Atheist Study (Survey)

My thoughts exactly. I can’t even complete the survey right now because of how it’s worded. How did @Drew come to the conclusion that Atheism is a religious identity when it’s not. We don’t practice a religion, pray, or believe in the existence of gods.

In my native language we have a word that translates roughly as “outlook on life”, which includes all religions, shamanism, humanism, atheism and “i don’t give a fuck”. Is there a better term in English?

Is your worldview shaped by a religious or diety belief system?

That’s a question that I could answer honestly.

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Yes, I do have a diety worldview. I like meat, fish, seafood, vegetables AND fruit. I even like brussel sprouts, broccoli, and coriander/cilantro. :grinning:

Edit: and fish/seafood! How could I forget fish and seafood! :frowning:

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I seafood diet??? I see food…

There is no “NO” “Atheist outlook on life.” Again this goes to the fact that you have no idea at all as to “What atheism is.” Atheism is a position on one idea and one idea only. It says NOTHING AT ALL about a person’s 'OUTLOOK ON LIFE."

“Do you believe in a God?” To this question, the atheist responds, “No.” There is nothing more you can attribute to this person beyond that one simple response. There is no group membership. There is no group consensus. There are no sacred texts. There are no Atheist leaders. There are no chants or prayers.

What you are running into when you talk to atheists are people who are also skeptics. Many atheists happen to be skeptical thinkers. Skeptical thinkers do have a set of skills that they use to see the world around them. (Not all atheists are Skeptics.)

  1. Measure – Get the numbers (FACTS) and use them as a basis for improvement. Avoid subjective judgements where possible. The data usually won’t provide the whole story, but it provides a solid foundation for drawing conclusions.

  2. Examine Your Scale – Data itself is worthless with a broken scale. Take steps to regularly ensure that your numbers are measuring what they need to.

  3. Know the Unknowns (KNOW WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW, KNOW THE LIMITATIONS) – Figure out the unknowns in any project or endeavor. Being aware of them will help you react to new information.

  4. Cut the Arrogance – Part of healthy skepticism, is removing the arrogance that comes from a certainty that you know what is right. (This is why Atheists ask for evidence of God. Non-belief is generally based on the fact that the theists have not met their burden of proof.)

  5. Play the Devil’s Advocate – Spend a bit of time thinking through some of your problems if your assumptions were reversed. Not only will this keep you on your toes, it can yield creative new answers. (Most atheists on this site know more about the Bible and Christian History than the Theists that pop in for a visit. Studies show that this is, in fact, the norm.)

  6. Seek Contradictory Viewpoints – Look for opinions that clash with yours. This could be in the form of people, books or classes that confront your assumptions. (Here we all are, entertaining YOU. Attempting to educate YOU.)

  7. Test – Measurement is good, but active experimentation is better. (Independent verification.) Other people can follow the logic, reason, numbers and facts and come up with the same conclusions.

You have confused SKEPTICS who do have a world view (Loosely), with ATHEISTS who do not have a world view. (Skeptics have a way of making sense out of the world. A methodology. That does not mean they will agree with one another. It means, whatever position they hold, will generally be supported with facts, logic, reason, statistics, and not just faith and belief. ) Even studying skeptics, while it is going to be a bit more accurate than studying Atheists, is not going to give you a good group dynamic. Skeptics can still have all sorts of “World Views.”

Please read what I wrote again. I took a term in one language (the Norwegian word livssyn), which is an established omnibus term both in daily use and in legal terms that encompasses all religious beliefs and non-beliefs, humanism, pastafarianism, views on god(s) (including non-belief), philosophies of life etc. I then tried to translate it to English (outlook on life). The translation doesn’t carry quite the same meaning and connotation as the original word, and I didn’t claim it did (hence the use of “translates roughly as”). I am very well aware of the dictionary definition of atheism, and atheism is still covered by the word livssyn (but perhaps not “outlook on life”). In fact, I asked specifically if there is a better term in English. So I think you are in fact putting way too much into it than is called for.

I agree. Atheists aren’t a race of people. We’re not from Krypton. We’re just normal people that have jobs, house mortgages, car payments, and whatever else. The only thing we want nothing to do with is religion in our lives because…personally I believe it’s fictional and a very toxic lifestyle. We all know that I can’t prove that. But until Theism is proven with strong evidence. I’ll never believe in it or support the religion. Any idiot that walks into my life preaching scripture (bullshit) I’ll be likely to stay away from them. You can’t argue with crazy and a lot of Christians are fucking nuts where I live. They’re so damn delusional and brain washed.

Not true. I have kids, boys, and the oldest is modifying his lifestyle to religious superstitions. He’s welcome to his beliefs - as they all are. And who knows with grandkids :woman_shrugging:t2:

I think my daughter is taking after me. She said something the other day that made me believe that she doesn’t give a shit about Christianity. It was almost mocking and yet I couldn’t help but feel proud.

It disgusts me that millions of people believe in Christianity and they call everything else Paganism. They believe Atheists are heretics from what I learned at a Baptist church. Most Christians at that church are taught from day one to piss on those that don’t believe in their religion.

