Talk:Atheism

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Wow

Conservapedia has 38 sections on this topic, Wikipedia only has 13 sections on religion. Talk about paranoia. It must be difficult to accept that atheism is a lack of belief in gods and supernatural things. You should let atheists define the word. Don't quote the definition from a few select sources, include secular sources and see what the most used definition is. (unsigned comment by Paul Matcalfe, Dec. 18, 2015)

LOL, that definition didn't originate until the 1970s. It's not Conservapedia's job to cater to the changes in the meaning of words that atheists, through each periodic and regular "atheism makeover", want to produce. VargasMilan (talk) 10:43, 28 December 2015 (EST)

Really, this article ought to use the true definition of atheism: a religion whose core belief is that there is no God (or gods or supernatural things). Lack of belief in anything is simply agnosticism. It is important to make this distinction because atheism is now the second most oppressive religion in the world. For example, in the United States there are people (such as the infamous FFRF) who are trying to violate the First Amendment by making atheism the official state religion. IGnatius T Foobar (talk) 09:00, 6 June 2016 (EDT)

New Book

The editors of this page may be interested in a new book entitled The Triumph of Faith by Rodney Stark. The book relies on the Gallup (the real Gallup, not Gallup International) World Polls as well as other resources to show that the world is more religious now than ever. I know this page is specific to atheism but I thought more people might see this post if I put it here. Anyway, here's a link about the book: http://www.baylorisr.org/2015/10/19/baptist-standard-book-review-isrs-starkthe-triumph-of-faith/

The article says that the book will be published November 16th, but Amazon says you can digitally download the book on the 3rd.

Great article, keep it up! (unsigned contribution by TBarnes).

Thanks for the book recommendation TBarnes. Stark does quality work and I did not hear about this latest book of his. Conservative (talk) 18:16, 28 October 2015 (EDT)

TBarnes, I found a summary of Stark's book http://www.movements.net/2015/11/03/rodney-starks-next-book-the-global-religious-awakening.html plus I found this at Google Books: The Triumph of Faith by Rodney Stark - Google Books

Thanks again for telling me about this book. I plan on reading it. Conservative (talk) 15:01, 11 November 2015 (EST)

You're welcome (unsigned contribution by TBarnes).

Thought this was funny...

http://www.google.com/trends/explore?hl=en-US#q=atheist%2C%20ear%20wax&geo=US&cmpt=q&tz=Etc%2FGMT%2B4

Thanks for that little chuckle. It happens that I've been ribbing Cons over all his atheism articles, suggesting "atheism and maple syrup" and "atheism and rocking chairs" as topics that he hasn't yet written about. Well, Cons is quite a wit, and he actually came back with some observations on these topics. See [1] and [2]. But he hasn't yet written articles on those topics. SamHB (talk) 12:04, 4 December 2015 (EST)

Christian Growth in China

Here's a good article on Christianity's growth in supposedly atheist China...http://globalplus.thearda.com/globalplus-religion-in-china/ TX Digger

Many atheists are conservative and pro-capitalistic; Many theists are left wing and anti-capitalistic

Many atheists, based on their values are conservative and pro-capitalistic. The characteristic which best determines whether or not, you are a conservative is the degree to which you support pure Laissez-Faire Capitalism. The philosopher and novelist, Ayn Rand, and the economist, Milton Friedman, were both solid atheists. They were also solid supporter of a free and unregulated market. The atheists who follow the teachings of Rand and Friedman are solidly pro-capitalistic.

Many religious people on the other hand are left wing and anti-capitalistic. For example, Roman Catholics tend to support socialism and government provided welfare. Christ himself seems to have been a left winger because for one thing he said, "It is easier for a Camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven". He also said, "Take no thought for the morrow, what ye shall eat, what ye shall drink, what clothes ye shall wear". Devout Christians follow these teachings and are thereby left wingers with an anti-capitalistic outlook on life. - User:RobertHBiggadike

RobertHBiggadike, the article has a section for "Atheism and politics/history" which can be found at http://www.conservapedia.com/Atheism#Atheism_and_politics.2Fhistory and it offer resources on atheism/politics/history.

As a result of your feedback, I added a link to our Secular right article. Thank you for your feedback.

Next, historically and presently, a majority of atheists have tended to lean towards the left/socialism/communism. See: Atheism and politics and History of atheism.

Next, please review our Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism and Atheism and sloth articles.

Again, thank you for your feedback. Conservative (talk) 21:21, 29 December 2015 (EST)

RobertHBiggadike, Milton Friedman was not a "solid atheist", He was an agnostic. I cite: “I am an agnostic. I do not ‘believe in’ God, but I am not an atheist, because I believe the statement, ‘There is a god’ does not admit of being either confirmed or rejected. I do not believe God has anything to do with economics. But values do.” - Milton Friedman"[3]

Although Ayn Rand was pro-capitalism, she also thought selfishness was a virtue.[4]. She wasn't a virtuous capitalist like the Christian capitalist William Colgate who was a great philanthropist. See: Atheism and uncharitableness. For this reason, I don't want to see the main atheism article have a Ayn Rand puff piece section.

Please do not edit any more atheism related articles given your sloppy research. I also don't care for your encyclopedia article writing. Encyclopedias don't use phrases like "solid atheist". And given the speciousness of atheism, the term "solid atheist" is inappropriate. Conservative (talk) 23:52, 29 December 2015 (EST)

By the way, Adam Smith: Selfishness or Self-Interest?. I rest my case! Conservative (talk) 01:52, 30 December 2015 (EST)

You accuse me of sloppy research but you have been so sloppy that you have failed to include pro-capitalistic atheists, scientific atheists, and pro evolution atheists in what you call a list of types of atheism. And by the way, Milton Friedman was for all practical purposes an atheist despite your argument to the contrary. RobertHBiggadike (talk) 13:30, 30 December 2015 (EST)

He also didn't include atheists who are left-handed in the list of types...your accusations are vague and could mean anything. But so long as you oppose that suits you fine. If your arguments had any merit you wouldn't need to misquote scripture, for example; they would stand on their own. VargasMilan (talk) 03:06, 31 December 2015 (EST)

I have just read the chapter called, "The Objectivist Ethics" in the book, "The Virtue of Selfishness", by Ayn Rand. I am so proud that I have lived my life in accordance with the moral philosophy of Objectivism and have become a multi-millionaire in so doing. Regardless of whether you oppose or agree with Ayn Rand, Objectivism is an important type of atheism which should be inluded as a type of atheism in any document pretending to be an encyclopedia. RobertHBiggadike (talk) 15:32, 1 January 2016 (EST)

Thanks. I added Ayn Rand in the prominent atheist section.

Second, I think there was a spurt of interest in objectivism due to a movie based on one of Rand's books. However, interest in objectivism seems to be significantly waning according to Google trends so I am against making objectivism any more prominent in the article. People can click on "Atheism and politics" "secular right" and now that can click on "Ayn Rand" also.

But maybe I am wrong about declining interest. Given the choices of Hillary/Trump there is increased interest in the libertarian party which has a lot of secular right people associated with it. Conservative (talk) 10:55, 6 June 2016 (EDT)