NationStates Jolt Archive

Yes it was a very stupid post. So I am going to pretend it never happened and that all the resulting conversation from it is some sort of space-time anomoly caused by Jolt.

I work from thursday-monday, including all easter weekend.

I'm a fulltime college student - there is no such thing as a "weekend".

Imagine the huge list of things that religious folks would have to do if they were really religious.. o.o

I'm not an Atheist, really. Atheist leanings, maybe. But anyway

This means that you may not:
Put up Christmas decorations

Where does it say in the bible that we should put tinsel everywhere?

Have a Christmas tree

Again, where does it say that we should put evergreen trees in our houses?

Have a Christmas dinner

Why does eating a big Turkey involve God?

Anyway, you get the point, I hope.

I follow the Thingite names already: http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/brunel/A516647

I am afraid as atheists you can no longer do the following actions unless you wish to appear hypocritical:

ABADON THE WEEK/WEEKEND STRUCTURE - You can no longer differentiate between the week and the weekend because that structure is set out along the basis that God created the world in 6 days and took the last day to rest. As you deny the existence of God, you cannot possibly believe that he created the world in 7 days and therefore must abadon the weekend. You must also abadon the concept of the 7 day week as that concept is also based on the tale of creation.

DO NOT CELEBRATE FESTIVALS - You must no longer celebrate Christmas, Easter, Lent or any other religious fesitval (Rammadam etc). As you deny the existence of God, you cannot believe that Jesus was God's son so celebrating his birth/death is pointless as he was nothing special. This means that you may not:
Sing carols
Buy or receive presents
Put up Christmas decorations
Give out and receive Christmas cards
Have a Christmas tree
Sing carols
Have a Christmas dinner
Have a holiday from work over the Christmas period
Give/receive Easter eggs
Have a holiday from work over the Easter period

Theres probably more things but I'll let you work them out for yourself.

YOU CANT BLASPHEME - By stating "Oh God!" or "Jesus!" or "Bloody hell!" you are actually partially acknowledging the existence of God which is contary to atheist beliefs. I would advise you to get some new terms - please suggest some.

THIS IS NOT 2005
As you do not believe that Christ was the son of God, you will see no need to base your system of counting the years on the concepts of B.C. and A.D. THerefore you must use the secular C.E. system instead.

please explain why the lack of belief in God necessitates any of these things. i can see practical, secular reasons to participate in every single item on your list, and the only reason you give to NOT participate is some extreme denial of the existence of religion or religious tradition. atheists don't deny that religion exists, nor do they deny that many of our social conventions have sprung from religious practices, nor do they insist on divorcing themselves from all such practices. atheism is the lack of belief or disbelief in God...nothing in that definition requires any of what you have suggested.

I'm not an Atheist, really. Atheist leanings, maybe. But anyway



Where does it say in the bible that we should put tinsel everywhere?



Again, where does it say that we should put evergreen trees in our houses?



Why does eating a big Turkey involve God?

Anyway, you get the point, I hope.

By celebrating Christmas in any shape or form you are celbrating the birth of Jesus Christ the son of God. Why as an atheist would you want to celebrate the birth of someone who not very special at all as you do not believe he could have been the son of God as you believe God does not exist. By that parameter, all forms of Christmas celebration are religious in nature and as such contary to your beliefs.

Agnostic-Don't believe anything without proof, but go along with anything I deem acceptable. It's no harm to me, so thats ok.

I am afraid as atheists you can no longer do the following actions unless you wish to appear hypocritical:

ABADON THE WEEK/WEEKEND STRUCTURE - You can no longer differentiate between the week and the weekend because that structure is set out along the basis that God created the world in 6 days and took the last day to rest. As you deny the existence of God, you cannot possibly believe that he created the world in 7 days and therefore must abadon the weekend. You must also abadon the concept of the 7 day week as that concept is also based on the tale of creation.


I don't have to believe that god created the world in seven days to believe that I don't want to go to work on saturday do I?

What about the Chinese and the Japanese, both of whom have 7 day weeks, and neither of whom have a judaeo-christian tradition?

Isn't it the case that the 7 day week came about because it is a handy way of splitting up the 28 day lunar cycle into quarters? The Chinese, for instance, traditionally had a 13 month lunar calendar, with each month is split into 4 7-day weeks.

So I say to you, abandon the 7 day week, because the ancient jewish culture who wrote down the creation myth you refer to based their myth not on god but on the lunar cycle - heretics and moon worshippers that they must (?) have been.


DO NOT CELEBRATE FESTIVALS - You must no longer celebrate Christmas, Easter, Lent or any other religious fesitval (Rammadam etc). As you deny the existence of God, you cannot believe that Jesus was God's son so celebrating his birth/death is pointless as he was nothing special. This means that you may not:
Sing carols
Buy or receive presents
Put up Christmas decorations
Give out and receive Christmas cards
Have a Christmas tree
Sing carols
Have a Christmas dinner
Have a holiday from work over the Christmas period
Give/receive Easter eggs
Have a holiday from work over the Easter period

Theres probably more things but I'll let you work them out for yourself.


What has christmas got to do with jesus? the christian celebration of the birth of jesus was deliberately moved to coincide with the traditional celebration of midwinter popular all over the world in many different cultures.
Furthermore, so what? I can celebrate what i like, when I like. If I gave you a present on diwali, would you refuse to accept it because you aren't a hindu?


YOU CANT BLASPHEME - By stating "Oh God!" or "Jesus!" or "Bloody hell!" you are actually partially acknowledging the existence of God which is contary to atheist beliefs. I would advise you to get some new terms - please suggest some.

I can't blaspheme because i don't believe in god. I can say "o god o bloody jesus" as much as i like, but it isn't blaspheming, because it isn't taking god's name in vain, because there's no such thing as god.

I might consider not ever saying "oh jesus" ever again if you promise to refrain from referring to the following:
pixie, unicorn, military intelligence, legolas the elf, fundamentalist christian compassion, and all other fictional things/entities

I am afraid as atheists you can no longer do the following actions unless you wish to appear hypocritical:
-snip-


I am afraid that Christians shall have to cease celebrating Halloween. It's not a Christian festival, you see.

(By the way I am not religious nor do I particularly believe in God, its just I like revealing silly hypocrisy where I see it)

This is just custom, I celebrate christmas because amonst other things its a national holiday, its got nothing to do with religion except thats the where the custom arose from

By celebrating Christmas in any shape or form you are celbrating the birth of Jesus Christ the son of God. Why as an atheist would you want to celebrate the birth of someone who not very special at all as you do not believe he could have been the son of God as you believe God does not exist. By that parameter, all forms of Christmas celebration are religious in nature and as such contary to your beliefs.

no i'm not. by celebrating what lots of people within my culture currently refer to as "christmas" I'm celebrating the human desire to have a party with your mates. I'm not even celebrating the rebirth of the sun which was celebrated around the 25th of december for thousands and thousands of years.

:rolleyes:

This is one of the most absurd threads I've ever seen. Still, let's see... To start off with, you have no authority to tell me what I may or may not do. Now...


ABADON THE WEEK/WEEKEND STRUCTURE


Don't be silly. The whole of society is structured around it. Many of us have jobs that are based on it. There's no way we can 'abandon' it. Besides, it's been worked into a secular way of life. I live in a secular country, we have that structure, it applies to all, and I have neither the possibility nor the desire to abandon it.


DO NOT CELEBRATE FESTIVALS


They've been secularised. I don't celebrate them in a religious sense; I use them as a day to relax, spend time with family, do something special. And since I don't celebrate them in a religious way, there is no way you can deny me the right to celebrate them in a secular way.

As I side-note, I will point out to you that Christmas was originally a pagan festival, not a Christian one, and that many of its aspects (for example a Christmas tree) are by no means Christian. By your logic, should Christians stop having Christmas trees? I think not.


YOU CANT BLASPHEME - By stating "Oh God!" or "Jesus!" or "Bloody hell!" you are actually partially acknowledging the existence of God which is contary to atheist beliefs. I would advise you to get some new terms - please suggest some.

But it's all right for Christians to invoke the name of God in a blasphematory manner? :rolleyes: Isn't your logic a little twisted here? Again, these words have become part of the language, and you cannot deny that they have been essentially stripped of their religious meaning. I shall continue to use them if I so please.

I will also state that easter is a very pagen holiday. You worship a friken bunny.

The only thing I truly celebrate nowadays is my birthday... and even that sucks. :mad:

THIS IS NOT 2005
As you do not believe that Christ was the son of God, you will see no need to base your system of counting the years on the concepts of B.C. and A.D. THerefore you must use the secular C.E. system instead.

I see no need to base my year counting system on anything at all. So I base it on the year counting system. What the guy who started it based it on, I don't care. And as it happens, 2005 AD = 2005 CE. So this is 2005 either way.

(By the way I am not religious nor do I particularly believe in God, its just I like revealing silly hypocrisy where I see it)

So I take it that to avoid hypocrisy, you work really hard on sundays, never get christmas presents and call this the year of the fruitbat?

I am afraid as atheists you can no longer do the following actions unless you wish to appear hypocritical:

As atheists, we can do whatever we want because we care what you have to say.

I am afraid as atheists you can no longer do the following actions unless you wish to appear hypocritical:

ABADON THE WEEK/WEEKEND STRUCTURE - You can no longer differentiate between the week and the weekend because that structure is set out along the basis that God created the world in 6 days and took the last day to rest. As you deny the existence of God, you cannot possibly believe that he created the world in 7 days and therefore must abadon the weekend. You must also abadon the concept of the 7 day week as that concept is also based on the tale of creation.

