Philosophical Vegan Forum

Ive poste this on my Facebook page, but I thought id share it here as well. Take a look at this article:

http://www.salon.com/2014/07/21/the_num ... s_partner/

A new survey by the Pew Research Center has reconfirmed that in the US, Atheists and Muslims are statistically equally disliked.

While I'm not surprised at the findings, i do find it troubling. The level of misinformation present in the minds of the general public is staggering.

Yeah, what else is new?

If its not a Christian, of course it cannot be trusted....right? That is what the bible tells us right? To murder, rape and slaughter with laughter and pride in our hearts, Anything that is not the exact same thing we are right?

It's rather disturbing and very uncanny to me. I live in The Netherlands and atheism/nonreligion is pretty much the norm here, in fact most of our politicians are atheists. The idea that people are being discriminated for not believing in something that cannot be proven seems just too ridiculous for me.

How does one attain citizenship in the Netherlands?

Kanade wrote:It's rather disturbing and very uncanny to me. I live in The Netherlands and atheism/nonreligion is pretty much the norm here, in fact most of our politicians are atheists

Atheist politicians? In America there's no such thing. And this survey is a prime example why.

Kanade wrote:It's rather disturbing and very uncanny to me. I live in The Netherlands and atheism/nonreligion is pretty much the norm here, in fact most of our politicians are atheists.

I wouldn't overstate how many people are atheists by saying it's the norm. There are definitely more people atheistic in the bigger cities. I myself live in a small town, and there is noticeably a more religious atmosphere. I think that there are many people that do believe in the Christian God but just don't do much with it. And also a lot of people haven't even really thought about it, making them nonreligious indeed. But yes there are many, and it's definitely socially accepted here.

Most of our politicians are indeed atheists, but I have to say that some politicians did prove me wrong.

I notice that the 'unaffiliated' group gave the least liking towards Christians and Atheism falls only four points short of unaffiliated's # 1 ranking Buddhist....
I do not understand how if you do not associate yourself to any specific belief most people find that's more acceptable than calling your self either an atheist/ agnostic? I think the unaffiliated's group would most likely be agnostic or atheist they just fear rejection from their religious peers because it's sociably more acceptable to not be religious at the moment but when you want to be you will so that is okay cause you'll eventually come back but; really most people that associate themselves with a religion do it to fit in with a group of people that is already deemed 'sociably acceptable'.. Who wants to be left out...?

Well that's my opinion.

PrincessPeach wrote:I notice that the 'unaffiliated' group gave the least liking towards Christians and Atheism falls only four points short of unaffiliated's # 1 ranking Buddhist....

And Buddhists are atheists, at least as far as Christians should be concerned (Gods in the Buddhist tradition are more like spirits or demons, and they're not immortal or possessing of any characteristics Christians would consider to qualify as a 'real' god).

PrincessPeach wrote:I do not understand how if you do not associate yourself to any specific belief most people find that's more acceptable than calling your self either an atheist/ agnostic?

People confuse self proclaimed atheists with anti-theists.

It's a public image issue.

Most unaffiliated are probably something like deistic or pantheistic, though. So superficially they may be more able to agree that a 'god' exists, even if they see that as something very different. Christians are mostly too ignorant to understand the depth of disagreement there, and they're happy to assume that everybody basically agrees that their god exists.

To call yourself a Christian is like saying hey I don't give a fuck and I have no morals, this is okay because Jesus died on the cross for my sins and I am forgiven for all my sins, Jesus has protected me from my sins..

It's like they think they can do what ever they want and then ask God for forgiveness and since Jesus is in there heart that is okay?

LMAO


How does any educated person still believe in Christ? Oh I forgot, they have faith..

I was under the impression that Buddhism is not a 'religion' it is a way of life, thoughts?
That is all I heard I never truly looked into Buddhism before.
It's the 21st century the more knowledge and education this new generation gets will hopefully lead more and more people to the facts of life and not the imaginary distractions of religion..

PrincessPeach wrote:I was under the impression that Buddhism is not a 'religion' it is a way of life, thoughts?
That is all I heard I never truly looked into Buddhism before.

Buddhism does make some supernatural/unjustified claims like reincarnation, karma and magical powers like levitation, but it doesn't seem to be something that is necessary to believe in. Believing in gods is something that's not part of Buddhism, and they also don't worship Buddha as a god—something many people like to think. I think many people today see it more as a way of life than a religion, but I think the problem lies in the fact that the term 'religion' is hard to define. Does it imply a belief in the supernatural or other unjustified beliefs? Or is it just a world view, and if so, why are other world views not defined as a religion? Aren't some political systems also religions? Sam Harris likes to compare the religion with sports, saying that they don't have necessarily much in common apart from breathing. At least people practicing Buddhism don't seem to be dangerous and their mediations might even have health beneficial effects.