Sunday 22 September 2013

"atheist" is a self defeating label...



I think "atheist" is a self defeating label because for my mind, the atheist is supposed to be free of this incessant need to apply a label to themselves that apparently defines them like many other people do. eg. Republicans, democrats, christians, hindus, muslims ford drivers, barbeque sauce lovers, rah rah rah rah... at least with those things, we can point at something and say, at least partially, "Oh that is what an xyz is about!"

But for atheism, there is nothing to point at, you can't point at a non-existent thing and say that that defines you.

So what is it that defines an atheist?

Is it a lack of belief in gods and/or the supernatural?

Ahem... No... that does not answer the question of what defines an *atheist*.

The word "atheist" literally means "without god" from the Greek "atheos" ... a- "without" + theos "god" .. right?

Well, that may be the definition behind *atheism* but that is not what defines the person that is the atheist, how can it?

How can a lack of something define you; the person, the character, the human being that is you??

There is a definite lack of mountain climbing in my life, so does that define who I am? No.

So how can a lack of something or even not participating in particular activities, define a person? It can't..

What defines the character of a person tends to be what that person actually does *have*, not what they *lack*.

So, what defines a person as being an atheist is that they *have* the ability to choose what to believe (in) or not, even if the atheist never makes a choice of what to actually believe, the atheist is free to be an individual and make up their own minds about what is and what is not when it comes to those big questions of god, life, the universe and everything.

A lack of belief does not define an atheist, the ability to make their own *choice* as to what to believe is what defines an atheist. The atheist is free to be their own person *without* having their thoughts supposedly based on some predefined way of thinking.

Morals, religions, gods, miracles, whatever... the atheist is defined by being free to believe whatever they want to make of all that stuff without a predefined explanation for the universe, without being burdened by stories that were told verbally thousands of years ago when we had a very rudimentary understanding of the universe...

Being an atheist is all about being yourself and making your own individual choices about the big questions in life, so why not start right at the beginning with you being an individual and refrain from choosing a label that inherently degrades your status as an individual *because* you have chosen to label yourself with something doesn't define you in the least....

that is to say, why even call yourself an "atheist" in the first place when being an atheist is all about being an individual? By calling yourself an atheist, you will set yourself into somebody else's predefined bucket of labels for people, perhaps even your own.


2 comments:

  1. CAN PURPOSE OF FAITH DENIERS BE SAVED? BY STEVE FINNELL

    Is it possible to have faith in Jesus but deny the purpose of faith and still be saved?

    John 8:22-24.....24 'Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins."

    Jesus told certain Jews that unless they believed that He was the Son of God that they would die in their sins. The question remains, if the Jews said "We believe you are the Son of God, however, that is not essential to the forgiveness of sins;" would their sins still be forgiven? CAN YOU DENY THE PURPOSE OF FAITH AND STILL HAVE YOUR SINS FORGIVEN?

    John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall perish, but have eternal life.

    Is it reasonable to assume that men can say, "We believe that Jesus is God's Son and the Savior of the world, however, that has nothing to do with us receiving eternal life," and that they will still be saved? CAN MEN DENY THE PURPOSE OF FAITH AND STILL RECEIVE ETERNAL LIFE?

    Acts 16:29-31 And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas, 30 and said "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" 31 They said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household."

    If the Jailer had told Paul and Silas that he would believe as an act of obedience and a testimony of his faith, but that believing had nothing to do with his salvation; would the jailer have been saved? CAN MEN DENY THE PURPOSE OF BELIEVING IN THE LORD JESUS AND STILL BE SAVED?

    CAN THE PURPOSE OF WATER BAPTISM DENIERS BE SAVED?

    Is logical to assume you can be baptized in water, but deny its purpose and still be saved?

    Acts 2:38 Peter said to them, "Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

    What are the probabilities that if the three thousand on the Day of Pentecost had told Peter, "We will be baptized, however, it is not in order to have our sins forgiven," would their sins still be forgiven? CAN MEN DENY THE PURPOSE OF WATER BAPTISM AND STILL HAVE THEIR SINS FORGIVEN.

    Acts 22:12-16....16 Now why do you delay? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name!

    What if Saul had told Ananias, "I had my sins washed away on the road to Damascus, but I will be baptized as an act of obedience and as a testimony of my faith," would Saul's sins have been washed away? CAN MEN DENY THE PURPOSE OF WATER BAPTISM AND STILL HAVE THEIR SINS FORGIVEN?

    Ephesians 5:25-27... just as Christ loved the church gave Himself up for her, 26 so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.

    What if men were to say that Christ washed the church with water, however, it had nothing to do with, sanctifying her, cleansing her, making her spotless, or rendering her holy and blameless? CAN MEN DENY THE PURPOSE OF WATER BAPTISM AND STILL RECEIVED ITS BENEFITS?

    1 Peter 3:20-21 ....safely through the water. 21 Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you....

    Is it plausible for men to proclaim that they were baptized in water, but it played no part in their salvation?Can they still be saved? CAN MEN DENY THE PURPOSE OF WATER BAPTISM AND STILL BE SAVED?

    IS IT POSSIBLE FOR MEN TO DENY THE PURPOSE OF FAITH AND WATER BAPTISM AND STILL BE SAVED?

    Mark 16:16 He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved..... CAN YOU DENY THAT AND STILL BE SAVED?????

    (All Scripture quotes from: NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE)

    YOU ARE INVITED TO FOLLOW MY BLOG. http://steve-finnell.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. you didn't even mention the word "atheist" so how does your comment relate to the topic of my blog? did you even read it?

      Delete

Questions? Comments?

the religious should not read these blogs, they *will* be offended

these are my rantings about religion - i speak fluent sarcasm - know this when you are reading and it will save you some heartache.