Is ok to be an atheist...

[BigRo]

As long as you continue to  mention Jesus and Christianity even more than the Christians do..


Yeah... it's alright


Now, go drink some Ayahuasca with your Shaman and tell us about how you don't believe in God

Have you taken Aya before? I did once.

[muscleman-2013]

No athiests in fox holes.  Fucking wankers.

[The Ugly]

No athiests in fox holes.  Fucking wankers.

Sure there are, crashing planes and dying beds as well. Just a tired cliche is all.

[muscleman-2013]

Sure there are, crashing planes and dying beds as well. Just a tired cliche is all.

For a cliche to exist, there has to be a big history of said cliche occurring.

[Wiggs]

Wonderful selling point.

Im not losing anything if one doesnt comply. Im just speaking what the Bible says.

[dyslexic]

Its ok if youre ok with burning in hell eternally.

Best reply I've EVER heard!


and I get questioned all the time... sadly, mostly by young people who really want to know. They are being poisoned by their friends and social media...

and they just want an honest answer

[The Ugly]

For a cliche to exist, there has to be a big history of said cliche occurring.

Eh, are we sure? Are there documented reports of numerous atheists converting in foxholes, or is it merely a clever quip? Generalizations, in general, fit your criteria, for sure, but those containing absolutes, like this one, obviously can't be taken seriously.

I'm splitting hairs, I know, but I find clichés lazy and, well, cliche. Personal thing, no offense.

[The Ugly]

as  atheism is a belief does it not also qualify as a religion albeit with out smells and bells but with much wailing and gnashing ?

A belief?

[The Ugly]

Im not losing anything if one doesnt comply. Im just speaking what the Bible says.

I was addressing both of you, actually.

[anabolichalo]

religions are a fucking scam to get money from retards who think this is their golden ticket

[Man of Steel]

A belief?

I've seen Ricky Gervais make this same comment in a number of interviews, but it's just not universally applicable for all atheists.

For example, The Atheist Community of Austin is a big atheist organization that has hosted the National Atheist Conference in 2013 and has broadcasted the Atheist Experience show for many, many years now both on public television and now youtube.  

http://www.atheist-community.org/library/positions/

They profess the following beliefs or "position statements" as they prefer:

Position Statements

The Atheist Community of Austin is a non-profit, educational organization involved in community outreach and activism. Our various media outreach programs and activities afford us the opportunity to speak out on a number of issues. Atheism is misunderstood and misrepresented and we feel it is important that our community has official, public positions on a number of issues.

Atheism is a singular position about the existence of a god or gods and the beliefs of individual atheists on other issues are diverse. These statements represent the official positions of this organization and do not represent the position of all atheists or ACA members. Acceptance of these positions is not required for membership in the ACA.

Primary Positions

Church-State Separation

The ACA understands:

Article VI of the United States Constitution prohibits any religious test for public office
The First Amendment necessarily requires that our government remain neutral with regard to religion
The Fourteenth Amendment extends amendments to the US Constitution to the state governments
We believe that this neutral position ensures that no religion receives preferential treatment over another religion, or the lack of religion.

We support the right of each individual to believe or disbelieve as they choose. We support the right of individuals to practice their religious beliefs to the extent that such practice does not inhibit or infringe upon the rights and freedoms of others.

Human Rights

The ACA opposes legislation that seeks to discriminate against individuals on the basis of sex, race, religious belief, sexual orientation or other status. We believe that laws and regulations which limit or deny freedoms and rights must have a valid, secular foundation.

Secondary Positions

The ACA considers the following positions to be logical extensions of our primary position statements.

Religious Displays

The ACA believes that religious displays on public property violate the establishment clause of the First Amendment and therefore should be banned. These displays represent favoritism toward a particular religion or group of religions and serve as an implicit endorsement. Additionally, they represent a divisive mechanism which marginalizes that segment of the population, religious or not, which does not subscribe to the represented beliefs.

