Guest Celt Posted May 28, 2012 Report Share Posted May 28, 2012 Re: Make Your Own Motivational Poster Edit: To my reputizer, no, I didn't make this, I have linked the site where I found it in the image. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattingly Posted May 28, 2012 Report Share Posted May 28, 2012 Re: Make Your Own Motivational Poster Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted May 28, 2012 Report Share Posted May 28, 2012 Re: Make Your Own Motivational Poster Bah, Stark's an engineer -- one of the Oompa Loompas of science! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Gillen Posted May 28, 2012 Report Share Posted May 28, 2012 Re: Make Your Own Motivational Poster Edit: To my reputizer, no, I didn't make this, I have linked the site where I found it in the image. I think by definition, atheism means you're polyatheist. JG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Celt Posted May 28, 2012 Report Share Posted May 28, 2012 Re: Make Your Own Motivational Poster I think by definition, atheism means you're polyatheist. JG It's a joke demmitt! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SSgt Baloo Posted May 29, 2012 Report Share Posted May 29, 2012 Re: Make Your Own Motivational Poster I think by definition, atheism means you're polyatheist. JG But... but.... Could someone believe in mono-atheism? Specifically, the belief that there can be only ONE god who doesn't exist? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazza Posted May 29, 2012 Report Share Posted May 29, 2012 Re: Make Your Own Motivational Poster I think by definition, atheism means you're polyatheist. JG poly* a theist. *probably Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Gillen Posted May 29, 2012 Report Share Posted May 29, 2012 Re: Make Your Own Motivational Poster But... but.... Could someone believe in mono-atheism? Specifically' date=' the belief that there can be only ONE god who doesn't exist? [/quote'] This is why I think atheism couldn't exist without Christianity. Because Christianity (and Islam) convinced most of the world that all the gods but ONE are fake. Atheism is just taking the next logical step. JG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazza Posted May 29, 2012 Report Share Posted May 29, 2012 Re: Make Your Own Motivational Poster This is why I think atheism couldn't exist without Christianity. Because Christianity (and Islam) convinced most of the world that all the gods but ONE are fake. Atheism is just taking the next logical step. JG But atheism defines itself against something that does exist. it is like someone calling themselves 'anazi'; meaning not-an-Nazi. The implication being they have acknowledged Nazism exists...and they are against it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveZilla Posted May 29, 2012 Report Share Posted May 29, 2012 Re: Make Your Own Motivational Poster But atheism defines itself against something that does exist. it is like someone calling themselves 'anazi'; meaning not-an-Nazi. The implication being they have acknowledged Nazism exists...and they are against it. Atheism is not being "against" something, it is simply the lack of something (thus the 'a'), and in this case it is theism (i.e. god belief). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazza Posted May 29, 2012 Report Share Posted May 29, 2012 Re: Make Your Own Motivational Poster Atheism is not being "against" something' date=' it is simply the [i']lack [/i]of something (thus the 'a'), and in this case it is theism (i.e. god belief). that's what i get for not consulting a dictionary. actually it is 'atheos = without'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveZilla Posted May 29, 2012 Report Share Posted May 29, 2012 Re: Make Your Own Motivational Poster I find no such word: atheos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazza Posted May 29, 2012 Report Share Posted May 29, 2012 Re: Make Your Own Motivational Poster I find no such word: atheos. http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ἄθεος *lightbulb* a + theo- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveZilla Posted May 29, 2012 Report Share Posted May 29, 2012 Re: Make Your Own Motivational Poster http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ἄθεος From elsewhere in the same site: Noun atheos (genitive atheī); m, second declension an atheist, one that does not believe in God [quotations ▼] 45 BCE, Cicero, De natura deorum, 1.63quid Diagoras atheos qui dictus est […]Diagoras, who is called an atheist, […] So, it seems to be just the 'archaic' version of saying... atheist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazza Posted May 29, 2012 Report Share Posted May 29, 2012 Re: Make Your Own Motivational Poster From elsewhere in the same site: So, it seems to be just the 'archaic' version of saying... atheist. But still it seems to me the word is positioning the belief in opposition to the belief in a deity. Is there a way to express atheism in a way that is positive? (ie a word that is not defined as opposite to). From thesaurus: "nonbelief, disbelief, unbelief,irreligion" to me are all positioned in opposition to theism. nihilism may be the closest to what I'm after (parts bolded): the rejection of all religious and moral principles, often in the belief that life is meaningless. • Philosophy extreme skepticism maintaining that nothing in the world has a real existence. . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pariah Posted May 29, 2012 Report Share Posted May 29, 2012 Re: Make Your Own Motivational Poster It seems to me that I could be a believer and still be a polyatheist: I don't believe in Jupiter, Odin, Amaterasu, Ishtar, or whatever it is that the Westboro Baptist Church worships. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazza Posted May 29, 2012 Report Share Posted May 29, 2012 Re: Make Your Own Motivational Poster It seems to me that I could be a believer and still be a polyatheist: I don't believe in Jupiter' date=' Odin, Amaterasu, Ishtar, or whatever it is that the Westboro Baptist Church worships.