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[timepiececlock]

I looked up "atheism" in a search engine to make sure I hade the spelling right (I did), and on a lark I ended up reading this page which basically defines atheism and answers a lot of frequently asked questions about atheism and the logic behind it and in relation to religious beliefs.

It's a fairly long page, but I ended up reading the whole thing out of curiousity. I have to say their definition pretty closely matches my approach to the idea of religion and I would say I'm probably an example that fits their definition of atheist-- the "probably" being left in because I'm not entirely sure I accurately understood all the preconceived definitions of certain theological or philosophical words/terms used. One thing I particularly liked about the article was discussion of charity in relation to religious organizations.

Comments

[thisficklemob.livejournal.com]

Exactly. I used to do karate, and it was spiritual. And with Buddhism (while it is really a religion in Asia, even if Americans are encouraged to treat it like philosophy) the basic sine qua non of the religion isn't belief. That's really quite a Christian view of religion, and particularly a Protestant one. I had one excellent professor who told us how one Western scholar decades ago went to Japan and asked people, "Do you believe in God?" They were all, "...?" He came back and reported, "There is no religion in Japan." She said that was like concluding there was no music somewhere, because there were no pianos.

I also greatly distrust organized religion... it makes me uneasy for a variety of reasons, not least the justifications people take from religion for oppressions or violence. And people who think God takes sides or approves their own worldly goals just scare the crap out of me, because then logic, not to mention empathy for others, goes out the window. (Plus it makes anyone who disagrees on the wrong side of God, conveniently enough.) But because I also see people take comfort, and positive teachings, from their religions, I don't think it's always a force for evil. Just... far too often.

I don't consider myself a "weak atheist" in the sense that I'm wishy-washy about it... I think the difference he/she was stating has to do with how a person's non-belief interacts with belief. If I'm getting it correctly, a strong atheist would be someone who would say, definitively, "There is no god. There is no higher power. I am sure He/she/it does not exist." Whereas a weak atheist would be someone who says, "I don't believe there is a higher power." But they're not, I guess, as definitive about it? I think. I guess a weak atheist would be someone who doesn't believe in God, but also is sort of a militant agnostic: "I don't know, and you don't either." At least that's how I read it, but I could be wrong.