Has anyone ever walked up to you and said: I am an atheist, and if you're not yo

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   LewSethicsposted 12 years ago

   The answer is no. The only way religion enters into a conversation is if someone with religion brings it in. So quit bellyaching if the other person doesn't want to examine every bit of sacred minutiae that you regard as pertinent to your life goal of appeasing a ghost, holy or otherwise. BTW, I have lived a long full spiritual life without religion, so there.

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      LewSethicsposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Sorry, when I pasted the title I didn't realize I didn't have enough room.  How do I edit that?

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         Rochelle Frankposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         You can fix that with prayer, fasting and confession to an ordained priest.

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            wildernessposted 12 years agoin reply to this

              Wonder if that would work the typos in my hubs as well?

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            LewSethicsposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            Thanks Rochelle and wilderness, I'll be kneeling as soon as my lombago eases up, haha.  I don't think an ordained priest would have enough time for my confessions, so he would just have to give me an estimate or something.  I fast every day, my wife is a lousy cook.

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         bBereanposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Unfortunately there is no way to edit it.  What was the whole title going to be?  I expect I know, but "never assume", right?

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            LewSethicsposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            The title in its entirety is:
            Has anyone ever walked up to you and said: I am an atheist, and if you're not you are going to hell?

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               bBereanposted 12 years agoin reply to this

               This is an interesting question for a few reasons.  First, where would the atheist get the idea of hell?  How did that evolve and why?  So I would be intrigued and be happy to converse.  Of course, that is because of the uniqueness of the conversation. 
               
               If on the other hand, it happened to me daily as I left my house, which to hear some folks complain about "having religion shoved down their throats", one would assume must happen to them, I would get tired of it.  I wouldn't freak out and make it my life's ambition to "shove it back," however.  Why not?  Because I am not at all concerned what anyone else thinks about my eternal destiny.  I am confident in what I believe, so if someone tells me that failing to believe in mother nature or whatever higher power they espouse, will land me in an eternity in front of a big screen listening to Bill Maher or Richard Dawkins drone on endlessly, I would shrug it off without concern. 
               
               If, however, I was someone not confident in my eternal destiny and someone came up to me with a message that somehow rang true in my heart, that I desperately did not want to believe or have be true, I may be angry and lash out, expending great time and energy to assuage my guilt and convince myself and hopefully others that it is not true.  I might even seek them out in religious forums.

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            LewSethicsposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            by the way, thanks for asking for the title.

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      Emile Rposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      An atheist who has led a spiritual life? How does that work? What type of spirit world fits into atheistic philosophy?

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         LewSethicsposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         I'm not an atheist, einstein, the guy in the question was. 
         Do you think spirituality began with your religion?

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            Emile Rposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            Please enlighten me. What is my religion? I'm agnostic.
            
            And Einstein is dead. Hope that isn't too much of a shock for you.

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               LewSethicsposted 12 years agoin reply to this

               I don't know what your religion is, probably something to do with Uranus.
               I know einstein is dead, I called you that because your reply was so intelligent.

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                  Emile Rposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                  Very nice of you. Never heard of a religion called Uranus. What are you? About 12? Does your mom know you are on the computer?

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                     LewSethicsposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                     Sure, I'm about 12.  Good one. 
                     With your verbal skills you must be a real asset to any secondary school debating team.

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                        Emile Rposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                        Haha. Listen. It was a serious question. Tell us your take on spirituality. Or just keep making juvenile attempts to insult. Your choice. My ankles are, as of yet, untouched.

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         wildernessposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Does a spirit world, some other dimension that our mind exists in, require a God to exist?  If so, why?

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            Emile Rposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            No. But most atheists argue against any type of spirit world or afterlife. In fact, quite a few of them here on Hub Pages have gone out of their way to explain that to me.

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               wildernessposted 12 years agoin reply to this

               Understandable, as the same reasoning applies there as it does to God; a total lack of evidence.
               
               Nevertheless, saying that no atheist believes in a "spirit" world (although most would probably dislike the terminology) is like saying that all theists believe in the Christian God alone and have the same interpretation of what He wants.

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                  Emile Rposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                  True. But, I didn't say no atheist did. I simply inquired what type would fit into it. So far, I've had no response.

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                     wildernessposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                     Oh.  Maybe the kind that has ghosts?  Or reincarnation?  Those "souls" must exist somewhere waiting to be reincarnated.

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                        Emile Rposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                        And that would be interesting to hear about. Although, I do think if there is a spirit world someone would have to be in charge. Anarchy while hanging about in limbo, waiting to jump into a body, sounds spooky.

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                           wildernessposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                           Why?  No spookier than hanging around a ball of dirt with no one in charge.
                           
                           Actually, if someone is in charge you might expect them to have control of both real and spirit worlds,  Or least something of the same "species" if not the same individual.

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                              Emile Rposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                              I don't know. I simply can't imagine a spirit world, so maybe I haven't thought it through enough to agree on the dirt comment. It seems egotistical to assume we live forever.

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                                 wildernessposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                                 I don't either - we will all die one permanent death.  At around 100 years old or so - not 10,000 or whatever.
                                 
                                 Nevertheless, a great many people seem to postulate and believe in some kind of parallel world or something where our "souls", "spirits", "minds" or whatever actually live.  Or what is left after death.  Or something anyway.
                                 
                                 They can't all be Christians or theists can they?

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                                    Emile Rposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                                    I don't know. I've got a sister who claims to be a buddhist. But she sounds like a southern Baptist to me.  What we think ourselves to be isn't always what we appear to be. Sometimes, the only difference between a theist and a non theist is the label we chose to use. The words, for the most part, are 99.9% the same.
                                    
                                    I, personally, don't believe we are completely snuffed out. I simply think our consciousness moves on to other tasks. Probably not intact, but something has to work to create this reality. I would think. I do believe in a connectivity of all life.

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                                       wildernessposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                                       Yes, it's funny how our personal labels don't always match with the labels others apply to us.  Seldom match, perhaps. 
                                       
                                       It's easy to assign causes or something we can't see or find results of, but it's also common with humanity or we wouldn't have Gods either.

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      wildernessposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Good point.  I don't know that I've ever seen a craigslist ad, for instance, that starts with "atheist mother of 3 wants..." either.  Wonder if means something that verbal warning is necessary rather than simply letting actions tell the tale?

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      Mark Knowlesposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Gotta love John Safran. Wish you could embed stuff here.
      
      http://wp.me/p2Jz2C-hR
      
      Lead a pretty full spiritual life myself. Once you understand that "spirituality," is a wholly internal, subjective experience - anything is possible. The Troll will not get that though.

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      bBereanposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Hmmm.  You've started a thread about religion, in a forum on Religion and Philosophy...but "the only way religion enters into a conversation is if someone with religion brings it in?"  Okay, I'll bite.  Based on your statement, you clearly must be a religious person or you couldn't have started this thread.  What religion are you?

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         Uninvited Writerposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         This is also a forum to discuss philosophy, hence the name religion AND philosophy.

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         LewSethicsposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Hmmm is right.  An interesting turn of events, to say the least.
         No, I'm not religious.
         The library is my church, I guess, and I've read buku books on religion and philosophy, history and all things human.
         Basically I'm a spiritual mutt, without a master.

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   Aleister888posted 12 years ago

   lol i gotta say Berean raises  a pretty good point, However i do know what the OP is trying to say, and to a large degree he is correct, it is common for religion to get brought up, when another persons religion has just been rubbed the wrong way...

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