Atheism

Author: Lit

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Lit
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Atheism is a weird phenomenon within human nature. From my understanding, the Enlightenment a few hundred years back was about getting away from superstitious and religious thought towards an understanding of the world based on reason alone. Gods were no longer necessary. Yet, the growth of knowledge hasn't stopped men from spirituality.
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@Lit
People question and people fear death.....People make up answers and attempt to allay their fear of non-existence.

Atheism is a word that represents a collection of acquired data...And theism is also a word and represents another collection of acquired data.

And spirituality is an internal electro-chemical response to an external stimulus, which we also convert to, and store as, data.
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@Lit
But that doesn't mean that men's spirituality is founded on reason.
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@Lit
Yet, the growth of knowledge...
Well, I seriously doubt that. Not a single soul frequents the library in my town. A year ago I had read about Pico's objections to spirituality, I don't think people would bother reading him. Really, I think knowledge is scarce.
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@Lit
Atheism is a weird phenomenon within human nature.
Not believing in something just because someone said so last week or thousands of years ago doesn't mean it is  weird or phenomenal. It is simple human nature.



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@Stephen
I think its meant to be strange in the lable-istic it is. Non-stamp collectors don't have a specific label afterall. 
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@Theweakeredge
Aphilatelist.
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@Lit
 Gods were no longer necessary. Yet, the growth of knowledge hasn't stopped men from spirituality.
We have god otherwise we would not being here and womens are not being stopped from spirituality anyway.
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@Theweakeredge
I think its meant to be strange in the lable-istic it is. Non-stamp collectors don't have a specific label afterall. 
Your being dumb because the atheists they collect the stamps and the theists they collect the stamps but the theists believe in god and the atheists they dont believe in god. When did you drop out of the oxford.
Lit
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@Sum1hugme
But that doesn't mean that men's spirituality is founded on reason.
Well, we aren't talking about something external and separate from man when we talk about spirituality, but an encompassment of man. On this front, there is quite a bit of room for spirituality to be founded on reason.
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@Lit
Such as?
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@Utanity
Some may, some don't, when did you drop out of primary? I'm still in high school currently (taking college classes as I may be)
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@Theweakeredge
We are time-released animals, bugs, and plant food the question was asking something definite.
So how many non stamps are you put in to your non stamp album.
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@Utanity
That quote isn't even mine..... also nowhere, because none of those things is a thing, "Non-stamps" could be anything from books to cats, literally anything that isn't a stamp.  Its a analogy to explain that Atheism is the lack of a belief in a god
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@Theweakeredge
 "Non-stamps" could be anything from books to cats
Are your going to put the books and the cats in your non stamp album then.
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@Utanity
Near perfect English in your previous post here.....Something fishy going on....What's the porpoise Mikey?
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@Utanity
All of the cats
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@Sum1hugme
But that doesn't mean that men's spirituality is founded on reason.

Is there any reason it can't be? if spirituality is an experience (which is what it is), that experience can be justified or explained. Whether or not you find that explanation compelling is neither here nor there.

Such as?

Anything man experiences can be explained, articulated and even justified. Experience is observation of facts or events, if a transcendent reality exists independent of the immediate physical sense perception then that reality is also objective. If it is objective then it is also compatible with reason. Even if it were subjective, it wouldn't matter because anything that is to be experienced can be founded on reason. Your particular taste or distaste for the topic is irrelevant.



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@EtrnlVw
Sense experience isn't necessarily objective reality.
Experience isn't always observation of facts and events.

Schizophrenic people suffer from hallucinations all the time, those aren't objective, nor particularly reasonable (In more ways than one). It hasn't been demonstrated that anyone's spirituality is founded on reason.

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@Sum1hugme
Sense experience isn't necessarily objective reality.

