Who /anti-theist/ here?

You can't.

That which exists is held by faith.
In other words a position that is basically untenable if the defender is capable of modest introspection.
Instead of conceding the point the defender attempts to excuse the failings of the position by placing it just slightly further out of reach of rational discourse and further into the realm of unfalsifiability.
I'm not even just specifically addressing religion here. Homeopathy is still a large industry and it can be disproved merely by saying Avagadro's constant in a suave voice.

And the worst thing about this process is that there are so many gullible people out there that new religions or other beliefs of that nature can just pop up and gain support.

"You're".

You know perfectly well what I mean.

Wrong. This analogy to a coin is nonsense. A coin has two 'equal' sides, so the analogy is that theism vs anti-theism have the same value. This is wrong. Religion is the cancer of human history. It is literally a system designed to enslave humanity, coercing them into living hollow lives of suffering in the name of a future promise of bliss, when what they are really getting in return is the consolidation of power in the hands of the elites that rule over them and exploit them.

Your goal is too high. When I say destroy religion I accept that there will be some religious people still around, what I mean is how to reduce this to the absolute lowest levels possible.

To use homeopathy as an example, of course it's impossible to destroy it 100%, but if we can destroy 99.9% of it then we should. I think it's possible in homeopathy's case. Many other quackeries have faded out of human memory throughout history. I also think it's possible in religion's case but religion is much harder to eradicate. History shows that even when it goes into remission there's still risk that it can come back. But I think if our destruction is thorough enough then it can be destroyed. Many religions already have been, Zoroastrianism etc.

>inb4 some sperg starts spamming pictures of neckbeards wearing hats

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I have a degree in Sociology and Religious Studies, I'm also atheist. I can tell you with certainty OP, religion will never go extinct. Secularization theory has been disproven time and time again with the world poll data. It's not going to happen son. Why? One word: Needs. Religion satisfies human needs, social needs, intellectual needs, and emotional needs. It's strange I know, but when you have studied and interviewed enough religious people as I have, you start to realize that they don't care if what they believe is illogical, or sounds crazy, because the needs and security found within the religion satisfies them. They are happy, and that is all that matters to them, not reason, or logic, just happiness through needs and comforts that the social and emotional aspects the religion brings.

I use to think like you OP, but then I grew up, read some books that weren't Dawkins and Harris, and realized we human beings are far more complex than I originally understood.

It's okay, you will get their in time, if you keep going with your education, you will someday understand. You will grow out of this phase.

>validate me
>validate my beliefs
>stop liking what I dont like
>p-personal army?

Sounds like you need Christ, user.

This.
People like religion, OP. And it's hard to make people not like things.

If you got rid of religion, another "god" would step in to take the place of the old one, humanity, society, race, etc. people actively seek out religious ideas.

>Secularization theory

What's that?

>ywn lick those armpits
why

>people actively seek out religious ideas.
No people actively seek to have their needs fulfilled, this doesn't always translate into religious ideas, it can also translate into political or nationalist ideals as well, or a mixture of both. Like I said, when it comes to human needs, it gets complicated.

>What's that?
The secularization thesis refers to the belief that as societies progress, particularly through modernization and rationalization, religion loses its authority in all aspects of social life and governance.

The new World Gallop poll data shows that the world isn't becoming less religious, it's actually becoming MORE religious.

It's natural to think that everything has a beginning.

Only because the human mind is finite.

>I have a degree in Sociology
>I use to think like you OP, but then I grew up
Here's your (You).

>entire civilizations have gone from a place where religion permeated every aspect of life to a place where religion plays no significant role in the vast majority of people's lives, but here's some polls
Give me a fucking break.

You only know how to view the world through your own tools. Nobody even mentioned secularization theory, you just assumed it and red herring'd it away. "Hey, the trend isn't completely linear, that means it's IMPOSSIBLE. Trends can't reverse." Listen to yourself.

>The new World Gallop poll data shows that the world isn't becoming less religious, it's actually becoming MORE religious.
More bullshit non-arguments pretending to be an argument. Demographically poor mexicans and arabs and africans literally cannot stop fucking and producing kids. Well that sucks but it has nothing to do with the question which is 'how do we destroy religion?' The fact that anti-abortion christfags and muslims breed like rabbits is even more of a reason religion needs to fucking die.

