20
submitted 4 months ago by MindTraveller@lemmy.ca to c/atheism@lemmy.world

"You do, you know," said The Lady. "Everyone has gods. You just don't think they're gods."

- Terry Pratchett

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] Shou@lemmy.world 4 points 4 months ago

I love discworld. I don't get the quote though. Anything you wanna add op?

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 14 points 4 months ago

It sounds like the typical "atheism is really a religion" nonsense.

[-] uriel238 2 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

More that we exhibit the same behaviors around some things that we exhibit around gods, even to the point of sacrificing life and limb to them.

Gridiron Football is quite godlike in the US. We lose only a few teen and college lives every year on the field itself (Twelve a year, according to NBC news), but the injuries and concussions are plentiful and life-defining. And it's normal for us to erect vast stadiums for pro-ball with taxpayer dollars while children go hungry and workers are without medical care.

The immersion problem in grain silos fits right into American Gods in which small private farms don't keep their grain silos adequately arrid (dehumidified) and so it sticks in chunks and has to be prodded down leading to twenty or so worker deaths by immersion, Sacrifices to Ceres or Demeter. The level of moisture also increases the mold growth in the grain, though I don't know if it's to dangerous levels.

My own favorite natural god is the sun which shines life giving energy on us every day for eons. Yet we have to avoid looking at it and without the protection of the Earth's magnetic field would quickly be fried in its presence (at eight light seconds away). Without the sun, we'd freeze and die. And if we were to imagine the sun a human body, the rest of the solar system (mostly Jupiter) would be a blood draw, and the earth would be a drop of blood smeared on a slide.

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 2 points 4 months ago

As I said, the typical "atheism is a religion" nonsense.

I worship nothing and I never have worshiped anything. I've also never believed in something with supernatural powers that can control me.

I have no gods. I don't really care what your favorite gods are, I never asked.

[-] uriel238 2 points 4 months ago

Quite the opposite, as it suggests that human societies behave to natural things as if they were supernatural. We're superstitious. It implies that all those things we might call god, are merely lightning in a thunderstorm behaving according to electrostatic mechanics.

I don't fear the Almighty, but I do fear militants who are determined to insist I do.

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 2 points 4 months ago

I do no such thing. You do not speak for me and neither does OP.

[-] MindTraveller@lemmy.ca 1 points 4 months ago

Wow, somebody's crabby

this post was submitted on 28 Jun 2024
20 points (100.0% liked)

Atheism

4028 readers
2 users here now

Community Guide


Archive Today will help you look at paywalled content the way search engines see it.


Statement of Purpose

Acceptable

Unacceptable

Depending on severity, you might be warned before adverse action is taken.

Inadvisable


Application of warnings or bans will be subject to moderator discretion. Feel free to appeal. If changes to the guidelines are necessary, they will be adjusted.


If you vocally harass or discriminate against any individual member, you will be removed.

Likewise, if you are a member, sympathizer or a resemblant of a group that is known to largely hate, mock, discriminate against, and/or want to take lives of any other group of people, and you were provably vocal about your hate, then you you will be banned on sight.

Provable means able to provide proof to the moderation, and, if necessary, to the community.

 ~ /c/nostupidquestions

If you want your space listed in this sidebar and it is especially relevant to the atheist or skeptic communities, PM DancingPickle and we'll have a look!


Connect with Atheists

Help and Support Links

Streaming Media

This is mostly YouTube at the moment. Podcasts and similar media - especially on federated platforms - may also feature here.

Orgs, Blogs, Zines

Mainstream

Bibliography

Start here...

...proceed here.

Proselytize Religion

From Reddit

As a community with an interest in providing the best resources to its members, the following wiki links are provided as historical reference until we can establish our own.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS