Jan, I think you might be God. You definitely have a supernatural talent for making mountains out of molehills.
It is atheists who decides what atheists believe. That is pretty obvious.
Even without the subtle condescention of "That is pretty obvious" tagged on, yes, I know that. When I used the dictionary definition, I was only establishing a point of reference, which is pretty much what I was getting at when I told you to take it up with Webster's. If I've offended you in some way by using the dictionary instead of scouring infidels.org for something you'd find suitable, I apologize.
Not really. It would be meaningless if all you really meant was that there exists atheists who are arrogant, just as adherents of any belief systems can be arrogant. You necessarily must have meant something far more with your statement.
I don't know if you read the whole post or not, but I haven't tried to hide anything. Here's the rest of that paragraph again, just for your benefit:
I've also noticed a weird sort of arrogance among some people who embrace Atheism. It becomes more than just an outlook or opinion: it becomes a sign (at least to them and others like them) of belonging to some sort of intellectual elite. Truthfully, it looks to me like the mirror image of the arrogance Christian Fundies have about their alleged monopoly on life's truths.
It means exactly what it says: some -- not all, but SOME -- atheists seem to think that their atheism makes them intellectually superior to everyone else, and they end up showing the same arrogant attitude as Christian Fundies. I thought I had made myself pretty clear. Then you tried to twist my words and apply them to all atheists, which was never my intention:
This is a blanket statement that really cannot be tested.
If I had said that all atheists were as arrogant as Xtian Fundamentalists in their conviction that they alone have the truth, that would have been a blanket statement. But I said no such thing, simply because that's not what I believe. As I told you before, what I meant is what I said. I have no reason to lie to you.
But I will give you a few points for rhetoric here
<g> When I told you to pay attention, I was just playing with you. I've noticed that for some odd reason, you seem to really, really like debating with me, and this little game of cat and mouse between us can be fun. But trying to talk about these things with me isn't the same as debating with Christians. I don't feel any need to try and impress you with fancy words or quotes from famous dead guys to prove that my, uh, "education" is bigger than yours.
To me, this realm -- spiritual stuff -- is strictly a place of opinions, not facts. Yes, I'd like to make myself understood, but I really have nothing to prove to you. What are you trying to prove to me?
*Rochelle.
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"Most men complacently accept 'knowledge' as 'truth'. They are sheep, ruled by fear."
-- Sydney Losstarot, "Vagrant Story."