UK Atheists Hope to Eliminate Jedi Population

[the D0rk One]

im not familiar with the probation system and what it entails, but im guessing that i could be banned. so essentially im being banned for criticising religion. this is the 21st century and im being reprimanded for criticising religion. have we not learned from our mistakes? what the enlightenment taught us? thats why im sad

and i dont see how religion is supposed to be respected if it cant be honestly criticised? how is it respect if it is mandatory? in the same way donating to charity is not benevolence if it is mandatory, its tax.

surely if im being honest about religion and regarding it on its own terms and merits, im the one thats respecting it? rather than hiding it away from the outside world like an embarrassing relative?

Duuuude... You're seriously taking this thing... seriously? You're even acknowledging Jedi as a real religion? Really?

I can really see why you'd yell fuck the Pope or stone an imam to death for a change, but, what the hell has master Yoda got to do with freeing the world from religion?

what made you think im acknowledging jedi as a real religion? i cannot find one single allusion.

maybe you didnt read anything i wrote?

the only thing im taking seriously is that ive been officially rebuked by a moderator for criticising religion/faith and am being threatened with censorship. thats quite serious business.

...yeah. Serious indeed.

If you're an atheist you should realize that being MILITANT about it only hurts atheists world-wide. You're just as annoying as jehova's witnesses knocking on your door, or your granny goin' on about jesus's save files.

I've noticed some interesting stuff:

"Faith/religion is an abomination". An abomination... sounds kinda what most faithful say about homosexuality and other sins =))

Even your "Oh noes, censorship, hssss" reminds me of someone bitching about being persecuted for their beliefs...

Let me put it this way: this sort of crap makes atheists look just as friendly and open minded as an islamic extremist. The extremist threatens to kill you if you crack one about mohammad, the militant atheist... well, gets really pissed off and opinionated if you make fun of him and put "atheist" in the same sentence.

That's it. I'm renouncing my faith. From now on I'm a Sith extremist.

I'm just glad that militant atheists don't threaten to kill you.

And to be honest, religion is something uniquely peculiar to the human race and deserves studying (as Daniel Dennett points out) as part of our evolutionary heritage. What it doesn't deserve - in many people's evidenced opinion - is more money and "respect". If someone calls faith "an abomination", then they would probably give you perfectly reasonable answer as to why it is an abomination. Whole books have been written on the subject. However, a believer's conviction that homosexuality is a sin begets questions - such as why does he believe it, what is sin, where's the proof it exists, and why the fuck he thinks he's entitled to judge others based on his unevidenced views (because, like it or not, "because the Bible says so" or "my priest says so" is NOT a good enough answer). Before you turn that argument around on me: atheists aren't entitled to judge other people on their beliefs either, but are on the basis of the actions carried out by those believing such rubbish - and believe me, the actions of religious people deserve condemnation (Northern Ireland, the Balkans conflicts, female mutilation, honour killings, dhimmi-status and tax for non-Islamic people, death for apostacy, I could go ON and ON and ON and ON). =D

Militant atheists are fighting a fight based on rationality and scientific understanding of the world (which trumps any religious understanding, quite frankly). Religion is based on bigotry, homophobia, indoctrination of children, and plain WRONG views of the world which have long since been refuted (eg. Young Earth Creationists). You might say "well they're entitled to their opinion" - yes, they are. But not when those opinions make other people's lives hell.

Militant atheists are militant because few others are standing up to brainwashed faith-heads, and who form a large part of the establishment and can exercise political power based on their faith (and hence why it's a good idea to tick "no religion" on the census). I'm sorry if it makes you uncomfortable, or sounds like proselytizing - it does have an eerie similarity to evangelising. =D

Oooh, I just noticed how rather rant-like the above sounds, so I put a smiley face at the end of each paragraph to make it seem nicer. Tee hee.

Look, before you go for your atheist pitchforks and torches I agree with all you said, but you look just as evangelizing and all those other fancy words

And your behavior pretty much fits some of the faithful's behavior, imo especially when it comes to adhering to a group and sticking together in case of "outsider" aggression

Also, I don't see how spanking people on the wrist for a religious joke helps atheists... more like it makes them look uptight about other people's opinion on religion (or lack of).

