Atheist symbol

[Solamnus]

If you are an atheist, what symbol would you endorse to represent atheism?

TheFlying Spaghetti Monster ?
The Invisible Pink Unicorn ?

Or on a more serious note, the Atomic atheist logo?

[AnkhX100]

Considering that Atheism, in my view, is not a religion, I, as an Atheist, do not think that Atheism needs a uniform symbol, but it is up to individual Atheists to decide if they choose any symbol to represent their philosophy.

[FUNKbrs]

Atheism IS a religion. There was a time when science said Christianity was right too, you know.

[AnkhX100]

At 9/4/05 10:04 AM, FUNKbrs wrote: Atheism IS a religion. There was a time when science said Christianity was right too, you know.

How is Atheism a religion? There are different ways one can be an Atheist, which may be considered a religion, but in a broad sense, Atheism is simply the lack of a deity, and if it is expanded to our Western understanding of Atheism, Atheism is also the lack of any dogmatic beliefs and rituals, which in my view, is important part of any organized religion.

but again, the term religion is hard to define, so I don't know, that was simply my take on it.

[Memorize]

At 9/4/05 10:17 AM, AnkhX100 wrote:

How is Atheism a religion? There are different ways one can be an Atheist, which may be considered a religion, but in a broad sense, Atheism is simply the lack of a deity,

Buddhism has no diety and that's considered a religion and way of life.

[AnkhX100]

At 9/4/05 10:22 AM, TimeFrame wrote:

At 9/4/05 10:17 AM, AnkhX100 wrote:

How is Atheism a religion? There are different ways one can be an Atheist, which may be considered a religion, but in a broad sense, Atheism is simply the lack of a deity,

Buddhism has no diety and that's considered a religion and way of life.

That's why I emphasize the Western understanding of Atheism, which does not include the belief of any spiritual plane other than our own reality, like Buddhism. Also, understand that within Buddhism, many deities where added on by Buddhists depending on their local cultures that converted into Buddhism. This thus negated the Atheistic aspect of Buddhism.

[Proteas]

At 9/4/05 10:17 AM, AnkhX100 wrote: How is Atheism a religion?

Because it's "religiously" practiced.... otherwise it wouldn't be listed in Wikipedia as a major World Religion.

[AnkhX100]

At 9/4/05 10:39 AM, Proteas wrote:

At 9/4/05 10:17 AM, AnkhX100 wrote: How is Atheism a religion?

Because it's "religiously" practiced.... otherwise it wouldn't be listed in Wikipedia as a major World Religion.

It's a list of "Religions and Belief Systems", Atheism being a belief system. ReligiousTolerance.org also says that Atheism is not a religion.

There is actually some debate within the Atheist community concerining the Kaufman v. McCaughtry Case.

[beejrawk]

In my case, atheism = apathy.

So as for a symbol, I frankly couldn't give a shit.

[Memorize]

I dont see what the big deal is weather it's a religion or not.

[beejrawk]

I wouldn't call secularism any sort of religion.

Religious people are just JEALOUS.

[beejrawk]

At 9/4/05 10:04 AM, FUNKbrs wrote: Atheism IS a religion. There was a time when science said Christianity was right too, you know.

Is that so? Do you mean the pre-modern period/enlightenment where God = all? Because science emerged when peopel started to experiment and determine that there are natural forces in play that are in fant NOT being controlled by God? (Gravity for example)

[Reverend-Kyle]

Atheism is a weird term because it shows a lack of something. Being religious (having a religion) has become the norm. So I guess trying to distinguish yourself from the norm has actually dragged itself into the norm because of the labelling process.

But if you insist on calling atheism a religion, it must be the most shittiest religion in the world because, from my understanding, most of its 'members' don't care about it.

[EZ3]

atheism isn't a religion its a belief, that there is no god. Take the opposite of atheism, "theism" which is the belief in god. Christians, Buddhist, etc. are all theists, but theism is not a religion. A religion is a set of beliefs, and practises.

conclusion: atheism is not a religion, it requires no symbol.

