These are not blog-posts I am saying. These are discussion responses.
Anyways, No. American Atheists does not represent all atheists around the world. or the US for that matter. That's like saying the Vatican represents all catholics or all christians.
American Atheists is a beacon of influence and continues to grow everyday to turn the common atheist into a religious atheist.
Still don't think AA is a religion? If they don't believe in a god, then why can't it be just that and not have this silly logo that represents them?
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Where's the no god part of that? That shows you one thing. Science. As it implies that all atheists are science fanatics which is NOT TRUE.
See, they're using science as a dogma to convert the secular atheism into some religious science cultists that is the start of a technocratic nation.
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Has a point. I don't believe in god(s), and don't feel the need for a support group and a logo.
It's all a bit silly, really.
Where's the no god part of that?
How...why...what!? Well, where't the god part of it, whatever that is supposed to mean?
That is not the logo for atheism. That's the logo for that particular atheist group. And science is not a religion.
BTW, the Vatican does represent all Catholics.
the start of a technocratic nation.
Why would that be a bad thing? Surely, if experts are allowed to make policy over the things they have expertise over, then that is an improvement to how things are now.
As a Christian, I'd like to say that I think science is awesome. I also acknowledge that atheism is not a cult of science, because that's just silly. Granted, I'm not sure why there needs to be a large group of people united by the fact that they don't believe in something. It's almost like having a gathering of people talking about all of the sports they don't play.
That said, I think a technocratic government would be pretty awesome.
As a German I can understand the desire of people with shared characteristics to build organizations around these (seriously, if over here three or more people find something in common, they found a “Verein” about it)*. It is a good feeling to know you are not the only one, especially if you are living in an area where you are the only one.
But regarding the logo, they choose poorly. It just helps to strengthen the fundie strawman of “Science=Atheism”.
Er, the Vatican does represent all Catholics. American Atheists is a voluntary group that represents the interests of atheists. Like many other associations, they have a logo. To pick a group at random which represents people's interests, here is the logo of the Atom Church:
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What's religious about that? "See, they're using science as a dogma to convert the secular atheism into some religious science cultists that is the start of a technocratic nation." Or some such garbled nonsense.
So, what? Any time a group of people with common interests have a logo, it's a religion? I'm a member of Starfleet, does that mean it's a religion, too?
@kittykaboom
I understand your analogy, but it sound more like your saying atheism is still driving in circles, but not on a track.
I think a better analogy would be atheism is religion as nudity is to wearing clothes. Or being a civilian is to being in the armed forces. Or no french fries is a size of french fries.
That said, I do think that there is a small minority of atheists that treat atheism as a religion. But I don't think that they represent atheism in a meaningful sense (it would be a bit like saying that a suburb represents a city).
@ VoiceofKane
I always liked that one... since you'll find people often give bald people crap because they lack hair.
Hell, they even have groups based on their lack of hair...with logos. I guess being bald is a religion now.
Continuing on from my sleep deprived post from this morning...
To be fair The Sector Union isn't claiming all atheists are this way, but is still making a comparison between a certain group of atheists and religion based on the fact they have a logo.
Just because you can't see yourself or even others as not being part of a religion or not worshipping something...there are lots and lots of people out there who are not and don't.
And science is cool. If anyhting was worthy of worship the natural world would be.
I have no sympathy with the argument that atheists should simply restrict themselves to stating endlessly that they don't believe in God, and make no pronouncements on politics or other issues.
@WWBFD
It is simply a group to discuss issues facing secular Americans. It isn't a "support group." It is also a means to organize against things like infringement upon the separation of church and state, creationism taught as science, and discrimination towards secularists and atheists.
There was no point in the comment.
Anyways, No. American Atheists does not represent all atheists around the world. or the US for that matter. That's like saying the Vatican represents all catholics or all christians.
Entirely true.
Still don't think AA is a religion? If they don't believe in a god, then why can't it be just that and not have this silly logo that represents them?
Because it's the 21st century and every-fucking-thing has a logo now? And that's not the logo for atheists generally (there is a generally recognised symbol for atheism IIRC), it's just the logo for that particular group.
Spuki: I admit to worshiping one of those deities, in perfect and unending love.
Long live the Melusine!! Mocha Frappuccinos with whipped cream and sprinkles for all!!
This rant reminds me of the late, lamented Charles K. Johnson's International Flat Earth Society.
One of the International Flat Earth Society's slogans was:
"Replace the religion science ... with sanity!"
(Mind you, the "sanity" he was talking about was the notion that the Earth is flat....)
"Still don't think AA is a religion?"
Well, I have heard occasional accusations that the AA had some cultish tendencies, but that's easily explained by the phenomenon of addiction displacement, the addiction to Jebus replacing the addiction to booze.
Oh, you meant the other AA? :P
"If they don't believe in a god, then why can't it be just that and not have this silly logo that represents them?"
Uh, because it helps to be a group (and preferably an easily identifiable one) when you're trying to oppose the agenda of religionists who want to turn your country into a theocracy, maybe?
"religious atheist". For a moment there, I thought I must have been doing acid. But then I realized I was reading the rants of a fundie.
And speaking of logos.....the xian religion has shitloads of logos.
First of all, the Vatican does represent all Catholics. That's the whole point of it. Secondly, this is a pretty disgusting argument. It's pointing to atheism becoming an organized movement as proof that atheism is a religion, along with dogma, faith, and clergy, and all that. Of course that's like saying that feminism is a religion. What they are really trying to do here is stop atheism from having a collective voice. They want to keep atheists as just a few malcontent ex-believers who keep their heresy and apostasy to themselves and don't interact in anyway with the lay people.
Confused?
So were we! You can find all of this, and more, on Fundies Say the Darndest Things!
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