What does Jedi mean if not "I don't give a shit about religion (big religions )". And don't try to make it sound lighter cuz that's exactly what it stands for in this context

Also, stopping the abominations you mentioned isn't done on internet forums imho... and bashing Jedi and even Sith kinda alienates those less likely to shun YOU PEOPLE )

Not to mention we're deadly in battle =))

 

[LordWalter]

The title alone is hilarious, but I'm actually a really big fan of this initiative. I'm all for humor, but the census is a game played for keeps and it has serious impacts on policy and fund allocation. Ladies and gents, when asked about your religious affiliation, please, please be honest (whether it is in an official or unofficial context). The historical and current undercounting and underrepresentation of the nonreligious is a serious problem.

 

[Mad1Cow]

"but by definition belief is not entirely dependent on statistical probability or evidence. As such, until completely irrefutable evidence has proven one way or the other, belief is necessary."

a perfectly logical mind, like a computer, would depend entirely on statistical probability determined using evidence.

And to this day a computer can not follow a religion. Neither can they love, hate, laugh or anything that makes us human. No emotion, no belief etc. Maybe in the future this will change but for now a computer can't really do that because they are purely based on logic. Life contains a lot of grey area that can't be processed after all...

i wasnt saying that we should all try and be emotionless like computers, only that computers work well because they are not compromised by that which humans use to make mistakes. e.g. faith, pareidolia, apophenia, logical fallacies esp. concorde fallacy, agenda, patternicity, gullibility etc.

"but for now a computer can't really do that because they are purely based on logic."

i would argue its because AI isnt very advanced :/ theres nothing illogical about loving, hating, laughing etc.

TBH I always feel that I would rather be ignorant and believe there is life after death so I can die without thinking OH GOD WHAT'S GONNA HAPPEN. I mean, it's often said, those who know everything are often saddened by reality. Ignorance is sometimes a gift, it's only stupid and irrational when you start applying it to the lives of other people. I remember a phrase being said once...

Ignorance may be illogical and stupid, but hey at least I'd be enjoying life and all that it has to offer instead of being logical and dealing with the misery it brings with it. I tried looking at life logically and found I was a lot more sad, so I decided I DON'T CARE WHAT ANYONE THINKS, I'M JUST GONNA DO WHAT I WANT, MY WAY! It's part of the reason why I love The Escapist ^_^

 

[CrimsonBlack]

im not familiar with the probation system and what it entails, but im guessing that i could be banned. so essentially im being banned for criticising religion. this is the 21st century and im being reprimanded for criticising religion. have we not learned from our mistakes? what the enlightenment taught us? thats why im sad

and i dont see how religion is supposed to be respected if it cant be honestly criticised? how is it respect if it is mandatory? in the same way donating to charity is not benevolence if it is mandatory, its tax.

surely if im being honest about religion and regarding it on its own terms and merits, im the one thats respecting it? rather than hiding it away from the outside world like an embarrassing relative?

Duuuude... You're seriously taking this thing... seriously? You're even acknowledging Jedi as a real religion? Really?

I can really see why you'd yell fuck the Pope or stone an imam to death for a change, but, what the hell has master Yoda got to do with freeing the world from religion?

what made you think im acknowledging jedi as a real religion? i cannot find one single allusion.

maybe you didnt read anything i wrote?

the only thing im taking seriously is that ive been officially rebuked by a moderator for criticising religion/faith and am being threatened with censorship. thats quite serious business.

...yeah. Serious indeed.

If you're an atheist you should realize that being MILITANT about it only hurts atheists world-wide. You're just as annoying as jehova's witnesses knocking on your door, or your granny goin' on about jesus's save files.

I've noticed some interesting stuff:

"Faith/religion is an abomination". An abomination... sounds kinda what most faithful say about homosexuality and other sins =))

Even your "Oh noes, censorship, hssss" reminds me of someone bitching about being persecuted for their beliefs...

Let me put it this way: this sort of crap makes atheists look just as friendly and open minded as an islamic extremist. The extremist threatens to kill you if you crack one about mohammad, the militant atheist... well, gets really pissed off and opinionated if you make fun of him and put "atheist" in the same sentence.

That's it. I'm renouncing my faith. From now on I'm a Sith extremist.

I'm just glad that militant atheists don't threaten to kill you.

