Posted by Theophilus on 12/22/06 01:59

<snip>

>>> You asserted that Atheism is a religion. It isn't. Sort it out!
>>
>>Yes, I made the assertion that atheism is a religion and then went on to
>>say
>>why. On the other hand, you just make the assertion that it isn't,
>>without
>>saying why at all. Sorry, not good enough, I don't believe you.
>
> You asserted atheism was a religion, then FAILED to demonstrate why.

Here are my points:

1) Atheism IS a religion, the most hypocritical known.

2) Religion is the wilful self-delusion about higher power(s) being the
actual arbiters of mankind and the universe.

3) It's really about who the arbiter, the assigner of meaning is.

4) For the atheist it is his himself, he is his own arbiter, master of all
morality and value. That flies in the face of evidence; he says that he
knows that he is no more valuable than any other piece of matter in the
materialistic universe, and yet continues to assign value to himself and his
actions anyways.

Clear enough for you? Atheists delude themselves in the same way that
religious people, but they do it in SPITE of the evidence around them. That
is what makes them hypocrites.

> If it is a religion, where is(are) its Holy Book(s). Every religion
> has them, right? Which days are holy to the atheist? What day of the

Wrong. Many religions have no such thing. Modern ones would include any of
the New Age practices, Wicca, pick any of a hundred jungle religions. Old
ones include the religions of the Norse, the Romans, the Greeks, and many
other oriental and indo-american religions. Maybe you are thinking of the
traditional, orthodox religions. Religion is about the BELIEFS about higher
power, and the practices surrounding those beliefs.

For atheists, that means the beliefs and practices they have about
themselves.

>Which days are holy to the atheist? What day of the

Today.

> week do they get together to not worship? Which deity do they invoke?

Themself, of course.

> Where are their churches? Do they have any dietary proscriptions?

Each has his own. It's his own mind. Some are gluttons, some are
fastidious, the religion has no strict dietary codes.

>>Atheists say that the universe is a meaningless place, but they still
>>assign
>>themselves value. That's hypocrisy. In fact, the evidence is all around
>>that they have NO value, but they still carry on as if they do. That
>>isn't
>>even faith, because the evidence is right there; it's willful ignorance, a
>>decision NOT to see the truth around them.
>
> I've never heard an atheist say the universe is meaningless. I've

That's because you have never asked one. Demonstrate the "meaning" behind
your typical electrochemical reaction, and you will soon find that the
empirical, materialistic view of atheism has no room for any real meaning.
Relative meaning and worth? You bet. But absolute meaning? Not one shred
of it exists in the universe, to the honest atheist.

> heard Xtians say it is meaningless without God. So you equate
> non-belief in a deity as an assertion the universe is meaningless?
> Pretty specious reasoning.

No, not at all. It's the other way around, a meaningless universe has no
room for a deity, the atheist is just unwilling to acknowledge that. On the
other hand, can you describe a meaningful universe that doesn't have a
deity? What gives it meaning?

An example of relative meaning:

Is it a tragedy when an ant hill is destroyed by a bulldozer?

Is it a tragedy when the earth is totally destroyed by an asteroid? Would
it mattter at all?

BTW, sorry I took so long to get back on, crazy here this week.

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