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Atheists likely to be wealthier

You could reword it thus...

Atheists tend to be more hedonistic and materialistic so...

First you would need to provide evidence that this insult is based in some kind of reality.

There are vanishingly few non-hedonistic and non-materialistic humans, and some of these are atheists; The ones who are religious tend to get promoted by their religion's propaganda machines, and most religions are careful to studiously ignore the selfless, self-sacrificing, and generous behaviours of non-members (or to claim as members good people who are absolutely not), which (completely deliberately) gives most religionists the (completely false) impression that their religion has a near monopoly on kindness.

You appear to have swallowed this propaganda hook, line, and sinker, and to magine that everyone else must agree with it as axiomatic.

But it's not an axiom, and you must prove it before using it as a basis for your reasoning.

According to Lion all atheists convene at the giant Atheist Orgy at the designated time.
 
You could reword it thus...

Atheists tend to be more hedonistic and materialistic so...

First you would need to provide evidence that this insult is based in some kind of reality.

There are vanishingly few non-hedonistic and non-materialistic humans, and some of these are atheists; The ones who are religious tend to get promoted by their religion's propaganda machines, and most religions are careful to studiously ignore the selfless, self-sacrificing, and generous behaviours of non-members (or to claim as members good people who are absolutely not), which (completely deliberately) gives most religionists the (completely false) impression that their religion has a near monopoly on kindness.

You appear to have swallowed this propaganda hook, line, and sinker, and to magine that everyone else must agree with it as axiomatic.

But it's not an axiom, and you must prove it before using it as a basis for your reasoning.

According to Lion all atheists convene at the giant Atheist Orgy at the designated time.
My invite must have gotten lost in the post.
 
You could reword it thus...

Atheists tend to be more hedonistic and materialistic so...

First you would need to provide evidence that this insult is based in some kind of reality.

There are vanishingly few non-hedonistic and non-materialistic humans, and some of these are atheists; The ones who are religious tend to get promoted by their religion's propaganda machines, and most religions are careful to studiously ignore the selfless, self-sacrificing, and generous behaviours of non-members (or to claim as members good people who are absolutely not), which (completely deliberately) gives most religionists the (completely false) impression that their religion has a near monopoly on kindness.

You appear to have swallowed this propaganda hook, line, and sinker, and to magine that everyone else must agree with it as axiomatic.

But it's not an axiom, and you must prove it before using it as a basis for your reasoning.

According to Lion all atheists convene at the giant Atheist Orgy at the designated time.
My invite must have gotten lost in the post.
It was sent to me by mistake. Sorry about that.
 
Anyone in my generation who grew up in and went to school in the RCC even if we are atheist now always feel guilty without knowing why...:D


Seriously, Christianity is built on guilt. In the RCC your are born with original sin, and the only way to get rid of it is by being baptized in the church.

As a kid mandatory confession could be terrifying. We'd walk from the school to the church and enter a dark closet ofa confessional. You kneel down and tell the priest through a small opening your evil deeds. Yuo'd find something to confess to. The committing of guilt in the RCC starts with baptism.

Original Sin is part of the human condition by which we are conceived in a fallen state, i.e., without sanctifying grace. It is our inheritance resulting from the sin of our first parents, Adam and Eve. Their transgression had consequences for all humanity—including suffering, death and a loss of God's friendship.\\Ancnet


Some Baptists and Mormons have full body immersion in water, ritual washing away of sin and guilt.
 
I don't think anything in the OP is true. I know poor atheists, Black atheists, atheists who lack any education beyond high school. I know working class atheists, young and old atheists and plenty of female atheists, including a happily married Lesbian couple. None of them are wealthy. Most of the atheists I know are happily married, although one is struggling financially after being divorced a few years ago.

There is a small town about 30 miles away that has a more organized, more active atheist groups and they are more affluent than my local group. I don't know if any of them would be considered wealthy, since wealthy hasn't been defined. I've never met a wealthy atheist when we used to attend the Atlanta Freethought Organization. Some were obviously struggling to get by. Most were middle class. Only a few had advanced college degrees and many had only a high school education. I met a few of the Black Nonbelievers of Atlanta and they weren't poor and many had college degrees. I have no idea if any were wealthy. The ones I met were all females.

Most of the atheists I know or have known identify as Humanists, which is a very idealistic philosophy, but much better than Christianity when it comes to moral values, including the acceptance, support of both gay and transgender people. Very liberal non Biblical literalists Christians hold similar values, but they are pretty rare where I live. I've met atheists who were in the closet but were glad to open up to me, when I told them I'm an atheist. One of my local atheist friend had told me that she rarely lets anyone know she's an atheist due to the negative reaction she receives. She isn't what I'd call wealthy, but she and her Christian husband are both retired GBI agents so they receive both a generous pension along with SS. How much money or income must a person have to be considered wealthy? Some of my atheist friends have struggled to survive financially and at least in the past received support from social programs like SNAP.