And to be honest, religion is something uniquely peculiar to the human race and deserves studying (as Daniel Dennett points out) as part of our evolutionary heritage. What it doesn't deserve - in many people's evidenced opinion - is more money and "respect". If someone calls faith "an abomination", then they would probably give you perfectly reasonable answer as to why it is an abomination. Whole books have been written on the subject. However, a believer's conviction that homosexuality is a sin begets questions - such as why does he believe it, what is sin, where's the proof it exists, and why the fuck he thinks he's entitled to judge others based on his unevidenced views (because, like it or not, "because the Bible says so" or "my priest says so" is NOT a good enough answer). Before you turn that argument around on me: atheists aren't entitled to judge other people on their beliefs either, but are on the basis of the actions carried out by those believing such rubbish - and believe me, the actions of religious people deserve condemnation (Northern Ireland, the Balkans conflicts, female mutilation, honour killings, dhimmi-status and tax for non-Islamic people, death for apostacy, I could go ON and ON and ON and ON). =D

Militant atheists are fighting a fight based on rationality and scientific understanding of the world (which trumps any religious understanding, quite frankly). Religion is based on bigotry, homophobia, indoctrination of children, and plain WRONG views of the world which have long since been refuted (eg. Young Earth Creationists). You might say "well they're entitled to their opinion" - yes, they are. But not when those opinions make other people's lives hell.

Militant atheists are militant because few others are standing up to brainwashed faith-heads, and who form a large part of the establishment and can exercise political power based on their faith (and hence why it's a good idea to tick "no religion" on the census). I'm sorry if it makes you uncomfortable, or sounds like proselytizing - it does have an eerie similarity to evangelising. =D

Oooh, I just noticed how rather rant-like the above sounds, so I put a smiley face at the end of each paragraph to make it seem nicer. Tee hee.

Look, before you go for your atheist pitchforks and torches I agree with all you said, but you look just as evangelizing and all those other fancy words

And your behavior pretty much fits some of the faithful's behavior, imo especially when it comes to adhering to a group and sticking together in case of "outsider" aggression

Also, I don't see how spanking people on the wrist for a religious joke helps atheists... more like it makes them look uptight about other people's opinion on religion (or lack of).

What does Jedi mean if not "I don't give a shit about religion (big religions )". And don't try to make it sound lighter cuz that's exactly what it stands for in this context

Also, stopping the abominations you mentioned isn't done on internet forums imho... and bashing Jedi and even Sith kinda alienates those less likely to shun YOU PEOPLE )

Not to mention we're deadly in battle =))

Fair enough! =D

I guess the point of all these comments is to say: "tick no religion please, unless you really ARE Jedi, as it helps formulating official policy and the allocation of resources over the next decade or so".

 

[Jesus Phish]

Atheists really are no fun at all.

I wouldn't have figured Jedi was a blip on their radar.

 

[Conor147]

Apparently, despite reading the whole comment, you missed the part immeidately after that where I said "Joking aside".

Your summary seems off. Perhaps I did not make myself clear enough for you to understand. I think belief is binary, either you believe or you don't. The only other position is not choosing either side due to either feeling you aren't in a sufficiently knowledgeable position to make a decision* or because of an internal struggle. All of these positions can be changed by evidence, but by definition belief is not entirely dependent on statistical probability or evidence. As such, until completely irrefutable evidence has proven one way or the other, belief is necessary.

"if you dont believe or disbelief, you are just an apatheist, and nothing i have said applies to you." On the contrary. I neither believe nor disbelieve in a God. But I have spent some time thinking about it, and have come to the conclusion that neither is the right position from a purely logical viewpoint. As I have described previously, it is impossible to create any kind of analysis of the probability of a God exisitng in some form. You can see from a logical viewpoint that most religions are illogical, in that many of the arguements drawn from them can be shown to be wrong, for example evolution replacing creationism, the earth orbiting the sun etc.

*For example, someone who neither believes nor disbelieves in a God (in any form) could have found both the arguments of theists and atheists insufficiently compelling to choose between the two.

"Perhaps I did not make myself clear enough for you to understand. I think belief is binary, either you believe or you don't."

so do i.

And yet, this entire argument started because you said belief could be represented with a percentage.

"The only other position is not choosing either side due to either feeling you aren't in a sufficiently knowledgeable position to make a decision* or because of an internal struggle."

no knowledge is needed for belief. you dont need knowledge to believe or disbelieve in the invisible pink unicorn or any other unevidenced claim. to say otherwise is illogical and absurd.

Well no, it's possible to have an utterly illogical belief. I explicitly covered that in the next quote. But it does not logically follow that you if you don't have knowledge you have a belief. If I was presented with a sealed box and I didn't know what was inside it, I wouldn't inherently gain a belief of what may be in it.

"but by definition belief is not entirely dependent on statistical probability or evidence. As such, until completely irrefutable evidence has proven one way or the other, belief is necessary."

a perfectly logical mind, like a computer, would depend entirely on statistical probability determined using evidence.

