Bless atheists, for they have sinned

by Emma Teitel on Friday, November 15, 2013, macleans.ca

Extract:

The door-to-door religious proselytizer is, like his secular cousin the Cutco knife peddler, a harmless irritant of modern North American life. If you don’t care for his wares, you say no thanks, shut the door and sometimes roll your eyes. But you rarely, if ever, engage. Portland University philosophy professor and proud atheist Peter Boghossian not only advocates engaging religious fundamentalists in debate, he has written the manual on how to do so.

His new book, A Manual for Creating Atheists, could be called the bible of deconversion.  Continue reading.

Not all Buddhists are Atheists!!!

Q. According to Buddhism, Lord Buddha is not a god and Buddhism in its thought and practices teaches nothing about which many theists considered a god. Then would one classify all Buddhists as atheists? One may say because there are different types of Buddhism, and hence there are different ways to experience the philosophy; wherein some may have belief in the Unseen; etc..

A message board has an interesting point for reflection:

Um...

Buddhism is not atheistic by any standard...

This shows a misunderstanding of different types of Buddhism and attempts to take the fact that Theravada Buddhism (my particular type) does not center itself on a belief in a Deity and make that into "All Buddhists are Atheist", which is untrue. Theravada Buddhism doesn't deny a Deity any more than it promotes one, nor does it state that one should not believe in a Deity. Theravada Buddhism centers itself on this lifetime and the spiritual growth of your current incarnation. Not all Buddhists even believe in reincarnation, not all Buddhists are atheists, there are many different beliefs held by those that are Buddhist. Most believe that all living things are part of the Deity, that which gives us life and unites us is the part of us which is the smallest part of the Deity.

Mahayana Buddhists believe in a Central Deity, so do Shin Buddhists (a Japanese form of Buddhism that believes in Amida Buddha, the Great Compassion, as a central Deity), Tibetan Buddhists believe in much that I have still to understand, but they are more mystical than the type of Buddhism that I study. Source

Books on the subject:

• Is The Buddhist An Atheist?  Theosophical Publishing Society 
• Buddhists and Christians: Through Comparative Theology to Solidarity (Faith Meets Faith Series) James L. Fredericks
• Without Buddha I Could Not Be a Christian  Paul F. Knitter
• Universal Prayer - Seeking Enlightenment through Prayer in the Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jewish and Muslim Traditions Bert Nemcik 
• The Gods of Northern Buddhism: Their History and Iconography  Alice Getty
• Short Description of Gods, Goddesses and Ritual Objects of Buddhism and Hinduism in Nepal  Jnan Bahadur Sakya
• Religion without God  Ronald Dworkin

• The Life Changing Lessons Of Buddha - Buddhism Secrets To Spiritual Enlightenment And Happiness (Buddhism For Beginners, Buddhism Without Beliefs, Buddhism For Busy People)  Steven Nash

• History of Zen from A to Z - Including the Meaning of Life, Creation of Heaven, Hell, Humans and Earth...  Richard Del Connor
• Buddhism Without Beliefs: A Contemporary Guide to Awakening  
  
  

Some other answers may be here:

• If There's No God in Buddhism, Are Buddhists Atheists? BY: Lama Surya Das -- Beliefnet  columnist explains why not. 
• Is the Dalai Lama an Atheist? - Buddhism - About.com
• Buddhism: The last honest religion? Entertaining Q&A with Dalai Lama
• by YourBrainOnReligion
• Buddhism Isn't More Enlightened Than Other Faiths - Patheos  
• Opinion | Are Buddhists atheists? - "NO'ing" Buddha
• Do Buddhists Believe in God? - Urban Dharma
• Dharma Wheel • View topic - Is Buddhism elitist?
• Gods of Buddhism? Learn Why There is No Such Thing
• Dalai Lama reaches out to British atheists - USATODAY.com
• The Buddhist Blog: Buddhism and Atheism
• Asian Buddhists are not atheists - Discover Magazine Blogs
• The new Buddhist atheism | Mark Vernon | Comment is free ...
• BBC - Religion - Atheism: Atheist Buddhism - Atheist Buddhism
• Opinion | Are Buddhists atheists? - The Buddhist Channel
• Rationally Speaking: The problem with atheism, a Buddhist ...
• Buddhism as an "Atheistic Religion": a Western Fantasy
• What Buddhists Believe - Is Buddhism Atheistic?
• Is Buddhism Atheistic?...A brief discussion at religionfacts.com, concludes:

In view of the above factors, scholars and Buddhists alike tend to describe Buddhism as atheistic in the sense that it denies an eternal creator God {7}, while recognizing its theistic and devotional elements. The Encyclopedia Britannica explains,

While the contemplative elite may deny the real existence of gods and demons together with the rest of phenomenal existence, the majority of Buddhists from the earliest times in India, and in other countries where Buddhism has spread, have never neglected indigenous religious beliefs. {8}

Interfaith Alliance head protests Bible verses on military gun sights

By Bob Allen, Thursday, January 21, 2010, Associated Baptist Press
WASHINGTON (ABP) -- A Baptist leader is calling on President Obama to conduct a formal investigation into revelations that a United States military contractor stamped references to Bible verses on combat rifle sights used, unknowingly, by troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Welton Gaddy, president of the Washington-based Interfaith Alliance, said the episode "is only the latest in a long line of violations of the boundaries between religion and government within the military." He urged Obama to develop guidelines that "ensure that religion no longer plays an inappropriate role in our armed forces."continue reading

See on the same shelf:

Justin Trottier: Weapons bearing scripture & google's Islam censorship: catch me tonight on the Michael Coren show CTS TV @ Facebook

Google struggles with religious sensitivity: "Google results offend Christians, but if you search for “Islam is” Google will give you no search suggestions.