[Elfer]

At 9/4/05 10:04 AM, FUNKbrs wrote: Atheism IS a religion. There was a time when science said Christianity was right too, you know.

Atheism is only a religion if you refuse to acknowledge the possibility that a god of some sort might exist.

[MTeK]

The religious form of Atheism is Humanism.
"Humanism is an active ethical and philosophical approach to life focusing on human solutions to human issues through rational arguments without recourse to a god, gods, sacred texts or religious creeds" (Wikipedia)
The most widly known symbol for Humanism is from the American Humanist Association.

[SilentObserver]

At 9/4/05 02:14 PM, MTeK wrote:

The religious form of Atheism is Humanism.
"Humanism is an active ethical and philosophical approach to life focusing on human solutions to human issues through rational arguments without recourse to a god, gods, sacred texts or religious creeds" (Wikipedia)
The most widly known symbol for Humanism is from the American Humanist Association.

Good find. I didn't realize that =\

[ReThink]

At 9/4/05 02:14 PM, MTeK wrote: The religious form of Atheism is Humanism.
"Humanism is an active ethical and philosophical approach to life focusing on human solutions to human issues through rational arguments without recourse to a god, gods, sacred texts or religious creeds" (Wikipedia)
The most widly known symbol for Humanism is from the American Humanist Association.

Damn, beat me to it, I was gonna bring up the humanists.

Anywho, outside of humanism I really don't see any way you consider atheism a religion. There is no collective set of beliefs in aethists outside of not believing in a deity or higher power.

[MortifiedPenguins]

well what do you really define religion as. an organization centered around beliefs. well a belief is something based on faith right. so athiesim alone is a belief, but if they started an athiests organization then wouldn't it be a religion.

[Fedges]

At 9/4/05 01:59 PM, Elfer wrote:

Atheism is only a religion if you refuse to acknowledge the possibility that a god of some sort might exist.

Atheism IS believing that no god of any sort might exist. If i thought a god of some sort might exist I would then by agnostic and not an atheist.

[Elfer]

At 9/4/05 05:20 PM, fedges wrote: Atheism IS believing that no god of any sort might exist. If i thought a god of some sort might exist I would then by agnostic and not an atheist.

What about "weak atheism"?

That is an actual term, you know.

Besides, I don't know if atheism really fits the requirements that something needs to be a religion. I mean, isn't a religion supposed to explain the unobservable and such?

[Nomader]

At 9/4/05 10:04 AM, FUNKbrs wrote: Atheism IS a religion. There was a time when science said Christianity was right too, you know.

And that's called Scientology - a really popular religion amongst the highest classes of celebirties like Tom Cruise...

[Solamnus]

At 9/4/05 05:20 PM, fedges wrote:

At 9/4/05 01:59 PM, Elfer wrote:

Atheism is only a religion if you refuse to acknowledge the possibility that a god of some sort might exist.

Atheism IS believing that no god of any sort might exist. If i thought a god of some sort might exist I would then by agnostic and not an atheist. :

Atheism is not a religion. The simple act of saying, "I do not believe that god exists" does not make atheism a religion.

People get hung up on the word "belief." If I said, "I believe the repairs to my Mustang's engine will fix it" does that mean I am a follower of Fordism?

Please.

[ThemonkeyonNG]

At 9/4/05 10:06 PM, Mariofan22 wrote: And that's called Scientology - a really popular religion amongst the highest classes of celebirties like Tom Cruise...

Yeah but Tom Cruise "Jumped the Couch" (went crazy) and that whole "religion" was made by a man who wanted to make money.

[Elfer]

At 9/5/05 12:02 AM, Solamnus wrote: Atheism is not a religion. The simple act of saying, "I do not believe that god exists" does not make atheism a religion.

Yeah, but a lot of atheistsa aren't saying "I do not believe that god exists," they're saying "I believe that god does not exist"

That's the difference. That's also a form of having faith in the unverifiable.

[Solamnus]

At 9/5/05 12:25 AM, Elfer wrote:

At 9/5/05 12:02 AM, Solamnus wrote: Atheism is not a religion. The simple act of saying, "I do not believe that god exists" does not make atheism a religion.

