Zid said: So, Essan, if you're going to claim that 'god' exists, WHICH GOD???
Lol so if I'm not an Atheist I must be a Theist? So many people aren't aware of a third option. No wonder so many people are wrongly labeling themselves 'Atheists".
Let's settle this for once and for all...... is atheism a belief, a non-belief or an anti-belief?
by Quillsky 243 Replies latest jw friends
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zoiks
Haha, Ziddina - I love your long-range take on things! True, which god/goddess am I not believing in again? As long as people keep asserting a belief in some higher power that should/should not be worshipped, is it the burden of folks who don't accept those assertions to prove them wrong?
"There is an invisible clown in your closet. It cannot be felt, smelt, or touched. But it is there. Prove me wrong."
"But I don't see the need to prove you wrong. I simply don't believe that it is there. I suppose that makes me an ainvisibleclownist."
"Ha! You're an invisibleclownagnostic! You can't prove a negative, and your unwillingness to make an absolute statement proves my point and defines you in my eyes!"
"Aw, man! You're right!"
Seriously, though. Sometimes I wish there was an invisible clown there. So creepy, yet so deserving of my adoration.
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AGuest
SO funny (peace to you all!). I just saw a commercial for Oral-B toothbrushes where the commentator was commenting on whether the woman's toothbrush was truly effective against plaque. Her response? "If I don't see it... it isn't there."
Classic! I LOVE it!
Peace!
A slave of Christ, who some can't see...
SA
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nugget
it is a point of view
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Super Nova
There is a lot of things that cannot be proven. No one can prove that the sun will rise tomorrow. Should we stop living like tomorrow will not exist? No one can prove that their mother, wife, or child really loves them. Should we tell them we don't believe them because we can't prove it? No one can prove that the guy in the car driving near you on a high way is not going to crash into you and kill you. Should we stop driving? No one can prove that other minds really exist. This can all be a dream. Should we stop believing in reality? No one can prove that your past really happened. There are many things that cannot be proven but are still accepted. So when someone says, "You cannot prove that God exist", I say, "So what!" "You can't prove that God doesn't exist. It's part of life and living! Live and let live!!"
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SixofNine
thank you for that important contribution.
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OnTheWayOut
Words are dangerous. "A lack of belief" can be said to make an atheist appear to be missing something.
A "non-belief" can be used to make an atheist seem defiant.
A "belief" can be used to make a believer feel that everyone takes some leap of faith to arrive at their "beliefs."It does mean different things to different atheists. Even the term "atheist" shows an insistence to put everyone in a certain box with a label. I suppose that's necessary though.
An atheist believes that there is no evidence that God exists. It is not automatically a belief in no God, or a lack of belief in Him. It is a belief in that lack of evidence. The rest depends on the individual. He may believe aliens seeded life and forced evolution along, or he may believe our ancestors crash-landed from another planet that was loaded with evidence of their evolution and upon landing they had a memory lapse.That all sounds like nonsense. The point is that you cannot go beyond the initial assumption. If you want to generalize- most atheists on earth tend to see that there is some evidence of evolution and they tend to believe in science to explain everything, at least more and more as things are discovered/revealed. They tend to believe there are psychological/emotional reasons for people believing they have been contacted by God in some way or have had prayers specifically answered.
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Essan
"An atheist believes that there is no evidence that God exists."
No, an atheist believes that God does not exist. An agnostic position is that there is no conclusive evidence that God exists (or that he does not).
I don't get why people keep blurring and misapplying terms. The way people are redefining 'atheist' renders it impossibly broad and therefore meaningless. It is blurring into and subsuming agnosticism. It's becoming a amorphous catch-all philosophical shmoosh. LOL
"Hi I'm an atheist, I believe there definitely is no God."
"Hi I'm an atheist too, but I believe that there may be a God, but there's no definite proof as yet"
"Hi I'm an atheist as well, I'm a Christian atheist, I don't believe there is proof of God, but I still believe"
"Hi, I'm an atheist too, small world! I'm an agnostic atheist, I believe there is no proof God does or doesn't exist but I choose to believe he doesn't"
"Wow, do you notice how we 'atheists' all believe very different things? How can that be? Seems like atheist can mean anything we decide it means."
No, it bloody can't!
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Super Nova
In order to take a position you need to believe that your position is true. Atheists' take the position that there is no God (or not enough evidence to believe) and must believe that their position is true. They would not take this position if they didn't believe that their position was true. It is a belief. I think some who call themselves atheist are just really following a herd and are really agnostic.
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Essan
Super Nova: "I think some who call themselves atheist are just really following the herd and are really agnostic."
Bingo. In fact, I'd suggest that the majority of professed 'atheists' are actually agnostic, they just don't have a clear understanding of what the terms mean and because 'atheist' is commonly (mis)used, they adopt it. Most people on questioning would acknowledge that they aren't claiming to absolutely know for sure that God does not exist, but only that he/she/it/they have not been proven to exist as yet.