I don’t know why they act so ignorant of what atheism actually is. It’s insulting.

If you say you don’t believe in it. They then assume that you’ll try to convince them not to believe in it. They treat you like there’s something wrong with you. And that’s what pisses me off the most.

What I do believe is that Christianity is the most creative lie ever conceived. People believe in their holy trinity out of fear of going to hell because that’s what they’re taught to do. If they were brought up in the middle east, they’d be Muslim.

I don’t have evidence. But that’s okay. Hell. I would love to find evidence and open everyone’s eyes. If I could destroy most of religion in the world. I’d do it in a heart beat.

I’d say different, not better. The German loan word ‘Zeitgeist’ has a broader meaning than the more literal meaning of spirit of the age. Today it’s used to also mean a person’s world view.

That is because the religious leaders have convinced their membership that it is an “us versus them” mentality, with no middle ground or tolerance for the other side.

I tend to suspect some fellow atheists in here are less tolerant than I am.

I have many friends who are very religious. I do not look down on them or consider them fools or asshats. I am tolerant because IMO they are victims of a scam.

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Once you get those zombies down you gotta shoot them in the head three times to make sure they don’t get up again. I actually thought I was responding to Drew and his inability to understand “Atheism.”

That’s exactly what it feels like. You can’t even find common ground to get along with most of them. Now there are people who “believe in God” and most of the time they’re not judgmental. Because they’re non practicing and don’t go to church. They’re just not passionate about it. I like those people the best because you can actually have an intellectual conversation with some of them without their own religious bullshit getting in the way.

I am one of them. I’m very un tolerant of a lot of people who practice Christianity. I think I’m less tolerant towards Muslims. But it seems that I come off hating Christianity the most.

I look down on them because they act like they’re superior. Because their pastor has fed them bullshit opinions about how they’ll go to Heaven and that they are immortal in the after life and so on and so forth. The list of bullshit claims goes on and on with religion. It’s almost as if they make it up as they go on.

Then you have idiots like this spreading even more bullshit for all of us to put up with. Christianity is a sickness.

People may absorb hate. It is a thought/emotional process within them. The only way hate mongers can continually propagate their propaganda works on belief and altering or reinforcing a thinking process which leads to an emotional response.

A hate-on can be for anything

Setting a boundary doesn’t require a “hate” emotion.

My boundaries are set by a thought process of self-respect, a form of self-love. It allows for others within a personal limit I set for myself…

As far as “judgement” - others judge us all the time in the brief moments we actually cross their minds. Then we are forgotten (we all have more important things to think about, namely ourselves). I couldn’t give a shit what someone thinks about me, but setting a boundary as to a verbal attack or “ethical/morality judgements” cast towards me, I will address these (depending on circumstances), set a boundary and move on. Believing their judgement/assessments is my choice, within me, and again, if I believe them, I might react with hate/anger.

@Whitefire13 Was there ever a time where you felt like I have felt?

I have this inner fire in me. There’s this thing where my tolerance towards any one who practices it and preaches about it runs my patience very thin towards them. I’ve put up with and I’ve put up with it and it does nothing but aggravate me. I cannot stand them. The other day me and my girlfriend and my kids were eating out at Coltons. I look over and there’s this group of two old men and an elderly woman praying before their meal. I couldn’t help but scoff at them and hope they left the restaurant with food poisoning.

What the fuck do old people eating in a restaurant have anything to do with you? How the fuck does them “praying” interfer with you and your girlfriend and kids out for your own enjoyment? When you’re engaged in your own life, who gives a fuck about someone else (in this context) - a stranger yet??? If they came to your table, in your space and wanted to pray over your meal - well, have at it (the anger) BUT Jesus fuckin’Christ… did you notice the couple breaking up, or the kids acting like little shits, or the lesbian couple or the single mom texting or… a SHIT load of other people that can “apparently set someone off”…

Your anger and hate is yours.

Just like the anger and hate my local elders have and scoff when they happen to see me (especially smoking) is theirs. Has absolutely nothing to do with me. hahahahaha.

BTW, I see people praying and think - yahooooo!!! I don’t have to wait till my food gets cold! :wink:

EDITED to add: yes, my smoking can be an irritant to a great many folks… probably especially the Aussie types who are damn near close to making the whole thing illegal (imagine that!!!) lol. Hey, how’s South Korea with the whole smoking thingy???

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Because it told me they’re Christian and I don’t like Christians. And praying in public is an eye sore.

Bigot.
a person who is obstinately or unreasonably attached to a belief, opinion, or faction, especially one who is prejudiced against or antagonistic toward a person or people on the basis of their membership of a particular group.

Figured this played a part of your belief system - usually fuelled by hate.

Hopefully you’ll do some self-examination and awareness of your issues. They are yours.

Call me what you like. We can hand off disagreements and name calling all you like. It’s a better name then being affiliated with that group of idiots. I used to be a Christian and I’m glad I figured it was a sham. Oh I’m sure they’re not all bad. But still. It’s a shit religion and that would be better gone and the world would be a better place.