Horrifying thought, isn't it?
Take a moment, however, and ask yourself, which category do I fit into? The two terms are poor lumps of people that make little real sense. A christian is not a pantheist is not a hindu is not a muslim... Yet we group all such belief into one word and call it diametrically opposed to Atheism.
Within my own religion, there are sects, and sects within those sects, that bring upon the shutting down of the mind into all of it's glory. I don't deny them, but I feel sorry for them, even as they accuse me of not being a "true" believer.
But the various sects of my religion, and the existence of various sects within others are all well known. I want to turn a clear eye towards atheism, for a moment.
What is atheism? Many atheists declare it to be a "lack of belief in a deity". Curiously, however, I doubt that they would readily admit to deifying themselves, which is what this does. You are the greatest consciousness to have ever existed. What else is a deity, but this?
That curiosity aside, if I lacked a belief in Extraterrestrials, I would not seek out members of SETI and tell them why they should cease their fruitless research. I obviously don't have the same convictions that some do, however.
Let us take a moment, and seperate the groups within the supergroup-Atheists, and see what we have.
First, there is the man with no interest in deity or supernatural things. It is silliness, and boring ritual to him. He holds the opinion, "To each his own" on the topic of religion, and so long as they leave him be, he returns the favor.
Second, there is the man who is unsure, but has chosen atheism. He tends to loudly declare his atheism in groups, and displays hatred for theism of any kind. "Theists are evil" might be something he would utter, just as a homophobe is likely to hate homosexuals publicly to ease his unsureness of his own sexuality, this man is a theophobe.
Thirdly, there is the man who has investigated various forms of theism, and has decided they are not for him. This may be a subgrouping within the first two groups, I'm not sure.
Finally, there is "the man of science". He does not make a god of himself or his intellect, but of science. He calls himself an atheist, due to a lack of language to describe him properly. This is the man who believes all things accepted by a group of scientists to be true. He has faith in science, I say faith here not to incense, but literally, because he himself has not explored everything he believes. He has not done the testing himself, rather he has been told about it, and thus accepts it. This man could be readily compared to the idle-minded theist sitting in a temple, believing whatever he is told.
Atheists don't operate as a group, usually, and much dissention is found within this supergroup. I am not sure how many other sects there are, nor if there are "popular" atheisms similar to the "popular" theisms, such as christianity, hinduism, Islam, and Judaism. There may be subgroups within subgroups within subgroups as well, not so easily noticed. Could the atheist pimp/drug-dealer be considered such? Similar to a cult leader?
This is just the top scrapings of this thought, and it is not meant to cause strife. I welcome all feedback, which combined with introspection, will be helpful to further delineate this thought.
Take a moment, however, and ask yourself, which category do I fit into? The two terms are poor lumps of people that make little real sense. A christian is not a pantheist is not a hindu is not a muslim... Yet we group all such belief into one word and call it diametrically opposed to Atheism.
Within my own religion, there are sects, and sects within those sects, that bring upon the shutting down of the mind into all of it's glory. I don't deny them, but I feel sorry for them, even as they accuse me of not being a "true" believer.
But the various sects of my religion, and the existence of various sects within others are all well known. I want to turn a clear eye towards atheism, for a moment.
What is atheism? Many atheists declare it to be a "lack of belief in a deity". Curiously, however, I doubt that they would readily admit to deifying themselves, which is what this does. You are the greatest consciousness to have ever existed. What else is a deity, but this?
That curiosity aside, if I lacked a belief in Extraterrestrials, I would not seek out members of SETI and tell them why they should cease their fruitless research. I obviously don't have the same convictions that some do, however.
Let us take a moment, and seperate the groups within the supergroup-Atheists, and see what we have.
First, there is the man with no interest in deity or supernatural things. It is silliness, and boring ritual to him. He holds the opinion, "To each his own" on the topic of religion, and so long as they leave him be, he returns the favor.
Second, there is the man who is unsure, but has chosen atheism. He tends to loudly declare his atheism in groups, and displays hatred for theism of any kind. "Theists are evil" might be something he would utter, just as a homophobe is likely to hate homosexuals publicly to ease his unsureness of his own sexuality, this man is a theophobe.
Thirdly, there is the man who has investigated various forms of theism, and has decided they are not for him. This may be a subgrouping within the first two groups, I'm not sure.
Finally, there is "the man of science". He does not make a god of himself or his intellect, but of science. He calls himself an atheist, due to a lack of language to describe him properly. This is the man who believes all things accepted by a group of scientists to be true. He has faith in science, I say faith here not to incense, but literally, because he himself has not explored everything he believes. He has not done the testing himself, rather he has been told about it, and thus accepts it. This man could be readily compared to the idle-minded theist sitting in a temple, believing whatever he is told.
Atheists don't operate as a group, usually, and much dissention is found within this supergroup. I am not sure how many other sects there are, nor if there are "popular" atheisms similar to the "popular" theisms, such as christianity, hinduism, Islam, and Judaism. There may be subgroups within subgroups within subgroups as well, not so easily noticed. Could the atheist pimp/drug-dealer be considered such? Similar to a cult leader?
This is just the top scrapings of this thought, and it is not meant to cause strife. I welcome all feedback, which combined with introspection, will be helpful to further delineate this thought.
