Does Bullshido embody the spirit of Atheism?

[stridingcloud]

Since Bullshido is all about dispelling the unsubstantiated myths about martial arts, and since this subforum is dedicated to that spirit of skepticism outside of MA, is it safe to assume that this attitude extends to religion and spirituality as well?

[simonifrius]

Is it safe to assume you didn't read the subforum description?
Don't worry about what the hive thinks. If you have something to say, just say it.

[W. Rabbit]

You should not have started this thread.

You should have used the search function and read this thread instead: The Rite, Devil.. and Demonic Possession

You should probably not post in that thread until you are mentally, spiritually, and philosophically ready.

You are probably not ready, since it'd be your fifth post ever.

[stridingcloud]

This seems like an odd notion. I'll concede that I have been seriously practicing MA for all that long and I am new to Bullshido. But that doesn't mean I'm new to the idea of religion and spirituality. I was just wondering if Bullshido's mandate of skepticism extended to religion. I was just noticing the general tone of Bullshido towards questionable MA's is similar to taht of skeptics and atheists towards religion.

Also, I would not have thought a thread about a movie to be directly related to my question. It seems only tangentially related at best. Despite what direction the thread has gone since, that title would not have incurred the subject of atheism and Bullshido in my mind.

[W. Rabbit]

Also, I would not have thought a thread about a movie to be directly related to my question. It seems only tangentially related at best. Despite what direction the thread has gone since, that title would not have incurred the subject of atheism and Bullshido in my mind.

The thread is not really about "The Rite". It started with Ozz questioning his own atheist beliefs and asking "what proof exists of God and the Devil"?

Since, of course, no real proof is known or else it'd be all over the news ("God Exists: A Fox News Exclusive!"), we moved into allegories, ethics, metaphysics, quantum theory, natural philosophy, and more....

Which answers your original question. If you want to see how Bullshido.net feels about Gods, Devils, and the Flying Spaghetti Monster, you will get a nice skeptic's round table in that thread.

What you won't find in Ozz's thread are devotees or zealots of any faith. Even the more spiritual/religiously inclined did their best to debate the topic using Reason over anything else.

This is why Science wins.

Science is the Judo of Reason.

[Hedgehogey]

Can we please not do the militant atheist thing it makes me feel like i'm 12 again

[Blue Negation]

I think "evangelical atheist" works better.

[W. Rabbit]

I think "evangelical atheist" works better.

Stop talking about Kovacs that way, he's not so bad.

[Prince Vlad]

Science is the Judo of Reason.

It has to be said, that is a good one.

[Permalost]

I was just noticing the general tone of Bullshido towards questionable MA's is similar to taht of skeptics and atheists towards religion.

First, note that Bullshido is a large, diverse population, so it has the opinions of a large, diverse population. Also, the goal of fighting arts is a lot more concrete than that of religion (fighting arts are for beating people in combat, religion is for...something). Thus, some of us will point out poor training practices, poor fighting techniques etc because they can be measured up against that standard. Religion is a bit harder to measure the standard of, unless you want to juxtapose religious cosmologies against scientific ones, and probably if you do, you'll consider science to mesh better with the reality you know. Or, you could look at the mandated codes of conduct in theory vs reality regarding a particular religion (for example, Catholicism has a pretty bloody history that doesn't mesh well with its fundamental neighbor-loving ideas), but then you also have to consider a million cultural and environmental factors. To me, religion is more of a cultural trapping than anything else, but maybe that's because I was raised half-assed Catholic.

[Vince Tortelli]

What you won't find in Ozz's thread are devotees or zealots of any faith. Even the more spiritual/religiously inclined did their best to debate the topic using Reason over anything else.

Speaking strictly for myself, I would have preferred to settle things with force and violence, but fact that said debate was conducted via the Internet involving people from all across the country (globe?) made it a bit unpractical.

[Styygens]

It has to be said, that is a good one.

He is getting better, isn't he? Don't tell him I said that.

[Vieux Normand]

There's a "spirit of atheism"?

[W. Rabbit]

There's a "spirit of atheism"?

Yes and he sometimes takes the form of an Earthly astrophysicist in a wheelchair!

[Phrost]

The term "atheism" isn't apt to what we do around here, even with regards to Skepticism. It's generally stupid to label yourself as something you aren't for any reason other than convenience.

The idea of "atheist groups" is as asinine as people getting together to not watch football.