Yeah, but a lot of atheistsa aren't saying "I do not believe that god exists," they're saying "I believe that god does not exist"

That's the difference. That's also a form of having faith in the unverifiable. :

No, it's not. Strong atheism; i.e., "I believe god does not exist" is not a form of faith. It is based off of (what they consider) a total lack of evidence for the existence of a diety. The evidence of lack thereof, is meaningless to the religious view of faith.

If you would like to argue this point, it is best that you define the terms "belief" and "faith" so I know where you are trying to come from.

[poxpower]

At 9/5/05 02:12 AM, Solamnus wrote:

No, it's not. Strong atheism; i.e., "I believe god does not exist" is not a form of faith. It is based off of (what they consider) a total lack of evidence for the existence of a diety. The evidence of lack thereof, is meaningless to the religious view of faith.

Would you say that you are 100% sure that the Sasquatch does NOT exist?
How can you possibly support this claim?

there is no way to prove a negative, hence Atheists, believing in a negative i.e. GOD DOES NOT exist, require faith, so they are insane.

<3

[Jimsween]

I need ideologies to be presented to me in the form of symbols to understand them. It's just like watching the movie instead of the book, its easier.

If we make flying spaghetti monster buttons and wear them were going to get alot of people to realize god is fake, because up until now, they just thought that the reason we think hes fake is because we hate him and not because its facetious.

Blah blah blah whatever. Athiests are dumb. Anyone who can be that sure about god either way is just deluding themselves, but with the Athiests its not even because of fear or hope, there really is no reasoning.

[tre-x]

Aethiesm is a religion, just not one where you get together to sing songs on Sundays.

Christians believe in a God. Aethiests believe there is not a God. Neither can be, or has been, comfirmed or denied by any evidence qualifying to 'know' there is or is not a God, so each truely comes down to faith in a belief.

As for aethiesm's symbol, the humanism icon will do just fine.

[night-watch-man18]

At 9/5/05 02:12 AM, Solamnus wrote:

At 9/5/05 12:25 AM, Elfer wrote:

At 9/5/05 12:02 AM, Solamnus wrote: Atheism is not a religion. The simple act of saying, "I do not believe that god exists" does not make atheism a religion.

Yeah, but a lot of atheistsa aren't saying "I do not believe that god exists," they're saying "I believe that god does not exist"

That's the difference. That's also a form of having faith in the unverifiable. :

No, it's not. Strong atheism; i.e., "I believe god does not exist" is not a form of faith. It is based off of (what they consider) a total lack of evidence for the existence of a diety. The evidence of lack thereof, is meaningless to the religious view of faith.

If you would like to argue this point, it is best that you define the terms "belief" and "faith" so I know where you are trying to come from.

Pssst, Elfer... ignore Solemnus. No matter what evidence you provide to him, he will ignore it and repeat himself.

Even though Atheism has been recognized as a religion, in that Atheists believe there is no God (which is a form of faith as shown in your link), he will simply ignore you, as seen above. The boy needs to learn how to debate.

For your own viewing pleasure, I even outlined his method of "debating":
http://www.newground..id=335865&page=3

Believe in the practice of veal or not, in the face of evidence, he simply doesn't want to accept that his opinions may or may not be wrong. Then, when you request him to provide evidence for his own arguments, it never seems to come about (how odd).

You can read the whole thread to get the whole context of it, but really, you just need to check out the guide that's near the bottom of page three that I have graciously provided.

Now, as for the original question in this thread...

Well, given that I'm not an Atheist myself, I feel that I don't reflect the Atheist following. However, if I were, I would choose the Flying Spaghetti Monster. It seems to capture them well. Though, it could be confused for Scientology... the S in the center might lead people to believe that it stands for "Scientology", and the monster kinda looks like an alien, which coincides well with their belief.

Ok so, on second thought, The Invisible Pink Unicorn. There are no letters to cause confusion with it, and it looks like a world that would have no God over it if you look at it's basic shape.