The ACA believes that religious messages included in anthems, mottos and pledges are also violations of the First Amendment.

Creationism and Intelligent Design

Creationism is the religious assertion that life on Earth was created by a supernatural entity. While we support the right of any individual to hold this belief, it is unsupported by science, and the Supreme Court of the United States has rightly determined that creationism violates the "Lemon Test." As such, creationism constitutes promotion of religion and cannot be taught in public schools.

Intelligent Design is the assertion that the current theory of evolution and natural selection is insufficient to properly explain the complexity of life on Earth. While that objection may be reasonable, Intelligent Design proponents advance the additional claim that the correct explanation must include intervention by an intelligent entity. While they staunchly refuse to identify this entity, the general view among most advocates is that this entity is "God".

The Intelligent Design movement has been unable to support their assertions with scientific evidence and has often been called "Creationism in a lab coat" or "Creationism in disguise".

The ACA supports the various legal rulings which prohibit teaching these unproven assertions and religious opinions in public school science classes.

Public Education

The ACA believes that public education is absolutely essential to the future welfare of our nation, and the world. We support efforts to improve the quality of the public education by:

Encouraging the development of critical thinking skills
Instilling appreciation for the arts and humanities
Maintaining the integrity of science
Providing a safe, healthy and productive learning environment
As a government institution which serves citizens of many different social, economic and religious backgrounds, public education must remain neutral with regard to religion.
We believe that we must strive to provide all students with the equal opportunity to receive a robust and diverse education.

Reproductive Rights

The ACA holds that individual human rights necessarily include the premise of individual sovereignty with regard to decisions that affect one's person. In support of this premise, the ACA supports:

The right of all consenting adults, of all sexual preferences, to responsibly manage their own sexual activities without unnecessary interference or restriction
Robust and properly informative education regarding human sexuality, birth control, family planning, sexually transmitted disease and pregnancy termination
The ACA strongly opposes "abstinence-only" sex education. Abstinence-only sex education is a naive concept which ignores the reality of human sexuality and fails to properly educate individuals; often resulting in increased rates of unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease.

The ACA strongly opposes the "Global Gag Rule", and any similar legislation or restrictions which seeks to limit or provide preferential funding to health organizations based on the inclusion of abortion and abortion-education services in their programs. These actions represent the worst sort of manipulation; forcing clinics to jeopardize the health of many patients in order to receive much needed funding.

Madalyn Murray O'Hair who once resided in Austin, Texas founded and presided over the American Atheists organization.  They profess the following beliefs or "Aims and Principles" as they prefer:

http://atheists.org/about-us/aims-and-purposes

AIMS AND PRINCIPLES

American Atheists, Inc. is a nonprofit, nonpolitical, educational organization dedicated to the complete and absolute separation of state and church, accepting the explanation of Thomas Jefferson that the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States was meant to create a "wall of separation" between state and church.

American Atheists, Inc., is organized

to stimulate and promote freedom of thought and inquiry concerning religious beliefs, creeds, dogmas, tenets, rituals, and practices;
to collect and disseminate information, data, and literature on all religions and promote a more thorough understanding of them, their origins, and their histories;
to advocate, labor for, and promote in all lawful ways the complete and absolute separation of state and church;
to advocate, labor for, and promote in all lawful ways the establishment and maintenance of a thoroughly secular system of education available to all;
to encourage the development and public acceptance of a humane ethical system stressing the mutual sympathy, understanding, and interdependence of all people and the corresponding responsibility of each individual in relation to society;
to develop and propagate a social philosophy in which humankind is central and must itself be the source of strength, progress, and ideals for the well-being and happiness of humanity;
to promote the study of the arts and sciences and of all problems affecting the maintenance, perpetuation, and enrichment of human (and other) life;
to engage in such social, educational, legal, and cultural activity as will be useful and beneficial to the members of American Atheists and to society as a whole.
Atheism may be defined as the mental attitude which unreservedly accepts the supremacy of reason and aims at establishing a life-style and ethical outlook verifiable by experience and scientific method, independent of all arbitrary assumptions of authority and creeds.

