CFI Forums

Definition of Atheist

2013-06-01T17:07:42-05:00

Round and round you go. Where you stop, nobody knows.

Wake up people.

The definition of atheist is in reference to god.

So.

First you have to understand the definition of god.

Let’s have some fun and see how far out of the Dark Ages man has come on this subject.

Wikipedia, God - an object of faith.

What is faith? It is what ever you want to believe.
So where does that leave the meaning of “Atheist”?

Atheist or Humanist Funerals

2012-03-21T09:21:23-05:00

Came across an article on my facebook wall from Alternet written by Greta Christina called “When It’s Not God’s Plan: 8 Things to Say to Grieving Nonbelievers” and it got me to thinking about Humanist funerals due to an experience I had at my grandfather’s funeral that was pretty upsetting to me. I wrote a blurb about it on my blog. If you’re interested you can see it here since I don’t want to type it all out again.

http://trevorsquest.blogspot.com/2012/03/humanist-funerals.html

Regardless of whether or not you take a peek at the blog entry, which also has a link to the Greta Christina article, I’m curious what thoughts people here have about humanist funerals. It kind of urks me to think that after I pass people might go saying a whole bunch of religious preachy things at my funeral and I wouldn’t have any power to do anything about it. Kind of makes me think that perhaps I should be thinking of leaving behind some kind of wishes and instructions. Well I’m only 39 and still healthy, so it’s no rush, but I do think on it from time to time.

Can atheists be happy?

2012-04-13T07:53:01-05:00

Very interesting discussion here from a Scientific American Mind article.

Can Atheists Be Happy? Being religious confers big benefits. Time and again, studies have shown that people who have a religious faith are more likely to be healthy and happy than those who lack one. Religious people may even live longer. Go to church and you could outlive your atheist friends by a good seven years, as we report in this issue (see “Healthy Skepticism,” by Sandra Upson). Yet doctors don’t counsel patients to take up Christianity, say, as a way of beating back mental or physical distress. Even if such advice were socially acceptable, it wouldn’t work. Most people can’t just go out and find religion if the idea hadn’t resonated with them before. But finding out the secret ingredients behind religion’s powerful effects might reveal something that could be prescribed.

Post: Can Atheists Be Happy? And Other Answers from Scientific American Mind (The part specifically about unhappy atheists starts near the bottom.)

Basically I think I agree with the general idea. It’s not believing in a deity that confers benefits but possibly more about group identity and support. Which we need more of.

Its a wonderful world

2012-02-16T16:56:42-05:00

Friend of mine just e-mailed me this link. I think its neat.

http://www.flixxy.com/wonderful-world-david-attenborough.htm

A Thitd Sex?

2013-01-02T10:32:19-05:00

My daughter and the other half of the family just returned from French Polynesia with some cultural information that may be of interest to this forum. It is described as Tahiti’s transexual rae-rae. I’ve never heard of this but I am concerned about how women are not only treated in other cultures but used in a way not considered equal.

There are a lot of cross-dressers and transvestites living on the islands. These are mostly men who are dressed in tight-fitting floral-print dresses that accentuates their broad shoulders and false or implanted breasts.

These segments of culture take on the roles of servants. One person was considered a “petea” an individual who lives as a man during the day and a rae-rae at night. These men are not necessarily gay but many go through the reassignment surgery making them women. The sexual naming of these men mix up everything. What is interesting to me is they fill in a special function in society.

These men become a third sex in the islands. They function as high-level servants gracefully as women. This brought on a discussion of having younger women taking care of the elder women and men in the family. Women naturally tend to the elders in their own family members as well as members of other family units.

Almost immediately I can understand women taking the responsibility for many elderly people in their groups. In the islands there are not nearly enough women to do this kind of gentle care. The men dress the part of women and fill the need.

In a few cases it had been discovered that many of these men were called in and treated as slaves to the system.

That got my attention as men/women must never be treated as slaves under any condition. In America we saw the concept of prohibiting abortions when a young woman had been raped and chose not to raise the rapist’s child. This is still a sensitive situation in America. Anyone have anything to add to this subject?

Great quotes

2012-05-18T11:35:05-05:00

“I feel that we should stop wasting our time trying to please the supernatural and concentrate on improving the welfare of human beings. I think that we should use our energy and our initiative to solve our problems, and stop relying on prayer and wishful thinking. If we have faith in ourselves, we won’t have to have faith in gods.”

― Ruth Hurmence Green

Humanist or Atheist “Gideons” ?

2012-12-21T19:31:45-05:00

Just a random thought from seeing Bibles laying around in random places. Even in the coffee shop I was just at. Just in case the magazines or newspapers or Wifi internet isn’t enough you can flip through Bible Verses.

So I wondered if there could be any other ideas being distributed? Could a group leave copies of Stephen Hawking’s The Grand Design in Hotels? I’m tempted to donate my copy to the coffee shop.

