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Atheism On The Rise In America


Sharpshooter

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I agree that it's certainly analogous to the concept of heaven in theistic religions, but that doesn't mean that it's a deity in itself. It is not a being. It has no sentience. Just like whale flukes and shrimp swimmerets are different structures that provide similar roles, nirvana and a deity are different things that provide a similar role within their respective belief . If we stretch the definition of "deity" to include nirvana, then what else falls under the definition? Is love a deity? People certainly can treat the concept of love with similar religious reverence to that of nirvana. I'd argue that such treatment of love would certainly fall under this definition. If so, would such a person cease to be an atheist,? I've seen almost religious, reverential treatment of the concept of science advancing human knowledge by some people. Is it a deity?

In short, calling nirvana a god is far too inclusive a definition in my eyes.

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I never suggested that Nirvana was a personal deity, nor that it was a being, nor that it was sentient. I suggested that the analogous deification through dogma, is a shared characteristic between the religions, regardless of whether it's directed to a person, place or thing(concept) After all....some religions don't refer to God as a person but as a force or energy, which is also a state of being, which is also what Nirvana is. The fact that they deify Nirvana as some religions deify the force or energy they refer to as a 'god' means little to me, as I look at the process of deification as the principle measurement by which I measure certain religions of supernaturality such as Buddhism as being theistic in that context while acknowledging that they don't have the concept of a walking talking god.

If love was your god....yes, it would be your deity. Is love your or anyone else's god?

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We're actually foolishly arguing over what our own definitions of any of these incredibly broad terms are. I quit smoking this morning, and I'm just a little bit on edge....so I want to apologize for a lack of reasoning on my part to banter needlessly back and forth over the definition of a word. I may not have had a smoke today, but I'm still craving the nicotine...and it's shown.

Edit: **** me, it's 3:30 in the morning...good night.

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I suppose I misread your post then. My apologies. I guess in that case, we'll have to agree to disagree that deification of an ideal can negate atheism. The definition of a "god" is far from cut and dry.

Google "love is God". There is plenty of deification of it going on.

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I live as if atheism were true...so your statement in the opening part of that paragraph is crapola. I live my life everyday with not even a single thought that there may be a supreme being or an invisible man living in the sky. I find the bible to be a book of children's fairy tales adapted for adults, and I think heaven is just as Hawking said it was...a fairy story for people who are afraid of the dark.

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You would obviously have to think about the absence of God in order to maintain your atheism. You think "there is no God" but in so doing you are still thinking about God.

But the real part is this: everyone has principles, ethics, morals, etc...and we feel angry when justice is violated, when innocents are punished, etc...but "if the evolutionary mechanism of natural selection depends on death, destruction and violence of the strong against the weak, then these things are perfectly natural".

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Jesus & co are not going to be happy with the results of this poll. Quick, JC, get your face on a pancake to boost the numbers! Barring that, a maple syrup stain on a truck driver's shirt - we don't have time to be too picky.

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