just be doing some saturday afternoon searching on the tinternet, came across some info about an antheist hildrens camp run in the summer for children to go on i presume to learn to be an athiest. Found ths concept quite interesting and got me thinking is there a leader or leadership of the athiests (as there would be in most other belief systems) to orgnise and run these type of events to promote their beliefs?

this lot?

I thought the point about being an atheist is that you had no beliefs to promote.

Doesn't have/need a leader by the very nature of what atheism is. (although some out there will try and make a quick buck through atheist cults, I mean camps)

Some may argue Richard Dawkins – more the poster boy I suppose 😉

thanks i can continue my reading, apologies for the miss spelling in the original post

Atheism – a non-prophet organisation. 😀

apologies for the miss spelling

🙄

There was a time when atheism was promoted in the name of Marx.

His "teachings" on dialectical materialism as an interpretation of reality, made him the nearest thing to an "atheist prophet" ….. I guess 💡

Atheism is not a belief system. End of.

Um,….. nah. Look it all up. Do the work.

Atheism is not a belief system. End of.

Isn't that Agnosticism? Surely Atheism is the belief that there is no god?

Check out Dawkins. He's pretty much an evangelical aetheist and probably the nearest they've got to a leader.

No it's not a belief in the same way that I don't believe in fairies, I simply don't think about it other than to think how stupid you have to be to go for that guff.

And so it's not a belief system.

If you familiarise your self with Richard Dawkins work he is first and foremost a fantastic scientist who finds himself an unwilling spokesperson for people who don't believe in crap.

i assumed it was not a belief system until earlier on today when i foud out about the camp,
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/atheism/
seems to say it is a belief system as well, so is it a belief in nothing that is followed or a belief that all other belief systems are wrong, made up, fanciful or not as good as the belief in nothing, i'm getting more confused the more i look into this.

thanks

No it's not a belief in the same way that I don't believe in fairies

So to summarise your belief about your belief is not a belief then.

There is no leader as it is not an organised movement. Many vocal proponents but no leader.

It is a belief system but also a philsophical approach to knowledge – to beleive in something one must have evidence to support your position;the evidence being tested via a scientific methodology etc.

Is it OK for the kids of atheists to believe in Santa?

genuine question BTW

The camp thing seems like a load of bollocks to me.

I'm in atheist I don't believe in god. That's it. I expect it's the same for most of us.

It's pointless being drawn into a semantic argument as they just go round in circles. The most usual being but Ah you believe in no god so you do believe in something —WTF and furthermore FFS!

There are any number of outdoors groups that have no religious element the woodcraft folk springs to mind.

Well, I just followed your link and I have to say, the BBC are misrepresenting me. Atheism has nothing to do with belief. Everything is a matter of probability, as quantum mechanics demonstrates. Given the absolute lack of any testable evidence, the probability that there is a god is so infinitely small that you might just as well say there is no such thing. Like unicorns, fairies or Father Xmas.

However, as with science, this is only a theory and it is available for disproof, unlike religions which propose unalterable "truths" (each of them different depending on the religion)…

As Richard has said to the idea that he may be wrong, what if he "dies and meets 'god;'":

"Well, I'm sure we could sit down and have a nice scientific discussion about where He fits into a quantum universe and then move on to the next interesting idea…" 🙂

Is it OK for the kids of atheists to believe in Santa?

IIRC he is not a prophet of any religion so why would it matter 😉
You may as well ask if it is ok for my kids to beleive in dragons and magic. Of course it is they are young, have imagination and are allowed to be foolish. An adult really should know better.

Santa used to be saint Nicholas so there is a tenuous link. I would have misgivings about telling a child of mine that Santa did exist.

How you approach atheism depends on the person. But essentially I agree with Mr Whoppit. You need to prove the existence of something if you are going to believe in it. I don't believe and agree with the proofs that have been put forward for any god to exist.

You need to prove the existence of something if you are going to believe in it

Prove you exist…

Perhaps more pertinent to ask who is the leader of the theists?
Is it the pope, the archbish, the imam, the top thetan, the head rabbi, the bestest snake handler?
Oh yes, I forgot, they've not actually worked out which of the exclusive religions is the real one yet, but still have time to spend having a dig at atheists…

…and they're all still puzzled by homosexuality, despite it being older than most religions, bless their little god fearing socks…

I love atheists. The most zealous of the zealots.

I thought that was your mum..

I love atheists. The most zealous of the zealots.

The term Zealot, in Hebrew kanai (????, frequently used in plural form, ?????), means one who is zealous on behalf of God. The term derives from Greek ??????? (zelotes), "emulator, zealous admirer or follower"

:banghead:

I love atheists. The most zealous of the zealots.

😕

Given the absolute lack of any testable evidence

Coyote, stick to catching roadrunner, you're really good at that…

Happy to let folk believe what they like so long as those beliefs don't lead to them killing infidels or non-believers (of whatever faith).
Atheism isn't a belief system as such, I think its just where a lot of educated folk end up when they weigh up what they know (think they know?) and the probablility of the whole heaven and hell thing.

Atheism isn't a belief system, it's an absence of a belief system.

Atheists have no leader and don't need one. Dawkins is a pretty good representation of it all but he's one of many, both good and bad (cough, christopher hitchens, cough).

There's not much to "preach" about in atheism (other than good old common sense and science) and no need to go and have gatherings to appease a god you don't believe in so there's no need for structure.

It would be nice to have a bit of a figurehead to take charge and put some of these religious crackpots in their place, though.

Atheist actively deny the existance of a god. Agnostics just dont believe / care / require proof.

Atheist actively deny the existance of a god.

I suspect most people who call themselves atheists would say that they believe the possibility of there being a god is so small that it's not worth taking seriously – as opposed to that there definitely isn't one.

No, atheists don't believe in a god, actuvely denying it is just making conversation.

Do we? Does that mean I get a prize? (to one happy hippy)

Atheism is a belief system like not collecting stamps is a hobby.

Strangely enough, I don't actively deny the existence of fairys or unicorns, or ghosts, or banshees, or dragons, or gnomes, or pixies, yet this troubles theists less….

Is it OK for the kids of atheists to believe in Santa?

As an atheist parent, I'm quite happy for my kids to believe in Santa, they'll grow out of it at some point and it's really quite sweet.

To the OP: No, no leader I can think of. I've read some of Dawkins' books, they're well written and entertaining, but it's hard to think of him as "my leader".

Dawkins is an evangelical atheist. I dislike evangelists of any type.

What CHB said.

Dawkins and his fan-boys are just as bad as the Muslim extremists and Christian God-botherers.

Live and let live.

Calling zero, one, or many gods to thread number 5 please.
Sense of perspective urgently required.