Homosexuality

2011-11-06T06:48:56-05:00

As a humanist, how do you view homosexuality? Especially when one tries to argue that the natural desire is for humans to procreate and ensure their genes are passed on? Even when any religious influence is removed from the equation, how is the homosexual to feel “normal,” biologically? For example, in reading an anatomy and physiology book, the author takes a stance that the reproductive organs exist for the sole purpose of, well, reproducing. How is the homosexual to reconcile this?

As a gay man, I try my best to feel one with mainstream society; however, even in secular society, I still feel the norm is for traditional family. Do humanist’s generally view the same sex couple and family just as valid? I have equated and justified same sex activity, that which does not have any potential to procreate, as similiar to heterosexual activity that also has no potential of procreating (i.e. oral sex, sex using a method of birth control) to be of a similar concept. After all, most of society does not devalue the heterosexual couple that participates in sexual activity that has no chance of procreating (i.e. when they habitually use a method of birth control or engage in a sex act that does not procreate). Should same sex sexual activity be viewed any differently, given that neither (in the aforementioned situation) has the intention of procreating? Do you all agree with my reasoning? Any further insight or views would be appreciated.

Essential topic: the difference between theism and religion

2011-03-10T05:44:51-05:00

Yesterday Occam asked me a question on another topic: “I guess I’m missing something, PlaClair. Could you clarify for me what religion would consist of if there were no theistic basis for it?”[ http://www.centerforinquiry.net/forums/viewthread/10132/#121007 ]

I am glad he asked but it’s shocking to me that people of Occam’s erudition and distinction are unaware of the difference between theism and religion. In his introductory essay on “Nontheistic Religions,” Paul J. Griffiths writes: “Philosophy of religion as a Western (European and American) discipline has concerned itself very largely with questions about God. This is mostly because the discipline’s idea of what religion is has been arrived at by a process of abstraction from Christianity . . . and so has not been formed by any serious consideration of what religions very unlike Christianity might consider of philosophical importance. The topics discussed by Indian Buddhist scholastics, for example, often have little or nothing to do with God . . . What is the origin of human suffering and how (if at all) may it be removed?” (Emphasis added.)
[http://books.google.com/books?id=HyPnrDiBM7cC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Charles+Talliaferro+and+Paul+J.+Griffiths,+Philosophy+of+Religion&hl=en#v=onepage&q=Indian Buddhist scholastics&f=false ]

If we are going to focus on religion, it is imperative that we understand this. What we are doing, and have been doing as Griffiths observes, is deriving our conception of religion from theistic Christians. If we do not agree with the Christian theists, then why are we letting them define our idea of religion? This falls under the category of “what the hell is wrong with us!” I truly wish that our members would address this question.

I offer again the reading list I suggested on the previous topic, in the hope that this doesn’t violate our rules:

Ninian Smart, The World’s Religions
Edward L. Erikson, The Humanist Way: An Introduction to Ethical Humanist Religion
Xinghong Yao, An Introduction to Confucianism
Charles Talliaferro and Paul J. Griffiths, Philosophy of Religion: An Anthology (see especially Part V: Nontheistic Religions)
David Fontana, Psychology, Religion, and Spirituality
Paul K. Moser, The Oxford Handbook of Epistemology (see especially p. 534)
Donald S. Lopez, Buddhist Scriptures
William Arthur, Religion Without God
Ray Billington, Religion Without God
Sherwin T. Wine, Judaism Beyond God

How is it possible (a) for a group of well-educated people to have allowed our adversaries to define a subject that is obviously of great concern to us, since we keep discussing it, completely unaware in some instances of the history behind the subject and oblivous apparently to what is going on; and (b) not to see how devastating the effects of that inevitably will be on our understanding of and stance on religion?

This topic is thousands of times more important than the topic opened a few weeks ago by someone who was arguing for a four-step proof of God. That topic generated hundreds of posts within days. How many posts will this topic generate, and what does that say about us?

I’m not kidding here, folks. The problems we secularists face are in large measure self-inflicted.

A Human Moral Creed

2011-11-23T17:18:17-05:00

I wrote this several years ago.
Hopefully some of you will find it useful.

A Human Moral Creed

The betterment of the human condition is the highest moral goal.
Each individual needs to actively and creatively seek this throughout their life.

Respect for Individuals
Each human has the responsibility to treat every individual as a unique personality, and each has the right to be treated in the same manner.

Responsibility to Society

Each individual, who is able, has a responsibility to provide for their own and their families’ subsistence.
Each individual has a responsibility to help those in need.
Each individual has the responsibility to reach out to others around them and aid them in pursuit of the betterment of their lives.
Each individual has the responsibility to work with others for the general improvement of society.
Each individual has the responsibility to ensure justice for all humans.

Self-Examination

Each individual has responsibility for their own actions.
To ensure that we are meeting our obligations and responsibilities time needs to be set aside for self-examination.
Only the individual can truly judge and improve themselves.
A person who does not lead the self-examined life cannot be truly moral.

Forgiveness
A truly moral human understands there is no perfect being. True forgiveness of not only others but also of oneself is a key to happiness and a true moral code.