Isn't it ironic when theists seek to discredit atheism by likening it to a religion?

Question

Talk about shooting yourself in the foot! :-)

Answer 1

My friend's dad is a doctor who once had a patient who actually shot himself in the foot. He was aiming at a fish. (Seriously.)

Answer 2

I've appreciated that irony since I began to frequent R&S. Just as we scientists describe our environment using scientific terminology, theists are inclined to think in theistic terminology. Ultimately, everyone is reduced to choosing the mental model which works best for them. It is ironic that believers often think of atheism in religious terms. I suspect it's because believers tend to have a rather limited and narrow worldview. They have few available choices.

Education is the process whereby a person increases the number of different mental models available within their own mind, both for contemplation and for problem solving.

Edit: It's also ironic how many people don't even know a Guinea Pig when they see one. Granted your's is an albino, but it certainly is not a rat!

Answer 3

Religifying things is how christians have been able to keep their delusions for so long... they've religified paganism... science... agnositcs... other cultures... and now seek to religify atheism... they religify them to discredit them... Showing how easy is should be to dicredit christianity... the bible actually does serve that purpose but christians harp on an imperfection ( a single theory that isn't understood, or can't be proved) and hold onto it for dear life... Christians have not one real basis to hold onto.. there is no heaven.. therefore they can't prove it... there is no life after death... so it cannot be proved either... (the closest thing to life after death is the return of King Tut) but that's not what they teach... But we being of a respectful and kind conscience have allowed them to go on and on at our own demise... they have become a plague upon the earth.. interfering in our societies.. our governments. our laws and our customs.. not allowing anything healthy do naturally develop... As long as christians are given a say, or a function in the discovery of truth.. we shoot ourselves in the foot... because they never wait for the proof.. they simply begin by making a plan to discredit what ever new information that comes our way... allowing this is what is bring illnesses into the human population and is in the end why the human race may be made extinct from the earth itself...

Answer 4

actual the wonderful court docket has ruled that Atheism is definitely a faith, to be secure via the 1st substitute. purely Google it, you will get dozens of websites. Edit: Kaos, sorry, IMHO that's a cop out, I even have observed Atheists that attempt to "convert" theists, we've an "Atheist Station" (a gathering corridor) interior the very next city, atheists who hold forth, on and on and on, what's that if no longer the religion of nonreligion,? If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, this is probable a duck.

Answer 5

Yes. It's also ironic when some atheists WANT atheism to pass off as a religion. It's nothing more than "no belief in deity".

I take no shame in being an atheist myself, yet I swear there are some other atheists think that in order to be an atheist, you need to go beyond the defintion, and additionally deny anything that has any sort of metaphysical implications (divination, dowsing, the afterlife, etc.), hate astrology (even for the novelty factor), be against all religion (even non-theistic ones), think science is the one and only way to get answers, love Douglas Adams, and vote Democrat. No thanks.

Answer 6

Close, Tpheez. It's a writing rodent.

And yes, Ic, it is very ironic indeed. Soon they'll work their way up with that barrel to about their eye level. That's when all of their dopey sniping will stop.

Answer 7

LOL...yeah, I've always said that. They also like to claim that religion is backed up by science - you know, science, whose premises require "faith" to be believed (according to them). It's just a big circle of confusion for these people.

I mean, read "Lion of Judah's" little screed. Hopeless! Reasoning with that mentality would be like trying to teach an ape the differential calculus.

Answer 8

they can call it whatever the hell they want. it doesn't make any difference. it's not like calling it a religion is going to make an atheist convert.
of course i believe in something, just not a god. if anything i'd say evolution. that's just me...

Answer 9

Some people approach it with the same amount of zeal and are starting to attach just as much stigma.

When it stops being "I am an Atheist" and becomes "We are the Atheists". It tends to start to hold ideals etc.

Obviously in context it is ridiculous, but I can see where it comes from using this site.

Answer 10

Atheists will repeatedly tell you that they are not in a religion. A religion almost always is defined to include belief in a deity of some sort. Atheism is non-belief in a deity. It isn't necessarily a "belief that there is no God," (though it can be)but is "not believing either way."

To label an atheist as a religious person is to put up a roadblock to effective communication. It would be like someone saying to a Christian, "You believe in a mean, tyrannical being who likes to torture people." The Christian would simply roll his eyes and think that the person doesn't know what he's talking about. So, how much effective conversation could there be in either instance? Not much.


We Christians have evidences for God's existence such as fulfilled biblical prophecy, Jesus' resurrection, the Transcendental Argument, the entropy problem, etc.

But there is another problem for atheists. Refuting evidences for Gods existence does not prove atheism true anymore than refuting an eyewitness testimony of a marriage denies the reality of the marriage. Since atheism cannot be proven and since disproving evidences for God does not prove there is no God, atheists have a position that is intellectually indefensible. At best, atheists can only say that there are no convincing evidences for God so far presented. They cannot say there are no evidences for God because the atheist cannot know all evidences that possibly exist in the world. At best, the atheist can only say that the evidence so far presented has been insufficient. This logically means that there could be evidences presented in the future that will suffice. The atheist must acknowledge that there may indeed be a proof that has so far been undiscovered and that the existence of God is possible. This would make the atheist more of an agnostic since at best the atheist can only be skeptical of Gods existence.

This is why atheists need to attack Christianity. It is because Christianity makes very high claims concerning Gods existence which challenges their atheism and pokes holes in their vacuum. They like the vacuum. They like having the universe with only one god in it: themselves.