink unicorn" forum, I think people who are convinced that there is no invisible pink unicorn absolutely belong under that category.
And of course atheism is not a religion. That's what atheism means. It's the absence of religion. But people have reasons for being atheists that are often based on the exact same texts and sources that other people would name as their reason for being religious in the first place. So: A religion forum is exactly where atheists should be.

Answer 4

Just because someone is an atheist doesn't mean he or she has nothing meaningful to say in the religion and spirituality forum. It's quite possible that an atheist could have studied many religions in-depth, and thus be able to answer questions that stump others.

It's like asking, "Should only pregnant obstetricians be able to deliver babies?" Not logical, not helpful, and talking of banning people surely doesn't embody the spirit of any religion I'm aware of.

Answer 5

The definition of an atheist is "one who disbelieves or denies the existence of God or gods."

Therefore, anyone who believes in/practices a religion that is not based around a God or gods is an atheist. That does not mean that all atheists are non-religious, and it certainly does not mean that all atheists are not spiritual. Also, there is the point that disbelieving other religions is still a religious viewpoint.

So no, atheists should not be banned.

Answer 6

Shouldn't they choose to refrain themselves. I mean, if I don't believe in Quetzlcoatl, i don't go to his website and say that I'm going to disprove him. You can't disprove anything except a scientific theory or law. (But there are accepted rules for doing that.)
No one should be banned except by their own conscience (providing athiests have a conscience), as long as they're not spewing pedophile crap or anything like that. Unless those pedos are actually speaking logically. I mean *athiests* can actually have a logically tenable position on their positions. Those who know a little bit about the histories of oppressed peoples should know just how easy it can be to oppress. A little fear, and then all discourse, thought, and empathy are unnecessary.

Answer 7

Do you squash bugs just because they are not human? Some people do. Some people respect them for just being. We CAN all peacefully coexist. In fact, no matter whether we are religious or not we all grow and learn from one another. Perhaps it takes an atheist to strengthen the belief of a believer.

Answer 8

Really!

Atheists are only operating upon a belief system, based on faith, just like the rest of us. I think that we are all basing our faith upon different things.

The Atheist Faith tends to see the end as the end. There is no more you or me after that.

The Christian Faith says that we are going to live forever, in one place or another, with no inbetween. As does Zoroastrian.

Those in Islam seem to affixated upon many vigins, there's something about that . . . .

ANYWAYS, No.

Answer 9

NO, you cannot ban people like that. It's a slippery slope....
No one should be banned, as long as they're not spewing pedophile crap or anything like that. I like to read everyone's opinion.

However, I get your point. If you ban this group, where will it end?

Answer 10

Of course they should not be banned! Athieism is still a belief system. They just choose not to believe in a god.