Spreading Atheism

[axia777]

I agree with most people here that Atheism is not a religion. It is just a belief system. If any thing it is the anti-religion.

As for your school it is not surprising that they have a not so secret double standard about religion and Atheism. Religion is much more entrenched in society than Atheism. What surprises me also is that the Atheists did not expect to be sacked like that. Maybe they knew it would happen. I applaud them for doing it anyway. Such is life for the under dog.

 

[Alex_P]

Folks arguing about whether God is "a dick", &c.:

There's a specific topic lead-in. Don't turn this into yet another generic thread about religion.

-- Alex

 

[Hunter2458]

Just my two cents here, or rather, something I noticed. Only once was the worlds second largest religion mentioned. I dunno, but it seems that Atheists are only angry against Christians, because apparently Allah tells Muslims to be Nice to nonbelievers, including Atheists? Just saying it seems like Atheists are trying to only make one enemy, rather then really they should be making an enemy of every religious organization, including Scientology.

 

[axia777]

Folks arguing about whether God is "a dick", &c.:

There's a specific topic lead-in. Don't turn this into yet another generic thread about religion.

-- Alex

Personally I looked at like as a thread about the college's double standard of religion vs atheism. Which to me is anti-freedom of speech and anti-American.

Just my two cents here, or rather, something I noticed. Only once was the worlds second largest religion mentioned. I dunno, but it seems that Atheists are only angry against Christians, because apparently Allah tells Muslims to be Nice to nonbelievers, including Atheists? Just saying it seems like Atheists are trying to only make one enemy, rather then really they should be making an enemy of every religious organization, including Scientology.

By saying there is no God they are not trying to be dicks. Atheists are just spreading their beliefs about life. Many people see religious people trying to convert others to their religions as being very rude. But in reality they are just trying to spread their religion and beliefs. It is all equal.

 

[sizzle949]

Just some information about the area I am in, I live in Canada and it is a University campus.

Which university is this again? I'm so out of the loop on going ons with my university I wouldn't be suprised to see it's my school. I've run into the Campus for Christ people several times already...

 

[gerrymander61]

If, as most atheists claim, atheism isn't a religion, then they have no business trying to push their values on others. There is no word to spread.

Uhm, what?
First off, religions don't have the right to push their views on us, either, they just try to do it.
Secondly, atheists have the right to spread news of their organization just as much as any religious, philosophical, political, theatre, sports, cinematic, computer or whatever group.

...their choice of wording was delibrately meant to insult those with different beliefs.

Say what? "There probably isn't a god"? Deliberately meant to insult?
"There's no god and you're a retard if you believe otherwise" would be insulting.

It's mostly a comment that Atheism is something that an individual must make an informed and calculated decision to become atheist, and at that point, there's no reason for him to need to preach his values to others. "No business" was kinda harsh, I guess, but what I meant was that if atheists want to "recruit" others into their way of thinking, then that just makes them closer to the religions that they have so much contempt for. Oh, and when was the last time you saw a poster for the Muslim group saying "ALLAH IS THE ONLY GOD," or the Christian group with "IF IT'S NOT THE WORD OF THE LORD THEN IT'S WRONG" on a university campus? These organizations know that if they come anywhere close to the shit that the atheist group put up they will get called out for religious persecution. It's not only the fact that true atheists shouldn't be putting stuff up in the first place, it's the disrespect for other religions and in-your-face delivery that the university and I myself also take issue with.

 

[Skeleon]

I dunno, but it seems that Atheists are only angry against Christians, because apparently Allah tells Muslims to be Nice to nonbelievers, including Atheists? Just saying it seems like Atheists are trying to only make one enemy, rather then really they should be making an enemy of every religious organization, including Scientology.

That might be because the majority of us are from Western countries where the biggest number of religious people (i.e. "enemies" according to you) are Christians.

A little thing I wanted to point out to the religious folks here:
You get annoyed by atheists (or maybe just anti-theists) on forums like this one because you feel they are attacking you. Well, think about how it still is in the real world today. I'd say many of the more aggressive anti-theists are probably annoyed by real life persecution. Don't forget that the internet-standards (where a large number of atheists naturally congregate - students, pupils, scientists) don't apply to reality yet and that for many, fighting against religion here is a substitute to fighting against religion in the real world where they are still being oppressed for their lack of belief.

...or the Christian group with "IF IT'S NOT THE WORD OF THE LORD THEN IT'S WRONG" on a university campus?

Yesterday, actually, though it wasn't quite that wording. It's true I rarely see any Muslim propaganda, though.
Everybody needs to have the same rights to put up their shit for other students to read.

