Why don't atheists meet?

[KR10N]

Atheists getting together would be like people who aren't interested in reading books joining a 'Let's not read books club'.

I lol'd.

[denise_xo]

One of the biggest gathering places is Prison, I believe.

 

I'd be a bit careful with those assumptions. The history of Christianity, as well as several of its contemporary manifestations, is full of slaughter and violence. It doesn't matter what label people put on themselves. We still create tons of suffering, and that's a human trait, not a sectarian one.

[oldguy]

WE ARE ALL HERE, AREN'T WE?

[Eve]

So far as religion of the day is concerned,

it is a damned fake... Religion is all bunk.

 

I cannot believe in the immortality of the soul... No, all this talk of an existence beyond the grave is wrong. It is born of our tenacity of life - our desire to go on living - our dread of coming to an end.

 

All Bibles are man-made.

 

To those seaching for truth - not the truth of dogma and darkness but the truth brought by reason, search, examination, and inquiry, discipline is required. For faith, as well intentioned as it may be, must be built on facts, not fiction - faith in fiction is a damnable false hope.

 

Thomas Edison

 

 

 

Oh the irony of you using an Edison quote,Eve.:laugh:

So typical to slant something to your rationalization.

 

Ok, laugh on. As far as I am aware Edison saw nature as being synonymous with what religious folk call God. I don't have a problem with him at all. Same as I don't have a problem with Shamans etc.

 

You can call him an atheist if you want to though. I am not bothered.

 

Generally, I like people and prefer to call them by their names. I have no need to chalk up a view that only intelligent people are atheists. This is a very false notion indeed... but if this makes you happy. It makes you happy.

 

Just please personalise your statements. I would also concur that there is no for you. I agree totally. This does not mean that there is not a God.

 

Anyhow back to atheist meeting spots..

 

Take care,

Eve x

[Eve]

I'd be a bit careful with those assumptions. The history of Christianity, as well as several of its contemporary manifestations, is full of slaughter and violence. It doesn't matter what label people put on themselves. We still create tons of suffering, and that's a human trait, not a sectarian one.

 

It is not an assumption. Go into a Prison and look at all the new comers and find me a religious man or woman who is not deranged.

 

Funny how atheists only want to give off an ideal that they are all intelligent and super cool and everyone else is mad.

 

The day Christians are over running Prisons is the day you lot will have a point. In fact I don't see atheists going into Prison to help out much. No, not at all.

 

Also look into the history of medicine and psychiatry. This is full of horrid injustices too. But I suppose it is easier to blame the Christians for everything.

 

Back to meeting places for atheists.. Swingers clubs. Another favourite spot.

 

Take care,

Eve x

[SincereOnlineGuy]

they don't want to be identified

 

 

Neither do alcoholics and drug addicts, and even they have anonymous meetings.

[Heart On]

Ok, laugh on. As far as I am aware Edison saw nature as being synonymous with what religious folk call God. I don't have a problem with him at all. Same as I don't have a problem with Shamans etc.

 

You can call him an atheist if you want to though. I am not bothered.

http://www.atheists.org/Thomas_Alva_Edison%3A_1911_Columbian_Interview

 

Just please personalise your statements. I would also concur that there is no for you. I agree totally. This does not mean that there is not a God.

 

Prove God exists for anyone beyond thier fearful imagination.

Or better yet,read the link I posted and answer honestly why you are religious.With a name like EVE,I can only assume that you are programmed from a very young age by your "God" fearing parents and conditioned not to question "Authority"?

 

Anyhow back to atheist meeting spots..

 

If you can insinuate that being Atheist mean's being immoral,and state without any respect for those of us who DO have Ethics and Morals yet don't believe in ANY GODS, and that the only places we are found is in prisons and porn and swingers clubs, then I can just was easily claim Theists are delusional, unintelligent, sheep without minds of thier own whose fear based thinking has overrun the minds of a once free thinking humanity. Religion was created to CONTROL THE MASSES by a few men who had psychological issues with Power! And look at all the DEATH religion has created.If ANYONE is IMMORAL...it's those who fight in the name of some unreal god.

 

Funny how atheists only want to give off an ideal that they are all intelligent and super cool and everyone else is mad.

 

 

HAHAHA..Funny how Christians JUDGE others as though they are ABOVE the FREY because they have "Jesus" on thier side.Not to mention, try to manipulated the masses into falling for their ideology by threatening HELL if others don't "get in line" with thier thinking and run to the closest church and "repent"!

 

Neither do alcoholics and drug addicts, and even they have anonymous meetings.

