[Butane]

Basically what dopp said.
@ hyden: the only "energy" that gets passed on after you die to other creatures is what is left of your corpse in the forum of calories that get consumed by maggots or whatever creatures/bacteria ect.. eat your remains.
People (at least in america) have the fundamental right to believe their deity showed up on a grilled cheese sandwich; the same as I have the right to tell them they are full of shit.
Also for now will refrain from posting some flamebait pics to backup my point.

[hyden]

(as opposed to the matter itself)..."

That reply was in direct response to a reincarnation discussion. Honestly, I believe more in philisophical teachings across a broad spectrum of 'belief systems'...plucking out those that tend to apply to where I am at in my life.

That generally turns into flamebait as people tend to think you either have to be 'onboard' or 'offboard' with religeon for some reason...

[DataStorm]

in history any belief system was only about having power over people. There is no reason to believe in a "god", just because a bunch of ppl back in the stone age could not explain the world around them and blamed one or more "god(s)" for it so it wasn't unexplained. My parents where Catholic, and tried to "teach" me to belief in such, but at age 8 I was already strong/explicit atheist

Any such writings should be on the shelves along with other fairy tales, altho I don't see it as appropriate to tell from it at bedtime to children. Its a shame that ppl are deluded by it.

Meh, ppl smoked too much weed in the (far) east anyway, it grows there everywhere. Been there bunch of times, and ppl just pluck it along the road and put it in their tobacco (if any). No wonder they came up with strange stories, and other ppl believed it.

The question: why follow the believe system of atheism...
There is no "belief system" in regards to atheism. We just ask tho other way round... why believe in any deity, seen nuff nuttcases in my day that believed they where "something" in relation to a religion, to know that such existed back then also.

Not convinced? hmmz, go look up sects. Some got in the past quite big and still exist, one has even their own ground and laws in Rome etc.

[WombRaider]

being an atheist is so edgy and cool

[Rostov]

I also don't follow religious theory since it was designed to control an educate the idiot masses in things that should have been common sense at the time (e.g. don't eat shell fish or pork 2000 years ago since they'll probably kill you). Now that we have a firmer grasp of the natural world, religion probably should have evolved with that grasp.
Instead, according to a recent Gallup poll that they run every two years, 40% of Americans believe that the sky man created man in it's present form in the last ~10,000 years, and the theory of evolution is wrong. 38% believe that evolution is possible, but that the sky man is actually guiding it along.

And yet faith somehow seems to overturn atheism in the world. e.g, Catholicism and Eastern Orthodox thrives in Eastern Europe where Communism has faded. Secular Europe has created a vacuum in which are rushing millions of Muslims(wielding all sorts of money/power) Atheist China every year sees tens of millions of people 'converting' to Christianity/Islam/Falun Gong/Confucianism.

These religious idiots worldwide wield far more influence/money then any atheist organization. Atheism is good only at tearing down religion. Atheism replaces it with only a vague sense of 'humanity', morals or some other obscure philosophy that simply doesn't grip the populace. Tell the people to turn to reason and only and they'll drift aimlessly until a stronger 'faith' arrives to give them direction. Again, I look at Europe where the Muslims are filling in the void left by retreating Christians and meandering Atheists.

[OmegaZero_Alpha]

Antitheism isn't atheism.

And assuming people are idiots just because they're religious makes you just as bad as them.

[TheDopp]

And assuming people are idiots just because they're religious makes you just as bad as them.

Not when simple statistics prove you're probably right in assuming (in the US at least). As I said earlier, nearly 80% of Americans don't even accept Evolution as a solid scientific theory. 40% are so far gone they can't even fathom the concept itself.
If 40% are completely inept at thinking critically and nearly 80% as a whole can't accept logical, empirical, reasoning then automatically assuming religious people are stupid is a fair assumption. Sure, you'll be wrong some of the time, but consider those instances a chance to be pleasantly surprised.

[rawrnerozero]

Thanks guys I appreciate the post.

[OmegaZero_Alpha]

qs I said earlier, nearly 80% of Americans don't even accept Evolution as a solid scientific theory

[citation needed]

Oh wait, here's a citation that proves that your statistics are crap.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/...29204.html

Amazing how that 80% is only about 40% on paper.

Not only that but the spotlight fallacy is so overplayed in topics like these that I'm actually embarrassed for you that you tried to even use it.

Get your shit together, you're claiming to represent logic itself.

[rawrnerozero]

I'm a Nihilist and I don't believe in anything including morals and a purpose to life. Why? I believe logic and reason goes above faith. Also whoever gave you this topic is a massive idiot because most of the papers will be slanderous as shit.

Trust me I didn't like the assignment I was given either, and the teacher told me to show a forum/survery blah blah blah and of course I know SPUF have high knowledge in this department so I turn to you guys and thanks a bunch ..