A perfectly logical mind, maybe, but we're not talking about perfectly logical minds. And as I have repeatedly stated, it is impossible to calculate a statistical probability of the existence of a God in whatever form it may take.

"For example, someone who neither believes nor disbelieves in a God (in any form) could have found both the arguments of theists and atheists insufficiently compelling to choose between the two."

sure. then they would find themselves in a perfectly balanced 50:50 position. and then any stimuli or information from the outside world would subsequently change their position instantly, one way or the other.

When the evidence of both sides is "insufficiently compelling" that does not mean they are perfectly equal. It means that both sides have failed to prove their cases in the mind of the individual involved. Any additional evidence added would only cause an immediate change if it was sufficient to convince the individual.

to say that you are 50:50 sure there is or isnt a god is to say that the evidence for god can be measured and the evidence against god can be measured, and after weighing them all up infinitely precisely, they are equal. its just absurd.

No it's not. It's saying that neither sides of the argument is suffiently well evidenced to answer one of the biggest questions in human existence. There is no reason to side with one inadequate argument over another inadequate argument just because one is marginally better.

uhh this formatting.

"And yet, this entire argument started because you said belief could be represented with a percentage."

no, as i can remember saying, belief and likelihood are two different things. conviction of belief can be represented on a spectrum, which corresponds with percentages. belief or disbelief is binary.

"Well no, it's possible to have an utterly illogical belief. I explicitly covered that in the next quote. But it does not logically follow that you if you don't have knowledge you have a belief. If I was presented with a sealed box and I didn't know what was inside it, I wouldn't inherently gain a belief of what may be in it."

of course it is possible. the point i was making is that i can defeat your belief system by making an infinitely absurd claim AND an infinitely reasonable claim. both of which cannot be proven or disproven, and for both you will have a position of 50:50. this is patently illogical.

actually, thats the crux. your belief system results in you being 50:50 to all unevidenced claims, regardless of the discrepancy in how reasonable or unreasonable they are. if you dont agree that this is absurd then ultimately, our views are too divergent and there is no misunderstanding.

 

[CrimsonBlack]

"but by definition belief is not entirely dependent on statistical probability or evidence. As such, until completely irrefutable evidence has proven one way or the other, belief is necessary."

a perfectly logical mind, like a computer, would depend entirely on statistical probability determined using evidence.

And to this day a computer can not follow a religion. Neither can they love, hate, laugh or anything that makes us human. No emotion, no belief etc. Maybe in the future this will change but for now a computer can't really do that because they are purely based on logic. Life contains a lot of grey area that can't be processed after all...

i wasnt saying that we should all try and be emotionless like computers, only that computers work well because they are not compromised by that which humans use to make mistakes. e.g. faith, pareidolia, apophenia, logical fallacies esp. concorde fallacy, agenda, patternicity, gullibility etc.

"but for now a computer can't really do that because they are purely based on logic."

i would argue its because AI isnt very advanced :/ theres nothing illogical about loving, hating, laughing etc.

TBH I always feel that I would rather be ignorant and believe there is life after death so I can die without thinking OH GOD WHAT'S GONNA HAPPEN. I mean, it's often said, those who know everything are often saddened by reality. Ignorance is sometimes a gift, it's only stupid and irrational when you start applying it to the lives of other people. I remember a phrase being said once...

Ignorance may be illogical and stupid, but hey at least I'd be enjoying life and all that it has to offer instead of being logical and dealing with the misery it brings with it. I tried looking at life logically and found I was a lot more sad, so I decided I DON'T CARE WHAT ANYONE THINKS, I'M JUST GONNA DO WHAT I WANT, MY WAY! It's part of the reason why I love The Escapist ^_^

In this instance, it shouldn't read "Religion is like a Penis", but "Religion is like a Lightsaber".

 

[CrimsonBlack]

Atheists really are no fun at all.

I wouldn't have figured Jedi was a blip on their radar.

WE'RE FUN.

WE'RE HAVING FUN RIGHT NOW.

Watch me dance awkwardly on this dancefloor holding a paper cup with orange juice.

FUN! FUN FUN!

 

[the D0rk One]

im not familiar with the probation system and what it entails, but im guessing that i could be banned. so essentially im being banned for criticising religion. this is the 21st century and im being reprimanded for criticising religion. have we not learned from our mistakes? what the enlightenment taught us? thats why im sad

and i dont see how religion is supposed to be respected if it cant be honestly criticised? how is it respect if it is mandatory? in the same way donating to charity is not benevolence if it is mandatory, its tax.

surely if im being honest about religion and regarding it on its own terms and merits, im the one thats respecting it? rather than hiding it away from the outside world like an embarrassing relative?

