if you are bored, try this... if you digg or fark, you've already seen it

http://www.wickedpissahgames.com/games/gravitypods/GravityPods.html

bridge over troubled water...

"original point was making" should be "original point".

massage...

you know i think we are in total agreement then...

theism is religion, not A religion.
atheism is religion, not A religion.

they are, in effect two adjectives describing the personal system-of-beliefs (A religion). Under atheism, i am supposing you have Weak Atheism, Strong Atheism, again, adjectives describing your atheistic religion. your atheistic system of beliefs is a religion though, and that is what my original point was making.

Atheism is to religion as Key Lime is to gelatin
Christianity is to religion as Jell-O is to gelatin

just the facts, ma'am

rough.

hitler in a dress still makes me smile.

tom..

i did say some forms, didnt i? and samhain is a bit different, still.

massage...

i do mix various degrees of the term, and that is my fault.

you have religion, but it's not A religion with a neat name, its A religion unqiue to your individual tailoring.


Atheism is religion, not A religion. Theism, in this sense, the opposite of Atheism, affirmiation in the existence of a divine power, not clarifying the nature of that divine power, again, is religion, not A religion. even theism as the complement to deism is religion, not A religion.

i am probably missing some key grammatical effect here that describes my interpretation of the word religion.

confusing? probably. I should get back to work.

everyone has religion. your form of atheism that you customize on personal experience and experience of those before you is YOUR religion.

LoriZ

I didnt accuse Buddhism of not being passive. It is. There have been some tumultuous times, though.

LoriZ

I didnt accuse Buddhism of not being passive. It is. There have been some tumultuous times, though.

What information can you provide that affirms atheism is not.... a system of beliefs concerning the presence and nature of the divine or metaphysical? (paraphrased...)

LoriZ

Buddhism is a religion, right? Individualism is important, but do you not follow the Eightfold Path? How you reach enlightenment cannot be controlled, but at one time, it was neatly put into a doctrined form by influential, powerful spiritual leaders.

I like Buddhism. It's the only thing that makes sense. I just don't see it being an exclusive belief system outside this topic.

tom:

some satanic religions encourage malicious intent in their actions.

yeah, i was referring simply to the word agnostic. i am speaking of its classic sense of "not knowing". greek roots for you, there.

form wikipedia, my favorite source of somewhat reputable information...you are correct, though i actually have never used it this way...

Agnosticism (from the Greek "a," meaning "without," and Gnosticism or "gnosis," meaning knowledge) is the philosophical view that the truth value of certain claims—particularly metaphysical claims regarding theology, afterlife or the existence of God, god(s), deities, or even ultimate reality is unknown or, depending on the form of agnosticism, "inherently unknowable due to the nature of subjective experience".

not sure about that whole inherently unknowable thing...

Weak agnosticism (also called mild agnosticism, soft agnosticism, open agnosticism, empirical agnosticism, temporal agnosticism)—the view that the existence or nonexistence of god(s) is currently unknown but is not necessarily unknowable, therefore one will withhold judgment until/if more evidence is available. A weak agnostic would say "I don't know, but maybe you do."

weak agnosgtic! there we go with that whole WEAK thing.

3. A set of beliefs, values, and practices based on the teachings of a spiritual leader.
4. A cause, principle, or activity pursued with zeal or conscientious devotion.

atheism may fail 3, if your focus is on "spiritual" which i do not. you have leaders atheistic thought and principles. some poeple choose to follow or borrow those ideas and opinions. and i am my own spiritual leader.

atheism passes on 4. if you didnt believe so much in your conviction god didn't exist, why are you arguing here? are you actually against religion, and not god? if so, your atheism is not genuine. and yes, i may have just insulted your religious beliefs.

religion <> god
religion =

and no, i dont take justsayhi's example as proof. that was me being facetious. "hey look, if justsayhi says it, it must be right!" seriously, i've only heard atheism referenced as not being a religion by atheists who are atheists because they do not like organized religion and woudl rather think for themselves concerning opinions surrounding their post-death happenings, and how this world was created. so if i insulted you, i apologize, atheism is a religion.

I do agree that alot of people put emphasis on "religion" as being something believed as part of a community. to me, that is simply "a" religion. everyone HAS religion, but not everyone BELONGS to a religion.

lets wikipedia it...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion

and just like all good scripture-skimmers, i read the thing and pick out what supports my opinion.

Sociologists and anthropologists tend to see religion as an abstract set of ideas, values, or experiences developed as part of a cultural matrix. For example, in Lindbeck's Nature of Doctrine, religion does not refer to belief in "God" or a transcendent Absolute. Instead, Lindbeck defines religion as, "a kind of cultural and/or linguistic framework or medium that shapes the entirety of life and thought… it is similar to an idiom that makes possible the description of realities, the formulation of beliefs, and the experiencing of inner attitudes, feelings, and sentiments.”[4] According to this definition, religion refers to one's primary worldview and how this dictates one's thoughts and actions.....Other encyclopedic definitions include: "A general term used... to designate all concepts concerning the belief in god(s) and goddess(es) as well as other spiritual beings or transcendental ultimate concerns"[6] and "human beings' relation to that which they regard as holy, sacred, spiritual, or divine."[7]

I pick that one out because it isnt religious folks saying religion doesnt necessarily have to deal with god or affirmation of a god existing...it is the scientific types who may or may not believe in god. i also pick that because it is what i think, though, stated much more formally in wikipedia than i have ever put it.

i would largely like to wager, and i am being a jerk here, that your opinion about atheism and religion is due to your subjective opinion about the stigma of organized religions. similarly, my opinion about it being religion is due to my subjective opinion that it is in fact, not a bad thing to have a system of beliefs, even if they are affirming something in a negative stance, ie. "i believe god does not exist".

Massage...

Ok, I'll accept that, though it's a misnomer. I'm fairly strict on my etymology of agnostic. i plead the fifth.

oh, i wasn't taking offense. i had a dirty frnech-speaing stuffed penguin in my life at one time. i called him fuz-ee-wahh. fuzzywois. thats how i got the name. if you would have seen the penguin, and my accent while he wore sunglasses and scarves, and quoted the french taunter from monty python, you would have laughed. he also spoke about how hot the french riviera was, and how he missed his dear home of "antarctique"

nascar: "news at 11"

wois = wahh. its a french fuzzy wuzz, you know, the dirty, durrendering, american hating kind of fuzzy wuzzy.