 

 

At least they can admit that they have problems dealing with reality.

 

You can't say the same for Christians.

[denise_xo]

It is not an assumption. Go into a Prison and look at all the new comers and find me a religious man or woman who is not deranged.

 

Funny how atheists only want to give off an ideal that they are all intelligent and super cool and everyone else is mad.

 

The day Christians are over running Prisons is the day you lot will have a point. In fact I don't see atheists going into Prison to help out much. No, not at all.

 

Also look into the history of medicine and psychiatry. This is full of horrid injustices too. But I suppose it is easier to blame the Christians for everything.

 

Back to meeting places for atheists.. Swingers clubs. Another favourite spot.

 

Take care,

Eve x

 

Where exactly have I tried to give off an ideal that all atheists are intelligent and super cool and everyone else is mad?

 

And on what basis are you assuming that I am an atheist?

 

Did you even read my post before you responded to it?

[betterdeal]

We do, but it tends to be in pubs, festivals, offices, supermarkets, high streets, the park, the living room. Anywhere, really. The rituals vary a lot too.

 

It's a very disorganised, but broad, erm, church.

[Eve]

Heart on -

 

http://media.wiley.com/product_data/excerpt/27/04715294/0471529427.pdf

 

Page 9 onwards is most pertinent methinks.

 

I see Edison as a great inventor, who spoke honestly about his interpretations of life and faith.

 

Also Google his very famous last words.

 

Your other comments I see as nothing more than recreational goading..

 

On a final note. It has been a very real observation of mine that The Criminal Justice System and Prison populations contain persons of no faith/atheism.

 

Whatever a persons position may be, this is undeniable. Therefore my point is valid and I would appreciate no further verbal assaults on my character and the question to be addressed please.

 

Other meeting places.. The Jerry Springer Show..

 

All the very best,

Take care,

Eve x

[denise_xo]

It has been a very real observation of mine that The Criminal Justice System and Prison populations contain persons of no faith/atheism.

 

Can you direct us to those stats?

[Spices]

They do have meetings.

 

[Heart On]

Your other comments I see as nothing more than recreational goading..

 

On a final note. It has been a very real observation of mine that The Criminal Justice System and Prison populations contain persons of no faith/atheism.

 

Whatever a persons position may be, this is undeniable. Therefore my point is valid and I would appreciate no further verbal assaults on my character and the question to be addressed please.

 

Oh please...don't pull out the victm card.lol Unless you are the only Christian in the world,I am talking in general about religious people

and only made personal comment on your name.Yet you continue to insinuate that Christians are somehow better than Atheists with this moronic commentary.

 

Other meeting places.. The Jerry Springer Show

 

Talk about the Pot calling the kettle black.So typical.

 

What's good for the goose is good for the gander lady!

 

 

How about you read about how Prisoners can and do become Born-again Christians.Your judgementalness is in part why I refuse to be a party to any religion who sits on high horses looking down thier noses at anyone not in thier cult.Prisoners are people too and they may be lost,and have made serious mistakes,but the fact that they aren't all "Godly" doesn't give you the right to lump them all into one inferior category and deem them beneath you.

 

Isn't one of the creedo's of your faith to Judge not, lest you be judged?

 

Guess you don't follow that one.

 

http://www.aboundinglove.org/sensational/mrhmso/mrhmso-010.php

[Eve]

Have you finished with Edison now?

 

Well, I can easily agree to agree to disagree as realistically we will never meet. So, this matters not. I know how I would treat you and can see clearly how you would treat me. The only thing that matters to me is that everything you speak off does not happen where I live and is highly unlikely to occur, from both sides.

 

Take care,

Eve x

[Taramere]

Can you direct us to those stats?

 

I'm curious about that too. Do atheists predominate in prison? Not to offend Catholics but I've always associated Catholicism with organised crime. The mafia is the first thing that comes to mind. Bump off/torture a few people, then do a few hail Marys and everything will be fine.

 

I had a look for statistics, and found the following link.

 

http://www.holysmoke.org/icr-pri.htm

 

Which sounds fairly likely to me.

 

I'm not an atheist myself. More of a slightly superstitious agnostic who is in agreement with much of the philosophy said to have been promoted by Christ. I wouldn't have expected, though, for prisons to be full of atheists unless the society was a religious one in which people were punished for their political views or for failing to conform to the mainstream belief system.

 

Generally I find self described atheists in Western society to be people who spend time contemplating these issues and developing intellectual arguments that support their stance....which would suggest a certain degree of intelligence, which I tend to associate with a lower likelihood of them ending up in prison.