Growing up, I knew quite a few wealthy Christians as the evangelical church I was forced to attend was a rather wealthy one, but none of the money went to charity. The pastor made a rather large salary and he lived in one of the wealthiest towns in NJ. There were lots of members of that church who had college degrees, more so than the atheists I've met in person. I don't like stereotypes about any group, including atheists or Christians for that matter. Some people are obsessed with money, but most of us simply want a decent home, food, transportation and things like that. The exceptions are people like my brother in law who has a doctorate degree in dentistry, and who considers himself a Catholic. He has always been obsessed with money, brags about how many millions he has etc. I guess it will be harder for him to enter heaven than it is for a camel to get through the eye of a needle. ;)

Oh, and I don't mean this as virtue signaling, but if people like me are so materialistic, why did I choose a career in nursing, very stressful, shitty pay when I was still working, considering the difficulty and educational requirements, but also very emotionally rewarding to be able to go into the homes of all kinds of people caring for them and advocating for them. Sometimes they lived in high crime neighborhoods, and we home health nurses had to be careful how and when we made those visits. I once took a young medical resident with me and he told me that my work was more like missionary work and he didn't know how I did it. I don't know how either, now that I'm old and would be afraid of some of the things I faced during my younger days. I also enjoyed working in long term care and being a friend as well as a nurse to people who were often very religious, but that didn't stop me from caring about them. I've met other atheist nurses and we used to have one here who worked in hospice. So, enough of the stereotypes about atheists. We are unique just like religious people are in their own ways. Still, regardless of what one believes, it's a joy to be able to help others, imo and as long as I have enough money to be comfortable and even be able to afford to help out a few friends now and then, I can't complain. I don't even understand greed, certainly the deadliest "sin", which is currently destroying a lot of things in the US.

And, btw, the few extremely wealthy atheists/agnostics, do give away most of their wealth. Warren Buffet is an example. You may not think much of him, but he has given away most of his money and is leaving most of his wealth to charity after he dies. Most church people give to their churches and other religious causes. I doubt many give to secular charities. Enough!
 
Most of the atheists I know or have known identify as Humanists,

Humanism automatically equals hedonism though, according to fundamentalist idiots.
If they think that, they need to read the book, "The Philosophy of Humanism" or look at the website of The American Humanist Association. Good without God is the message and imo, today's Humanists are far kinder and accepting of all kinds of minorities compared to conservative Christians.

Liberal Christians are different. They don't take the Bible to be literal and they usually are accepting and caring towards the LBGTQ community. I have liberal Christian friends and we have pretty much the same values. We don't care what each other believes. If one needs to believe in a sky daddy, and it makes them a kinder person, that's fine with me.

If Christians condemn non believers or people who hold different religious beliefs, and think we are immoral, they are ignorant and in many cases, mean as an old rattle snake. :p MTG is the perfect example of that type of Christian. Any decent American knows what I mean. She refuses to accept the SCS and condemns those who don't believe what she does. But, I digress.
 
If one needs to believe in a sky daddy, and it makes them a kinder person, that's fine with me.
Hmmm. Yeah, a kinder person is better than a less kind person, I think we all agree.
But I get the creeps when I suspect their kindness is founded on a set of superstitions. I know that to some, their religion is not foundational to their kindness but more like some kind accoutrement or accessory to their emotional "outfit" that lets them better express the kindness that is inherent to their nature.
That sort doesn't creep me out so much.
 
There are two kinds of people. Those who understand that materialism is proven, and those who are wrong.-bilby
I already said that in this very thread. Do you have something to say about it, or are you quoting it for truth, or what?

As materialists, atheists can only direct their desire toward material things: sex, money, status.
None of your three examples is a material thing.

Pretty weird for a materialist to say that sex, money and status are not material things.:unsure:
 
As a physicalist materialist, the most important thing to me is in fact understanding, because understanding of nature is just more interesting to me than stuff.

I do like to collect nice experiences, but that only goes so far when the most enjoyable experience is the moment where that sick frustrated falling period starts to inflect and whatever problem gives way to understanding.
 
If one needs to believe in a sky daddy, and it makes them a kinder person, that's fine with me.
Hmmm. Yeah, a kinder person is better than a less kind person, I think we all agree.
But I get the creeps when I suspect their kindness is founded on a set of superstitions. I know that to some, their religion is not foundational to their kindness but more like some kind accoutrement or accessory to their emotional "outfit" that lets them better express the kindness that is inherent to their nature.
That sort doesn't creep me out so much.
I tend to think that they believe they need god to be good, but in reality, most of them don't. It's just what they've been indoctrinated into believing. I had a liberal Christian friend visit last night to share dinner with us. I really don't understand why she continues to identify as Christian. She hates organized religion and doesn't follow any of the Biblical teachings. She's basically a good person who for some reason feels she is helped by believing. I couldn't resist joking with her after her divorce was finally over about a year ago. She told me that god had answered her prayers and freed her from her awful husband. I just looked at her and said. "What took her so long". It was her attorney daughter who helped her out by getting her accepted into a program that helped low income women get divorces. Yet, she gave some credit to her god. I don't get it.

I had a friendly acquaintance who was a wealthy Christian about 15 years ago. She was fine with me being an atheist. I doubt she thought she needed a god to be good. Her beliefs were probably more due to tradition and community. She told me that one of her sons was agnostic and she was fine with that.

To be honest, I've known far more wealthy Christians compared to atheists. Most of my husband's extended family are fairly wealthy and they are all Christians of the Catholic variety. They all have college degrees and some have advanced degrees. The only one who can be a real jerk is my bro in law, who brags about his money, and about how many women he has sex with, among other things. He still identifies as Catholic, but he probably hasn't gone to a church in years. Tradition and childhood indoctrination seem to keep a lot of people identifying as theists.
 
Also you don't know shit about me you pretentious sack of shit.
 
As materialists, atheists can only direct their desire toward material things: sex, money, status.


Someone can also direct their fist to your face. A fist is a material thing as well.
Is that where you direct your desire, to violent fantasy?

Hey you're the one who claimed I only care about status, power is one means to that. Own up to it.
I have owned up to it. I'm with Spinoza: "[f]or Atheists are wont greedily to covet rank and riches, which I have always despised, as all who know me are aware."
 
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