You Can’t Make This Stuff Up—Bible Verses on Gun Sights Ronald A. Lindsay, January 21, 2010

More News via Google's images

Atheists Celebrate First-Ever Invite to Mayor's Interfaith Breakfast

By Roy Edroso in Citystate, Featured, Religion
Monday, Jan. 4 2010 @ 4:33PM
"Ken Bronstein was excited to notify us of a great coup: six members of his organization, the New York City Atheists, attended Mayor Bloomberg's annual Interfaith Breakfast this weekend. It's believed to be the first time nonbelievers have been invited, as nonbelievers, to the event.

We asked Bronstein why atheists would even want to attend an Interfaith Breakfast, seeing as they don't, in point of fact, have faith.

"Oh, we have faith," Bronstein told us. "Just not in God." continue reading

On the same shelf:

Annual Interfaith Breakfast on Parliament Hill Born

'I Sold My Soul on eBay' - Faithwise Review of the Week

Atheist, Naturalist, Secular humanist, Or None-of-the-above

Atheist Ashu Solo threatens human rights complaint after Saskatoon councillor’s dinner blessing, Betty Ann Adam, Postmedia News

Stressed Greeks turn to e-curses

IOL Technology 14 January, 2008
Greeks fed up with their pesky neighbours, old flames, the government, or society in general can find release in a new Internet site that posts e-curses for free.

"Have you been dumped, harassed or angered? Why not unload with a curse?", offers www.e-katares.com (e-curse.com), which currently has more than 150 entries.

Most postings on the site are from jilted lovers but there are also contributions aimed at Greek taxi drivers — a favourite target — banks, the public sector and even Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis.

"May his next pasta meal give him salmonella poisoning," one user rants against the premier, whose love of food is a popular barb among opposition media.

In Athens, locals usually relieve stress through a variety of offensive hand gestures, most frequently whilst caught in one of the capital’s trademark traffic jams.

"Studies by (EU statistics service) Eurostat show that Greeks have gone from being positive and relaxed to having the worst stress in Europe — over job uncertainty and the collapse of traditional social structures," sociology professor George Piperopoulos told the daily Ethnos.

NB. same news from other news sources:

• Stressed? Go for e-curse-It's a Mad, Mad World-World-The Times of India


• Greeks find e-curses to be relaxing - Deccan Chronicle / Asian Age

Even Athiests pray … figures don't lie!

CORRECTED: Even Atheists pray … figures don't lie!

November 4th, 2007 by Nancy Reyes
Surveys show that 52% of Americans pray every day, 57% of Catholics pray every day, 41% of those who aren’t sure of life after death pray every day, and 15% of people who aren’t sure there is a God pray every day.***

He said, with a grin, that people pray “to whom it may concern” or […] Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Nancy Reyes in All News, Society and Culture, US News, Religious News No Comments » 73 Views

See also on the same shelf:

The scandal of particular prayers, Posted by dpulliam

Comparing Muslim Beliefs and Practices

PEW Surveys

Catch Hell: Newsweek/Beliefnet poll results -- Beliefnet.com
A new poll points to growing importance of 'spirituality'; most believe people of other faiths can go to heaven

Finding Our Own Path, By Jerry Adler, Newsweek
Americans favor individual spirituality and personal empowerment--which has influenced even traditional, institutional religion. To read the entire article, click here. (C) 2005 Newsweek, Inc.

Spirituality in Action: The Road Ahead

If you don’t like the word God, substitute Nature, All Being, or Reality. If you don’t like the word “Word,” substitute something like “impulse.”

Google it

Spirituality: The Age of Aquarium:

Schools of Fish and Thought
The theists prayed and said “Amen,” while atheists said “Ahem . . .”
“There’s no such thing, you silly goofs; you haven’t any proof.”
Panentheists sought elbow room, they tried to wriggle in.
That en’s a tricky syllable; it splices God’s hair thin. continue reading @ Faithcommons

***Survey sources are listed below, courtesy Nancy Reyes:

The talk was given at a local university and reviewed in the local Catholic paper in western Massachusetts, where I am visiting my brother. They don't have a website, but the announcement is here.

But this NYTimes article refers to the same data:

This article on his website examines the belief in life after death and notes that not all atheists are "hard core" atheists. http://www.agreeley.com/articles/hardcore.html

The NORC website is here.

Presumably the research is published in journals...several of his surveys can be found at JSTOR, but since I don't have access, I can't read the hard sociological data.