 

[sneakypenguin]

snip
Yes but the bible also says that the earth was created in 6 days by God. More away from simple bashing, if you read the bible you will notice that in the Jewish Scriptures (Old Testament, whatever the fuck you want to call it) God is vengeful, God actually seems... Human. This kind of God does not seem like the kind of God to give us free reign unless he wants to watch us destroy ourselves as any omnipotent being could have been able to see from the start (eating the apple and the first murder of Able by Kane).

The God of the New Testament or Christian Scriptures, however, is a loving being that can do no wrong and, apparently, we can do no wrong by him - which would beg the question of who actually goes to hell if we are all forgiven by him - But getting back to your original statement, it IS up to par for you see that would mean that God is able yet not willing to prevent evil, you can't just say well he gave us free reign and use it as a defence when that is clearly covered as malevolence in that he wishes for us to destroy ourselves for his own sick pleasure (assuming we have the original Jewish God).

Under the law, God was quite a bit more harsh, God also is still harsh in the age of grace (the Church age) but the punishment for sin is usually reserved for hell. God has forgiveness available to all just to those to accept it. Of which most don't. The "jewish God" and the Christian God are one and the same, just one age is under the law(or blood) and the other is the age of grace (church age)

I don't believe God wishes for us to destroy ourselves for His pleasure, "God wills that none should perish but that all should come to repentance" Even in the age under the law in the Bible there where countless times God extended His hand of mercy to ppl/groups/families. Anyways this post is all over the place so prolly makes nil sense.

 

[Hunter2458]

By saying there is no God they are not trying to be dicks. Atheists are just spreading their beliefs about life. Many people see religious people trying to convert others to their religions as being very rude. But in reality they are just trying to spread their religion and beliefs. It is all equal.

Oh, I understand they're not trying to be dicks, it's just the way they go about their 'battles' against 'inequality' in the US. We're not even talking about how Atheists are treated Globally. What if OP had been attending a school abroad and it didn't have christians on campus, but maybe Hindi or Muslim religious people? Would we be having this discussion at all?

 

[Alex_P]

... Wait.

Athiests. "Probably no God."

Eh... I'm trying to figure this out, but...

Probably? Don't athiests say "there is definitely no God"? Methinks those guys need to rethink the name of their little club

It's not an inconsistent position at all.

I'm an atheist. I'm also an existentialist, a physicalist, and some other junk.

If you pressed me for precise terminology, I'd say "there is probably no God". That's because of a belief in the likely absence of certainty rather than a belief in the potential presence of God.

-- Alex

 

[sneakypenguin]

Eh, its kind of an instigating post. Saying "there probably is no God" is kind of on par with a christian group saying "your probably going to hell" it serves no purpose other than to antagonize.

No, it is on par with a Christian group saying "Jesus died for you".

Eh, still the intent is to somewhat antagonize. Its not an ad for a group it's a statement against another. Granted not everyone will see it like that but schools usually go on the side of caution.

Some atheist groups would probably stop advertising if Christians stopped handing out pamphlets, Bibles, and advertising religious-based services.

Just curious why do atheist groups need to advertise? I've never seen a group so adamant about the idea of non-belief as atheist.

Anyways back OT the school would probably limit speech of similar nature by a Christian group, so as long as the standard holds then no biggie. 1A doesn't apply to schools anyways.

 

[Lord Krunk]

Plus it's always hilariously ironic when a religion thread turns into some atheists 'proving religious people wrong' whilst at the exact same moment other atheists complain about the jehovahs who push their beliefs on other people... ha

It's always good for a quick laugh.

I know, eh?

 

[badgersprite]

Atheists are less likely to cry afoul that their religious beliefs are being denied and less likely to have their parents bug the school about it, so they don't really care about whether atheists get the same ability to 'spread their word'. After all, those same people who hand out religious pamphlets and push their beliefs on others are likely to get offended if people start saying there's no God, and their voices are much louder than those of atheists. And maybe they have a point if it's just being done for the sake of being oppositional.

There's really no point in spreading atheism anyway. Most people (myself included) seem to come into atheism, or at least the view that they don't agree with any of the major churches of their own accord, and not at the urging of others. I've never seen anybody 'convert' someone else to atheism. In fact, that would kind of violate the whole point of it. =3

 

[gerrymander61]

I dunno, but it seems that Atheists are only angry against Christians, because apparently Allah tells Muslims to be Nice to nonbelievers, including Atheists? Just saying it seems like Atheists are trying to only make one enemy, rather then really they should be making an enemy of every religious organization, including Scientology.

That might be because the majority of us are from Western countries where the biggest number of religious people (i.e. "enemies" according to you) are Christians.