You sound so... angry. I'm wondering if you are even interested in a conversation, or just want to be mad.

I'll give it one more go. Poverty and Religion don't always go hand in hand. What we are seeing out of Asia and SEA is that the educated elite are becoming MORE religious. It's an interesting phenomenon that sociologist are studying right now. It's happening in China, Singapore, South Korea, Vietnam, Philippines and Japan.

So the correlation that you suggest, which is poverty equals more religion, doesn't seem to be the case everywhere.

I want to keep conversing with you, but you if you keep sounding like a wacky disrespectful /b/tard then I will end my responses with this final post.

>It is literally a system designed to enslave humanity, coercing them into living hollow lives of suffering in the name of a future promise of bliss, when what they are really getting in return is the consolidation of power in the hands of the elites that rule over them and exploit them.
Easy there, Marx.

>how do we destroy religion?
You can't destroy Religion or faith, but you can make it so you aren't blinded by it. I believe in Jesus' teachings. I don't really care if his real or not, I just want to follow his example. I wont stop you from using condoms or tell you to go to Church, but I will tell you that disliking people for their beliefs makes you no different from the religious zealots you hate so much.

You were condescending as fuck
>I use to think like you OP, but then I grew up, read some books that weren't Dawkins and Harris
>you will someday understand. You will grow out of this phase.
how polite do you expect me to be in response?

Anyway, I think Asians are turning to religion because they think that if they do it will make them as prosperous as westerners. I don't expect it to get too much out of hand given how hostile the countries are to it, especially the more authoritarian ones. Also while I haven't checked the numbers my guess is that most of the growth in global religion is coming from elsewhere, but I may be wrong about that.

Marx/Stalin/Lenin/etc. were absolutely right about that. What's more likely: that all the obvious bullshit that makes up religious belief is true, or that it's a scam perpetrated to keep you obedient?

>Religion is one of the forms of spiritual oppression which everywhere weighs down heavily upon the masses of the people, over burdened by their perpetual work for others, by want and isolation. Impotence of the exploited classes in their struggle against the exploiters just as inevitably gives rise to the belief in a better life after death as impotence of the savage in his battle with nature gives rise to belief in gods, devils, miracles, and the like. Those who toil and live in want all their lives are taught by religion to be submissive and patient while here on earth, and to take comfort in the hope of a heavenly reward. But those who live by the labour of others are taught by religion to practise charity while on earth, thus offering them a very cheap way of justifying their entire existence as exploiters and selling them at a moderate price tickets to well-being in heaven. Religion is opium for the people. Religion is a sort of spiritual booze, in which the slaves of capital drown their human image, their demand for a life more or less worthy of man.

Based Lenin.

>makes you no different from the religious zealots
Wrong because beliefs are not all equally good or valid. Religious beliefs are cancer.

>but I will tell you that disliking people for their beliefs makes you no different from the religious zealots you hate so much.

Indeed, the behavior is identical, something OP fails to understand.

Not about beliefs, it's about behavior.

you sound like an alright fellow

>the behavior is identical
Oh really? I must have missed the part where I preached cutting off the tips of baby's dicks, believed that a cracker was literally the flesh of the creator of the universe, and practiced self-flagellation because babby jesus told me to.

The behavior is completely different, that is something you fail to understand.

It's about both, but mostly about belief because the behaviors are mostly the *product* of the beliefs. To use one example, the behavior of ritually slaughtering animals/humans as an offering to god literally depends on the actor having an initial belief in some cosmology whereby some cosmic entity has asked for a sacrifice in order to ensure that something happens (like the sun coming up). Eating only animals slaughtered using barbaric pre-modern methods because a book written by some desert dwelling nomads said to literally depends on their first being a belief that that book is sacred. etc.

Ok OP, so how do we "destroy" religion?
What sort of "efforts" do you propose?

>Murder all religious people and live in my utopia.

>I have a degree in Sociology and Religious Studies, I'm also atheist.

