# Why No New Sects in Atheism? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 25, 2003, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-new-sects-in-atheism/150769 "2003-01-25T00:55:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Urban\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Urban\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urban_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2003, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-new-sects-in-atheism/150769/41 "2003-01-26T07:33:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by erislover \* > I don’t find it implausible that there could be distinct atheist groups. Sure, but that doesn’t make these groups sects. ---
**Author:** ![Urban\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Urban\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urban_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2003, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-new-sects-in-atheism/150769/42 "2003-01-26T07:38:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Some Guy \* > \*\*The point **robertliguori** is making is that agnosticism as a philosophy descends from Huxley, thus it is defined in the way Huxley definde it, not in the way that large numbers of people have misapprehended Huxley’s definition. I am not disputing the fact that Huxley defined it as such, rather, Huxley intended it to be something of a joke. Being a philosopher, he should know that “I don’t know” is not an answer to “Do you believe…?” There are only two acceptable answers, “I do” and “I don’t.” Just because you hold that humans can never have sufficient knowledge to the question “Is there a god?” it does not make “I don’t know” to the question “Do you believe there is a god?” logically acceptable. ---
**Author:** ![bw55](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f4b2a3/32.png) [@bw55](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bw55)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2003, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-new-sects-in-atheism/150769/43 "2003-01-26T09:23:52Z")
🙂 me-I’m a dyslexic insomniac agnostic- I lay awake all night wondering if there really is a DOG ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2003, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-new-sects-in-atheism/150769/44 "2003-01-26T16:19:12Z")
**Just because you hold that humans can never have sufficient knowledge to the question “Is there a god?” it does not make “I don’t know” to the question “Do you believe there is a god?” logically acceptable.** Abstention is the only intellectually honest thing to do if you feel you can’t know. Don’t know how logical that is, but why flip a coin when there is no need? Usually it’s only when it’s specifically brought up that I think about it at all. Rarely in the day do I wonder if there is a god and if there is how he feels about something. I follow my own internal morals with a mind to societal morals. I have a feeling that’s the way most professed believers go through their day as well. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2003, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-new-sects-in-atheism/150769/45 "2003-01-26T16:51:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \ ***Urban Ranger** said: \* > “I don’t know” is not an answer to “Do you believe…?” There are only two acceptable answers, “I do” and "I don’t. > > Just because you hold that humans can never have sufficient knowledge to the question “Is there a god?” it does not make “I don’t know” to the question “Do you believe there is a god?” logically acceptable." Another question follows the answer “I don’t” though: “Do you believe that there is _no_ god?” The possible answers to that are also “I do” and “I don’t”. This we end up with three possibilities: belief that one or more gods exist (theism?), belief that no god exists (atheism), and between the two, an implied “I don’t know”. It seems that sometimes some people strongly dislike the idea of _not knowing_, or don’t want to admit it; this third possibility often seems to fall through the cracks. ---
**Author:** ![raisinbread](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8491ac/32.png) [@raisinbread](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raisinbread)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2003, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-new-sects-in-atheism/150769/46 "2003-01-26T18:16:48Z")
Aw Jesus Christ on a Pogo Stick. I misspelled “creator” in my SHOCKINGLY INSIGHTFUL POST. ---
**Author:** ![Monkey2003](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecb155/32.png) [@Monkey2003](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monkey2003)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2003, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-new-sects-in-atheism/150769/47 "2003-01-26T19:02:45Z")
> [@](#): > > the thing is that atheists tend not to search each other out or try to have gatherings in an organised fashion. Some of the larger organisations… Freedom from Religion Foundation [http://www.ffrf.org/](http://www.ffrf.org/) The Secular Web [http://www.infidels.org/index.shtml](http://www.infidels.org/index.shtml) American Atheists > **[Home](https://www.atheists.org/)** > > \[vc\_row full\_width=”stretch\_row” full\_height=”yes” parallax=”content-moving” parallax\_image=”11400″ disable\_element=”yes” el\_class=”padding-tb45″\]\[vc\_column width=”1/2″\]\[vc\_column\_text\]PROJECT BLITZ Christian Nationalism is on the Rise... Atheist network radio [http://www.atheistnetwork.com/](http://www.atheistnetwork.com/) Godless Americans and the march on Washington [http://www.godlessamericans.org/](http://www.godlessamericans.org/) ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2003, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-new-sects-in-atheism/150769/48 "2003-01-26T23:23:21Z")