I knew you were going to try and say that, which is why I said it wouldn't matter even if it were subjective. Either way, to experience something is an observation, which can be based on reason. However, I never said sense experience, since we would agree if a transcendent reality exists it exists objectively no? say...if God exists, then that would be an objective reality right?
Rather, the experience of spirituality eludes the immediate sense perception, but not the conscious experience/observation. Just because it eludes the immediate physical sense perception does not mean it eludes reason or objectivity. If it exists, then it is objective because it's not dependent on feelings or opinions.

Experience isn't always observation of facts and events.

Then what is an experience?
Experience-
"practical contact with and observation of facts or events."

Schizophrenic people suffer from hallucinations all the time, those aren't objective, nor particularly reasonable (In more ways than one). It hasn't been demonstrated that anyone's spirituality is founded on reason.

Lol, it hasn't been demonstrated that spiritual encounters only happen to schizophrenic people. Not even remotely. Did you even know that one out of three people (normal people) have had an encounter with a spiritual being or seen one? are you aware of the full scope of spiritual experience within the whole of human history? it exceeds any other single phenomenon by far. Go ahead and assume it to be a product of schizophrenic people, I would hope you are satisfied with such a narrow view of reality. If making blanket assertions and making ignorant assumptions is your thing then maybe you shouldn't be debating such topics.
As a matter of fact, why even come here at all?
What a shame, because for one....if any of this is real you're never going to know because of your stubbornness and bias. Without the ability to be open minded and flexible, you can never allow for truth to be revealed. 
This is why atheism is really more of a disease than anything constructive. It is very destructive for ones enlightenment to truth. 
Lit
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@Sum1hugme
Sense experience isn't necessarily objective reality.
Experience isn't always observation of facts and events.

Schizophrenic people suffer from hallucinations all the time, those aren't objective, nor particularly reasonable (In more ways than one). It hasn't been demonstrated that anyone's spirituality is founded on reason.
Schizophrenia isn't a normal condition in man. Hallucinating isn't either, we need to be impacted in some way to aid these unnatural states, by taking a drug or sleep deprivation or a mental disorder. For this reason, concluding that spirituality isn't founded on reason when the natural state of man is effected as well isn't very reasonable. Unless I'm missing something here.
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@Sum1hugme
But that doesn't mean that men's spirituality is founded on reason.

And who are you to say it's not BTW? what reasons do you have to make any assumption?
If you're not the one having the experience of it, then you really ultimately have no say in the matter is what it comes down to. All you can do is judge, or make wild assertions about it because of your own bias. It's up to the ones that support it to make claims about it. Or whether they have reason that is the basis for their experience.

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@EtrnlVw
I've already tried to explain.

Spirituality is an internally generated, electro-chemical response, to certain situations or thoughts.

Spirituality is physiologically self created., and not some bloke sending telepathic messages.

Assuming otherwise, really is just a misunderstanding, that may become a delusion.
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@zedvictor4
I've already tried to explain.
And your perceptions are reality.

You said so...

Spirituality is....
And that is to be taken as gospel truth. I don't think you know what this site is for.
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@ethang5
As I've said before...I think therefore I am....Is the best that we have.

So within that context, the function of perception is real.....How we choose to interpret what we perceive, is the issue.

Spirituality is a often a badly defined label we attach to an internal physiological process.
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@zedvictor4
Spirituality is a...
I guess you think your pronouncements gain authority if you repeat them. They don't.

Support your positions Zed, don't simply declare them. No one views you as a philosophical authority. We're interested in the process of your thinking, not in having you dictate to us your version of reality is. That way we can discuss both our perceptions and either change minds, or at least understand a different point of view.

That is what the board is for. You seem to want teach or preach. That is fine, but we already have schools and churches for those. Here, we want to debate ideas, not just bow in humble supplication to your godlike dictates.

This isn't a put down. Your ideas are interesting, but if you present them as pronouncement from on high instead of ideas to be discussed, people just tune you out.
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@ethang5
He is saying what he thinks therefore he is but if he really thinking he can being finish off the sentence so then he isnt thinking nothing at all.
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@ethang5
Just my style.

In future I will try and remember to put...I would suggest... at the beginning of each statement.