True of False?

Posted on December 2, 2008 by Tyson Koska

“If atheism is a religion, then NOT collecting stamps is a hobby.”

Filed under: Atheism, Religion | Tagged: , |

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12 Responses

  1. Megan, on December 2, 2008 at 1:58 pm said:

    Define religion

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  2. blahblahblah, on December 2, 2008 at 8:27 pm said:

    Why is this in quotes..who said it?

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  3. Tyson Koska, on December 3, 2008 at 6:27 am said:

    it was a comment that someone left on some blog somewhere… i don’t remember who, and i don’ t remember where… i liked the metaphor though…

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  4. Megan, on December 3, 2008 at 8:48 am said:

    if you wouldn’t say that theism is a religion. then opposite, atheism, is also not a religion. but atheism is also not the opposite of religion. and since collecting samples is the opposite of not collecting stamps. it doesn’t really work, i don’t think.

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  5. Tyson Koska, on December 3, 2008 at 9:34 am said:

    Well, i would say that in our culture, theism is most definitely the predominate form of religion… i would even go so far as to say monotheism is (Christian, Muslim, Jew)… so for “popular” purposes, theism and religion would be interchangeable…

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  6. Veronica, on December 3, 2008 at 9:55 am said:

    I agree with Megan. It depends on the definition of religion. I also think it depends on the definition of atheism. Your post in August (https://truthisawoman.wordpress.com/2008/08/25/coming-out-a/ ), Coming out A, was very interesting and touched on why it isn’t a clear cut answer of true or false.

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  7. Megan, on December 3, 2008 at 10:46 am said:

    isn’t theism the belief upon which a religion can be formed? the belief in a diety. it’s not a religion unto itself. a religion can not be with out a theistic ideology. maybe i’m wrong. that’s possible. all humans are mammals but not all mammals are human, maybe??

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  8. Tyson Koska, on December 3, 2008 at 11:52 am said:

    yer absolutely right… “theism” is not a religion… so technically an atheist could be a member of a godless (or non-theistic) religion… again, however, i do think there is value in treating some terms as they are typically used… typically being in a religion implies a belief in God, yet many regard NOT believing in God to also be a “religious” position… that metaphor above frames that position is a certain comical way…

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  9. Megan, on December 3, 2008 at 12:02 pm said:

    Yeah, I thought it was funny but I’m typically a punchline buster. My bad. I even ruined a magical card trick once by figuring out the sequence and pointing out the “secret”. Mary Jo will never forgive me.

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  10. barefootelegance, on December 3, 2008 at 2:37 pm said:

    Interesting thought…

    Reply
  11. Miriam Brown, on December 3, 2008 at 6:04 pm said:

    can I just throw out a thought? actually, i don’t know why i’m asking cause …

    i think this question of pinning down definitions becomes a bit like rigor turning into rigor mortis. the definitions aren’t the significant issue in our lives.

    as long as there are humans there will be religion, there will also be theists, agnostics, religious non-believers [i.e. those who practice religious traditions as part of their historical and familial identity], humanists, atheists … yadyadayada …

    I think the more important question is “how can we all get along” at least in the public and political spheres. Or at least tolerate each other for the sake of peaceful living. And that means everyone has to compromise on SOME issues … and atheists will HAVE to engage with religious sorts in working through those battles with minimal scarring. so the debate is really about putting a lid on all sorts of fundamentalism and instead creating moderates. and that usually only happens in respectful dialogue w/ the “other.”

    sorry, just me throwing a fly into the ointment again.

    Reply
  12. Miriam Brown, on December 3, 2008 at 10:00 pm said:

    p.s. the above was as much a “note to self” as it was generic thought for you. “lord” knows when i think someone has stupid ideas or dangerous notions i have a pretty hard time being polite about it.

    Reply

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