Aside from the practical problems of having two different week structures based on your beliefs, I'd like to note that most people have two days of rest (Saturday and Sunday), whereas God only had one.

I am afraid as atheists you can no longer do the following actions unless you wish to appear hypocritical:

ABADON THE WEEK/WEEKEND STRUCTURE - You can no longer differentiate between the week and the weekend because that structure is set out along the basis that God created the world in 6 days and took the last day to rest. As you deny the existence of God, you cannot possibly believe that he created the world in 7 days and therefore must abadon the weekend. You must also abadon the concept of the 7 day week as that concept is also based on the tale of creation.

DO NOT CELEBRATE FESTIVALS - You must no longer celebrate Christmas, Easter, Lent or any other religious fesitval (Rammadam etc). As you deny the existence of God, you cannot believe that Jesus was God's son so celebrating his birth/death is pointless as he was nothing special. This means that you may not:
Sing carols
Buy or receive presents
Put up Christmas decorations
Give out and receive Christmas cards
Have a Christmas tree
Sing carols
Have a Christmas dinner
Have a holiday from work over the Christmas period
Give/receive Easter eggs
Have a holiday from work over the Easter period

Theres probably more things but I'll let you work them out for yourself.

YOU CANT BLASPHEME - By stating "Oh God!" or "Jesus!" or "Bloody hell!" you are actually partially acknowledging the existence of God which is contary to atheist beliefs. I would advise you to get some new terms - please suggest some.

THIS IS NOT 2005
As you do not believe that Christ was the son of God, you will see no need to base your system of counting the years on the concepts of B.C. and A.D. THerefore you must use the secular C.E. system instead.

(By the way I am not religious nor do I particularly believe in God, its just I like revealing silly hypocrisy where I see it)


none of the above would bother me in the slightest

I have to work ALL english bank holidays apart from xmas day and boxing day and as they are national holidays I would get those off anyway

I dont put xmas decorations up anyway as the dog and cat destroy them

I dont celebrate easter and my son doesnt get easter egg's as he is allergic to chocolate

I would still get weekends off as my company isn't open weekends therefore I cant work them even if I want to

the none use of the gregorian calendar wouldnt bother me at all as they are only numbers

I will also state that easter is a very pagen holiday. You worship a friken bunny.

and indeed the date of the christian easter festival was moved so that it would coincide with the pagan easter festival.

Looks like we have to drag out the definitions again:

Atheism - the state of neither accepting nor denying the existence of God.

Antitheism - the denial of the existence of God.

:)

so the Christians are going to stop celebrating Christmas at the end of December and find their own date instead of ripping off the pagans?

good news

ABADON THE WEEK/WEEKEND STRUCTURE - You can no longer differentiate between the week and the weekend because that structure is set out along the basis that God created the world in 6 days and took the last day to rest. As you deny the existence of God, you cannot possibly believe that he created the world in 7 days and therefore must abadon the weekend. You must also abadon the concept of the 7 day week as that concept is also based on the tale of creation.

But: Should Christian not always work on Saturdays then?
And besides everybody needs a day or two off per week. And it is good when your friend (who might be Christians as well) her their day off at the same time. It would simple be useless to abolish Sundays to introduce a free day on Mondays or something.

DO NOT CELEBRATE FESTIVALS - You must no longer celebrate Christmas, Easter, Lent or any other religious fesitval (Rammadam etc). As you deny the existence of God, you cannot believe that Jesus was God's son so celebrating his birth/death is pointless as he was nothing special. This means that you may not:
Sing carols
Buy or receive presents
Put up Christmas decorations
Give out and receive Christmas cards
Have a Christmas tree
Sing carols
Have a Christmas dinner
Have a holiday from work over the Christmas period
Give/receive Easter eggs
Have a holiday from work over the Easter period

Theres probably more things but I'll let you work them out for yourself.

What is wrong about celebrating a festival that promotes peace? Atheists may take Christmas just as that - celebrating and promoting peace.


YOU CANT BLASPHEME - By stating "Oh God!" or "Jesus!" or "Bloody hell!" you are actually partially acknowledging the existence of God which is contary to atheist beliefs. I would advise you to get some new terms - please suggest some.

Atheist just got used to it. Christians do things just because they got used to it as well (e.g. Christmas is still celebrated on winter solstice).

By celebrating Christmas in any shape or form you are celbrating the birth of Jesus Christ the son of God. Why as an atheist would you want to celebrate the birth of someone who not very special at all as you do not believe he could have been the son of God as you believe God does not exist. By that parameter, all forms of Christmas celebration are religious in nature and as such contary to your beliefs.

Jesus wasn't actually born on Christmas. You can look it up if you don't believe me. That is actually the Celtic holiday of Yule and that day was taken as a day of celebration for Jesus birth (Easter is also a Celtic holiday, that’s why there are bunnies and eggs everywhere [they represent fertility]). Even some really hardcore Christians admit this (Jehovah’s witnesses) that is why they do not celebrate those holidays.

Why the hell should I do what you say, one of the best things about being atheist is not having someone or some group of people telling you what to do, so just give it a rest and live YOUR own life and stop doing what religions do and force your beliefs on me.

Oh and we all know the real reason to celebrate on the 25th of December, the birth of Santa

ABADON THE WEEK/WEEKEND STRUCTURE - You can no longer differentiate between the week and the weekend because that structure is set out along the basis that God created the world in 6 days and took the last day to rest. As you deny the existence of God, you cannot possibly believe that he created the world in 7 days and therefore must abadon the weekend. You must also abadon the concept of the 7 day week as that concept is also based on the tale of creation.

Why are the days named after pagan gods then? Except in Portuguese, of course. Anyway, I work five days and rest two out of every week. See? I can do better than god! (Restwise) But I would gladly give it up in favor of a 3-working days, 2 rest-days structure. Five days to each week, four weeks a month. One week of full rest and relaxation at the end of the year.

So far, no one's been with me on this one :(

[
DO NOT CELEBRATE FESTIVALS - You must no longer celebrate Christmas, Easter, Lent or any other religious fesitval (Rammadam etc). As you deny the existence of God, you cannot believe that Jesus was God's son so celebrating his birth/death is pointless as he was nothing special. This means that you may not:
Sing carols
Buy or receive presents
Put up Christmas decorations
Give out and receive Christmas cards
Have a Christmas tree
Sing carols
Have a Christmas dinner
Have a holiday from work over the Christmas period
Give/receive Easter eggs
Have a holiday from work over the Easter period

Don't worry. I don't. Any of those things. Really.


YOU CANT BLASPHEME - By stating "Oh God!" or "Jesus!" or "Bloody hell!" you are actually partially acknowledging the existence of God which is contary to atheist beliefs. I would advise you to get some new terms - please suggest some.

What about "Holy cow!"?


THIS IS NOT 2005
As you do not believe that Christ was the son of God, you will see no need to base your system of counting the years on the concepts of B.C. and A.D. THerefore you must use the secular C.E. system instead.

Erm... That's what I use. Anyway, even if you believe in Jesus this is not 2005. An error in the calculations, you see. So if you want to use B.C. and A.D. you would have to say 2012. If you want to say 2005, it'll have to be C.E.


(By the way I am not religious nor do I particularly believe in God, its just I like revealing silly hypocrisy where I see it)
O.K. Does it mean you do all this?

THIS IS NOT 2005
As you do not believe that Christ was the son of God, you will see no need to base your system of counting the years on the concepts of B.C. and A.D. THerefore you must use the secular C.E. system instead.


May I remind you that Jesus was not born in 1 AD? (I think he was born in 4BC, or thereabouts; I can't remember the exact year). Does that mean Christians should no longer consider this is 2005? Please. Think before you speak.

Besides, this system has been maintained by all in western societies for purely practical reasons. How are we supposed to communicate with one another if we're using different calenders?

Also, I see you adding to your first post, but not replying to people's answers here.


(By the way I am not religious nor do I particularly believe in God, its just I like revealing silly hypocrisy where I see it)

I think you're just revealing your own ignorance, and lack of thought on the matter. No offence, but read what people have replied here, before you make yourself look sillier.

I am afraid as atheists you can no longer do the following actions unless you wish to appear hypocritical:

ABADON THE WEEK/WEEKEND STRUCTURE - You can no longer differentiate between the week and the weekend because that structure is set out along the basis that God created the world in 6 days and took the last day to rest. As you deny the existence of God, you cannot possibly believe that he created the world in 7 days and therefore must abadon the weekend. You must also abadon the concept of the 7 day week as that concept is also based on the tale of creation.

DO NOT CELEBRATE FESTIVALS - You must no longer celebrate Christmas, Easter, Lent or any other religious fesitval (Rammadam etc). As you deny the existence of God, you cannot believe that Jesus was God's son so celebrating his birth/death is pointless as he was nothing special. This means that you may not:
Sing carols
Buy or receive presents
Put up Christmas decorations
Give out and receive Christmas cards
Have a Christmas tree
Sing carols
Have a Christmas dinner
Have a holiday from work over the Christmas period
Give/receive Easter eggs
Have a holiday from work over the Easter period

Theres probably more things but I'll let you work them out for yourself.

YOU CANT BLASPHEME - By stating "Oh God!" or "Jesus!" or "Bloody hell!" you are actually partially acknowledging the existence of God which is contary to atheist beliefs. I would advise you to get some new terms - please suggest some.

