To put it plainly, the system not about your beliefs themselves, it’s about the thoughts you have surrounding the concept of belief, which can become inflated by your ego to lead to asshole behavior. That’s why it’s different from things like unicorns. Nobody expects you to believe in unicorns, so you don’t, and you never have to think about that hard enough to categorize yourself as a “Unicorn denier.”
You do have to think about religion though, even if you don’t believe in it, which is why the term “Atheist” exists. And just like how a Christian can use their belief in a god to justify their asshole behavior, an Atheist can use their understanding of the validity of science to be just as much of an asshole. It’s not about whether you’re right, or whether your way of finding the truth is more justified, it’s about not being an asshole.
I’m gonna be honest, I’ve lost track, I don’t even know what you’re talking about anymore
an Atheist can use their understanding of the validity of science to be just as much of an asshole
Science has nothing to do with Atheism though so I don’t know why you’ve conflated the two
I was an atheist well before I understood even basic high school science, I came to the conclusion based on the lack of evidence for a god, and quite frankly my pastor gave me a bible and I read it and thought the stories were bullshit, I’ve come to read the Quran lately it’s even more hysterical at how badly it’s written, I swear 12 year old me could have written it “anyone who doesn’t believe is stupid and dumb and will suffer and will be so sad!!! and those who do believe are awesome and will be happy and great!!!11”
Technically an atheist can use anything they want to be an asshole, including but not limited to just being an asshole for the sake of it because there’s nothing in Atheism that says you have to be this way or even anything that suggests you should be this way because there is no system as you keep saying
He could have said: I’m an atheist and I hate trees!!! and set the tree on fire, that’s nothing to do with being an atheist
Anyway this has been a fun use of a day, last post from me
Sorry, I used the example of science because that is the flavor that OP used for their particular brand of Atheism, but you’re correct - technically you can believe there’s no god and science is wrong, though most people I’ve met who don’t believe in god do so because of their trust in science and their belief that it leaves no room for religion.
Again, though, a system of beliefs is not a system of behavior. You do not need a book or anything else telling you what to do for it to be a system of beliefs. Technically you could form a system of beliefs around the existence of frogs if you thought about them enough. You wouldn’t even need to change your understanding of frogs at all - just the act of thinking hard enough about them to fully understand and articulate your thoughts forms the system itself.
If an atheist burns a tree down because they’re an atheist, then obviously it does have to do with them being an atheist. Their brain made a connection between being an atheist and burning the tree down, and that’s the connection - it doesn’t matter if there’s an established set of rules they’re meant to follow or not. Just like how Christians can be expressly told to love their neighbor, and still use Christianity to defend their act of hating their neighbor - how people’s brains justify their reactions to their beliefs is their own system.
To put it plainly, the system not about your beliefs themselves, it’s about the thoughts you have surrounding the concept of belief, which can become inflated by your ego to lead to asshole behavior. That’s why it’s different from things like unicorns. Nobody expects you to believe in unicorns, so you don’t, and you never have to think about that hard enough to categorize yourself as a “Unicorn denier.”
You do have to think about religion though, even if you don’t believe in it, which is why the term “Atheist” exists. And just like how a Christian can use their belief in a god to justify their asshole behavior, an Atheist can use their understanding of the validity of science to be just as much of an asshole. It’s not about whether you’re right, or whether your way of finding the truth is more justified, it’s about not being an asshole.
I’m gonna be honest, I’ve lost track, I don’t even know what you’re talking about anymore
Science has nothing to do with Atheism though so I don’t know why you’ve conflated the two
I was an atheist well before I understood even basic high school science, I came to the conclusion based on the lack of evidence for a god, and quite frankly my pastor gave me a bible and I read it and thought the stories were bullshit, I’ve come to read the Quran lately it’s even more hysterical at how badly it’s written, I swear 12 year old me could have written it “anyone who doesn’t believe is stupid and dumb and will suffer and will be so sad!!! and those who do believe are awesome and will be happy and great!!!11”
Technically an atheist can use anything they want to be an asshole, including but not limited to just being an asshole for the sake of it because there’s nothing in Atheism that says you have to be this way or even anything that suggests you should be this way because there is no system as you keep saying
He could have said: I’m an atheist and I hate trees!!! and set the tree on fire, that’s nothing to do with being an atheist
Anyway this has been a fun use of a day, last post from me
Sorry, I used the example of science because that is the flavor that OP used for their particular brand of Atheism, but you’re correct - technically you can believe there’s no god and science is wrong, though most people I’ve met who don’t believe in god do so because of their trust in science and their belief that it leaves no room for religion.
Again, though, a system of beliefs is not a system of behavior. You do not need a book or anything else telling you what to do for it to be a system of beliefs. Technically you could form a system of beliefs around the existence of frogs if you thought about them enough. You wouldn’t even need to change your understanding of frogs at all - just the act of thinking hard enough about them to fully understand and articulate your thoughts forms the system itself.
If an atheist burns a tree down because they’re an atheist, then obviously it does have to do with them being an atheist. Their brain made a connection between being an atheist and burning the tree down, and that’s the connection - it doesn’t matter if there’s an established set of rules they’re meant to follow or not. Just like how Christians can be expressly told to love their neighbor, and still use Christianity to defend their act of hating their neighbor - how people’s brains justify their reactions to their beliefs is their own system.