Duuuude... You're seriously taking this thing... seriously? You're even acknowledging Jedi as a real religion? Really?

I can really see why you'd yell fuck the Pope or stone an imam to death for a change, but, what the hell has master Yoda got to do with freeing the world from religion?

what made you think im acknowledging jedi as a real religion? i cannot find one single allusion.

maybe you didnt read anything i wrote?

the only thing im taking seriously is that ive been officially rebuked by a moderator for criticising religion/faith and am being threatened with censorship. thats quite serious business.

...yeah. Serious indeed.

If you're an atheist you should realize that being MILITANT about it only hurts atheists world-wide. You're just as annoying as jehova's witnesses knocking on your door, or your granny goin' on about jesus's save files.

I've noticed some interesting stuff:

"Faith/religion is an abomination". An abomination... sounds kinda what most faithful say about homosexuality and other sins =))

Even your "Oh noes, censorship, hssss" reminds me of someone bitching about being persecuted for their beliefs...

Let me put it this way: this sort of crap makes atheists look just as friendly and open minded as an islamic extremist. The extremist threatens to kill you if you crack one about mohammad, the militant atheist... well, gets really pissed off and opinionated if you make fun of him and put "atheist" in the same sentence.

That's it. I'm renouncing my faith. From now on I'm a Sith extremist.

I'm just glad that militant atheists don't threaten to kill you.

And to be honest, religion is something uniquely peculiar to the human race and deserves studying (as Daniel Dennett points out) as part of our evolutionary heritage. What it doesn't deserve - in many people's evidenced opinion - is more money and "respect". If someone calls faith "an abomination", then they would probably give you perfectly reasonable answer as to why it is an abomination. Whole books have been written on the subject. However, a believer's conviction that homosexuality is a sin begets questions - such as why does he believe it, what is sin, where's the proof it exists, and why the fuck he thinks he's entitled to judge others based on his unevidenced views (because, like it or not, "because the Bible says so" or "my priest says so" is NOT a good enough answer). Before you turn that argument around on me: atheists aren't entitled to judge other people on their beliefs either, but are on the basis of the actions carried out by those believing such rubbish - and believe me, the actions of religious people deserve condemnation (Northern Ireland, the Balkans conflicts, female mutilation, honour killings, dhimmi-status and tax for non-Islamic people, death for apostacy, I could go ON and ON and ON and ON). =D

Militant atheists are fighting a fight based on rationality and scientific understanding of the world (which trumps any religious understanding, quite frankly). Religion is based on bigotry, homophobia, indoctrination of children, and plain WRONG views of the world which have long since been refuted (eg. Young Earth Creationists). You might say "well they're entitled to their opinion" - yes, they are. But not when those opinions make other people's lives hell.

Militant atheists are militant because few others are standing up to brainwashed faith-heads, and who form a large part of the establishment and can exercise political power based on their faith (and hence why it's a good idea to tick "no religion" on the census). I'm sorry if it makes you uncomfortable, or sounds like proselytizing - it does have an eerie similarity to evangelising. =D

Oooh, I just noticed how rather rant-like the above sounds, so I put a smiley face at the end of each paragraph to make it seem nicer. Tee hee.

Look, before you go for your atheist pitchforks and torches I agree with all you said, but you look just as evangelizing and all those other fancy words

And your behavior pretty much fits some of the faithful's behavior, imo especially when it comes to adhering to a group and sticking together in case of "outsider" aggression

Also, I don't see how spanking people on the wrist for a religious joke helps atheists... more like it makes them look uptight about other people's opinion on religion (or lack of).

What does Jedi mean if not "I don't give a shit about religion (big religions )". And don't try to make it sound lighter cuz that's exactly what it stands for in this context

Also, stopping the abominations you mentioned isn't done on internet forums imho... and bashing Jedi and even Sith kinda alienates those less likely to shun YOU PEOPLE )

Not to mention we're deadly in battle =))

Fair enough! =D

I guess the point of all these comments is to say: "tick no religion please, unless you really ARE Jedi, as it helps formulating official policy and the allocation of resources over the next decade or so".

Nope. Just this:

Atheists really are no fun at all.

I wouldn't have figured Jedi was a blip on their radar.