THIS IS NOT 2005
As you do not believe that Christ was the son of God, you will see no need to base your system of counting the years on the concepts of B.C. and A.D. THerefore you must use the secular C.E. system instead.

(By the way I am not religious nor do I particularly believe in God, its just I like revealing silly hypocrisy where I see it)


Weekend structure is not in my responsibility. Since my company is closed down on weekends I can't work on weekends. As for the weekdays, well, I can't change that either, since the 7 day week is somewhat of an international standard. I'd prefer following the old Japanese weeks and months, with 3 10-day weeks per month.

I don't celebrate these festivals nor am I involved in the activities connected to it, since christmas is only self-celebration of the capitalistic consumer-society. And the whole thing around easter isn't a Christian invention. They only put their stuff into it, but most parts were already around when the Celts existed.

I usually use "fuck" and other things. How's about "Bloody Christians"?

I would actually prefer going by the Chinese timeline, 2005 as number for a years looks so small and unimportant, having something like 5,005 or 6,005 looks a lot cooler. Also, it's not 2005 in the Christian calender either, since some monks made a mistake when transferring the old Roman calender into the current one. Besides, the current numbering of the years is somewhat random anyway, since, well... I seriously doubt that Jesus was really around exactly 2005 years ago. Using CE? Why? Who are you to say what we must use?

And finally, one must be quite a hypocrite with no life in order to come up with such a topic. Things like "As you deny the existence of God, you cannot possibly believe that he created the world in 7 days and therefore must abadon the weekend." lack absolutely all logic. You realize that demanding something like that is merely stupid?

How would it work?

But then Christians have to drop all things that have been "borrowed" from other religions. That means, no christmas tree for you either, for example.

Sing carols
Buy or receive presents - pagan
Put up Christmas decorations - pagan
Give out and receive Christmas cards - victorian!
Have a Christmas tree - pagan
Sing carols
Have a Christmas dinner
Have a holiday from work over the Christmas period - pagan festival anyway
Give/receive Easter eggs - pagan
Have a holiday from work over the Easter period - pagan festival anyway

I'm afraid to see we are left no carols. Frankly, you christians can keep them.

I also wonder whose puppet you are, and request people to not use puppets to troll

But then Christians have to drop all things that have been "borrowed" from other religions. That means, no christmas tree for you either, for example.

Actually it means no Easter, Halloween or Christmas at all since they are all really pagan holidays anyway.

Oh and the biggest hypocrite of all is New British Glory because just about every piece of information he says is completely wrong anyway. Even if the information wasn't wrong who are you to say what atheists can and can't do, it would be entirely stupid to try to restrict them from something because they don't believe in god. Simply trying to blend in with other people doesn’t make them hypocrites. I am not Christian but most of my family is so I celebrate their holidays as well as mine so I don't create conflict, if that makes me a hypocrite then I want to be one.

@Enlightened even if they are pagan things he is still right because pagans still had gods.
but i agree with The Silver Moon, dont know why the guy thinks we shouldnt do it. religion is full of hypocrisy lol

I am afraid as atheists you can no longer do the following actions unless you wish to appear hypocritical:
Nor can Christians for most of these, but that is another argument (sort of)

ABADON THE WEEK/WEEKEND STRUCTURE -
What is a weekend. They are days when I don't teach as my students are mostly Christian and have adopted this pre Christian tradition. I do however still prepare classes, translate, study, drive, be a father, cook, etc. I would prefer not to have them, and be paid for the work.

DO NOT CELEBRATE FESTIVALS - You must no longer celebrate Christmas, Easter, Lent or any other religious fesitval (Rammadam etc). As you deny the existence of God, you cannot believe that Jesus was God's son so celebrating his birth/death is pointless as he was nothing special. This means that you may not:
Christmas is a mid winter festival, and has nothing to do with religion whatsoever. It is just a pick me up in the middle of the bleakest periosd of the year.
Easter is the classic spring ferstival, the return of life after winter. Again, nothing to do with gods or Jesus or anything like that.
Go and learn the origins of these festivals, then as a Christrian you would have to stop celebrating them, not me the atheist.

Lent I do not celebrate anyway.
Specifics:
Sing carols - I don't. I hate carol singing trying to pervert my midwinter party into some religious crap.

Buy or receive presents - Why not? Nothing religious about this. It's a party after all.

Put up Christmas decorations - We don't. But even if we did, they have nothing to do with Christianity.

Give out and receive Christmas cards - We don't. We phone people, e-mail them etc. Cards, by the way, are an American commercial invention as they exist today. Nothing to do with religion except maybe the images.

Have a Christmas tree - Why not? The tree celebrates the existance of life in the middle of winter. What does it have to do with religion?

Sing carols - Do you always repeat yourself?

Have a Christmas dinner - The party is to eat, drink and be merry. The big dinner has nothing to do with religion.

Have a holiday from work over the Christmas period - We don't generally here. The 25th is a state holiday, like the 22nd of April. The law requires companies to close. Back to work though on the 26th.

Give/receive Easter eggs. - Eggs represent the rebirth of life after the winter. Of course Atheists can eat them. Why would Christians do so?

Have a holiday from work over the Easter period - We don't.

YOU CANT BLASPHEME - By stating "Oh God!" or "Jesus!" or "Bloody hell!" you are actually partially acknowledging the existence of God which is contary to atheist beliefs. I would advise you to get some new terms - please suggest some.

We can not blaspheme, as we do not belive in God to take the name in vain. When the name is a null pointer, it can be used for anything. As the point of swearing is to shock the other, then we are certainly permitted to use the false ideals of the religious to shock them with. Otherwise we could simply stick to sexual terms, but to mix the terms up a little is much more effective. Swearing does not have anything to do with the beliefs of the swearer, it has everything to do with the beliefs of the recipient. Hence the Christians should not blaspheme as it is against there religion, only insults there religious brethren, and has no effect whatsoever on atheists or hindus etc.


THIS IS NOT 2005
As you do not believe that Christ was the son of God, you will see no need to base your system of counting the years on the concepts of B.C. and A.D. THerefore you must use the secular C.E. system instead.

We use a system of dating that is conventional. As it appears that if he existed at all, Jesus was born in 4 BC, then Christians should not use the conventional system, but add 4 years to it. Time and dates are only so we can have a reference that is understood by all, regardless of religion. It is 2005 because we agree that it is 2005. The jews and hindus etc. will disagree, but they have religious dates, the rest of the world, including Christians, does not.

(By the way I am not religious nor do I particularly believe in God, its just I like revealing silly hypocrisy where I see it)

Next time try looking and thinking. Of the points above, only Carol singing has anything directly to do with religion. The rest have been co-opted or assimilated by Christianity, or have at some distant past time been religious but have lost that aspect (year).

oddly enough when one has no belief, one doesnt worry about being consistant with that nonbelief. there is no one to answer to, no punishment for violating nothing.

and how would MY hypocrisy be noticed in the sea of religious hypocrisy that we swim in?

I am afraid as atheists you can no longer do the following actions unless you wish to appear hypocritical:

ABADON THE WEEK/WEEKEND STRUCTURE - You can no longer differentiate between the week and the weekend because that structure is set out along the basis that God created the world in 6 days and took the last day to rest. As you deny the existence of God, you cannot possibly believe that he created the world in 7 days and therefore must abadon the weekend. You must also abadon the concept of the 7 day week as that concept is also based on the tale of creation.

Fine, we can resurect the French Revolutionary calendar.

DO NOT CELEBRATE FESTIVALS - You must no longer celebrate Christmas, Easter, Lent or any other religious fesitval (Rammadam etc). As you deny the existence of God, you cannot believe that Jesus was God's son so celebrating his birth/death is pointless as he was nothing special. This means that you may not:
Sing carols

Fine by me, provide others don't try and make me give them money by carolling at my door.

Buy or receive presents

Again fine by me. I treat Christmas like my birthday, a day when I just go alone with all the motions because in the past when I have resisted things only turn out bad for me.

Put up Christmas decorations

Fine by me.

Give out and receive Christmas cards

Well it is impossible to not to recieve christmas cards. The post office get annoyed when I ask them not to deliver potential christmas cards.

Have a Christmas tree

Meh,

Sing carols
Have a Christmas dinner

The only reason Christmas dinner is so called is because it is dinner on Christmas day. If I have the same dinner and it isn't Christmas, its just dinner.

Have a holiday from work over the Christmas period

What holiday?

Give/receive Easter eggs

Well, I already do that.

Have a holiday from work over the Easter period

See christmas holiday

Theres probably more things but I'll let you work them out for yourself.

YOU CANT BLASPHEME - By stating "Oh God!" or "Jesus!" or "Bloody hell!" you are actually partially acknowledging the existence of God which is contary to atheist beliefs. I would advise you to get some new terms - please suggest some.

Fuck and shit etc serve me fine as it is.

THIS IS NOT 2005
As you do not believe that Christ was the son of God, you will see no need to base your system of counting the years on the concepts of B.C. and A.D. THerefore you must use the secular C.E. system instead.

What has that to do with it being 2005? I already use [B]CE anyway

By celebrating Christmas in any shape or form you are celbrating the birth of Jesus Christ the son of God. Why as an atheist would you want to celebrate the birth of someone who not very special at all as you do not believe he could have been the son of God as you believe God does not exist. By that parameter, all forms of Christmas celebration are religious in nature and as such contary to your beliefs.

