It's been a while since I last blogged. I stepped out of the atheist forums because - wow - the drama and infighting got to be too much. I think it's all cooled down a bit (or maybe I'm just too out of touch haha). Plus, after being an atheist for seven years, atheism is just a passive part of me and I don't think about it much. I got through all the stages of deconversion. There are some lingering issues caused by a life of indoctrination, but none that debilitate me or even concern me at this point.
I got into a Facebook debate recently though. Sometimes, I get antsy for a good debate. This "friend" is a theist, but I think Universalist. I always get that one mixed up with Unitarianism. Anyway. He made some sweeping statement about "fundamentalist atheists", including the likes of Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris. Predictably, all of his atheist friends jumped right in to say that you cannot be an fundamentalist atheist. Many tried to explain how it's not an ideology, or a philosophy, or a set of beliefs... but, also predictably, their arguments fell onto deaf ears.
I made a comment that there were no fundamentals of atheism except the lack of belief in deities, and one clever commentor pointed out:
there are no fundamentals in atheism, other than this fundamental
To which I replied:
If a lack of belief in gods (atheism) is the one fundamental of atheism, and red is the one fundamental of being red, all atheists are fundamentalists all the time... whether they're pushing their opinion on everyone or sitting quietly at home... and your point is therefore moot. Your use of the phrase "fundamentalist atheist" is not informative; it is redundant. It cannot infer that they're pushing their beliefs on anyone; it cannot infer that they're anti-theists. It ONLY means that red is red.
Of course, I never got any response. I don't see how anyone could refute the above argument, and no one did... I'd like to take that as a sign I won the debate, but I doubt any minds were changed. Why can't anyone ever give someone the satisfaction of saying, "Oh, that's true! I was wrong." Haha oh well.
I hope ThinkAtheist is doing well. I miss the good ol' days... but, the original team grew up and moved on (families, jobs, etc). I think the original fervor died down, which is sad. Maybe the new deconverts still feel the same excitement... but everyone outgrows it once atheism just becomes normal part of their existence.
In case anyone was wondering, Morgan Matthew is doing great. He says "hi!" We have a web design and internet marketing company called Clear Space Media.
Signing off...
Hi CJoe, good to have you drop by! Say "Hi" back to Morgan. I may need some web design work done soon for a new company. In the meanwhile I will continue to "furiously disbelieve" fundamentally in the gods I don't believe in. When I am not doing that I like to not collect stamps because it is a hobby I don't have, on a fundamental level of course!
I believe atheism IS a belief that God doesn't exist, not merely a belief that there's a lack of evidence (yet another belief antheists have).
Otherwise, the atheist is in the absurd position of maintaining something like "There is no evidence for the existece of God, but I don't believe it."
I agree atheism can be considered a belief that a god or gods do not exist... but it's not a set of beliefs. It's not a belief that guides your overall worldview since how you subsequently choose to perceive the world could go in any direction. There being no god(s) might cause you to feel depressed or elated; it could cause you to become fatalistic or hedonistic; it could cause you to be completely self-absorbed or altruistic; it could make you feel insignificant or incredibly lucky. The list goes on.
Being a fundamental atheist only means that you're atheist; the statement like using italics or bold lol. "Fundamental" an unnecessary adjective. Like I said; it's redundant.
It's like saying water is wet.
Reg, we'd love to help! Always great to work with fellow heathens... we're finishing up a project with some ultra religious folks and it's quite painful. Ha!
...so I see editing comments is no longer an option haha. Oh well. Is it because I'm not a mod/admin?
Yes, a mod/admin issue..:-)
CJoe, there are two types of conversations here (and have been for as long as I've been a member. Blog posts are that way, with no edit (but you can delete, so one way to "sneak edit" is repost a corrected version and delete your original). Discussions, you can still edit for fifteen minutes. Blogs are also unthreaded which makes them harder to follow (sometimes) but it's easier to find anything you haven't read since the last time you were here.
You chose to make this a blog, so that's what you got.
...And yes I agree with your larger point. Atheism is Just One Thing and doesn't dictate any of the rest of what you will believe or how you will perceive the world.
Editing comments IS an option in the Forum, which is why I always post in the Forum. However, one can copy a comment one wants to change to Notepad or whatever, delete the defective blog post, make the fix offline, and then repost the comment. An ability to edit would be better, for sure.
All inactive mods were demoted after a bad incident.
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