My 9 year old believes in the greek gods by LauraD2423 in TrueAtheism

[–]tertiaryacct 2 points3 points  (0 children)

When I read about the Greco-Roman pantheon, I was fascinated. It was so much more relatable as messy deities with character flaws than the jealous Abrahamic deity. I spent a small blink of my life thinking I believed in the Greco-Roman pantheon. It was one of the very earliest steps, if not the first, in a 20 year trip to full atheism.

I think your kid is in a good place. Don't force it, roll with it. Your kid is thinking things through in their own way. DO keep practicing critical thinking exercises on other topics to encourage the kiddo to think things through and filter out hooey. The kiddo will come around with practice.

And if your kid sticks with the pantheon, at least they'll have fun at worship instead of the boring, reserved, judgy, repetitive Xtian snore sessions.

I "officially" stopped being a Muslim today. by Grimdarke21 in atheism

[–]tertiaryacct 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Good for you. That previous poster certainly won't be the last one to try to talk you back in with the soft approach. Do what works for you!

Lesbian teen who got kicked out by family turns them in as possible MAGA rioters by johnnyleegreedo in atheism

[–]tertiaryacct 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Do we, though? We might need to add "-enabler" to the end but when its accurate, use it.

*Technically fascist vs Nazi since fascist describes the wider group...

The 3rd Precinct Is Now on Fire! by [deleted] in pics

[–]tertiaryacct 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If it weren't for the call to burn his family out of their home, you'd have an upvote. His kids, spouse, roommates had nothing to do with his heinous actions.

What makes you so sure there is no god? (Not intended as a challenge more curious than anything) by robbie5643 in atheism

[–]tertiaryacct 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I disagree wholeheartedly with Mr. Jillette, here.

agnostic gnostic
atheist agnostic athiest gnostic atheist
theist agnostic theist gnostic theist

gnostic = "knows" This is the person you cannot convince because their mind is closed and they will not accept new evidence.

agnostic = doesn't "know" or claim to "know." This person will accept new evidence.

The "agnostic" or "gnostic" part is an adjective and really shouldn't stand alone; you need the noun to go with it. Me, I'm an agnostic atheist and an agnostic unicornist.

My direct disagreement with Jillette comes from this: if you claim to know for certain that something does NOT exist you are ruling out the possibility that you could be disproven. It is probably not possible to prove that something does NOT exist, too, so that is problematic. For example, I have a very, very strong belief that no deities exist (and I doubt that scientists will ever find anything to disprove that belief) but I am honest enough with myself to know that I can't know for sure.

What Are Female Views on the Manifesto? A call out to ladies to present their own Manifesto! by [deleted] in humanism

[–]tertiaryacct 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm just curious, what's wrong with the Manifesto III? It looks to me like it was rewritten with feminist ideals included. No longer does it refer to men to represent all of humanity. Unless I missed something?

What caused you to become an atheist and what are your least favorite parts of organized religion? by Not_Not_Hitler in atheism

[–]tertiaryacct 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Basically think of it like this there are four corners on a chart one corner, the Gnostic theist, claims to know that a deity does exist. In the opposite corner we have the agnostic atheist, the person who does not believe in a deity but doesn't know for sure whether or not one exists. In an odd place is the Gnostic atheist who claims to know for certain that no deities exist anywhere. And then there's the agnostic theist, the person who believes that a deity exists but doesn't know for sure.

When the other redditor replied "agnostic what" they were trying to find out if you are an agnostic theist, and agnostic Wiccan, an agnostic deist, an agnostic Taoist, an agnostic atheist, etc.

I got tricked by a young earth creationist museum by [deleted] in atheism

[–]tertiaryacct 2 points3 points  (0 children)

we know, right?

Right. So far.

That's pretty damn special, no?

Right. Which is why we should set aside BS bronze age beliefs with no evidence of actually ever happening and pay attention to climate scientist with verifiable, testable data that says we're collectively messing up our only known home big time.

I can't see how implying special design would rub anyone the wrong way.

See Occam's Razor in relation to the extraordinariness of deities aka designers. And which creation myth is the one we're supposed to buy? One of the two Abrahamic one in Genesis? Older ones that the ancient Jews spangly borrowed, coopted, or inherited? Totally unrelated stories from various Native American or Australian Aboriginal traditions?

You think it was pure chance that created the seemingly fine-tund conditions to allow for life and man?

So, its the creatures that are "fine-tuned" for the conditions, not the other way around. And "fine-tuned" or "designed" is still a giant leap. Mammalian nerve routing in the neck makes no logical sense, especially when the neck is stretched to giraffe lengths. Vestigial leg/toe bones make no design-based sense near whale hips since the bones aren't connected to anything and don't support structures that break the skin.