For those of you idiots who appeal to authority, especially the authority of "religious scholars", please note that this person cannot figure out there is a God.

Even pursuing a degree in "religious studies".

Here's my solution: Everyone become a born again Christian.

Problem solved.

You know none of these aspects need to be a part of any given religion. Maybe what you want can be gained though reform? Unless you can point to a fundamental problem you have with religion.

>What's more likely: that all the obvious bullshit that makes up religious belief is true, or that it's a scam perpetrated to keep you obedient?
Except Marx didn't even say that. He said religion is a RESULT the proles THEMSELVES make because the bourg. is screwing them.
>Wrong because beliefs are not all equally good or valid.
Whatever you say.

Religious Studies is the secular study of religion; ALL religion, not just Theology.

Why are you so stupid?

Well if we go to Mars muslims will have tough time praying to Mecca there at least

Actually, all 3 abrahamic religions have guidelines on how their astronauts can fulfill their rites.

Yup but it's still pretty hard to keep track of
Ask that one Indonesian

>There are religions without god(s).

>I can't figure out there is a God.

Mars? What about the Arctic circle?

What about the fact that the world is a oblate spheroid, and virtually none of those people are actually facing Mecca?

>There are religions without god(s).
"Hello, my name is Siddhārtha"

>....and I am not a god, and my teachings are not a religion....

amazing how well unis separate fools from their parents' money

You sure like to only reply in green text, as if it's cool or something. I'll ask again, why are you so stupid?

>and I am not a god
In Buddhist theology, he ain't.

>Who /anti-theist/ here?

I just want to clarify something here.

You know there is a God, because you are against God.

You want to fight God. The Almighty. The Eternal. The Commander of Heaven's Army.

With what?

Don't get me wrong, I have more respect for your position than that of an atheist or agnostic. I'm just not sure your plan includes any sort of victory.

>I am not color blind.

Yeah. And I didn't waste $25,000 of my parents' money figuring that out.

anti-theist = against theism
It doesn't require the belief in a deity.

t. a burger

It depends, are we discussing Vajra, Theravada or Mahayana. Some of these do indeed in impermanent gods.

Of course it does. You're not against religious people. You're against what they believe in.

Can an anti-theist be deist?

Of course. The devil is a deist and an anti-theist.

Wanting to stop belief from being practiced and spread doesn't mean you think the belief is valid. How are you not getting this?

i think that as long as people asking question like "why we are here", "what is the meaning to anything" there will be religion.

it's an existential need that religion attempts to fulfill.

>You want to fight God. The Almighty. The Eternal. The Commander of Heaven's Army.
cringed hard

>responding to the protestcuck baitposter

Hmm doesn't deism mean that you believe God created everything but doesn't intervene or act at all? Then the devil can't possibly be deist

You want people to be godless. You think that if everyone were godless, the world would be a better place. Many people thought as you did. Mao, Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, and Tojo spring to mind.

You're a genocidal maniac. How do you not get this?

You're going to cringe much harder later. Much, much harder.

Nope. Just that there is a God. As the devil speaks to God on a daily basis, he's pretty sure there is a God.

He just doesn't want you to know Him.

OP really needs to answer this.
It will explain a lot about what he actually wants.

Read the posts. 1) there are religious people; 2) religion serves deep seated needs people have; 3) there will always be religious people; and 4) OP cannot stand having religious people living on the same planet as him.

OP is a genocidal maniac.

10/10 was spooked

You merely want to destroy religion because Satan has fooled you. The satanic lies of hedonism and evolution are the reasons why you hate Almighty God

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nonono, please don't posts these, they are terrible

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Exactly. If God were as the devil describes God, I wouldn't love God either. It's important to know that the devil lies. Always.

Shut up satanist, and repent, or burn forever

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You can pray in any direction you want in Islam. Praying towards Mecca is best and therefore men should strive for the best

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I'm pretty sure your kind is going to have to answer to God for attempting to speak on his behalf to others. Something to think about brother.

>his own parents
God I hate the passive aggression of this artist.

>war on Christmas
Oh shit, I almost took these seriously.

I'm pretty sure your kind will, pagan