And, I really reeealy don't mean to offend you... but atheist intelligence really seems to be lacking when it comes to humor. Most of them are above average, but don't try to joke with them. ok, I'ma go meditate and lift my car and balance it on a match before I get banned

 

[Mad1Cow]

Personally I'm surprised no-ones referenced this...it pretty much says the majority of what I think on the subject and heck it's been lieing here for a while now:

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/the-big-picture/2601-Nerd-Gods

 

[CrimsonBlack]

im not familiar with the probation system and what it entails, but im guessing that i could be banned. so essentially im being banned for criticising religion. this is the 21st century and im being reprimanded for criticising religion. have we not learned from our mistakes? what the enlightenment taught us? thats why im sad

and i dont see how religion is supposed to be respected if it cant be honestly criticised? how is it respect if it is mandatory? in the same way donating to charity is not benevolence if it is mandatory, its tax.

surely if im being honest about religion and regarding it on its own terms and merits, im the one thats respecting it? rather than hiding it away from the outside world like an embarrassing relative?

Duuuude... You're seriously taking this thing... seriously? You're even acknowledging Jedi as a real religion? Really?

I can really see why you'd yell fuck the Pope or stone an imam to death for a change, but, what the hell has master Yoda got to do with freeing the world from religion?

what made you think im acknowledging jedi as a real religion? i cannot find one single allusion.

maybe you didnt read anything i wrote?

the only thing im taking seriously is that ive been officially rebuked by a moderator for criticising religion/faith and am being threatened with censorship. thats quite serious business.

...yeah. Serious indeed.

If you're an atheist you should realize that being MILITANT about it only hurts atheists world-wide. You're just as annoying as jehova's witnesses knocking on your door, or your granny goin' on about jesus's save files.

I've noticed some interesting stuff:

"Faith/religion is an abomination". An abomination... sounds kinda what most faithful say about homosexuality and other sins =))

Even your "Oh noes, censorship, hssss" reminds me of someone bitching about being persecuted for their beliefs...

Let me put it this way: this sort of crap makes atheists look just as friendly and open minded as an islamic extremist. The extremist threatens to kill you if you crack one about mohammad, the militant atheist... well, gets really pissed off and opinionated if you make fun of him and put "atheist" in the same sentence.

That's it. I'm renouncing my faith. From now on I'm a Sith extremist.

I'm just glad that militant atheists don't threaten to kill you.

And to be honest, religion is something uniquely peculiar to the human race and deserves studying (as Daniel Dennett points out) as part of our evolutionary heritage. What it doesn't deserve - in many people's evidenced opinion - is more money and "respect". If someone calls faith "an abomination", then they would probably give you perfectly reasonable answer as to why it is an abomination. Whole books have been written on the subject. However, a believer's conviction that homosexuality is a sin begets questions - such as why does he believe it, what is sin, where's the proof it exists, and why the fuck he thinks he's entitled to judge others based on his unevidenced views (because, like it or not, "because the Bible says so" or "my priest says so" is NOT a good enough answer). Before you turn that argument around on me: atheists aren't entitled to judge other people on their beliefs either, but are on the basis of the actions carried out by those believing such rubbish - and believe me, the actions of religious people deserve condemnation (Northern Ireland, the Balkans conflicts, female mutilation, honour killings, dhimmi-status and tax for non-Islamic people, death for apostacy, I could go ON and ON and ON and ON). =D

Militant atheists are fighting a fight based on rationality and scientific understanding of the world (which trumps any religious understanding, quite frankly). Religion is based on bigotry, homophobia, indoctrination of children, and plain WRONG views of the world which have long since been refuted (eg. Young Earth Creationists). You might say "well they're entitled to their opinion" - yes, they are. But not when those opinions make other people's lives hell.

Militant atheists are militant because few others are standing up to brainwashed faith-heads, and who form a large part of the establishment and can exercise political power based on their faith (and hence why it's a good idea to tick "no religion" on the census). I'm sorry if it makes you uncomfortable, or sounds like proselytizing - it does have an eerie similarity to evangelising. =D

Oooh, I just noticed how rather rant-like the above sounds, so I put a smiley face at the end of each paragraph to make it seem nicer. Tee hee.

Look, before you go for your atheist pitchforks and torches I agree with all you said, but you look just as evangelizing and all those other fancy words

And your behavior pretty much fits some of the faithful's behavior, imo especially when it comes to adhering to a group and sticking together in case of "outsider" aggression

Also, I don't see how spanking people on the wrist for a religious joke helps atheists... more like it makes them look uptight about other people's opinion on religion (or lack of).