Because it's not like stone-age Christians ever hijacked a perfectly good Saturnalia or Brumalia festival to celebrate the birth of some guy who eventually gets nailed to a tree - after conveniently moving his birthday to December 25th in 336AD.

I suppuse by the same arguement Christians are not to use modern medicine because most of it was invented by atheists. They should stop using windows because of course its CEO and founded is an atheist. I soppuse science than is out of the question for Christians and they should just go back to the 1800's.

I am afraid as atheists you can no longer do the following actions unless you wish to appear hypocritical:

ABADON THE WEEK/WEEKEND STRUCTURE - You can no longer differentiate between the week and the weekend because that structure is set out along the basis that God created the world in 6 days and took the last day to rest. As you deny the existence of God, you cannot possibly believe that he created the world in 7 days and therefore must abadon the weekend. You must also abadon the concept of the 7 day week as that concept is also based on the tale of creation.

DO NOT CELEBRATE FESTIVALS - You must no longer celebrate Christmas, Easter, Lent or any other religious fesitval (Rammadam etc). As you deny the existence of God, you cannot believe that Jesus was God's son so celebrating his birth/death is pointless as he was nothing special. This means that you may not:
Sing carols
Buy or receive presents
Put up Christmas decorations
Give out and receive Christmas cards
Have a Christmas tree
Sing carols
Have a Christmas dinner
Have a holiday from work over the Christmas period
Give/receive Easter eggs
Have a holiday from work over the Easter period

Theres probably more things but I'll let you work them out for yourself.

YOU CANT BLASPHEME - By stating "Oh God!" or "Jesus!" or "Bloody hell!" you are actually partially acknowledging the existence of God which is contary to atheist beliefs. I would advise you to get some new terms - please suggest some.

THIS IS NOT 2005
As you do not believe that Christ was the son of God, you will see no need to base your system of counting the years on the concepts of B.C. and A.D. THerefore you must use the secular C.E. system instead.

(By the way I am not religious nor do I particularly believe in God, its just I like revealing silly hypocrisy where I see it)

I deffinitely see where you are coming from. I know that this is not to be taken literally, but sort of like a joke (to me anyways) It seems as though people think that Atheists have no values, morals, etc etc...but that isn't true. Just because I deny that a god exists, that doesn't mean that I'm a bad person. I like to celebrate holidays just like many other people, but that doesn't mean that I celebrate a god. Maybe I like decorating the tree or perhaps I like to hide Easter eggs. I'm sick of people that say they have "work to do on me" when I say that I believe in evolution. If you're so Christian or Buddist or Jewish or whatever, then why do you tend to look down upon those that don't share your belief? Aren't you supposed to be kind to your neighbors and not judge people? That sounds very unfaithful to me. Perhaps those that criticize non-believers should reconsider what they are doing before they act. Although I don't believe in a god, I firmly believe that you should respect other people's decisions and not press upon them what you think is right. Afterall, in respects to all religions, every single one mainly believes in the same thing (reincarnation, kharma, God...only called something differently) except that they may believe in more than one god. That doesn't make them wrong. So does it not make Atheists wrong to believe in nothing at all. Here is just someting I found...

I used to shun my companion
if his religion was not like mine;
but now my heart accepts every form.
It is a pasturage for gazelles, a monastery for monks,
a temple of idols, a Ka'ba for the pilgrim,
the tables of the Torah, the holy book of the Qur'an.
Love alone is my religion, and whichever way
its horses turn, that is my faith and creed.

Anonymus Arabic Poem, undated, pre-17th centuray
Translated by Bernard Lewis

I think that more people should follow this advice, whether you are a believer or not.

My commendations on a good troll.

I am afraid as atheists you can no longer do the following actions unless you wish to appear hypocritical:

ABADON THE WEEK/WEEKEND STRUCTURE - You can no longer differentiate between the week and the weekend because that structure is set out along the basis that God created the world in 6 days and took the last day to rest. As you deny the existence of God, you cannot possibly believe that he created the world in 7 days and therefore must abadon the weekend. You must also abadon the concept of the 7 day week as that concept is also based on the tale of creation.

I strongly agree with this Idea. A ten day week, with say, 3 days off, would be far more efficient. Days off need not be on religious grounds, but on the basis that a rested employee is a productive employee.



DO NOT CELEBRATE FESTIVALS - You must no longer celebrate Christmas, Easter, Lent or any other religious fesitval (Rammadam etc). As you deny the existence of God, you cannot believe that Jesus was God's son so celebrating his birth/death is pointless as he was nothing special. This means that you may not:
Sing carols
Buy or receive presents
Put up Christmas decorations
Give out and receive Christmas cards
Have a Christmas tree
Sing carols
Have a Christmas dinner
Have a holiday from work over the Christmas period
Give/receive Easter eggs
Have a holiday from work over the Easter period

Theres probably more things but I'll let you work them out for yourself.

I beg to differ on this one. These holidays now have secular meaning as well. Christmas is an excuse to support the economy, and, although I feel that perhaps it needs a name change, a "Winter festival" is a good idea.


YOU CANT BLASPHEME - By stating "Oh God!" or "Jesus!" or "Bloody hell!" you are actually partially acknowledging the existence of God which is contary to atheist beliefs. I would advise you to get some new terms - please suggest some.

Again, these phrases have acquired secular meaning. I've heard Hindus, Buddhists, atheists, agnostics, ect. all use them. They're now regarded as English language profanities to most people, rather then religious blasphemy. New terms might be a good plan though. I prefer some of the medieval ones, such as: "A pox on you!" Replacing "f*ck you" or the like. Of course, most people would disagree.


THIS IS NOT 2005
As you do not believe that Christ was the son of God, you will see no need to base your system of counting the years on the concepts of B.C. and A.D. THerefore you must use the secular C.E. system instead.

Again, this system is in use by many people who are NOT Christian. Sure, a change would make sense, but the amount of work required is unnecessary.


(By the way I am not religious nor do I particularly believe in God, its just I like revealing silly hypocrisy where I see it)

First of all - TROLL!

ABADON THE WEEK/WEEKEND STRUCTURE - You can no longer differentiate between the week and the weekend because that structure is set out along the basis that God created the world in 6 days and took the last day to rest. As you deny the existence of God, you cannot possibly believe that he created the world in 7 days and therefore must abadon the weekend. You must also abadon the concept of the 7 day week as that concept is also based on the tale of creation.

Actually the 7 day structure has NOTHING to do with christianity and predates it by centuries. You muppet.

The seven days are based on the seven planets that were visible with the naked eye in the night sky and the days were ordered according to the speed with which the planets flew across the heavens.

Sun --> Sunday
Monday --> Moon
Tuesday --> Mars
Wednesday --> Mercury
Thursday --> Jupiter
Friday --> Venus
Saturday --> Saturn


:headbang:

Fine, so long as Christians do the following:

1. Do not accept or participate in the theories of evolution.
2. Beleive that the Earth is the centre of the solar system.
3. Abandon all parts of their religion that have been absorbed from others (which is most of it)
4. Do not support any theories that assume the Earth is billions of years old.
5. Begin stoning people to death whenever they wear mixed fibres in their cloths, ect.

By celebrating Christmas in any shape or form you are celbrating the birth of Jesus Christ the son of God. Why as an atheist would you want to celebrate the birth of someone who not very special at all as you do not believe he could have been the son of God as you believe God does not exist. By that parameter, all forms of Christmas celebration are religious in nature and as such contary to your beliefs.

Christmas is different for everybody. You can't say "christmas" is only for the christians. It might the way it used to be, but now, people can draw whatever meaning they want out of it. It's like International Woman's Day isn't only for women, and Father's Day isn't only for fathers to celebrate

ABADON THE WEEK/WEEKEND STRUCTURE - You can no longer differentiate between the week and the weekend because that structure is set out along the basis that God created the world in 6 days and took the last day to rest. As you deny the existence of God, you cannot possibly believe that he created the world in 7 days and therefore must abadon the weekend. You must also abadon the concept of the 7 day week as that concept is also based on the tale of creation.
...uh huh. Well, this is really just stupid. Yeah, that's about all there is to it, really. Weren't the romans on a 7-day system before christianity came about?

DO NOT CELEBRATE FESTIVALS[/B] - You must no longer celebrate Christmas, Easter, Lent or any other religious fesitval (Rammadam etc). As you deny the existence of God, you cannot believe that Jesus was God's son so celebrating his birth/death is pointless as he was nothing special. This means that you may not:
Sing carols
Buy or receive presents
Put up Christmas decorations
Give out and receive Christmas cards
Have a Christmas tree
Sing carols
Have a Christmas dinner
Have a holiday from work over the Christmas period
Give/receive Easter eggs
Have a holiday from work over the Easter period
Hmm... except that all christian holidays are bastardized from pagan ones. If I want to celebrate the winter solstice 4 days late, who give a damn?
Furthermore, who the hell would want to celebrate lent?

YOU CANT BLASPHEME - By stating "Oh God!" or "Jesus!" or "Bloody hell!" you are actually partially acknowledging the existence of God which is contary to atheist beliefs. I would advise you to get some new terms - please suggest some.
Already don't.

THIS IS NOT 2005
As you do not believe that Christ was the son of God, you will see no need to base your system of counting the years on the concepts of B.C. and A.D. THerefore you must use the secular C.E. system instead.
Which makes it 2005CE. It's still 2005, and I've already been saying CE and BDE instead of AD and BC sicne I heard the terms.
Furthermore, the time separating those two groupings isn't even centred properly on the supposed birth of Jesus as agreed upon by many scholars. For you, it should be 2009.

