Misconceptions that believers have about atheists

merphie said:
I've run into what you talked about a lot. I've been tryign to teach myself to use "cat" instead of "god".
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I'm a dog person, myself.
 
lumos said:
I'm a dog person, myself.
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I dont' really care for either. It's just different enough people don't mistake it for "god" and they stop and say "huh?"

It's a good ice breaker. Althought I've had some people say "It's good you don't take the lord's name in vain". To which I reply, "Well, god-damn-it!"
 
merphie said:
I dont' really care for either. It's just different enough people don't mistake it for "god" and they stop and say "huh?"

It's a good ice breaker. Althought I've had some people say "It's good you don't take the lord's name in vain". To which I reply, "Well, god-damn-it!"
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You really are Cartman, aren't ya.
 
Here's a clip from an e-mail from the professor. I'm still not in a writing mood tonight, so I'll probably write a commentary tomorrow morning if I have some time.

Hi Bruce,
Thank you for speaking last night. The student counselors enjoyed their conversation with you and all that you had to say. Instead of moving on in our lesson, we dialogued for the remainder of the class period about their reactions to your comments. All were positive. One of the focuses of this class is self-awareness and tuning into any reactions that one may have to someone, whether positive or not. There were a few who admitted to feeling a little nervous about whether you were going to disrespect their religious position but found that you did not and that their own feelings were a signal to them that needed focus; in counselor education we work to keep our own "stuff" from entering the counseling session and stay focused on the client and his/her needs.
I have to apologize to you and to them (which I will do tomorrow night in class). I was a little nervous about bringing someone into the University that I had met through the internet. I felt comfortable with you but if someone offended you and you went off in some direction that I was not prepared for, I would be responsible. So I found myself paraphrasing some of what you said to try and bridge between you and them. I later realized that this was not necessary; you were well connected to them and I did not have to protect you from them or vice versa. Also, my supervisor hat slipped on as I started to try to use moments for training instead of just letting them ask their question. I have trained individual students for 3 years and taught training courses for 2 yrs so sometimes my hats get mixed up. I realized on the drive home that I could trust all of you to communicate without my help--and my need to control the classroom was unnecessary. I am sorry if I came across in any way negative by repeating things you said or they.
All the students agreed that they could have spent more time listening to you and asking more questions. They felt the connection with you most strongly when they were allowed to ask and listen. I look forward to your visit next year.
I will find out from Jeff how he wants the tape. The positive about the tape running out after 1 hr is that I have no trouble approving it for launch on the forum.
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Bruce said:
Here's a clip from an e-mail from the professor. I'm still not in a writing mood tonight, so I'll probably write a commentary tomorrow morning if I have some time.
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It does sound like everything went perfectly. You gained their trust. And got invited back next year.

And that's when you crush them, right? ;) I've long thought you've got that blend of sweetness and volitility that makes you a dangerous person at large in the world. Same feelings about Brucetta. You're a scary family. Know what I mean? Smile - then smash. I'm glad you're on our side.
 
Atlas said:
It does sound like everything went perfectly. You gained their trust. And got invited back next year.

And that's when you crush them, right? ;) I've long thought you've got that blend of sweetness and volitility that makes you a dangerous person at large in the world. Same feelings about Brucetta. You're a scary family. Know what I mean? Smile - then smash. I'm glad you're on our side.
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We have the diabolical evil of Disney.

1. Gain the trust of the children.
2. Buy a television network.
3. Build a cruise line.
4. Buy a few Carribean islands.
5. Take over the world!!

That's not exactly the plan that WE intend to follow, but I will tell you that it involves lots of plush toys.
 
Bruce said:
I guess I mispoke because I try to be careful not to refer to atheism as a religion and in fact am only covering it in this course because no one else is covering it (ethics or multicultural courses). So it was important to me that you know that I do not consider it a religion but also wondered if you consider it a belief system?
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Hmm. Any atheist who thinks about these issues (and most do) will have some sort of belief system, if you want to call it that. We might want to call it a "philosophy", or a "metaphysic". And naturally an atheist, being an atheist, will have an atheistic metaphysic - of which there are several.

However, atheism on its own is not a "belief system". It is one component of a belief system. A full belief system has an ontology, an epistemology, a theology, an ethics and meta-ethics and so on. Atheism is one particular theological position, but all the rest are up for grabs. The only thing that atheism specifically excludes is epistemologies, meta-ethics etc that are explicitly theistic, eg: "we know what truth is because God tells us".
 
pmurray said:
Hmm. Any atheist who thinks about these issues (and most do) will have some sort of belief system, if you want to call it that. We might want to call it a "philosophy", or a "metaphysic". And naturally an atheist, being an atheist, will have an atheistic metaphysic - of which there are several.

However, atheism on its own is not a "belief system". It is one component of a belief system. A full belief system has an ontology, an epistemology, a theology, an ethics and meta-ethics and so on. Atheism is one particular theological position, but all the rest are up for grabs. The only thing that atheism specifically excludes is epistemologies, meta-ethics etc that are explicitly theistic, eg: "we know what truth is because God tells us".
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I tend to call atheism a _consequence_ of my belief system. It is obviously not a belief system on its own. For example, is there anything I believe because I am an atheist?

I am an atheist because I don't believe in god/s, as opposed to "I don't believe in god/s because I am an atheist."
 
Commentary write-up ?

Bruce said:
Here's a clip from an e-mail from the professor. I'm still not in a writing mood tonight, so I'll probably write a commentary tomorrow morning if I have some time.
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Bruce, I hope you still intend to write up a commentary at some point. I, for one, would be most interested in reading it.
 
Bruce said:
We have the diabolical evil of Disney.

1. Gain the trust of the children.
2. Buy a television network.
3. Build a cruise line.
4. Buy a few Carribean islands.
5. Take over the world!!
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You forgot eating Cuban children. MmmmmHA HA HA!!!
 
Re: Commentary write-up ?

Blue Bubble said:
Bruce, I hope you still intend to write up a commentary at some point. I, for one, would be most interested in reading it.
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It's coming. I'll probably write it tomorrow afternoon.

Jeff Wagg is on vacation and I don't know when he's coming back, so I don't know when the audio will be available. I was hoping to wait until the audio was available so I know exactly when the 'tape' ran out, but I might as well write the commentary before then.
 
BTW: :clap: :clap: :clap: Thanks for making atheism a little less incomprehensible to religious folks.

Bring on the commentary. Also, you used forum members' comments as hand-out material, and it would be interesting to see what you used. Did that go down OK?

Above all, you got asked back next year. So I guess they didn't notice that you're Just Plain Evil.
 
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