What does Jedi mean if not "I don't give a shit about religion (big religions )". And don't try to make it sound lighter cuz that's exactly what it stands for in this context

Also, stopping the abominations you mentioned isn't done on internet forums imho... and bashing Jedi and even Sith kinda alienates those less likely to shun YOU PEOPLE )

Not to mention we're deadly in battle =))

Fair enough! =D

I guess the point of all these comments is to say: "tick no religion please, unless you really ARE Jedi, as it helps formulating official policy and the allocation of resources over the next decade or so".

Nope. Just this:

Atheists really are no fun at all.

I wouldn't have figured Jedi was a blip on their radar.

And, I really reeealy don't mean to offend you... but atheist intelligence really seems to be lacking when it comes to humor. Most of them are above average, but don't try to joke with them. ok, I'ma go meditate and lift my car and balance it on a match before I get banned

I'm really not offended mate.

 

[Conor147]

TBH I always feel that I would rather be ignorant and believe there is life after death so I can die without thinking OH GOD WHAT'S GONNA HAPPEN. I mean, it's often said, those who know everything are often saddened by reality. Ignorance is sometimes a gift, it's only stupid and irrational when you start applying it to the lives of other people. I remember a phrase being said once...

Ignorance may be illogical and stupid, but hey at least I'd be enjoying life and all that it has to offer instead of being logical and dealing with the misery it brings with it. I tried looking at life logically and found I was a lot more sad, so I decided I DON'T CARE WHAT ANYONE THINKS, I'M JUST GONNA DO WHAT I WANT, MY WAY! It's part of the reason why I love The Escapist ^_^

"TBH I always feel that I would rather be ignorant and believe there is life after death so I can die without thinking OH GOD WHAT'S GONNA HAPPEN."

isnt that what religious people do? *cough* HEAVEN. HELL. *cough*

most atheists i know have come to the understanding, realisation, and acceptance that their consciousness is simply the result of electrochemical activity within their brains there is no ambiguity.

" I mean, it's often said, those who know everything are often saddened by reality. Ignorance is sometimes a gift, it's only stupid and irrational when you start applying it to the lives of other people. I remember a phrase being said once..."

did it go like this?

"Ignorance may be illogical and stupid, but hey at least I'd be enjoying life and all that it has to offer instead of being logical and dealing with the misery it brings with it."

if this is satire, its genius.

 

[leaman474]

This makes me want to pick Jedi....

 

[Geo Da Sponge]

uhh this formatting.

"And yet, this entire argument started because you said belief could be represented with a percentage."

no, as i can remember saying, belief and likelihood are two different things. conviction of belief can be represented on a spectrum, which corresponds with percentages. belief or disbelief is binary.

"belief can be represented on a spectrum". "belief or disbelief is binary". You can have one or the other, but you can't have both. Also as I recall you suggested that when you said percentages of belief you were referring to belief in a probability and suggested I was being purposely facetious in confusing the two. Now you are saying that belief and likelihood are ompletely different, which I agree with, but that raises the question of why you would expect me to connect "50% belief" with "belief in a 50% likelihood".

"Well no, it's possible to have an utterly illogical belief. I explicitly covered that in the next quote. But it does not logically follow that you if you don't have knowledge you have a belief. If I was presented with a sealed box and I didn't know what was inside it, I wouldn't inherently gain a belief of what may be in it."

of course it is possible. the point i was making is that i can defeat your belief system by making an infinitely absurd claim AND an infinitely reasonable claim. both of which cannot be proven or disproven, and for both you will have a position of 50:50. this is patently illogical.

At no point did I say that an argument must be proven before you can believe it. That was my entire point. Belief bridges the gap between perfect proof and a well developed but not perfect argument. In fact I can't even grasp what thought experiment you're suggesting here; I'm not saying I can't possibly understand it, I geniunely don't know what you're suggesting I think here. If you were to make an infinitely absurd claim and an infinitely reasonable one I would find the infintely reasonable one, I would pick the infintely reasonable one because it's close enough to being proven for me to bridge the gap with my belief. In my mind neither atheism or theism have come close enough to constructing a complete argument, which is why their comparative strength is irrelevant. Neither are sufficient, so I have no preference for either of them.

actually, thats the crux. your belief system results in you being 50:50 to all unevidenced claims, regardless of the discrepancy in how reasonable or unreasonable they are. if you dont agree that this is absurd then ultimately, our views are too divergent and there is no misunderstanding.

