are you an atheist?

Christianity is so weird

the idea of defining yourself by what you think the truth value of a proposition is seems absurd to me, that's not how religion came about and this sort of narrow existential literalist form of religion has grown in opposition to (v broadly) modern scientific scepticism, so "atheism makes a truth claim that is as as epistemologically suspect as the truth claims of theism" seems to have it backwards to me. don cupitt's focus on looking at god and religion primarily in linguistic rather than realist terms seems a lot more credible to me than all this "what exactly don't you believe in" nonsense, which also has all the problems with the implicit ideas that beliefs are definite things that ppl can have and not be mistaken about etc.

Still an atheist but the bigger problem is not religion but faith and belief more fundamentally. People prefer a convenient, manipulative fraudulent or batshit crazy fiction to that which can be empirical demonstrated or is supported by overwhelming evidence, especially if that which is supported by evidence is personally inconvenient. It’s a matter of some despair how easily people are manipulated by or selfishly buy into whatever quackery that is in vogue, where the it is climate science denial, anti-vax, religion etc. etc. if I proselytise it’s against the first two rather than religion but i see it all part of the same poisonous human weakness.

I do think on the whole religion hurts society so it should be pushed back against, rather than just ignored as best we can. It affects so many things negatively. Something like attitudes towards criminals which at first glance may seem to have nothing to do with religion. Yet believing in good vs evil tends to make people believe that societal forces aren't the root cause of crime; Satan is. So instead of a humanistic rehabilitation focused criminal justice system we get a wrathful punitive one.
If I had a magic wand I'd make everyone be incapable of religious thoughts and beliefs. But yeah the attempts to push back against it are almost exclusively carried out by assholes.

Y’all have still only heard of one religion

Well that's pretty condescending. Of course I've heard of many. Some I find to be less harmful than others. But my culture is dominated by Christianity so fucking duh I'd focus on that.

Then say “Christianity” instead of “religion”

Yet believing in good vs evil tends to make people believe that societal forces aren't the root cause of crime; Satan is.

This is not a feature of “religion”

To me there isn’t much use clarifying that there might be a god for the same reason I don’t have to clarify that existence might be a simulation. Sure either thing might be the case but no compelling evidence encourages me to make that distinction as a disclaimer even if I choose to strongly assert “there is no god”.

I am happy to stand down on any semantic quarrel with atheists, or those who deny the existence of leprechauns. We cool, rock on with your bad selves.

But I remain at fierce odds with agnostics who think an Abrahamic god (beard, clouds, etc.) is more plausible than, say, Kali or Dionysus or Huitzilopotchli.

It's a feature of the religions practiced by more than half of humanity. I didn't just mean Christianity. And it's just one example of a religious trait I find problematic.

Abrahamic god (beard, clouds, etc.)

Only one Abrahamic religion I’m familiar with commonly portrays God as a bearded cloud guy

But I don’t really know anything about Baha’i.

Whatever, silby. Delete the beard and clouds if you like - it's still no more (or less!) plausible than Neptune or Ra or Hephaestus.

Thank you for whatevering away a critical distinction between Christianity and two of the other famous Abrahamic religions, that’s very sensitive

Say Christianity when you mean Christianity, that’s all I am asking for

If the correction you're making doesn't affect the thrust of the point that was being made, you're just being a nitpicky dick

Hmmm no I don’t see it that way

It kind of weakens the argument when the points y’all are trying to make about “religion” are in fact just about Christianity, the only religion you know anything interesting about.

silby, are you suggesting that Yahweh and Allah are somehow on better ontological footing because... (checks notes) they aren't depicted as being bearded? Please help me understand exactly where you're going with this line of inquiry.

Of course not

idgi, the big 3 monotheistic religions all have the same god and p much share a “bearded guy” conception, don’t they?

I’m just asking you not to attribute to (more than) two vastly different Abrahamic religions things that apply mostly or solely to (some variations of) Christianity

idgi, the big 3 monotheistic religions all have the same god and p much share a “bearded guy” conception, don’t they?

― singular wolf erotica producer (Hadrian VIII), Saturday, August 1, 2020 7:18 PM (one minute ago)

No

Okay silby, your correction is duly noted and will be entered into the record. These major faith traditions have different iconography. The point is conceded.

They're all still equally speculative, though. Therefore equally ungrounded. They may differ in how fun they are, how entertaining they are to believe in, and how silly they seem when viewed from the outside. But still: all equally speculative. Perhaps we can agree on that much?

AFAIK hinduism explains evil/bad things happening via karma. I also find this problematic. The only religious explanation I would be OK with is "god is an evil irrational sadist". If you can find a religion that is practiced by a population larger than that of Amarillo TX, then I'll withdraw my careless smearing of all religions.

"the only religion you know anything interesting about."

Ah more condescension. Really feeling a need to feel superior to others today huh.
My feelings are, just as I stated initially, applicable to all belief systems based on supernatural creator(s).

God tripped balls

I mean I guess? I’m not really here to engage the question of which gods are and aren’t plausible, because I don’t think it’s interesting

they cannot stand this mourning
of my life
show me
how the gods
are and aren't plausible

(riff)

idgi, the big 3 monotheistic religions all have the same god and p much share a “bearded guy” conception, don’t they?

― singular wolf erotica producer (Hadrian VIII), Saturday, August 1, 2020 7:18 PM (one minute ago)

No

Uhhh in two of them it’s prohibited to draw a picture of a human man with a beard and say it’s god, is my first point

Odin has a beard too motherfuckers

“Punishing father” doesn’t really resemble the conception of God that I or other actual extant Jews of my acquaintance would be likely to describe.

https://img.etsystatic.com/il/a170ff/1041158026/il_fullxfull.1041158026_rcn6.jpg

While God gets the masculine gender in Biblical Hebrew and in one stray part of the liturgy I can think of gets called “our parent” (lit. father) “God the Father” is not really a thing I’m familiar with having any significance in Judaism.

I’m afraid I don’t know remotely as much about Islam I would like but the prohibition on iconography is even stronger there than it is in Judaism, I’m willing to bet there are nearly zero depictions of god as a “bearded guy” in Islamic art

“How do the theologies of three different religions with pointedly divergent histories differ” is kind of a large question imo, I wish I could tell you more but maybe you could read this book, seems good http://stephenprothero.com/books/god-is-not-one/

You’re really good at drunk posting for a person who doesn’t drink

Lay the fuck off

Me??

yes. go to bed

Tom I live on the west coast, I dunno why I seem drunk to you this is the most levelheadedly I’ve been posting all day

I’m trying to answer questions in “”””””””good faith””””””””” for once so I don’t know what your malfunction is

I am giving you advice. you have nearly 40 fps. you are generally disliked. consider your approach.

That’s a lot! I could stand to get 51 clearly transmisogyny and antisemitism are more popular here than I am so I don’t know what good I could be getting from posting here

silby, as far as I know you are just words type on a screen. I know nothing more about you. whatever you type is what gets reacted to. not any manifestation of trans-ness or Jewishness, apart from your words. try to grasp that maybe your presentation of your thoughts is what people find difficult.

Correct, style is meaningless here, it’s only about what you stand for according to yourself

I am agnostic rather than atheist, but think there should be more of a space for spirituality within traditionally secular left spaces. This isn't something I'm thinking in a particularly prescriptive way and may already be happening to some extent

What a bizarre thread to choose to yell at silby, the one where he’s levelheadedly explaining how some of us are acting ignorantly.