And hey, I'm not an atheist, but I just like pointing out idiocy where I see it.

Actually the 7 day structure has NOTHING to do with christianity and predates it by centuries. You muppet.

The seven days are based on the seven planets that were visible with the naked eye in the night sky and the days were ordered according to the speed with which the planets flew across the heavens.

Sun --> Sunday
Monday --> Moon
Tuesday --> Mars
Wednesday --> Mercury
Thursday --> Jupiter
Friday --> Venus
Saturday --> Saturn


:headbang:
Haha. You've got him there, but I thought thursday came from Thor's day and Friday was Frey's day, Wednesday, Wooden's day... I don't see the connection of the rest of them to the norse gods, but I know some of the english language... Well, I guess you were just pointing out the roman system. The germanic tribes didn't come along to influence the english language until after the roman empire letf.

I strongly agree with this Idea. A ten day week, with say, 3 days off, would be far more efficient. Days off need not be on religious grounds, but on the basis that a rested employee is a productive employee.
That would be really nice. :)

I beg to differ on this one. These holidays now have secular meaning as well. Christmas is an excuse to support the economy, and, although I feel that perhaps it needs a name change, a "Winter festival" is a good idea.
Why not give it the name of what it really celebrates: The winter solstice.

Haha. You've got him there, but I thought thursday came from Thor's day and Friday was Frey's day, Wednesday, Wooden's day... I don't see the connection of the rest of them to the norse gods, but I know some of the english language... Well, I guess you were just pointing out the roman system. The germanic tribes didn't come along to influence the english language until after the roman empire letf.

Some day names took the planet names from different languages (sorry - this forum has awful formatting, but you get the idea.

Celestial Germanic modern modern
Body Latin god English Italian
------- -------- -------- --------- ----------
Sun Solis Sunday domenica
Moon Lunae Monday lunedì
Mars Martis Tiu Tuesday martedì
Mercury Mercurii Wodan Wednesday mercoledì
Jupiter Jovis Donar Thursday giovedì
Venus Veneris Freya Friday venerdì
Saturn Saturni Saturday sabato

Most christmas traditions have nothing to do with the birth of Christ anyway. Christmas has absorbed so many pagan traditions that have nothing to do with christ that christmas is becoming like halloween. Halloween has lost all meaning. Even though in the past the whole jackolantern thing was to ward of evil spirits or something depending on who you ask. How many people really celebrate halloween because they beleive in the original pagan teachings that started halloween?

To me Christmas is a religous holiday that lost its meaning and became a corporate holiday. In the same way halloween was once about pagan spiritualistic beliefs, but is now an excuse for excessive consumption of candy. And how Saint Patricks day is now about getting drunk on green beer. None of the things I do at christmas have anything to do with christ. All the fun christmas traditions were stole from pagans and altered into meaningless things that you just do because they are fun. To me, celebrating christmas because of christ is like reading playboy for the articles. The fun christmas traditions have nothing to do with Christ and the traditions that actually have something to do with Christ are boring.

By celebrating Christmas in any shape or form you are celbrating the birth of Jesus Christ the son of God. Why as an atheist would you want to celebrate the birth of someone who not very special at all as you do not believe he could have been the son of God as you believe God does not exist. By that parameter, all forms of Christmas celebration are religious in nature and as such contary to your beliefs.
Actually, since the gift-giving, tree decorating, caroling, big family dinners part came from the pagans... I'm really celebrating the fact that it's going to start getting lighter for more of the day.

I am afraid as atheists you can no longer do the following actions unless you wish to appear hypocritical:

ABADON THE WEEK/WEEKEND STRUCTURE - You can no longer differentiate between the week and the weekend because that structure is set out along the basis that God created the world in 6 days and took the last day to rest. As you deny the existence of God, you cannot possibly believe that he created the world in 7 days and therefore must abadon the weekend. You must also abadon the concept of the 7 day week as that concept is also based on the tale of creation.

DO NOT CELEBRATE FESTIVALS - You must no longer celebrate Christmas, Easter, Lent or any other religious fesitval (Rammadam etc). As you deny the existence of God, you cannot believe that Jesus was God's son so celebrating his birth/death is pointless as he was nothing special. This means that you may not:
Sing carols
Buy or receive presents
Put up Christmas decorations
Give out and receive Christmas cards
Have a Christmas tree
Sing carols
Have a Christmas dinner
Have a holiday from work over the Christmas period
Give/receive Easter eggs
Have a holiday from work over the Easter period

Theres probably more things but I'll let you work them out for yourself.

YOU CANT BLASPHEME - By stating "Oh God!" or "Jesus!" or "Bloody hell!" you are actually partially acknowledging the existence of God which is contary to atheist beliefs. I would advise you to get some new terms - please suggest some.

THIS IS NOT 2005
As you do not believe that Christ was the son of God, you will see no need to base your system of counting the years on the concepts of B.C. and A.D. THerefore you must use the secular C.E. system instead.

(By the way I am not religious nor do I particularly believe in God, its just I like revealing silly hypocrisy where I see it)

Wait what hypocrisy?

To have hypocrisy, you must have a standardized set of beliefs which themselves include the concept of hypocrisy. Christianity is one such set of beliefs, hence it's possible for Christians to be hypocritical. Atheism requires only "lack of belief in God." Period! The only way you could be hypocritical to the atheist viewpoint is by simply pretending not to believe in God but actually, believing in God. So you've pointed out no hypocrisy, although I will grant you that you've pointed out silliness. But a straw-man silliness as far as atheists are concerned.

Wait what hypocrisy?

To have hypocrisy, you must have a standardized set of beliefs which themselves include the concept of hypocrisy. Christianity is one such set of beliefs, hence it's possible for Christians to be hypocritical. Atheism requires only "lack of belief in God." Period! The only way you could be hypocritical to the atheist viewpoint is by simply pretending not to believe in God but actually, believing in God. So you've pointed out no hypocrisy, although I will grant you that you've pointed out silliness. But a straw-man silliness as far as atheists are concerned.

Wait though- rephrase your own definition of atheism- Atheism only requires belief in a lack of God. It may not be organized, but it is a belief.
As for hypocrisy, I think this is a silly thread, but atheists do have a belief.

Fine, so long as Christians do the following:

1. Do not accept or participate in the theories of evolution.
2. Beleive that the Earth is the centre of the solar system.
3. Abandon all parts of their religion that have been absorbed from others (which is most of it)
4. Do not support any theories that assume the Earth is billions of years old.
5. Begin stoning people to death whenever they wear mixed fibres in their cloths, ect.

2) Show me in the Bible where it says the earth is the centre of the solar system. Just because the Catholic Church was stupid doesn't mean everyone else has to be.
3) Yes, please, all Christians, do this. It would make life cheaper for everyone (No Christmas, Halloween, etc.)
5) Those who take the sword shall die by the sword- stoning went out of fashion with the Mosaic Law, buddy.

Wait though- rephrase your own definition of atheism- Atheism only requires belief in a lack of God. It may not be organized, but it is a belief.
As for hypocrisy, I think this is a silly thread, but atheists do have a belief.

You know, I hear that over and over again. Atheism does not require a belief. If someone asks you if you have a particular belief (in God) and you admit you do not you are an atheist by definition. You are not required to say, "no I don't, AND I believe there is NO God." You're already atheist by simply not sharing the positive affirmation of God's existence. Some atheists go that extra step and deny God, some don't, both are still atheists, hence the only requirement is as I said.

You know, I hear that over and over again. Atheism does not require a belief. If someone asks you if you have a particular belief (in God) and you admit you do not you are an atheist by definition. You are not required to say, "no I don't, AND I believe there is NO God." You're already atheist by simply not sharing the positive affirmation of God's existence. Some atheists go that extra step and deny God, some don't, both are still atheists, hence the only requirement is as I said.

Not positively affirming that there is a god is agnosticism, not atheism. An agnostic is someone who has no specific belief. An atheist is someone who believes there is no God.

I'm a Libertarian Expansionist Agnostic, so I believe in the following:

1) The 7-day week is not hypocrisy. Nor are weekends. I myself can't do without weekends; they're my only free time! In addition, they're not only a Christian idea. Everyone has 7-day weeks except the ancient Maya and some Eastern cultures, and I don't belong to either one.

2) I don't celebrate Christmas, Easter, or any other such holidays. That doesn't mean I can't take the time off for those vacations.

3) Words like "Oh my God", etc., are expressions and can be used much more freely by nonreligious people than religious people. There is no blasphemy for atheists, because there is no god.

4) I use B.C.E. and C.E. to mean "Before the Common Era" and "Common Era". Although the year is really 15,224,036,104 or something, I'm much more used to 2005 and don't intend to change anytime soon.

If we want to forbid "blasphemous" expressions like "Oh God", "God damn it," etc., we'll have to outlaw swearing as well, since all swearing is basically an extension of that. Therefore, "Holy s***" is also blasphemy. Should we outlaw that too? How can we enforce our legislation if we do?

Wait though- rephrase your own definition of atheism- Atheism only requires belief in a lack of God. It may not be organized, but it is a belief.
As for hypocrisy, I think this is a silly thread, but atheists do have a belief.

He never said athesists lack a belief. He said the only thing atheism requires is "a lack of a belief in a God." That's hardly a lack of belief.

He never said athesists lack a belief. He said the only thing atheism requires is "a lack of a belief in a God." That's hardly a lack of belief.

