Quote (El1te @ Jan 9 2025 12:15pm)

Yes, the deities are syncretic across all independent civilizations which is strong evidence for their validity. The idea and archetype of a wise father is universal, just as wisdom is understood universally as the trait at the very top of the civilization hierarchy. These indeed formed from oral traditions preceding the written word or carved symbol, which itself was begotten of free thought.

Jupiter quite literally means sky father. No one ever actually believed there is a robed man in the sky like atheists absurdly believe, the image of Jupiter is a symbol which represents an abstract idea.

Quote (Mahtava @ Jan 9 2025 09:19am)

I feel like nihilistic atheism is a selfish and infantile world view, and severely lacking in humility.

There is beauty and magnificence in the expression of the universe, and also balance in all things.

I feel we share a similar sentiment, It is nice to see an intellectual post on here for a change.

Have a great day

Quote (InsaneBobb @ Jan 9 2025 09:59am)

No, saying that many buddhists believe in deities and supernatural elements that help or hinder their path to enlightenment is exactly the same as saying "Most Muslims believe Mohammed was a prophet."

You clearly know very little about Buddhism, and I'd be shocked if you've ever met a Buddhist. Get out and live a little.

And once again, having faith in ANY form of supernatural element, OR the soul, disqualifies you from Atheism. And yes, Atheism IS a faith. You have faith that nothing exists beyond the natural. Which, honestly, means you believe something even more difficult to comprehend than ANY religious person, no matter how whacked out. It puts you on the same level as those who would burn people alive for claiming that the Earth is spherical. They haven't seen it, therefore it can't exist, and by the way, it's time for you to die for believing it.

Atheists are honestly the most hideous people on the planet. Jihadists aren't entirely wrong when the call them animals, though I highly disagree that killing atheists is a mercy. The whole "Thou Shalt Not Murder" commandment that Jews, Christians, AND Muslims believe in should kind of prohibit that.

Quote (thesnipa @ Jan 9 2025 10:21am)

imo not that i have a dog in this fight id say logically deities is the incorrect factor, as that's split among Buddhists. rebirth is afaik 100% a staple of all Buddhist believers. making all of them theists imo.

unless there is some uber logical sect of Buddhists that believe "rebirth" is scientific and simple refers to passage of nutrients from one being to another via the breakdown of organic matter after death. maybe they exist.

the label of Buddhists being "enlightened athiests" imo is largely a misnomer to explain to westerners that they have no all powerful god of their faith and do not in fact worship Buddha, but in fact strive to be like him in their mortal capacity.

Quote (Shadowoffury @ Jan 9 2025 11:47am)

“Theos” means “god”, it does not mean “afterlife”. The only thing the word “theism” represents is a belief in the existence of god. The only thing the word “atheism” represents is a belief that god does not exist.

Buddha is an “enlightened atheist”, according to the buddhist faith. Buddhists are merely atheists seeking enlightenment.

Quote (thesnipa @ Jan 9 2025 01:07pm)

Sure, if we break words down to their Latin roots we can find all sorts of such arguments. but colloquially any person who believes in supernatural forces IMO cannot be classified as an atheist. perhaps even colloquially it's not correct to call them theists either. they're certainly not polytheist, monotheist, etc.

but that exposes the crux of your argument imo, in conversation we speak often about atheists, its taken on a more distinct meaning in the lexicon than simply "has a God" and means more generally "has a religion with supernatural aspects". we hardly ever speak of "theists", we speak of a binary most commonly between the religious and atheists.

Buddhists by and large may be technically atheists, but i think its mostly just context to the argument being made whereas we often think of atheists as science and nothing more minded people. most do seek enlightenment, by having their essence pass from them after death and be reborn into a new entity which continues seeking it. that's religion, god or no. its certainly not scientifically backed.

Quote (babun1024 @ Jan 8 2025 11:51am)

Proper prayer is a form of meditation geared towards the person who is praying to cope with a situation outside of their scope of influence.