Ah, the sweet, refreshing smell of Atheism in the morning

[DinoDoc]

I think it smells like pig feces rolled up in dog piss.

That hardly sounds refreshing.

[MrFun]

Christianity is a religion. "Spiritual but not religious" is what people say when they believe in new age bull****.

No, it's not "new age bull****."

To believe in God without adhering to a religious institution's dogma and orthodoxy is to be spiritual. There probably have always been spiritual people.

[Lorizael]

Believing Jesus Christ is the son of God and the savior of humankind without adhering to a denomination means arbitrarily deciding that early Christians were right about Christ but not right about anything else they wrote about.

[The Mad Monk]

Acceptance of the objective truth and our true place in the Universe.

...and utter nihlism helps us how?

[Lorizael]

It's one of the steps along the path to my philosophy, obviously. Join me and devour the universe, TMM.

[Wezil]

One can be spiritual without being religious. I'm a Christian because I believe in Jesus Christ, but I don't belong to one particular Christian denomination.

So no, the decline in religious faith does not automatically mean an increase in atheism.

Ridding yourself of the hocus pocus rituals is a good first step.

I admire your evolution.

[MRT144]

What does Atheism smell like?

Ozone

[Elok]

Christianity is a religion. "Spiritual but not religious" is what people say when they believe in new age bull****.

Not necessarily. In my experience it often means either "I've conflated navel-gazing with mysticism" or "I like the idea of God, but not the effort of wrestling with tough questions and/or taking on religious duties."

Anyway, re:OP, if it means fewer of what my wife calls "congenital Catholics," and their cousins in other religions, I'm fine with it. Honesty is always a good thing where that's concerned; we've been culturally divided into Christian and post-Christian for quite a while, and it's high time we admitted it.

[giblets]

It's one of the steps along the path to my philosophy, obviously. Join me and devour the universe, TMM.

What's the next step?

[Uncle Sparky]

We atheists prefer the term Secular Humanists.

[Kidlicious]

Acceptance of the objective truth and our true place in the Universe.

Atheism isn't objective truth. I would call that either a misunderstanding or a lie.

[Kidlicious]

Christianity is a religion. "Spiritual but not religious" is what people say when they believe in new age bull****.

You're right (IMO), Christianity is a religion. However, you don't need to be religious to have faith in Jesus Christ. To me religion is nothing more than tribalism. Being religious doesn't save you. Having faith in Jesus Christ saves you.

[Uncle Sparky]

Oh, I understand. Other than some of the olde English type poetry, I understood all of Tolkien's work, I understood The Wizard of Oz and I understand the Christian Bible. They all tell interesting cautionary and inspirational tales and are all fantasy.

[Kidlicious]

Ridding yourself of the hocus pocus rituals is a good first step.

I admire your evolution.

You don't have to stop the rituals, just come to the realization that they are not the source of eternal life.

[Kidlicious]

Oh, I understand. Other than some of the olde English type poetry, I understood all of Tolkien's work, I understood The Wizard of Oz and I understand the Christian Bible. They all tell interesting cautionary and inspirational tales and are all fantasy.

Is this what is suppose to pass as objective truth?