A little thing I wanted to point out to the religious folks here:
You get annoyed by atheists (or maybe just anti-theists) on forums like this one because you feel they are attacking you. Well, think about how it still is in the real world today. I'd say many of the more aggressive anti-theists are probably annoyed by real life persecution. Don't forget that the internet-standards (where a large number of atheists naturally congregate - students, pupils, scientists) don't apply to reality yet and that for many, fighting against religion here is a substitute to fighting against religion in the real world where they are still being oppressed for their lack of belief.

...or the Christian group with "IF IT'S NOT THE WORD OF THE LORD THEN IT'S WRONG" on a university campus?

Yesterday, actually, though it wasn't quite that wording. It's true I rarely see any Muslim propaganda, though.

As for atheists being supposed not to spread their word, WHY?

Pics or it didn't happen. Seriously though, unless you're attending some backwater redneck "university" then there's no way something that direct would get put up, or at least not be met with an outcry similar to the one at the OP's university.

To religious people, religion is about spreading the word of the god or gods or whatever that they choose to worship. They are actively pursuing their faith by trying to teach people their way. Spreading one's beliefs in such a way as an atheist serves absolutely no purpose other than shooting down other people's beliefs and telling the world that you are better than other people. It is for this reason that people tolerate things like the aforementioned "Jesus died for you" on campus because it is put up with good intentions and not purely for the purpose of getting a reaction by ridiculing other people's faith.

 

[Mozared]

Atheïsm needs to be spread just as urgently as christianity, hinduism, or any other religion. People who want to know more will always look for it. That said, I do think we can give a lot more and more interesting handholds to children and teens through the public school system. Discussing religion and atheïsm has a lot more value than some of the things people are now being forced to do.

 

[tenlong]

Those people putting up the words "there is probaly is no god." I am christian and i don't find that offensive. I may think they are wrong about that,but i won't be up in your face about that. If you ask what i think about, i will tell all about it.

 

[axia777]

By saying there is no God they are not trying to be dicks. Atheists are just spreading their beliefs about life. Many people see religious people trying to convert others to their religions as being very rude. But in reality they are just trying to spread their religion and beliefs. It is all equal.

Oh, I understand they're not trying to be dicks, it's just the way they go about their 'battles' against 'inequality' in the US. We're not even talking about how Atheists are treated Globally. What if OP had been attending a school abroad and it didn't have Christians on campus, but maybe Hindi or Muslim religious people? Would we be having this discussion at all?

Hell, in a lot of other countries there would not even be an Atheist club.

 

[Hunter2458]

By saying there is no God they are not trying to be dicks. Atheists are just spreading their beliefs about life. Many people see religious people trying to convert others to their religions as being very rude. But in reality they are just trying to spread their religion and beliefs. It is all equal.

Oh, I understand they're not trying to be dicks, it's just the way they go about their 'battles' against 'inequality' in the US. We're not even talking about how Atheists are treated Globally. What if OP had been attending a school abroad and it didn't have Christians on campus, but maybe Hindi or Muslim religious people? Would we be having this discussion at all?

Hell, in a lot of other countries there would not even be an Atheist club.

Yes, but let's also not forget that those other Countries don't HAVE a Constitution that states that, and I'm going to quote it because people take the term "Freedom of Speech" far out of context sometimes, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." Ah, doesn't it feel nice to be able to say "I hate Allah" and Not have someone black bag you, never to be seen again.

 

[Skeleon]

Pics or it didn't happen. Seriously though, unless you're attending some backwater redneck "university" then there's no way something that direct would get put up, or at least not be met with an outcry similar to the one at the OP's university.

As I said, it wasn't that wording.
I'll try to get it right from recollection. Something along the lines of:

"Follow the truth. How Christianity can have a role in your life today. Meetings at..."

It's not profane, it's not aggressive. That's why it is acceptable.
Same goes for Atheist groups. Don't get me wrong, we're free to put up anything we want. We have all sorts of religious/political/whatever propaganda hanging about for people to read. I'm not complaining about my university, I'm just saying this school mentioned in the OP must behave the same way my university does: Allowing all to advertise (unless they do it in a hateful or profane way, I guess).

It is for this reason that people tolerate things like the aforementioned "Jesus died for you" on campus because it is put up with good intentions and not purely for the purpose of getting a reaction by ridiculing other people's faith.

Neither is "god probably doesn't exist", it's meant to make people think and maybe even re-think their faith. It's supposed to stir people's minds, not ridicule them.

 

[scotth266]

Personally, I don't see the point of an Atheist society. What's to discuss? How you don't believe in a god/gods? Not exactly much to talk about there that can't be discussed in some sort of philosophy club, in my opinion.

The message was quite tame, so I imagine that the reason it was removed was because it was painted on. That's vandalism, innit?

Either that, or the reason gerrymander listed.