Yes he did- he said "Atheism does not require a belief". Read his post.

Yes he did- he said "Atheism does not require a belief". Read his post.


I doesn't require any other beliefs except a belief that there is no God. That doesn't mean that we don't have other beliefs. For instance, I believe that you are grasping at straws in an desperate attempt to prove atheists illogical and stupid. All he was saying is that the onlything that is absolutely required to be an atheist is that you don't believe in a God.

For easy of looking this up, I've placed it below (emphasis added):



Wait what hypocrisy?

To have hypocrisy, you must have a standardized set of beliefs which themselves include the concept of hypocrisy. Christianity is one such set of beliefs, hence it's possible for Christians to be hypocritical. Atheism requires only "lack of belief in God." Period! The only way you could be hypocritical to the atheist viewpoint is by simply pretending not to believe in God but actually, believing in God. So you've pointed out no hypocrisy, although I will grant you that you've pointed out silliness. But a straw-man silliness as far as atheists are concerned.

So where again was it he said, and I quote just like you did "Atheism does not require a belief."

Well Jesus-Titty-Fuckin'-God-Damn-Christ, don't we have a cranky thread starter? :)

YOU CANT BLASPHEME - By stating "Oh God!" or "Jesus!" or "Bloody hell!" you are actually partially acknowledging the existence of God which is contary to atheist beliefs. I would advise you to get some new terms - please suggest some.

Does this mean if we don't believe in the Simpsons we can't say d'oh! ?

I doesn't require any other beliefs except a belief that there is no God. That doesn't mean that we don't have other beliefs. For instance, I believe that you are grasping at straws in an desperate attempt to prove atheists illogical and stupid. All he was saying is that the onlything that is absolutely required to be an atheist is that you don't believe in a God.

For easy of looking this up, I've placed it below:

Read my posts. I said I thought this was a silly thread, and I never claimed atheists couldn't have any other beliefs. I have atheist freinds and colleagues (the majority in fact) and I respect them, so don't tell me I think they're stupid. the "Bible belt" in the south is mostly Christian, and I find many of them stupid. So don't generalize, especially on things I haven't said.

My only point is, was, and remains: Atheists believe there is no God. It is not a simple lack of belief about God.

Not positively affirming that there is a god is agnosticism, not atheism. An agnostic is someone who has no specific belief. An atheist is someone who believes there is no God.

OOooh someone ELSE who can better define what I am than I can!

Dictionary says:

1.
1. Disbelief in or denial of the existence of God or gods.
2. The doctrine that there is no God or gods.

Aha! Disbelief in, OR denial of the existence. And of course the DOCTRINE that there is no God or gods.

So, to be an atheist, you need:

1. Disbelief in the existence of God or gods

or

2. Denial of the existence of God or gods.

or

3. Adhering to the doctrine that there is no God or gos.

Lest you go on with this tiresome semantical argument about whether disbelief is just a fancy way of saying a belief in the opposite, here's how disbelief is defined:

disbelief

n 1: doubt about the truth of something [syn: incredulity, skepticism, mental rejection] 2: a rejection of belief [syn: unbelief] [ant: belief]

All you need to 'disbelieve' is to reject a particular belief. You do not need to believe the opposite of a belief to have disbelief.

Lastly, agnosticism is the doctrine that one cannot even know whether there is a God or gods. It's not uncertainty as you imply; it's certainty of uncertainty. Atheism can be certainty of God's non-existence, but it can ALSO be uncertainty of God's existence or simply answering "no" when someone asks if you happen to believe in the same magical sky fairy as they do.

New British Glory, im an atheist, but just because i dont believe in god doesnt mean that you dont have to believe in jesus.

im just saying jesus was a mortal man and he came to lead people the right way.

also putting up christmas trees, tinsel and decorations doesnt have anything to do with god or jesus, its just a tradition.

I doesn't require any other beliefs except a belief that there is no God. That doesn't mean that we don't have other beliefs. For instance, I believe that you are grasping at straws in an desperate attempt to prove atheists illogical and stupid. All he was saying is that the onlything that is absolutely required to be an atheist is that you don't believe in a God.

For easy of looking this up, I've placed it below:

Going on a bit of a tangent...

I wonder if atheism is proof of (Nietzsche's) paradox (concerning God). That is, by denying something that does not *seem* to exist, by acknowledging that which appears to be a lack of something, it is proving that *Something* exists.

What do Atheists need, if they cannot affirm the existence nor can they deny the existence of... Existence (God).

Depends on your definition of God/Creation/The Beginnng/The Future/Breath, I suppose.

Or is this food for another thread, hmmm?

I don't think atheists give a fuck about what some little lardbutt (I know that was a cheapshot, what size he is does not matter, I just like how it sounds) claims is proof of one's religion (once "holy-days" that now only celebrate consumerism). I think maybe that's one of the reasons one desires to separate from what is now considered to be a religion (organized).

(By the way I am not religious nor do I particularly believe in God, its just I like revealing silly hypocrisy where I see it)


And he say's americans have a problem in failing to see irony in any given situation. :)

I am afraid as atheists you can no longer do the following actions unless you wish to appear hypocritical:

ABADON THE WEEK/WEEKEND STRUCTURE - You can no longer differentiate between the week and the weekend because that structure is set out along the basis that God created the world in 6 days and took the last day to rest. As you deny the existence of God, you cannot possibly believe that he created the world in 7 days and therefore must abadon the weekend. You must also abadon the concept of the 7 day week as that concept is also based on the tale of creation.

DO NOT CELEBRATE FESTIVALS - You must no longer celebrate Christmas, Easter, Lent or any other religious fesitval (Rammadam etc). As you deny the existence of God, you cannot believe that Jesus was God's son so celebrating his birth/death is pointless as he was nothing special. This means that you may not:
Sing carols
Buy or receive presents
Put up Christmas decorations
Give out and receive Christmas cards
Have a Christmas tree
Sing carols
Have a Christmas dinner
Have a holiday from work over the Christmas period
Give/receive Easter eggs
Have a holiday from work over the Easter period

Theres probably more things but I'll let you work them out for yourself.

YOU CANT BLASPHEME - By stating "Oh God!" or "Jesus!" or "Bloody hell!" you are actually partially acknowledging the existence of God which is contary to atheist beliefs. I would advise you to get some new terms - please suggest some.

THIS IS NOT 2005
As you do not believe that Christ was the son of God, you will see no need to base your system of counting the years on the concepts of B.C. and A.D. THerefore you must use the secular C.E. system instead.

(By the way I am not religious nor do I particularly believe in God, its just I like revealing silly hypocrisy where I see it)

1) I haven't followed the 'week/weekend' structure for a decade and a half.

2) I do not rigourously celebrate ANY festivals. I don't mind partying with my daughter at christmas, or watching the Festival of Lights at Diwali... but I appreciate them for their atmosphere... not for any alleged religious significance.

I usually work all the Christmas holidays, etc... that others don't want.

3) I only blaspheme as much as I curse... so hardly ever... but, when I do, it is up to me which words I use... since I attach as much significance to the phrase "bum hats" or "cheesy weasels" as I do to "god damn".

In fact, for me, blasphemous curses would be a lower teir of language, than full on carnal terms.

4) This is 2005 in terms of Common Era. Which MAY coincide with the whole AD thing... but that part means nothing to me.

I might consider not ever saying "oh jesus" ever again if you promise to refrain from referring to the following:
pixie, unicorn, military intelligence, legolas the elf, fundamentalist christian compassion, and all other fictional things/entities

Amen to that. :p

Furthermore, most people don't know this, but all the days of the week are named after gods, or solar powers. Monday=Moon day, Thursday= Thors Day, Friday= Frickas Day, Saturday= Saturn Day, Sunday= well, sun day. The others I have forgotten, but you get the picture. My point is, are we then supposed to rename all the days? Or are us atheists just not supposed to refer to any of the days of the week? :confused: However, I commend you on your efforts, and encourage you to keep trying. Maybe someday you will come up with a valid argument for atheists everywhere to not participate in any holidays or cultural traditions. :rolleyes:

Agnostic is the way to go. Apathy towards the entire situation makes for a really easy lifestyle! /chuckle :sniper:

Read my posts. I said I thought this was a silly thread, and I never claimed atheists couldn't have any other beliefs. I have atheist freinds and colleagues (the majority in fact) and I respect them, so don't tell me I think they're stupid. the "Bible belt" in the south is mostly Christian, and I find many of them stupid. So don't generalize, especially on things I haven't said.

My only point is, was, and remains: Atheists believe there is no God. It is not a simple lack of belief about God.

Different types of Atheists. I think I already covered this in the other 'atheism' thread....

Explicit Atheism = No God.

Implicit Atheism = simply not believing in any gods... it DOESN'T mean you deny that they could/can exist.

Actually, the days of the week are named after norse gods. For instance: Tuesday comes from Tyr, a God. Wednesday comes from Odin, or Wodin. Thursday comes from Thor's day, a norse god. Friday comes from Freyja. Sunday comes from "sun" and I don't remember the others.

OOooh someone ELSE who can better define what I am than I can!

Dictionary says:

1.
1. Disbelief in or denial of the existence of God or gods.
2. The doctrine that there is no God or gods.

Aha! Disbelief in, OR denial of the existence. And of course the DOCTRINE that there is no God or gods.

