Monday, October 01, 2007
Gathering of the Godless
"Gathering of the Godless" is one of the subtitles in an ABC News story about last weekend's atheist meeting in Virginia (USA) [The Rise of Atheism].
For another, more interesting, version read Hermant's summary on FriendlyAtheist [Atheist Alliance International Convention 2007 (Recap)]. Find out he got to be Daniel Dennett.
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6 comments :
One definition of hell I have heard is that of simply being in a state without God, or alternatively being completely left alone by God. (Forget all that fire and brimstone stuff; the best theologians tell us that hell has more to do with the perception of God’s reality) So, on that subtle theological definition, I don’t suppose all you friendly happy-clappy atheists mind in the least being told that you are not only going to hell, but you are, in fact, already in hell!
Anyway looks as though everyone at the godless gathering had a hell of day out, so to speak.
I couldn't go, I was at a convention of people who don't collect stamps.
Seriously though, it sounds like a really interesting, thought-provoking meeting, even if it's a little bit of a strange idea to us Brits. My Dad outed me as an atheist in his speech at my wedding last month (something about how appointing a Catholic English teacher as my godmother somehow turned me into an atheist scientist), and no-one even gasped or anything...
The "abolitionist" reference was though provoking.
I don’t suppose all you friendly happy-clappy atheists mind in the least being told that you are not only going to hell, but you are, in fact, already in hell!
Not at all, fairy tale as fairy tale. But you forget that it applies to all non-xians in the usual nice manner of xians. I mean, if we are going subtle. :-P
VWXYNot said,
My Dad outed me as an atheist in his speech at my wedding last month (something about how appointing a Catholic English teacher as my godmother somehow turned me into an atheist scientist), and no-one even gasped or anything...
At my daugher's wedding in June we had a Humanist officiant and there was no mention of God at all. Everyone knew that we were an atheist family but they came to the wedding anyway! :-)
Actually, this shouldn't be a surprise in Canada since most of the Canadian guests were also non-believers. It was a little bit interesting because all of the groom's relatives from the USA were quite religious. In most cases, this was their first exposure to a community of non-believers.
Dan Kraemer says
If evolution is true, it does not need a god to guide it. Evolution stands on its own as the cornerstone of atheism. And so our public schools cannot be neutral on the issue. If they teach evolution, by default, they teach atheism. God is a myth.
No wonder there is an outcry. Intelligent design needs to be taught to balance the scales...
Here’s an essay topic for the ‘Philosophy of Origins’ examination paper:
“If evolution is true, it does not need a god to guide it”(Dan Kraemer)
Discuss the validity of the above conditional in relation to the logical self-sufficiency or otherwise of evolutionary assembly and the intelligibility of deity. Address the question of how far this conditional may be part of the shared mental categories of both analytical atheists and fundamentalists, betraying profound and ulterior conceptual resonances between them. Conclude with a thumbnail sketch of how a postmodern deconstructionist might exploit the ambiguities and ironies of the bipolar debate.
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