Granted, UU accomodates atheists, but is still semi-religious. The Ethical Society, however, is completely unreligious. And yet the odd thing about it is that it deliberately fulfills the role that church plays in religious people’s lives. As if substituting to fill in the gap in lifestyle that’s left when you subtract church. I see it as a relic of an earlier age in America, a time when all men wore suits, ties, and fedoras when they went out of the house, and all women wore gloves, hats with little net veils, stockings, etc. A time when church attendence on Sunday morning was _de rigueur_ and an indispensable part of the American social fabric. In those days, bourgeois atheists could keep up their social pretensions as well as any other bourgeois citizens by attending UU or the Ethical Society. Nowadays, the role of church attendance in American life is so diminished that something like the Ethical Society would have no need to arise. I must emphasize that it is a _bourgeois_ atheist phenomenon; bold revolutionaries like, say, Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo could easily flout traditional social mores as part of their revolutionary lifestyle. The Ethical Society was created for bourgeois atheists who wanted to fit in with the prevailing gray-flannel conformity. But since the 60s and the Baby Boom hippie generation took over, nobody cares anymore what you wear or what you do with your free time. Membership in organizations has declined. ---
**Author:** ![BaldTaco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/47e85d/32.png) [@BaldTaco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BaldTaco)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2003, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-new-sects-in-atheism/150769/49 "2003-01-27T04:40:06Z")
> [@](#): > > Anyway, could there be a group of, lert’s say, “Apathyists”? Well, there was in 2001, but their website is no longer around. However, courtesy of [Archive.org](http://Archive.org): [www.Apathyology.com](http://web.archive.org/web/20010922053509/http://www.apathyology.com/) My favourite of the Ten Wisdoms is, > [@](#): > > #8. In any Human relationship, he who cares the least has the most power. ---
**Author:** ![Davebear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@Davebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Davebear)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2003, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-new-sects-in-atheism/150769/50 "2003-01-28T14:31:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by raisinbread \* > \*\*Aw Jesus Christ on a Pogo Stick. I misspelled “creator” in my SHOCKINGLY INSIGHTFUL POST. \*\* You also misspelled “slices”, since you seem to be counting. ---
**Author:** ![FranticMad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c68b51/32.png) [@FranticMad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FranticMad)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-new-sects-in-atheism/150769/51 "2003-01-30T02:06:39Z")
On the contrary, there are many sects which meet weekly (on different days of the week, of course). Namely; Agnostics Reformed Agnostics Lapsed Agnostics Orthodox Agnostics Practicing Agnostics Agnosto-atheists Fundamental Atheists Non-practicing Atheists Freethinkers Non-secular Atheists Spiritual atheo-agnostics Secular Hedonists Rationalist Atheists, conference of Minnesota Metroplex Atheists American Human Atheists Atheists and Agnostics of Wisconsin (you think I’m making this up, don’t you?) Baptist Church-attending Atheists Humanists Enron executives Secularists Practical Atheists of Athens Sober Agnostics Diagnostics to name a few Skeptics ---
**Author:** ![Shemem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de053/32.png) [@Shemem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shemem)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-new-sects-in-atheism/150769/52 "2003-01-30T08:08:17Z")
For a whole new can of worms, there’re pantheists, which come in various flavors. “Pan” = “all” and “theo” = “god” is variously interpreted as all things being part of “god” or “god” existing within all things. I don’t claim to know which (if either) of these is correct/what the coiner of the term meant, I’m just telling you what I’ve heard from folks who call themselves pantheists. Within pantheism there are scientific pantheists, and most of the ones one the list where I used to hang out identified themselves as atheists, though there were some agnostics and the odd some-kinda-divinity believer (like me) in the bunch. Mostly the conversation was interesting and thought-provoking: my favorite sentiment gleaned from it was the opinion of several of the atheists who said while they did not believe in a creator, they felt the universe itself was so magnificent that it was worthy of reverence, even absent any divinity. On the other hand, arguments were not unknown. It’s kinda funny and sad at the same time watching avowed atheists play the “holier than thou” game with each other. It may be worth noting that some folks who do not believe in a god _do_ believe in things like spirits and/or souls, which as I recall were the matter of many of the debates. ---
**Author:** ![tourbot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@tourbot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tourbot)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-new-sects-in-atheism/150769/53 "2003-01-30T15:50:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BaldTaco \* > \*\*My favourite of the Ten Wisdoms is, \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > #8. In any Human relationship, he who cares the least has the most power. Otherwise known as the _Wife of Bath’s Rule_. There is a Rabbi (I believe in the US) who founded a sect based on the the idea that it is impossible to know whether god exists, so the question is irrelevant. I have seen their website, but after a half hour of googling I wasn’t able to turn it up again. It made an impression on me because that is exactly how I regard the question. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-new-sects-in-atheism/150769.md?page=2)