We have gotten a new administrator where I work (nursing home) who is apparently very religious. We had tornado warnings at work yesterday and when news came of a touchdown the next town over he (kind of jokingly) said if anyone's not right with God they've got about 15 minutes. On top of that, they've started praying at inservices and drop Christian slurs all over the place. The DON is big into the church, the ADON is religious. Most of the doctors are big into church. This is a small southern town and it's gospel music, neatly cropped hair, button down shirts and Hush Puppies all the way. They think I'm so meek and sweet as sugar, the patients love me and I love them (and I do!) I wonder what they would think if they knew. I make these natural hippie soaps and so many people scramble to buy them (even though these soaps are very expensive to make I sell them super cheap just because it makes me happy that I can make something other people like and I like to see them happy). They probably think I'm a Christian like them.
I just wonder what they would think of me if they knew. Maybe it shouldn't be a big deal to me, but it bothers me. I think they may feel a combination of disgust, pity, anger and frustration and I'm afraid they would even fire me. Of course, they can't discriminate on religion, but you know how the cookie crumbles...I have a big heart and I really care about other people, but I'm as atheist as Carl Sagan. I fight hard to respect them with their religion, but I somehow doubt the favor would be returned.
Ever dealt with or seen this? What do you think the outcome would be if a small, devoutly religious southern community who was all about appearances found out a valued employee held such an abhorrent (to them) view of the world?
That said, it seems like the Catholics, Baptists, 7th Day Adventists, Presbyterians, Mormons, Jews, Lutherans, and all manner of other religious types seem to be the ones really making a difference in the delivery of charity and healthcare.
Never saw a hospital run by an atheist organization, and I can't remember ever running across an atheist charity.
I think the fact that all the religious organizations you listed above are just that: organizations.
Atheism isn't exactly an organized religion.
It's like asking why Just for Men doesn't make a 'bald' dye color.
There are, however, a bazillion secular charities and healthcare groups out there. Doctors without Borders immediately comes to mind.
To call them different types is to imply on some level that they are separate-a person is either a strong atheist or a weak atheist. If we look more closely, however, we will note that almost all atheists are both on various levels.
What this means is that all atheists are weak atheists. The difference, then, between weak and strong atheism is not that some people belong to one instead of the other, but rather that some people belong to one in addition to the other. All atheists are weak atheists because all atheists, by definition, lack belief in the existence of gods. Some atheists, however, are also strong atheists because they take the extra step of denying the existence of at least some gods.
So it says ALL atheists are weak atheists, and it opens with this;
Weak atheism, also sometimes referred to as implicit atheism, is simply another name for the broadest and most general conception of atheism: the absence of belief in any gods.
So all that said, an identifying reference to God by an atheist just seemed odd to me.
I am a weak atheist. Also known as an agnostic atheist. For me the evidence in this world doesn't support the conclusion that there is a god. Of course there could be missing evidence and there could be a god. I just happen to follow what I see as the evidence. But as science dictates, there is no such thing as impossible. God could exist. Even if I think it's highly improbable.
I make no actual claim that god 'does not exist.' That's a belief.
So, having a reference that uses god is no contradiction. Especially since it is someone else's quote. Not mine...
Specializes in Flight Nurse, Pedi CICU, IR, Adult CTICU.
I think the fact that all the religious organizations you listed above are just that: organizations.
Atheism isn't exactly an organized religion.
It's like asking why Just for Men doesn't make a 'bald' dye color.
There are, however, a bazillion secular charities and healthcare groups out there. Doctors without Borders immediately comes to mind.
There are organized atheistic organizations.
And I think it's important to draw a distinction between a church and the services it provides...not all services are direct injections of dogma or doctrine.
Doctors without Borders is a great organization, but I didn't think it was based on an organized belief in atheism.
The point is that it seems to me that some religions take a lot of grief for their faith, and yet they continue to offer their non-religious services to everyone.
I didn't mean to leave out the Episcopalians, especially since they started the hospital where I received my original RN education. Sorry.
Not ANYWHERE on the same scale of even the most obscure Christian denomination.
And the ones out there have very specific purposes.
I know of one that does probono lawyer work but it's only 3 lawyers. There aren't any LARGE organizations capable of delivering the same services that some Christian denominations do.
Their numbers are quite few and their resources even less, and their mission/vission extremely narrow in scope, typically, to freedom of/from religion subjects.
Doctors without Borders is a great organization, but I didn't think it was based on an organized belief in atheism.
My point is that starting an organization based on an organized belief in atheism is as silly as offering 'bald' as a color to dye your hair. Doctors without borders is based on (secular) humanist principles, which is an underlying ethical system many non-religious (but certainly not all-inclusive) and also many religious persons adhere to.
Specializes in Flight Nurse, Pedi CICU, IR, Adult CTICU.
You didn't read.
I am a weak atheist. Also known as an agnostic atheist. For me the evidence in this world doesn't support the conclusion that there is a god. Of course there could be missing evidence and there could be one. I just happen to follow what I see as the evidence.
I make no actual claim that god 'does not exist.' That's a belief.
So, having a reference that uses god is no contradiction. Especially since it is someone else's quote. Not mine...
Of course I did read...the things I posted came directly out of the link you provided. Seemingly now in contradiction to the things you now say. Your link says that every atheist is a weak atheist, and a weak atheist's most general concept is the absence of belief in any gods.
And an atheist (agnostic or not), by very definition does not believe that God exists. That's not my opinion.
And that's not the correct definition of an agnostic atheist, but it really doesn't matter how you label yourself...I respect your beliefs no matter how you label them.
I do think it's easier to express a position, however, when it's confined to academic definitions.
Honnête et Sérieux
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Apparently I misunderstood this as well.
Wasn't my intention...just seem contradictory to me.