But that's what belief is for, agreeing with a claim that is reasonable, or at the very least more reasonable than it's alternatives but is not fully substantiated by evidence. I will happily believe in something which is reasonable but not fully evidenced. The reason this does not extend to theism is that is impossible to tell how "reasonable" the idea of a God is when we have nothing to compare it to. Case in point, the idea of a car being in a garage is reasonable because we can see from other garages that they frequently have cars in them. However, we can not look in alternative universes to see the likelihood of there being a God in them.

 

[Conor147]

humerous tone? Was I funny there? Damn, I might actually be funny after all!

I fail to see what you try to achieve here. If faith makes me a better person, would you rather have it (exaggerated) that Im a psochotic murderer without faith? Cause you try furiously with a few sentences to break down something that spent years to take place within me. Ofc, youre failing pretty badly, but it seems you really wish for me being some beast you can unleash

The whole thing just makes you seem like bitter, angry and humourless. This whole thread youve been raging, namecalling, hating and griefing at anyone looking at you the wrong way. Youve failed to take jokes, youve failed to show any side that can be considered likable and yet you persist. What do you try to achieve here? Enlightening us? Cause whatever is your "goal" is, if it involves making others agree with you or change their view, youre certainly aproaching this the wrong way. Also, youve replied instantly to everything here within 0-3 min. Dunno what to make of that, but it all adds up to paint a very sad picture.

"I fail to see what you try to achieve here."

im trying to trick people out of going to heaven.

"If faith makes me a better person, would you rather have it (exaggerated) that Im a psochotic murderer without faith?"

no. regardless, i challenge the notion that you are a better person because of your faith. a notion that you have asserted without explaining, whatsoever.

"Cause you try furiously with a few sentences to break down something that spent years to take place within me. Ofc, youre failing pretty badly, but it seems you really wish for me being some beast you can unleash "

what the fuck am i reading.

"The whole thing just makes you seem like bitter, angry and humourless."

i aint even mad. and because id rather address the arguments instead of ignoring them in favour of the intertwined red herring-ish jokes, im humourless?

"This whole thread youve been raging, namecalling, hating and griefing at anyone looking at you the wrong way."

and by "looking at me the wrong way" you mean... bullshitting?

"Also, youve replied instantly to everything here within 0-3 min. Dunno what to make of that, but it all adds up to paint a very sad picture."

hardly possible seeing as im in the middle of writing an essay and checking my emails every half an hour at the least, unless im in the middle of an exchange.

but youre right, im an obese, 40 year old, basement dwelling neckbeard with no life and im trying to trick people into going to hell to score points with satan.

 

[Mad1Cow]

"TBH I always feel that I would rather be ignorant and believe there is life after death so I can die without thinking OH GOD WHAT'S GONNA HAPPEN."

isnt that what religious people do? *cough* HEAVEN. HELL. *cough*

most atheists i know have come to the understanding, realisation, and acceptance that their consciousness is simply the result of electrochemical activity within their brains there is no ambiguity.

" I mean, it's often said, those who know everything are often saddened by reality. Ignorance is sometimes a gift, it's only stupid and irrational when you start applying it to the lives of other people. I remember a phrase being said once..."

did it go like this?

"Ignorance may be illogical and stupid, but hey at least I'd be enjoying life and all that it has to offer instead of being logical and dealing with the misery it brings with it."

if this is satire, its genius.

As I say I'd "rather". By that I mean, I can't fully believe nor disbelieve the whole life after death thing. I base it off the fact that experiencing nothing is a miserable way to look at life, yet as far as my beliefs go I can't fully believe nor disbelieve that possibility either.

I posted earlier a video from Moviebob's big picture, go check that out and mix it in with a bit of Russell Howard logic (don't know it, look it up) and you have something going down the right path of what I think in life.

Still sticking my feet in with the view "Let me believe what I want to believe. There is no right or wrong when it comes to belief, only the actions that impact on others are wrong."

Scrutinize as you will, I will be pulling up my Charmander pic...

 

[Plank of Wood]

For the people being all "Killjoys!", you should know that the 400,000 people who marked down as Jedi on their census was used to justify higher funding towards religious communities as oppposed to more secular ones. Jokes are funny and all, but this is srs bsns.

 

[Kroden]

Why are people in this thread talking like jediism is a joke? I am a devote jedi. I resently converted from atheism. Jediism is no joke people.