 

The group most likely to be disproportionately represented in prison would be people with anti-social behaviour disorders...but this is an area I have a particular (though not professional) interest in. I've never encountered any commentary by an recognised authority on that subject which would support a link between atheism and psychopathy.

[denise_xo]

I'm curious about that too. Do atheists predominate in prison? Not to offend Catholics but I've always associated Catholicism with organised crime. The mafia is the first thing that comes to mind. Bump off/torture a few people, then do a few hail Marys and everything will be fine.

 

I had a look for statistics, and found the following link.

 

http://www.holysmoke.org/icr-pri.htm

 

Which sounds fairly likely to me.

 

I'm not an atheist myself. More of a slightly superstitious agnostic who is in agreement with much of the philosophy said to have been promoted by Christ. I wouldn't have expected, though, for prisons to be full of atheists unless the society was a religious one in which people were punished for their political views or for failing to conform to the mainstream belief system.

 

Generally I find self described atheists in Western society to be people who spend time contemplating these issues and developing intellectual arguments that support their stance....which would suggest a certain degree of intelligence, which I tend to associate with a lower likelihood of them ending up in prison.

 

The group most likely to be disproportionately represented in prison would be people with anti-social behaviour disorders...but this is an area I have a particular (though not professional) interest in. I've never encountered any commentary by an recognised authority on that subject which would support a link between atheism and psychopathy.

 

Yes, I looked around on the internet. There's a fair bit of mention of atheists being underrepresented at less than 1%, but I found one site which disputed it (I don't remember where it was now, so don't have the link ready to hand). None of the sites looked very official and some very clearly vested in supporting particular points of view, so I didn't view either of them as fully reliable, and I didn't have a lot of time to really look into it. It seemed that in some countries, there was also an issue of getting proper stats on it.

 

Yes, I would think that factors like deprivation, child hood abuse and so on would be much more statistically significant in explaining prison population, but that's speculation on my part.

[Disillusioned]

I was thinking about this before. Every other belief does except atheists. Why is this?

 

They're already good.

[Rooster_DAR]

I suppose it would probably be dangerous to hold public Atheists meetings at this point. I believe in the future it may be a little safer.

 

Atheism to me is the catalyst that defines the human mental evolution from our primal belief system into truly intelligent and advanced beings.

 

[HeavenOrHell]

Spoken like a true, narrow minded christian. Well done for your predictability.

 

 

 

 

One of the biggest gathering places is Prison, I believe.

 

Take care,

Eve x

[HeavenOrHell]

They have a reason to have meetings, to recover. Atheists don't need to recover, we already know the score.

 

 

Neither do alcoholics and drug addicts, and even they have anonymous meetings.

[HeavenOrHell]

Eve; 'swingers clubs' and 'the Jerry Springer Show'??! Have you any idea how smug and patronising you are! You don't sound a compassionate person at all.

I am an atheist but I dedicate my life to helping others because I *want* to and not because it is my christian duty or because it will get me to 'heaven'.

 

I think you need to act with more compassion as a christian, you're failing miserably.

[betterdeal]

On a final note. It has been a very real observation of mine that The Criminal Justice System and Prison populations contain persons of no faith/atheism.

 

And also people who believe in a god or gods. In fact, prisons are thriving with the religiously minded. I'd hazard a guess that most Guantanamo detainees have a religious element to their worldview. There's evidence of religious people in UK prisons too: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8558590.stm

 

And didn't Jesus walk amongst the sinners?

Edited July 24, 2011 by betterdeal

[linwood]

One of the biggest gathering places is Prison, I believe.

 

Take care,

Eve x

 

What do you mean by this statement?

 

It`s common knowledge that the percentage of non-believers incarcerated in the US is nearly nil.

 

http://www.holysmoke.org/icr-pri.htm

 

http://www.atheismresource.com/2010/atheist-dont-commit-as-much-crime-as-the-religious-do

 

I hope you aren`t just posting disparaging (untrue) comments for the fun of it.

[betterdeal]

In fact, Jesus was another religions person who went through the criminal justice system.

[cerridwen]

And also people who believe in a god or gods. In fact, prisons are thriving with the religiously minded. I'd hazard a guess that most Guantanamo detainees have a religious element to their worldview. There's evidence of religious people in UK prisons too: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8558590.stm

 

And didn't Jesus walk amongst the sinners?

 

Indeed.

And he asked us to do the same.

As Christians, we're encouraged to visit prisoners, be kind to them, provide emotional and spiritual support NOT stand at a distance and label and judge.

 

Quite sad this convenient forgetting of such instruction.