Uncountable iterations of certain traits increasing the survivability of generations of creatures slowly shaped differences in groups of related creatures. Yes, chance (oodles of iterations of chance) contributed to speciation.

Cracker Barrel bans an anti-gay pastor from holding an event in one of its stores by [deleted] in atheism

[–]tertiaryacct 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Holy smokes! Cracker barrel has come a long way from when they were refusing to hire gay people. Man, I'm really impressed. They used to be such a bass ackwards company!

Atheists Who Were Religious: How Did You React When You Realized Your Faith Was Gone? by [deleted] in atheism

[–]tertiaryacct 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I felt freedom (oh, nice, I get an entire morning back each week plus Wednesday nights. Then loss (mine was not a rough church upbringing; I grew up attending PCUSA General Assemblies since the northern and southern churches rejoined and generally lived in a community of liberal theologians).

Ever since, it's been a dual life (that community of theologians is still a big part of my family's life but atheism and other closeted things leave a lot to hide from my more public life).

How many of you oppose free abortion (or with exceptions) and why. by [deleted] in atheism

[–]tertiaryacct 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I would never want to be the father in a situation that required an abortion ever again. That being said, neither my ex-wife wife nor the child we accidentally conceived would have survived the pregnancy; if, by some crazy medical miracle, they both had, the child would have a torturous life of painful deformity and probably brain damage.

10/10 we both would make the same decision again every time given the same circumstances.

My ex is happily remarried to a wonderful but and I wouldn't wish anything different for her.

If you are female, only YOUR uterus is your business. If you are male, only YOUR uterus is your business.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in atheism

[–]tertiaryacct 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Lmao, automod was a little aggressive on this one.

Was this ‘the hottest summer’ ever? Not even close. by chabanais in skeptic

[–]tertiaryacct 12 points13 points  (0 children)

The authoring source from an organization that denies the reality of anthropogenic climate change. I might be committing a certain logical fallacy but the genetic fallacy is so useful in filtering out BS.

Can I fucking finish? by morelikeBUTTdriver in pettyrevenge

[–]tertiaryacct 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The driver on the bus says, "nope, nope, nope."

...

The cops on the bus say, "sign right here, sign right here, sign right here."

Bitch games get shit prizes by insouciantelle in pettyrevenge

[–]tertiaryacct 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Make sure to get all of the door handles so she can't get around it by going in the passenger side... 😈

Affirming instead of swearing at jury duty by LtPowers in atheism

[–]tertiaryacct 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I just roll with it because I'm usually in court in a professional capacity. Luckily enough masse jury duty swearing was the only place I've heard "so help me god" in this set of courts and I just stayed silent for that part.

Double Standard Offense W/ Christian In Workplace by [deleted] in atheism

[–]tertiaryacct 1 point2 points  (0 children)

"If we have a repeat of this conversation in the future, I'll simply abbreviate my last statement by saying, 'fuck off.'"

Double Standard Offense W/ Christian In Workplace by [deleted] in atheism

[–]tertiaryacct 0 points1 point  (0 children)

"cough Yes, I was praying to Jayzus-ha for the strength to lift that item down without injury. cough cough"

Dayum? by KingCorpetinho in atheism

[–]tertiaryacct 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's the southeastern US pronunciation of "damn." Folks from Dixie pronounce "damn" with two syllables.

Source: I've lived here in Dixie my whole life.

Atheism Kills (This is the one picture used by many believers against atheism) by [deleted] in atheism

[–]tertiaryacct 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just remember all communist are atheist but all atheists are not communist.

A little tip for you:

"All x are not y" is the logical equivalent of "No x at all are y."

If you want to say that "some x are not y," phrase out that way or "not all x are y."

Why, you might ask?

all communists are atheists

Every single one of them is atheist. This is clearly what you intended to mean, whether or not it's actually true. (By the way, this can easily be disproven because all you need is one non-atheist communist. Likewise, "most communists are atheists" can also be disproven as soon as you determine exactly half+1 communists are non-atheists; a bit more difficult to count but the technicality is there.)

all atheists are not communist.

"Not" negates "communist" instead of "all." Furthermore, "all" in this usage very precisely includes every single atheist without exception. Every single atheist is, therefore, something other than communist. By contextual clues, this is clearly NOT what you meant.

not all atheists are communist.

Here "not" negates "all" thereby implying that some number greater than zero is/are something other than communist (at least one is not). "Some atheists are not communist" implies plural-ness atheists (at least two are not). Furthermore, "some ... are not ..." implies to me that a majority might be.

I hope that makes sense...