# "Atheism is a non-prophet organization" **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 8, 2008, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheism-is-a-non-prophet-organization/467031 "2008-10-08T18:26:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheism-is-a-non-prophet-organization/467031/21 "2008-10-08T22:12:32Z")
I think I’ve seen atheists use that very pun. Non-profits, like the Red Cross, are usually considered to be good things. Who knows, maybe that is one of those churches that makes a profit the pastor skims off. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheism-is-a-non-prophet-organization/467031/22 "2008-10-08T22:25:23Z")
Atheism is an organization? Is this the great Atheist Conspiracy I’ve heard so much about(but I’m not allowed to join because I’m an Agnostic)? ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheism-is-a-non-prophet-organization/467031/23 "2008-10-08T22:37:38Z")
> [@HPL](#): > > Atheism is an organization? > > Is this the great Atheist Conspiracy I’ve heard so much about(but I’m not allowed to join because I’m an Agnostic)? Do you know if you’re a member or not? Can you know? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheism-is-a-non-prophet-organization/467031/24 "2008-10-08T22:39:11Z")
> [@HPL](#): > > Atheism is an organization? Dang it, beat me to it. Here I was thinking I’d be the first to comment on that aspect of the quote and the last post in the thread sneaks in with it. \ ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheism-is-a-non-prophet-organization/467031/25 "2008-10-08T22:53:18Z")
> [@HPL](#): > > Atheism is an organization? > > Is this the great Atheist Conspiracy I’ve heard so much about(but I’m not allowed to join because I’m an Agnostic)? Things like this make me want to build hoax sites about the great athiest conspiracy, our agents within the catholic church, how we are slowly taking over the IRS to eventually eliminate the non profit organization status of churches. Just need a couple dozen people to add forum content, status updates on our missions (dija hear, they burned down a chik-filet, the bastards). Etc. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheism-is-a-non-prophet-organization/467031/26 "2008-10-08T22:55:50Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Do you know if you’re a member or not? Can you know? 😃 I do believe I am!..oh,wait…um.. Thank God I’m and athiest! ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2008, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheism-is-a-non-prophet-organization/467031/27 "2008-10-09T03:54:18Z")
> [@smiling\_bandit](#): > > Short version? Goodness is about going and doing something which is right. Study, no matter how long you do it or how well, is not virtue. I’d agree that people today especially tend to think that simply knowing something is enough. This is saying that it’s not what you know or who you know, it’s what you dio and who you are. If that’s what they were going for, they worded it poorly, IMHO. To me, it sounded like a statement that “faith” and “knowledge” were incompatible, as though they encouraged ignorance. I hope you can see where I’m coming from with that…for me, at least, it was pretty jarring ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2008, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheism-is-a-non-prophet-organization/467031/28 "2008-10-09T14:09:43Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > [Some other church signs. For comparison.](http://crummychurchsigns.blogspot.com/) > > Check out the Most Frequently Submitted Crummy Signs List, on the right, scrolled down a bit. Thanks for the inspirational link!😃 ---
**Author:** ![WF\_Tomba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d9b06d/32.png) [@WF\_Tomba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WF_Tomba)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheism-is-a-non-prophet-organization/467031/29 "2008-10-10T01:40:06Z")
I think I’ve posted them here before, but on a small Baptist church I saw “TITHE IF YOU LOVE JESUS – ANYONE CAN HONK” and on another little church I once saw “SMALLNESS NEVER KEPT A MOSQUITO FROM BEING EFFECTIVE”. The first is at least admirably up-front, while the second . . . ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheism-is-a-non-prophet-organization/467031/30 "2008-10-10T02:06:24Z")
> [@Max\_Torque](#): > > A couple of months ago, I recorded on my cell phone camera a video of a real prizewinner in the town where I work. Please, someone explain to me what they could possibly have been going for, because I’m at a loss (keep in mind that this was on a scrolling marquee, so it’s not like vandals changed the letters around or anything): > > TRUE FAITH PRODUCES A LIFE FULL OF ACTIONS, NOT A HEAD FULL OF FACTS Wouldn’t “A life full of acts, not a head full of facts” scan better? Just trying to help. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheism-is-a-non-prophet-organization/467031/31 "2008-10-10T05:22:42Z")