[/quote'] "Westboro Baptist Church worships" lol. that was funny. And One thing I have read was that the Ancient Egyptians viewed the deities as archetypes, not necessary as gods to be worshiped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McCoy Posted May 29, 2012 Report Share Posted May 29, 2012 Re: Make Your Own Motivational Poster This is why I think atheism couldn't exist without Christianity. Because Christianity (and Islam) convinced most of the world that all the gods but ONE are fake. Atheism is just taking the next logical step. JG No, there were atheist among the pre-Christian polytheistic Greeks and Romans. So what would you call someone who acknowledges the existence of gods but denies the existence of a supreme capital G God? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McCoy Posted May 29, 2012 Report Share Posted May 29, 2012 Re: Make Your Own Motivational Poster And One thing I have read was that the Ancient Egyptians viewed the deities as archetypes' date=' not necessary as gods to be worshiped.[/quote'] *cringes* "The pyramids were older when Julius Caesar saw them than Caesar would be if he were alive today." As "the Ancient Egyptians" consisted of people living across three and a half millennia, can we please refrain from speaking of them as a monolithic block? Some of the Ancient Egyptians viewed the deities as archetypes, others as deities to be worshiped, still others "propitiated" might have been a more accurate word than "worshiped." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markdoc Posted May 29, 2012 Report Share Posted May 29, 2012 Re: Make Your Own Motivational Poster As noted, atheism is "without gods" not "against gods". There's a perfectly good word for the latter: "Antitheism". In all three cases, you could substitute "religion" for "God" and retain the accurate meaning. Many of the pre-christian thinkers who were atheists or agnostics were not necessarily antagonistic towards the idea of gods: some early atheists believed that gods might well exist, but that since they didn't seem to interact with humans much, if at all, what did it matter? You can believe that a god or gods exist and still be an atheist - that is, without gods of your own - if you simply don't care. Personally, I tend to use the word "areligious" - still meaning "without religion" or "without gods" - since "atheist" today has taken on the connotation of "antitheist": and that's not me. I have no idea whether a god or god exists, still less what they might be like or what they want (if anything) from me if they did exist. It doesn't offend me if others have a different viewpoint, or make it difficult for me to work or associate with them. To me, if someone tells me that they are religious, it's the same as if they told me they were gay, or liked Schopenhauer: in all cases, I think "That's nice, but it's not really my thing". I don't see that description as a negative, nor do we need (IMO) a "positive" descriptor: areligious is an accurate description. cheers, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazza Posted May 29, 2012 Report Share Posted May 29, 2012 Re: Make Your Own Motivational Poster *cringes* "The pyramids were older when Julius Caesar saw them than Caesar would be if he were alive today." As "the Ancient Egyptians" consisted of people living across three and a half millennia, can we please refrain from speaking of them as a monolithic block? Some of the Ancient Egyptians viewed the deities as archetypes, others as deities to be worshiped, still others "propitiated" might have been a more accurate word than "worshiped." good points. I don't see that description as a negative, nor do we need (IMO) a "positive" descriptor: areligious is an accurate description. cheers, Mark fair point. cheers for mentioning it. :thumpbup: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McCoy Posted May 29, 2012 Report Share Posted May 29, 2012 Re: Make Your Own Motivational Poster Many of the pre-christian thinkers who were atheists or agnostics were not necessarily antagonistic towards the idea of gods: some early atheists believed that gods might well exist' date=' but that since they didn't seem to interact with humans much, if at all, what did it matter? You can believe that a god or gods exist and still be an atheist - that is, without gods of your own - if you simply don't care.[/quote'] That's pretty much the Buddhist position on the subject (as far as there can be a Buddhist position on anything, Buddhist aren't a monolithic block either); pray to the gods if you wish, don't count on their intervention. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted May 29, 2012 Report Share Posted May 29, 2012 Re: Make Your Own Motivational Poster That's pretty much the Buddhist position on the subject (as far as there can be a Buddhist position on anything' date=' Buddhist aren't a monolithic block either); pray to the gods if you wish, don't count on their intervention.[/quote'] It's kinda like asking for help from a banker that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazza Posted May 29, 2012 Report Share Posted May 29, 2012 Re: Make Your Own Motivational Poster That's pretty much the Buddhist position on the subject (as far as there can be a Buddhist position on anything' date=' Buddhist aren't a monolithic block either); pray to the gods if you wish, don't count on their intervention.[/quote'] What does Buddhism say about angels? other enlightened beings? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoloOfEarth Posted May 29, 2012 Report Share Posted May 29, 2012 Re: Make Your Own Motivational Poster Um, aren't there religion-related threads this discussion could be taken to? I'm starting to feel particularly un-motivated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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