I'm an ABSENTHEIST. Are you also? (page 23)

nicolaou

British Dictionary definitions for A-Expanda-1
prefix 1.not; without; opposite to: atonal, asocial
Word Origin
from Greek a-, an- not, without

Precisely! Exactly! A theist holds the belief that god exists. An atheist is without that belief. That doesn't mean an atheist holds the diametrically opposed belief that god does NOT exist.

Ruby456

cofty

we cannot say dogmatically that God does not exist. - ruby
Once you define specifically what you mean by "god" we can.

satisfactorily - yes. dogmatically - no and according to karl Poppers criteria for falsification - NO. Your reasoning breaks down as it does not meet the demands of empiricism and rationality

EdenOne

There's a huge difference between something that is absent and something that does not exist.

I agree. But that wasn't my point. The use of "absent", as I've demonstrated by using a respected dictionary (and yet Cofty and others dare to claim they know better that Marriam-Webster) can adequately describe a state of non-presence. It doesn't make any claims about existence or non-existence and can accommodate BOTH.

However, I said that if someone had a better term to positively describe a state of not being present, without presuming existence or non-existence, I was listening. Yet, so far, no one came up with a better term than "absent".

Eden

nicolaou

However, I said that if someone had a better term to positively describe a state of not being present, without presuming existence or non-existence, I was listening.

Imagined.

EdenOne

From Mirriam-Webster:

"Atheism"

2

a : a disbelief in the existence of deity

b : the doctrine that there is no deity

Seems to me both definitions might be acceptable. However, my observation is that atheists such as some of the most aggressive participants of this thread don't just "disbelieve", but actively promote a doctrine of denial that deity exists. My point is: That cannot be classified as skepticism, because skepticism demands unequivocal evidence and leaves the conclusions open until evidence is in. Anyone who says positively "God/deities don't exist" isn't a true skeptic, but is a dogmatic promoter of an atheist doctrine.

Eden

EdenOne

Nicolaou: Imagined.

Please think twice before you acuse me of lying. From page 15 of this thread:

Galaxie,
the point is that I don't want to make any assumptions regarding the existence or non-existence of God. [...] If you have a better word to describe the lack of presence than 'absence', I'm all ears.

Eden

EdenOne

Nicolaou:

And the spirituality Sagan speaks of has nothing to do with religion, gods or the supernatural - and you know it.
That's 'The Fallacy of Spirituality'.

Have I made any claims that Carl Sagan supported religion or the supernatural??

Strawman fallacy

Eden

EdenOne

fukitol

Or I should say AssholeOne

Too bad you don't live up to the genius of the people who produced the art behind your gravatar. Here, for example.

Eden

nicolaou

Oh dear. Didn't accuse you of lying at all EdenOne but anyway....

I'm leaving for work now but I promise to come back to this. In the meantime, my views on the definition of atheism are all in this old topic; 'There's no such thing as Agnosticism. Agnostics do not exist'.

And yes, dictionaries are not always 100% perfect.

Try to be nice eh?

EdenOne

Nicolaou,

And yes, dictionaries are not always 100% perfect.

But ain't it funny how people demand definitions? Well, that's the place where they can be found. One can't demand definitions from an authority and then refuse said definition from said authority because it doesn't fit your model. (Confirmation bias)

Try to be nice eh?

I'm always nice, except when otherwise

Eden

I'm an ABSENTHEIST. Are you also?

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