From: L' Ermit (lhermit@hotmail.com)
Date: Thu Jan 31 2002 - 03:44:31 MST
[b]Chaos Time, Loki?[/b]
Q 1. What is atheism?
A 1. A lack of belief in gods. Nothing more assertive than that. This does
not speak to the existence or non-existence of "gods." We simply reject
vesting belief in gods, as reason informs us that vesting "belief" in
[i]anything[/i] is irrational.
[hr]
Q 2. What is a religion?
A 2. A religion is a collection of:
[list]
2.1 entities in which one has faith
2.2 propositions in which one has faith
2.3 ethical or moral imperatives
2.4 other values including the search for ideals
2.5 societies or other memetic clusters that recognize at least one another
as being valuable and who will provide support and assistance to one another
at need.
2.6 UT clusters
2.7 groups who assist other people
[/list]
Where any (or all?) of the above sets might be empty.
[hr]
Q 3. Is the Church of Virus "just" an atheist religion?
A 3. No. From our [url=http://virus.lucifer.com/about.html]home page[/url],
we are:
[list]
3.1 a forum for rational discourse
3.2 a memetically engineered atheistic religion
3.3 a synthesis of religion and evolution
3.4 the best possible conceptual framework for living and thinking
3.5 a neo-cybernetic philosophy for the 21st century
3.6 Darwin's dangerous idea out of control
3.7 an extended phenotype of the Virian Council (As usual, Hermit selects
his preferred spelling).
3.8 and more, including a formalized structure of "sins" and "virtues" and
an ideal including the ideal of evolving the best way of living and
propagating.
[/list]
[hr]
Q 4. Is the Church of Virus a religion
A 4. From the intersection of the answers to Q 2 and Q 3, it can be seen
that while we do not have or advocate "faith" (which is by definition
irrational) we still meet a number of large number of criteria for being a
religion.
[NB All clauses of 2 are responded to here]
[list]
4.1 entities in which one has faith - NO
4.2 propositions in which one has faith - NO
4.3 ethical or moral imperatives - We have [b]ethical[/b] imperatives
4.4 other values - Yes. We hold reason, and through reason, the scientific
method, in high esteem. We also attempt to utilize the memetic and
evolutionary models, and recognize that religion is only one component of a
successful (and happy) life and the propagation of our "species"*.
Philosophy, science, technology, politics, and religion are the principle
components of the memplex we are evolving towards our ideals.
4.5 societies or other memetic clusters that recognize at least one another
as being valuable and who will provide support and assistance to one another
at need. - Yes. Virians will assist other Virians as far as possible.
4.6 UT clusters - We try not to allow it to dominate us, but recognize that
unlike most people, we have a highly rational approach to life and that this
provides us with a small advantage. The more effectively we propagate our
memeplex, and the larger the number of people adopting it, the safer the
world will be for us (and others) and the more likely that we will achieve
our stated Goals.
[quote]Virus was originally created to compete with the traditional
(irrational) religions in the human ideosphere with the idea that it would
introduce and propagate memes that would ensure the survival and evolution
of our species*. The main advantage conferred upon adherents is Virus
provides a conceptual framework for leading a truly meaningful life and
attaining immortality without resorting to mystical delusions.[/quote]
4.7 groups who assist other people - YES. This is one of the most effective
ways in which we can propagate our memes.
[/list]
[hr]
Q 5. Can there be an atheist religion?
A 5. Sure. For another atheist religion visit the
[url=http://www.esoa.org/]Ethical Society of Austin[/url]
Follow the link to News
And from:
[url=http://www.gospelcom.net/apologeticsindex/news1/an011227-08.html]Group
qualifies as a religion; comptroller vows an appeal[/url]. In particular, if
you have the bandwidth, access the Court Order, Cause No. 98-12853, "Ethical
Society of Austin f/k/a Ethical Culture Fellowship of Austin v. Carole
Keeton Rylander, in her capacity As Controller of Public Accounts And Her
Successors in office", District Court, Travis County, Texas, 353rd Judicial
District. Additional case citations are included in the judgement.)
available from that site or Lexis and evaluate the Church of Virus against
the Judges decision criteria.
[quote]
Judge: Members do not require belief in a supreme being to be a tax-exempt
religious organization
Corpus Christ Caller-Times, Dec. 21, 2001
AUSTIN - An Austin group that does not require its members to believe in a
supreme being still functions as a traditional religious organization and is
entitled to tax exemptions, a state judge has now ruled.
Warning the case could have dire consequences, state Comptroller Carole
Keeton Rylander vowed to appeal the decision "as far as we have to appeal
it."
The case brought by the Ethical Society of Austin is largely a symbolic one.
The group owns no property and pays very little in state taxes.
Groups that get the religious exemption do not have to pay any levies,
including the sales tax and local property taxes.
[...]
In his six-page ruling, State District Judge Paul Davis said that "ESA, in
its pursuit of the 'Ethical Ideal' acts like a traditional religion and
functions as a traditional religious organization for its members."
Texas law provides little guidance in determining what is a religion and
what isn't, Davis said.
Davis reviewed conflicting textbook definitions of religion.
Noting that Ethical Society groups have been granted religious tax exemption
in other states, Davis decided the Austin group is a religion for state tax
purposes.
[/quote]
[hr]
Kind Regards
Hermit & Hermitess
*I would note that I am no longer certain of what "species" means in the
context of the CoV. I come more and more to tending to consider our memetic
legacy as being far more important than our genetic legacy. Refer e.g.
[url=http://forum.javien.com/XMLmessage.php?id=id::TzF7Jk84-E0Ym-GzU2-dAoa-HigWNk0DFnxe]"virus:
NDE info - Thank you Joe!",Hermit,Fri 2002-01-25 23:05[/url].
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