So, to be an atheist, you need:

1. Disbelief in the existence of God or gods

or

2. Denial of the existence of God or gods.

or

3. Adhering to the doctrine that there is no God or gos.

Lest you go on with this tiresome semantical argument about whether disbelief is just a fancy way of saying a belief in the opposite, here's how disbelief is defined:

disbelief

n 1: doubt about the truth of something [syn: incredulity, skepticism, mental rejection] 2: a rejection of belief [syn: unbelief] [ant: belief]

All you need to 'disbelieve' is to reject a particular belief. You do not need to believe the opposite of a belief to have disbelief.

Lastly, agnosticism is the doctrine that one cannot even know whether there is a God or gods. It's not uncertainty as you imply; it's certainty of uncertainty. Atheism can be certainty of God's non-existence, but it can ALSO be uncertainty of God's existence or simply answering "no" when someone asks if you happen to believe in the same magical sky fairy as they do.

Fantastic rebuttal. I stand corrected.

I am afraid as atheists you can no longer do the following actions unless you wish to appear hypocritical:

ABADON THE WEEK/WEEKEND STRUCTURE - You can no longer differentiate between the week and the weekend because that structure is set out along the basis that God created the world in 6 days and took the last day to rest. As you deny the existence of God, you cannot possibly believe that he created the world in 7 days and therefore must abadon the weekend. You must also abadon the concept of the 7 day week as that concept is also based on the tale of creation.

DO NOT CELEBRATE FESTIVALS - You must no longer celebrate Christmas, Easter, Lent or any other religious fesitval (Rammadam etc). As you deny the existence of God, you cannot believe that Jesus was God's son so celebrating his birth/death is pointless as he was nothing special. This means that you may not:
Sing carols
Buy or receive presents
Put up Christmas decorations
Give out and receive Christmas cards
Have a Christmas tree
Sing carols
Have a Christmas dinner
Have a holiday from work over the Christmas period
Give/receive Easter eggs
Have a holiday from work over the Easter period

Theres probably more things but I'll let you work them out for yourself.

YOU CANT BLASPHEME - By stating "Oh God!" or "Jesus!" or "Bloody hell!" you are actually partially acknowledging the existence of God which is contary to atheist beliefs. I would advise you to get some new terms - please suggest some.

THIS IS NOT 2005
As you do not believe that Christ was the son of God, you will see no need to base your system of counting the years on the concepts of B.C. and A.D. THerefore you must use the secular C.E. system instead.

(By the way I am not religious nor do I particularly believe in God, its just I like revealing silly hypocrisy where I see it)

:mad:
what an interestingly stupid point of view. firstly, 5 days working and then 2 days rest is a fairly good system for work and rest balance, and would be kept on in an atheist government system, second, since when has christmas been about jesus recently? its a capitalist holiday nowadays. anyway, i celebrate "annual gift giving day", which happens to fall on the 25th because its as good as any other day, and i have the day off because it is inly humane to give people days off from work or school. no jesus or any other fairies involved. third, we cant blaspheme, because to blaspheme we would need to acknowledge gods existence, and just saying "god!" isnt acknowledging gods existence, just like saying "rational thought" doesnt negate religions existence, its just the word that your religous culture has forced on us as a word to say in times of stress etc, fourthly untill we can discover the exact age of the universe to the nearest year we will have to use some arbitrary point to measure time from and staying in syncronisation witht he rest of the world seems a fairly good idea, and even when we do know the exact age of everything, saying something like "its the 25/03/647820234247238429134563461 isnt very practical.


now can all you genius religious people stop criticising our "hypocrisy" and go back to wasting your limited lifespan worshiping your fictional deities, please? we know you love to go around beleiving your better than everyone else because you unquestioningly believe a book on the basis that the book says it is worthy of unquestioning belief, but frankly, we just think you are moronic.

Actually, the days of the week are named after norse gods. For instance: Tuesday comes from Tyr, a God. Wednesday comes from Odin, or Wodin. Thursday comes from Thor's day, a norse god. Friday comes from Freyja. Sunday comes from "sun" and I don't remember the others.

Saturday is named for Saturn, a god, although not a Norse one.

Monday is, I believe, the Moon's Day.

I am afraid as atheists you can no longer do the following actions unless you wish to appear hypocritical:

ABADON THE WEEK/WEEKEND STRUCTURE - You can no longer differentiate between the week and the weekend because that structure is set out along the basis that God created the world in 6 days and took the last day to rest. As you deny the existence of God, you cannot possibly believe that he created the world in 7 days and therefore must abadon the weekend. You must also abadon the concept of the 7 day week as that concept is also based on the tale of creation.

DO NOT CELEBRATE FESTIVALS - You must no longer celebrate Christmas, Easter, Lent or any other religious fesitval (Rammadam etc). As you deny the existence of God, you cannot believe that Jesus was God's son so celebrating his birth/death is pointless as he was nothing special. This means that you may not:
Sing carols
Buy or receive presents
Put up Christmas decorations
Give out and receive Christmas cards
Have a Christmas tree
Sing carols
Have a Christmas dinner
Have a holiday from work over the Christmas period
Give/receive Easter eggs
Have a holiday from work over the Easter period

Theres probably more things but I'll let you work them out for yourself.

YOU CANT BLASPHEME - By stating "Oh God!" or "Jesus!" or "Bloody hell!" you are actually partially acknowledging the existence of God which is contary to atheist beliefs. I would advise you to get some new terms - please suggest some.

THIS IS NOT 2005
As you do not believe that Christ was the son of God, you will see no need to base your system of counting the years on the concepts of B.C. and A.D. THerefore you must use the secular C.E. system instead.

(By the way I am not religious nor do I particularly believe in God, its just I like revealing silly hypocrisy where I see it)


Duncery par excellence!

this unispired claptrap doesnt rate a response beyond:

I celebrate catholic (and occaisionally jewish) festivals because I enjoy doing so.

This is a very amusing thread. But it is all a joke, isn't it?…

Well?…

My commendations on a good troll.
I wouldn't cal it good. I haven't seen a single supporting statement. All in all, a typical New British Glory topic: all huff and puff, and no actual substance.

My only point is, was, and remains: Atheists believe there is no God. It is not a simple lack of belief about God.

Dont be ridiculous man. You dont get to decide whats Athiests beleive, or disbeleive. I personally adhere to the latter.

Dont be ridiculous man. You dont get to decide whats Athiests beleive, or disbeleive. I personally adhere to the latter.

Read my response to Santa Barbara's rebuttal. Then comment.

I suppose then, that we ought to rename the days of the week as well.

Perhaps while we're at it, a renaming of all place-names derived from religious meanings (towns named for saints, etc.) ought to be stricken from the official vernacular, as it could be seen as a government endorsement of religion.

I also propose people rid themselves of their names, if those names have any Christian connotations to them as well. People named Michael, Elisabeth, John, Matthew, etc...

I am afraid that Christians shall have to cease celebrating Halloween. It's not a Christian festival, you see.

Thats a good thing. They should celebrate all saints day instead anyway. Halloween is a night when people need to be with God rather than turn away.

I suppose then, that we ought to rename the days of the week as well.

Perhaps while we're at it, a renaming of all place-names derived from religious meanings (towns named for saints, etc.) ought to be stricken from the official vernacular, as it could be seen as a government endorsement of religion.

I also propose people rid themselves of their names, if those names have any Christian connotations to them as well. People named Michael, Elisabeth, John, Matthew, etc...Here is an incomplete list of Christian names:

Jesus
Mary
Joseph
Matthew
Mark
Luke
John
Elizabeth
Michael
Gabriel
Raphael
Christopher
Jesse
David
Paul
Peter
Andrew
Judas
Solomon
Samuel
Deborah
Uriel
Dalilah
Jeremiah
Obadiah
Jonas
Isaac
Abraham
Sarah
Rachel

in addition to at least 100 religious Muslim names. All of those ought to be forbidden for atheists, too.

Dear N.B.G:

Is it "hypocritical" to use the names "Monday", "Tuesday", "Wednesday"... if we do not believe in the Gods they are named after?

I advise you give the matter a bit more thought this time, before you extrude another "clever" posting on the subject.

[HINT: it isn't just the atheists who use the names without believing in the Gods.]


Yours Helpfully,

An Atheist.

Here is an incomplete list of Christian names:

Jesus
Mary
Joseph
Matthew
Mark
Luke
John
Elizabeth
Michael
Gabriel
Raphael
Christopher
Jesse
David
Paul
Peter
Andrew
Judas
Solomon
Samuel
Deborah
Uriel
Dalilah
Jeremiah
Obadiah
Jonas
Isaac
Abraham
Sarah
Rachel

in addition to at least 100 religious Muslim names. All of those ought to be forbidden for atheists, too.


What about jewish surname?

Don't C.E. and A.D. have identical values anyway?

More than half of all the 'christian' holidays are non-christian from origin.

Jesus Christ was actually born on the 20th of March. On the exact same day as Julius Caesar if you want to know. It's been suggested that they're the same person as well.

For all you youngsters with problems about the atheism/agnosticism thing, here is a helpful article by Jack Smart:

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/atheism-agnosticism/

ubiqtorate, or whatever the name was, was quite correct in his/her earlier comments.

What about jewish surname?Most of the names I mentioned are variants of Jewish surnames, or vice versa. True, most Christians won't be called "Noam", they'll take "Noah" instead. And I've never met anyone named "Nehemiah".

Actually the 7 day structure has NOTHING to do with christianity and predates it by centuries. You muppet.

The seven days are based on the seven planets that were visible with the naked eye in the night sky and the days were ordered according to the speed with which the planets flew across the heavens.