> [@Max\_Torque](#): > > A couple of months ago, I recorded on my cell phone camera a video of a real prizewinner in the town where I work. Please, someone explain to me what they could possibly have been going for, because I’m at a loss (keep in mind that this was on a scrolling marquee, so it’s not like vandals changed the letters around or anything): > > TRUE FAITH PRODUCES A LIFE FULL OF ACTIONS, NOT A HEAD FULL OF FACTS George Orwell, _1984_ - “Ignorance is Strength” It’s about the idea that knowledge is bad, because it’s incompatible with faith. Your are supposed to be as ignorant as possible, and a good little drone for the Church, giving it money and helping it grow. You are supposed to believe what you are told to believe. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheism-is-a-non-prophet-organization/467031/32 "2008-10-10T14:55:11Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > George Orwell, _1984_ - “Ignorance is Strength” > > It’s about the idea that knowledge is bad, because it’s incompatible with faith. Your are supposed to be as ignorant as possible, and a good little drone for the Church, giving it money and helping it grow. You are supposed to believe what you are told to believe. No, I don’t think it is at all. I can see how you would interpret it as such (and in this case, I mean “you” in the specific sense, not the general), but I think that the people putting it up meant something entirely different. “TRUE FAITH PRODUCES A LIFE FULL OF ACTIONS, NOT A HEAD FULL OF FACTS” Faith - both in a deity and in a community of support like a church - helps one to act - to actually get out there a do stuff, give to the poor, fight the good fight, live the American Dream, instead of being cooped up in your Ivory Tower, become a talking head on TV, or spend your days on a message board niggling over minutia. I don’t personally think the two (Faith and Facts) are mutually exclusive, but I don’t think their intent is all that twisted, either. They’re not saying all knowledge is evil, or that learning is bad, just that \*adding \*Faith can give you the push you need to do something with all those facts. But I don’t expect to shift your opinion, either. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheism-is-a-non-prophet-organization/467031/33 "2008-10-10T15:02:54Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > George Orwell, _1984_ - “Ignorance is Strength” > > It’s about the idea that knowledge is bad, because it’s incompatible with faith. Your are supposed to be as ignorant as possible, and a good little drone for the Church, giving it money and helping it grow. You are supposed to believe what you are told to believe. This is an incorrect interpretations of Orwell. In _1984_ the oppressive government is a strictly atheistic one. One character is arrested and tortured for using the word “god”. Orwell believed that atheism was a prerequisite for the type of government he described. Read the book if you don’t believe me. ---
**Author:** ![kdeus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b487fb/32.png) [@kdeus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kdeus)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheism-is-a-non-prophet-organization/467031/34 "2008-10-11T03:08:58Z")
Seen on a church sign near my house. I’m no saint, but when you’re asking for forgiveness on a billboard, brother, you have _screwed up_. ---
**Author:** ![monavis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@monavis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monavis)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheism-is-a-non-prophet-organization/467031/35 "2008-10-11T11:25:49Z")
Since Atheism is not an organization,even if it was, being a non-prophet or a non-profit is not a bad thing, there are many good organizations that are non- Prophet. Monavis ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheism-is-a-non-prophet-organization/467031/36 "2008-10-11T14:06:05Z")
> [@ITR\_champion](#): > > Orwell believed that atheism was a prerequisite for the type of government he described. Read the book if you don’t believe me. I don’t know what Orwell personally believed, but _1984_ doesn’t make the point you describe. In fact, there are at least two passages that talk about how the totalitarian regime adapated and improved on (by its own standards) the practices of religious hierarchies. In fact, there is even a note that the government would casually reintroduce religion if there was any signs the proles wanted or needed it. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheism-is-a-non-prophet-organization/467031/37 "2008-10-11T14:07:09Z")
> [@kdeus](#): > > “Please forgive Steve” Well, he _did_ tempt Adam… ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheism-is-a-non-prophet-organization/467031/38 "2008-10-11T14:10:32Z")
My own take would be that beyond the pun, they’re trying to play on the notion of a prophet as someone who gives guidance or a sense of security about the future. Atheism doesn’t offer that. Not much to it, but hey. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheism-is-a-non-prophet-organization/467031.md?page=1)