Materialism declares that the cosmos is devoid of immanent conscious purpose; that it is governed by its own inherent, immutable, and impersonal laws; that there is no supernatural interference in human life; that humankind -- finding their resources within themselves -- can and must create their own destiny. Materialism restores dignity and intellectual integrity to humanity. It teaches that we must prize our life on earth and strive always to improve it. It holds that human beings are capable of creating a social system based on reason and justice. Materialism's "faith" is in humankind and their ability to transform the world culture by their own efforts. This is a commitment which is in its very essence life-asserting. It considers the struggle for progress as a moral obligation that is impossible without noble ideas that inspire us to bold, creative works. Materialism holds that our potential for good and more fulfilling cultural development is, for all practical purposes, unlimited.

[The Ugly]

I've seen Ricky Gervais make this same comment in a number of interviews, but it's just not universally applicable for all atheists.

For example, The Atheist Community of Austin is a big atheist organization that has hosted the National Atheist Conference in 2013 and has broadcasted the Atheist Experience show for many, many years now both on public television and now youtube.  

http://www.atheist-community.org/library/positions/

They profess the following beliefs or "position statements" as they prefer:

Position Statements

The Atheist Community of Austin is a non-profit, educational organization involved in community outreach and activism. Our various media outreach programs and activities afford us the opportunity to speak out on a number of issues. Atheism is misunderstood and misrepresented and we feel it is important that our community has official, public positions on a number of issues.

Atheism is a singular position about the existence of a god or gods and the beliefs of individual atheists on other issues are diverse. These statements represent the official positions of this organization and do not represent the position of all atheists or ACA members. Acceptance of these positions is not required for membership in the ACA.

Primary Positions

Church-State Separation

The ACA understands:

Article VI of the United States Constitution prohibits any religious test for public office
The First Amendment necessarily requires that our government remain neutral with regard to religion
The Fourteenth Amendment extends amendments to the US Constitution to the state governments
We believe that this neutral position ensures that no religion receives preferential treatment over another religion, or the lack of religion.

We support the right of each individual to believe or disbelieve as they choose. We support the right of individuals to practice their religious beliefs to the extent that such practice does not inhibit or infringe upon the rights and freedoms of others.

Human Rights

The ACA opposes legislation that seeks to discriminate against individuals on the basis of sex, race, religious belief, sexual orientation or other status. We believe that laws and regulations which limit or deny freedoms and rights must have a valid, secular foundation.

Secondary Positions

The ACA considers the following positions to be logical extensions of our primary position statements.

Religious Displays

The ACA believes that religious displays on public property violate the establishment clause of the First Amendment and therefore should be banned. These displays represent favoritism toward a particular religion or group of religions and serve as an implicit endorsement. Additionally, they represent a divisive mechanism which marginalizes that segment of the population, religious or not, which does not subscribe to the represented beliefs.

The ACA believes that religious messages included in anthems, mottos and pledges are also violations of the First Amendment.

Creationism and Intelligent Design

Creationism is the religious assertion that life on Earth was created by a supernatural entity. While we support the right of any individual to hold this belief, it is unsupported by science, and the Supreme Court of the United States has rightly determined that creationism violates the "Lemon Test." As such, creationism constitutes promotion of religion and cannot be taught in public schools.

Intelligent Design is the assertion that the current theory of evolution and natural selection is insufficient to properly explain the complexity of life on Earth. While that objection may be reasonable, Intelligent Design proponents advance the additional claim that the correct explanation must include intervention by an intelligent entity. While they staunchly refuse to identify this entity, the general view among most advocates is that this entity is "God".

The Intelligent Design movement has been unable to support their assertions with scientific evidence and has often been called "Creationism in a lab coat" or "Creationism in disguise".

The ACA supports the various legal rulings which prohibit teaching these unproven assertions and religious opinions in public school science classes.

