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03-14-2003, 03:44 AM | #1 |
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the origins of atheism
As a relative newcomer to the SEC Web I find the whole thing fascinating. Getting my views challenged, slagged off etc. Much better than the comfort of a theistic forum.
Can anyone provide a brief synopsis of the origins of atheism please? While there may always have been atheists, it seems to me that it is a very modern phenomenon. I appreciate that we know more than previous civilisations but intelligence and perception do not differ and as science is still making new discoveries, we are very far away from saying that we know everything. Also I see a link between atheism and affluence. Thanks. m |
03-14-2003, 04:59 AM | #2 | |
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Our Founder: Nog.
Quote:
Og: "Look, Fire! Made by Fire God!" Nog: "I don't believe you!" Wog: "Look, Rain! Must be from Rain God!" Nog: "I don't believe you either." |
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03-14-2003, 05:01 AM | #3 |
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Atheism seems only to come up when religions have, it cannot exist without an opposing view of theism.
If there was no religions or beleifs in supernatural then there would be no reason for Atheism. It has not been practical until recently to be atheistic. It was a garanteed tourture or death in medieval Europe... Thats all I can say.. |
03-14-2003, 05:49 AM | #4 |
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Asha'man said exactly what I was going to say. Atheism is a response to the proposition that god or gods exist. Before someone proposed the idea of a god/gods, it didn't exist. Only after someone said "God exists" could someone scratch their heads and say "I don't think so."
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03-14-2003, 06:01 AM | #5 |
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Atheistic philosophies have been around at least since ancient Greece (Epicureans and Stoics).
Andy |
03-14-2003, 06:58 AM | #6 | |
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Re: Our Founder: Nog.
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And I am going to gang up on this thread, all by myself, and send it to GRD. |
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03-14-2003, 07:44 AM | #7 |
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I don't think Atheism needs Theism to exist.
Atheism is passive. I was born without beliefs. When I encountered religions, I still had no beliefs. It has never taken any active intent for me to "not believe". I started out that way, and never actually did anything to remain an atheist. It's what I did not do that makes me one. In a manner of thinking, everyone is born an "atheist". Without beliefs in deities. |
03-14-2003, 08:06 AM | #8 | |
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Many members of both these groups did not believe in life after death, and they can be credited with that. |
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03-14-2003, 08:25 AM | #9 |
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Quite right, Eudaimonist. I was careless with my terminology. I also improperly read a "gods have always been the basis for morality/ethics" bias into mookie's question (a strawman? moi?) that obviously wasn't there.
Andy |
03-14-2003, 08:40 AM | #10 | ||
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Re: the origins of atheism
Quote:
In modern times, atheism has the advantages of (A) you no longer get burnt at the stake for doing it and (B) science has advanced to the point where an secular point of view can sufficently explain more things than in the past. In the fourteenth century a theist could say "all this got here through the work of god", an atheist could only say "buggered if I know how this all got here". To quote Richard Dawkins, "atheism might have been logically tenable before Darwin, Darwin made it possible to be an intellectually fulfilled atheist." Quote:
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