h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I knew you were being flippant, that's why I ended on the flippant fairy note.

My knack for not spotting irony parody strikes again.

I thought you were taking me to task for kariblake's benefit.

'Twas purely pointless pedantry for no one's benefit.

>>> ...sales on books by "atheists" are also up big time so possibly they too have an economic stake in this <<<
( )
>> Indeed! It also shows that increasingly athiests are realising they have every right to criticise religion and also discuss the 'origins' and reasons why religions are created. <<

Actually it shows that atheism is becoming a community, a business, and for lack of a better word, a religion.

As I have said several times thru the history of this thread, this 'progress' is not necessarily a good thing. First and foremost because it flies in the face of the individual atheist's (or agnostic's) primary realistion that organisation and bureaucracy and 'established order' maintained by some governing body is the principle evil of capital R religions.

It is not a logical progress to reject Religion only to join another group whose 'soul' objective is to disrupt and even destroy organised Religion. Falling into the old trap of an 'us versus them' conflict is counter productive to the individual's realisation of self in a cold uncaring cosmos.

Atheism is fast becoming nothing more than another 'gang' into which we are invited to surrender our identity to the purposes (financial, vainglorious, etc) of the organisers.


~jwf~

>>And, someday if I get around to pointing my camera at the bottom of my garden I might actually snap a photo of the fairy down there.winkeye

No point, anhaga. The fairies are invisible. Or exist on an immaterial plane. Or only appear if you truly accept them into your heart. Or something.

Squiggles:
>>Actually it shows that atheism is becoming a community, a business, and for lack of a better word, a religion.

Possibly. But was Voltaire part of this industry? Or Epicurus (300BCE)? Or the various unbelievers who the author of Exodus* threatened to smite?





* Popularly supposed to be Moses - which is odd, given that it describes his funeral.

>> ...fairies are invisible... Or only appear if you truly accept them into your heart. <<

Here ya go anhaga:



See? Nothing to get worked up about really.
They're just cute and curiously evasive innocents in a cold cruel whirled. It doesn't surprise me that you can't see them.

But they surely exist because we know what they look like and readily identify them when represented as:



See? That's two you've seen now.
One more and you can make a wish.


~jwf~

>> ...was Voltaire part of this industry? Or Epicurus...<<

No more than JB Priestly invented Coca Cola.

The insights and discoveries of individual minds will (strangely this usually only happens when they are correct) inevitably clear the path for those who follow. That the path widens into institutional dogma is the fault of the many who follow.

Trailblazers and pathfinders like Voltaire are simply expressing their observations as individuals and cannot be held accountable when their 'philosophy' turns into a bloody Revolution. Their intention is to enlighten not to train mobs in the fine art of setting Bastilles on fire.


~jwf~

I just found some interesting reading from a branch of this new industry/religion: http://www.kurdistaniatheists.com/index1.html

>> http://www.kurdistaniatheists.com/index1.html <<

There's an irresistible link there, 'Message from DARWIN'. which turns out to be a Kurdish guy named Darwin who is the leader of the Kurdish Atheist Movement seeking support for their proposed 'Science/Atheist' radio and tv broadcasts.

He specifically asks for a 'reader' and I must admit I'd take the job. I have a lifetime of experience in broadcasting but am considered too old and grumpy to be employable anywhere in the North American market.

But, in spite of my acting abilities and my ease with being paid to spout crap written by others (which I don't personally believe) there is more to job satisfaction than a paycheck. Working conditions for example. I don't want to end up raped and burned for someone else's beliefs. Or non-beliefs depending on your point of view (though as I keep saying that distinction is lost on me since dying for non-beliefs gets you just as dead).


~jwf~

Coincidentally, the guy down at my local kebab/curry/pizza place is a Kurdish Atheist. He was in the Kurdish Communist Party.

fairies wear boots, and ya gotta believe me!

Just look for the boot-prints...

jwf ~


This is getting somewhat tiresome; people trying to make 'athiesm' be like a religion. Athiesm is simply believing that gods do not exist. Nothing more. That's it. Move along. Nothing more to see.



No it isn't. That is just people being people and really if you want to see an organisation "into which we are invited to surrender our identity to the purposes (financial, vainglorious, etc) of the organisers.>" then I give you Catholicism, Islam, Buddism and all other religions.

'Athiesm' (if there is such a thing) asks for nothing. What people say is Athiesm is just people getting non with life be it to help others or to simply get on ahead themselves. It is simply 'being human'. It is 'the norm' you can criticise it and please do but it has nothing to do with some belief or lack of belief in some god simply looking at how people think society should be arranged from a purely human point of view.

>>No point, anhaga. The fairies are invisible.<<

Ed, I'm surprised. Usually I can count on you for solid information but this time you've let me down. Fairies are certainly not invisible. I recall seeing some photographs taken by two innocent girls nearly a hundred years ago. They were English girls and well born so I know they couldn't have lied about it.

Then there was Lady Cottington who kept a journal with a number of them pressed in very naturalistic poses.

You missed the: .

SOme people might believe you.

'I *do* believe in fairies, I *do* believe in fairies...'

(We wouldn't want Tinkerbell to die, would we?)

Actually, even I got that one.

I remember picking up Terry Jones er.. Lady Cottington's book in a shop and laughing so hard that I had to leave the shop as people werre staring.

I started from the beginning and at first thought it was an authentic Edwardian memoir.

>> This is getting somewhat tiresome...<<

Take a nap.
Or allow yourself to understand what I am really saying.

You want to blame "people trying to make 'atheism' be like a religion" but that is not what I'm trying to do. I'm trying to point out that that will be the result of what Dawkins and the other militant Atheists are trying to do.

They will deny it, perhaps they simply fail to recognize the implications of what they are saying, but the first time two atheists get together and agree on anything is the beginning of an atheist community, the beginnings of an atheist movement, organisation, structure... leading to gatherings, meetings, group actions and eventually missionary work. All of which is contrary to the essential elements of religious deconstruction.

Oh it might be fun to identify with 'rebels' but it stops being fun when the first church is torched in the name of Reason. It'll end in tears.

peace
~jwf~