Public Education

The ACA believes that public education is absolutely essential to the future welfare of our nation, and the world. We support efforts to improve the quality of the public education by:

Encouraging the development of critical thinking skills
Instilling appreciation for the arts and humanities
Maintaining the integrity of science
Providing a safe, healthy and productive learning environment
As a government institution which serves citizens of many different social, economic and religious backgrounds, public education must remain neutral with regard to religion.
We believe that we must strive to provide all students with the equal opportunity to receive a robust and diverse education.

Reproductive Rights

The ACA holds that individual human rights necessarily include the premise of individual sovereignty with regard to decisions that affect one's person. In support of this premise, the ACA supports:

The right of all consenting adults, of all sexual preferences, to responsibly manage their own sexual activities without unnecessary interference or restriction
Robust and properly informative education regarding human sexuality, birth control, family planning, sexually transmitted disease and pregnancy termination
The ACA strongly opposes "abstinence-only" sex education. Abstinence-only sex education is a naive concept which ignores the reality of human sexuality and fails to properly educate individuals; often resulting in increased rates of unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease.

The ACA strongly opposes the "Global Gag Rule", and any similar legislation or restrictions which seeks to limit or provide preferential funding to health organizations based on the inclusion of abortion and abortion-education services in their programs. These actions represent the worst sort of manipulation; forcing clinics to jeopardize the health of many patients in order to receive much needed funding.

Madalyn Murray O'Hair who once resided in Austin, Texas founded and presided over the American Atheists organization.  They profess the following beliefs or "Aims and Principles" as they prefer:

http://atheists.org/about-us/aims-and-purposes

AIMS AND PRINCIPLES

American Atheists, Inc. is a nonprofit, nonpolitical, educational organization dedicated to the complete and absolute separation of state and church, accepting the explanation of Thomas Jefferson that the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States was meant to create a "wall of separation" between state and church.

American Atheists, Inc., is organized

to stimulate and promote freedom of thought and inquiry concerning religious beliefs, creeds, dogmas, tenets, rituals, and practices;
to collect and disseminate information, data, and literature on all religions and promote a more thorough understanding of them, their origins, and their histories;
to advocate, labor for, and promote in all lawful ways the complete and absolute separation of state and church;
to advocate, labor for, and promote in all lawful ways the establishment and maintenance of a thoroughly secular system of education available to all;
to encourage the development and public acceptance of a humane ethical system stressing the mutual sympathy, understanding, and interdependence of all people and the corresponding responsibility of each individual in relation to society;
to develop and propagate a social philosophy in which humankind is central and must itself be the source of strength, progress, and ideals for the well-being and happiness of humanity;
to promote the study of the arts and sciences and of all problems affecting the maintenance, perpetuation, and enrichment of human (and other) life;
to engage in such social, educational, legal, and cultural activity as will be useful and beneficial to the members of American Atheists and to society as a whole.
Atheism may be defined as the mental attitude which unreservedly accepts the supremacy of reason and aims at establishing a life-style and ethical outlook verifiable by experience and scientific method, independent of all arbitrary assumptions of authority and creeds.

Materialism declares that the cosmos is devoid of immanent conscious purpose; that it is governed by its own inherent, immutable, and impersonal laws; that there is no supernatural interference in human life; that humankind -- finding their resources within themselves -- can and must create their own destiny. Materialism restores dignity and intellectual integrity to humanity. It teaches that we must prize our life on earth and strive always to improve it. It holds that human beings are capable of creating a social system based on reason and justice. Materialism's "faith" is in humankind and their ability to transform the world culture by their own efforts. This is a commitment which is in its very essence life-asserting. It considers the struggle for progress as a moral obligation that is impossible without noble ideas that inspire us to bold, creative works. Materialism holds that our potential for good and more fulfilling cultural development is, for all practical purposes, unlimited.

I wouldn't want anything to do with such an organization, or any activist group, for that matter. But you're right, in this case, they have stated beliefs (though they do extend past the simple non-belief of a God or gods).