Sun --> Sunday
Monday --> Moon
Tuesday --> Mars
Wednesday --> Mercury
Thursday --> Jupiter
Friday --> Venus
Saturday --> Saturn :headbang:

Not quite right, though much more right than NBG was.

Sunday - The Sun
Monday - The Moon
Tuesday - Tiw
Wednesday - Woden
Thursday - Thor
Friday - Frey
Saturday - Saturn

So we see two based on celestial bodies, one Roman God, and four Norse Gods. How do we figure this works with Christianity then?

um..
I was going to make this huge argument as to why you shouldn't say all that, but now I have a better one.

Why do you care what other people do, its not like it actually has anything to do with you.

God damn the atheists!

Not quite right, though much more right than NBG was.

Sunday - The Sun
Monday - The Moon
Tuesday - Tiw
Wednesday - Woden
Thursday - Thor
Friday - Frey
Saturday - Saturn

[bolding added]

Woden, as in Wotan in German? If so, I'll have a new appreciation for Wednesday's.

*hums "Loge, Hor! Lausche Hiener!"*

Not quite right, though much more right than NBG was.

Sunday - The Sun
Monday - The Moon
Tuesday - Tiw
Wednesday - Woden
Thursday - Thor
Friday - Frey
Saturday - Saturn

So we see two based on celestial bodies, one Roman God, and four Norse Gods. How do we figure this works with Christianity then?

As far as I know, atheism includes rejection of all "theisms," and that would include ancient "pagan" beliefs. Therefore, naming days after Saxon/Norse gods also will not do.

--snip--

Sing carols

I'm afraid to see we are left no carols. Frankly, you christians can keep them.

I also wonder whose puppet you are, and request people to not use puppets to troll

There are a whole lot of secular holiday carols. As a music teacher, this particular "you may not" from this loathesome troll was especially egregious.

Wassail Song (esp. Ralph Vaughan-Williams' perfect arrangement of it)
Bright Bright the Holly Berries
Winter Wonderland
Sleigh Ride
Frosty the Snowman
Jingle Bells
Silver Bells (although it is a hymn to consumerism, which is a bit of a religion)
White Christmas
I'll Be Home for Christmas
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
Holly-Jolly Christmas
I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
Here Comes Santa Claus
Santa Claus is Coming to Town
T'was the Night Before Christmas (Fred Waring gave us this sonic monstrosity)
We Wish You A Merry Christmas
All I Want For Christmas
Merry Christmas, Baby (Ah, Charles Brown)
Christmastime Is Here (Ah, Charlie Brown...okay, Vince Guaraldi)
The Twelve Days of Christmas (though some argue the symbolism of the gifts)
...these and many, many more (hard to think of Xmas songs in April).

And for the troll, should you imagine that even the mention of the word "Christmas" takes a song our of the secular arena, you're really, really high. Capitalism and consumerism bled that word dry a long time ago.

Singing:

Troll, troll, troll the thread
spout some stupid shit
stupidly, stupidly, stupidly, stupidly
Aren't you a twit?

Thank you.

DO NOT CELEBRATE FESTIVALS - You must no longer celebrate Christmas, Easter, Lent or any other religious fesitval (Rammadam etc). As you deny the existence of God, you cannot believe that Jesus was God's son so celebrating his birth/death is pointless as he was nothing special. This means that you may not:
Sing carols
Buy or receive presents
Put up Christmas decorations
Give out and receive Christmas cards
Have a Christmas tree
Sing carols
Have a Christmas dinner
Have a holiday from work over the Christmas period
Give/receive Easter eggs
Have a holiday from work over the Easter period


I have a suggestion, why not celebrate Festivus!

I am afraid as atheists you can no longer do the following actions unless you wish to appear hypocritical:

ABADON THE WEEK/WEEKEND STRUCTURE - You can no longer differentiate between the week and the weekend because that structure is set out along the basis that God created the world in 6 days and took the last day to rest. As you deny the existence of God, you cannot possibly believe that he created the world in 7 days and therefore must abadon the weekend. You must also abadon the concept of the 7 day week as that concept is also based on the tale of creation.

DO NOT CELEBRATE FESTIVALS - You must no longer celebrate Christmas, Easter, Lent or any other religious fesitval (Rammadam etc). As you deny the existence of God, you cannot believe that Jesus was God's son so celebrating his birth/death is pointless as he was nothing special. This means that you may not:
Sing carols
Buy or receive presents
Put up Christmas decorations
Give out and receive Christmas cards
Have a Christmas tree
Sing carols
Have a Christmas dinner
Have a holiday from work over the Christmas period
Give/receive Easter eggs
Have a holiday from work over the Easter period

Theres probably more things but I'll let you work them out for yourself.

YOU CANT BLASPHEME - By stating "Oh God!" or "Jesus!" or "Bloody hell!" you are actually partially acknowledging the existence of God which is contary to atheist beliefs. I would advise you to get some new terms - please suggest some.

THIS IS NOT 2005
As you do not believe that Christ was the son of God, you will see no need to base your system of counting the years on the concepts of B.C. and A.D. THerefore you must use the secular C.E. system instead.

(By the way I am not religious nor do I particularly believe in God, its just I like revealing silly hypocrisy where I see it)

Your an idiot.

I shall do these things because they are part of our culture. Most (if not all) are no longer religious, just cultural. I therefore do not see it as hypocritical do do any of these things.

In short, shut up.

Read my response to Santa Barbara's rebuttal. Then comment.

Ah right, so you were serious about agreeing with him then? My sarcasm senses where tingling, guess I need to get them re-tuned.....

Fantastic rebuttal. I stand corrected.

:nods: :) Thanks for admitting it! I would probably be ranting and raving now if you had been like some people who can't be reasoned with. (ironic eh? heh)

Festivus for the rest of us!

I wouldn't cal it good. I haven't seen a single supporting statement. All in all, a typical New British Glory topic: all huff and puff, and no actual substance.

Wow, I have a typical topic! I feel so honoured!

[bolding added]

Woden, as in Wotan in German? If so, I'll have a new appreciation for Wednesday's.

*hums "Loge, Hor! Lausche Hiener!"*

Yep, same chappy. Wotan, Woden, Odin, The Gallow's God, plus some more probably, which I just can't recall rigth now. =P

now can all you genius religious people stop criticising our "hypocrisy" and go back to wasting your limited lifespan worshiping your fictional deities, please? we know you love to go around beleiving your better than everyone else because you unquestioningly believe a book on the basis that the book says it is worthy of unquestioning belief, but frankly, we just think you are moronic.

Did you not read the last two lines of the thread or was your head too far up your own arse to notice it?

Did you not read the last two lines of the thread or was your head too far up your own arse to notice it?

So wait, your best response to three pages of people laughing at you was to call out one person who misread/misinterpreted one thing?

Niiiiiice.

So wait, your best response to three pages of people laughing at you was to call out one person who misread/misinterpreted one thing?

Niiiiiice.

Yes. The orginal post was stupid. I am glad that I could make people laugh as it made me laugh.

*Shakes head* So closed minded.

Originally Posted by New British Glory
I am afraid as atheists you can no longer do the following actions unless you wish to appear hypocritical:

ABADON THE WEEK/WEEKEND STRUCTURE - You can no longer differentiate between the week and the weekend because that structure is set out along the basis that God created the world in 6 days and took the last day to rest. As you deny the existence of God, you cannot possibly believe that he created the world in 7 days and therefore must abadon the weekend. You must also abadon the concept of the 7 day week as that concept is also based on the tale of creation.

I don't follow a work week because G-d decreed it. I follow it because most of the world does... and it works. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

DO NOT CELEBRATE FESTIVALS - You must no longer celebrate Christmas, Easter, Lent or any other religious fesitval (Rammadam etc). As you deny the existence of God, you cannot believe that Jesus was God's son so celebrating his birth/death is pointless as he was nothing special. This means that you may not:
Sing carols

Why not? Isn't music an art form? Some of the most beautiful music that I have heard/sung is Christian. I have sung Haydn's Creation. It is a very beautiful piece about how G-d created the earth and how he created Adam and Eve (yadda, yadda) Basic creation story stuff. I don't believe that any g-d created anything, but singing it does not make me believe it. I am performing art.

Buy or receive presents [and all other activities you mentioned.]

As most people have said, don't you know that all major holidays (holy days) were placed on major pagan holy days so that Christianity would be more appealing to the pagans in the Roman Empire. Jesus was born around the fall anyway. In the bible, Mary was 3 months pregnant when she met with her cousin Elisabeth. Her son, John (the Baptist) was born around passover (March/April). 6 months later would be September/October. Cool. Huh? Also, According to the bible, the day of "rest" is Saturday... not Sunday. Constetine worshiped the sun... something that he really did not want to totally give up after he "accepted Jesus". He changed the "sabbath" to Sunday to honor the "Son" of G-d.

I don't feel like responding to the rest... everyone pretty much covered it.

Wow, I have a typical topic! I feel so honoured!Yes. The orginal post was stupid. I am glad that I could make people laugh as it made me laugh.Did you not read the last two lines of the thread or was your head too far up your own arse to notice it?
Yeah. Your typical topics generally revolve around trolling and flaming, just as this one ended up doing. The next one you post like this won't end up with just a lock, it will also include offical warnings and/or forumbans.

Shape up now, New British Glory. Our patience is not infinite.

~ Frisbeeteria ~
NationStates Forum Moderator