Or is this a knee-jerk, fear based reaction to someone with no religious beliefs?
2007-07-10 03:45:41 · 25 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Bingo!
2007-07-10 03:48:12 · answer #1 · answered by Herodotus 7 · 4⤊ 1⤋
No. Everybody does not have to worship something. I'm not sure what you mean about the knee-jerk reaction. Are you saying that religious people tend to believe that non-religious people must "worship" something even if they don't use that word for it? In that case, I agree, because we see many examples of that in the other answers.
Of course "worship" only means "respect paid to that which is worthy." But in the sense in which the word has always been used, it implies "reverence for a supernatural or divine being." As an atheist, I reject the notion of the supernatural or divine being, and therefore the notion of worship.
2007-07-10 10:49:48 · answer #2 · answered by jonjon418 6 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Absolutely not. Worship specifically refers to something supernatural or sacred that one praises, honors, and devotes oneself to. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worship http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/worship)
The word can, basically by analogy and using hyperbole, be used for anything or anyone that you value highly. People who say that everyone worships something confuse these usages and use them inconsistently.
How? They say that they worship their god, using the primary meaning of the word. They say that those who don't worship a sacred thing worship something else such as money or tv or food. But an atheist considers money no more sacred than a theist does. If an atheist can be said to worship money or food (meaning that they value it highly) then a theist worships many different things as well. This would be a real problem for the theist who took this argument seriously because it would be idolatry.
Personally I hold nothing sacred. There are things and people I have tremendous regard for, but none has any supernatural power and each has flaws. I might adore, say, books, but I don't believe that books have any special powers. They are wonderful tools for sharing knowledge, but I don't pray to them, I don't consider them more valuable than people, I don't base my life around their being. The same can be said for anything that I value highly. I worship nothing, there are many things and people I adore, respect and even venerate. But it isn't the same as worship.
Why do they say this? for the same reason they say that everyone has faith. That way there are no different ways of thinking. They aren't challenged by any real alternatives to their mindset. There are only different gods or different faiths, they don't have to question the very concept of faith or worship and the things others have faith in or worship are, in their eyes, lesser than the god they choose.
2007-07-10 11:04:27 · answer #3 · answered by thatguyjoe 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Pretty much, though I would use the term "projection." They have to worship something. Doesn't mean you or anyone else does.
When someone says that to me, even though I do worship Gods, I always want to retort, "I don't *have* to do nothin' but die and pay taxes!"
2007-07-10 11:37:10 · answer #4 · answered by GreenEyedLilo 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No ....and why would anyone fear a person with no religious beliefs? You don't need to be religious to qualify as a decent person.
2007-07-10 10:58:31 · answer #5 · answered by holly 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think everyone has one ultimate thing (not necessarily physical, though) he or she considers more desirable than anything else that he or she would sacrifice everything else if necessary to keep. Some might call this worship.
2007-07-10 11:09:58 · answer #6 · answered by Deof Movestofca 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You know .. there is an inate need in man to worship something.. and this is because man is made with a spirit in him and it is interesting that God is Spirit. These two match...
I have yet to see a dog or cat needing to worship something..they do not have a spirit so there is no need in them and also its because they are NOT made according to God's kind, Image and Likeness... but according to their own kind...
Even in the most remote and what we consider uncivilized of places there is a need in these men and women to worship something... they erect gods of stone or wood or call the sun god etc.. there is this NEED in them. Even an atheist is somehow obsessed with proving there is no God, which shows that inspite of denial there is a spirit in him or her that cries out to be filled with God... thus the reason why rooms forums like this are not only made up of Christians but also our atheist friends:)
For those of us who have actually come into contact with God and have been Born again of the Spirit of God we find that He actually satisfied us and we are lead to worship Him in spirit and in truthfulness:)
2007-07-10 11:02:22 · answer #7 · answered by Broken Alabaster Flask 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I think it's a fear based reaction. I remember some one once saying that in America we have freedom OF religion, not freedom FROM religion. Apparently, We have to believe in something unbelievable to be American! Silly. Also many Christians think that sense we do not believe in god, we must think ourselves god. They cannot comprehend no god, So we must be worshiping something! So if we are atheists it must be ourselves! People are silly.
2007-07-10 10:54:16 · answer #8 · answered by punch 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
No one has to worship anything. I do feel that a great deal of religion and worship is fear-based. Life is for living, not being afraid.
2007-07-10 10:48:41 · answer #9 · answered by Yngona D 4 · 3⤊ 2⤋
Everybody needs a bosom for a pillow, every one needs a bosom.
2007-07-10 10:51:27 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I worship and pray to nothing at all. I have a free mind.
---Atheism Light
2007-07-10 10:51:48 · answer #11 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