# Atheism in a nutshell



## ambush80 (May 9, 2016)

This is a post someone made in the Sam Harris forum:

"There is no such thing as Atheism.

I said it. Atheism doesn’t exist. Atheists exists. Secular societies exist. But there is no ‘ism’.
‘Atheism’ as commonly understood is simply a disparate collection of persons who agree on the non existence of a particular entity. There is no creed, No power structure. No formal membership. Its not even a formed worldview. Just a default non subscription.

Why is this important? It’s important because when we talk about culture and society its vital to distinguish sets of people. Ad hoc groups that simply share some attributes: People with tattoos, Pet owners et cetera are not institutions. They are not ‘isms’.

A good working example is racism. A random set of people who hold racist views is not ‘racism’. Racism consists of all those people plus the formal and informal hierarchies and structures the confer hereditary advantage to one group over another. Privilege if you insist.

There is a sloppy and tempting habit to absorb social criticism that one doesn’t like or agree with and nullify it with some equivalent counterpart. Ex. Religious persecution is bad but secular exploitation is equally bad so we’d better not be too critical of either one lest we give the impression of undue prejudice. Often this is so grossly inaccurate that it becomes profane. There is a growing movement in the U.S. that seems to think misandry is actually worse than misogyny. Both are bad. Misogyny is exponentially more harmful by any honest survey of the facts.

Back to the point, I’m suggesting that a stark delineation is necessary between formal structures who exercise power over non-members (ex major Religious institutions) and arbitrary sets of people that are created by simply nominating a characteristic (ex Non Religion) I think the point holds even if you quibble my examples."

I like it.


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## ambush80 (May 9, 2016)

A cool retort:

"Atheism does exist, it’s simply a word that is misunderstood by apologists who view it as the antithesis of religion, or more often, the near antithesis of their religion.

Atheism, like any ‘ism’, is simply a noun used to describe a very singular aspect of a person, and not an overarching title. An ‘ism’ is a way of describing one thing about a person while allowing for an infinite number of other descriptors, minus the one. Atheism, for example, describes a person’s non-belief in a god or gods, but fails to describe a single other characteristic about that person. Theists attempt to fit extra characteristics into a person’s non-belief in a god, because they are taught that TRUE belief in God is accompanied by other qualities like good morals etc."


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## ambush80 (May 9, 2016)

Forum link:


https://www.samharris.org/forum/viewthread/68158/

Caution!!!!  They sometimes say bad words and mean things about Jesus.


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## hummerpoo (May 9, 2016)

ambush80 said:


> Forum link:
> 
> 
> https://www.samharris.org/forum/viewthread/68158/
> ...



I don't know how to define it, but the prominent  red DONATE tab says something to me about organization and promotion of the ascribed ideas.


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## ambush80 (May 9, 2016)

hummerpoo said:


> I don't know how to define it, but the prominent  red DONATE tab says something to me about organization and promotion of the ascribed ideas.




Lame, Bro....

"Theists attempt to fit extra characteristics into a person’s non-belief in a god [and websites], because they are taught that TRUE belief in God is accompanied by other qualities like good morals etc."


http://www.gpb.org/

You can use the sites, participate in the forums and watch/listen to the material for nothing.  No pop-ups. Ever.

Oh, by the way.

https://home.nra.org/


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## hummerpoo (May 9, 2016)

ambush80 said:


> Lame, Bro....
> 
> http://www.gpb.org/
> 
> ...



Thanks, that helps me define my lame thoughts.  Those who like what they see, would like to see more, and desire to assist in the promotion of the content to others are given direction in fulfilling those desires.

http://csgv.org/


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## ambush80 (May 9, 2016)

hummerpoo said:


> Thanks, that helps me define my lame thoughts.  Those who like what they see, would like to see more, and desire to assist in the promotion of the content to others are given direction in fulfilling those desires.
> 
> http://csgv.org/



https://www.vdare.com/

Let's call a truce.  Lets just both agree that websites of many different kinds ask for donations.  We'll forget that you tried to pin the behavior squarely on atheists.  

Truce?


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## hummerpoo (May 9, 2016)

ambush80 said:


> https://www.vdare.com/
> 
> Let's call a truce.  Lets just both agree that websites of many different kinds ask for donations.  We'll forget that you tried to pin the behavior squarely on atheists.
> 
> Truce?



I have to agree to the truce; having once again proven my failure as a communicator; as it was not my intent to show atheists as the sole practitioner of self promotion, or hypocrisy.

I'm not suggesting it, really.  But it could be fun to see who could come up with the weirdest place to donate your money.


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## ambush80 (May 9, 2016)

hummerpoo said:


> I have to agree to the truce; having once again proven my failure as a communicator; as it was not my intent to show atheists as the sole practitioner of self promotion, or hypocrisy.
> 
> I'm not suggesting it, really.  But it could be fun to see who could come up with the weirdest place to donate your money.



What did you think of the statements?


http://creationmuseum.org/

I couldn't help it.


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## bullethead (May 9, 2016)

Thanks for the new reading material Ambush


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## ambush80 (May 9, 2016)

bullethead said:


> Thanks for the new reading material Ambush



I can't read too much of that forum.  They type too much.


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