stemming from the 'absentheism' thread, an old question came to my mind.
what exactly is "belief"?.
is it the same to ask: "do you believe in god?
Cofty, the stupidity of your position is becoming obvious. And stop talking on behalf of "everybody" when you only represent yourself. (Viviane dixit) Am I short-circuiting your system?
"ok, I mean, some sort of higher power that rules over the universe and the physical laws. Do you believe that or not?"
Eden
stemming from the 'absentheism' thread, an old question came to my mind.
what exactly is "belief"?.
is it the same to ask: "do you believe in god?
What do you mean by "god"?
Ok, I take it that your answer is d)
Then, I would reply, "uh, I don't know, any god one can think of, I suppose. Do you believe or not?"
Eden
stemming from the 'absentheism' thread, an old question came to my mind.
what exactly is "belief"?.
is it the same to ask: "do you believe in god?
Atheism is a reply to specific assertions made by theists.
If I would ask you:
"Do you believe in God?"
What would your answer be?
a) Yes
b) No
c) I don't know
d) What god exactly are you talking about?
Eden
stemming from the 'absentheism' thread, an old question came to my mind.
what exactly is "belief"?.
is it the same to ask: "do you believe in god?
But don't you see that such question can also be turned on you?
An atheist says: "I lack belief that god [or: deities] exist". Ok, so define "god". Or define a deity. Based on what knowledge are you going to assert your belief, or lack thereof, that they don't exist?
If you must define first what god is so that you can disprove it with contrary evidence, then your knowledge about said god must come from somewhere. Where is the evidence for said god? This is the logical (or illogical) loop.
Eden
stemming from the 'absentheism' thread, an old question came to my mind.
what exactly is "belief"?.
is it the same to ask: "do you believe in god?
What is obtuse is insisting in trying to engage a non-theist with a question that should be directed at a theist. You won't get a reply from a non-theist. Why do you insist?
Eden
i've been thinking that an effective way to expose the idiocy and vacuousness of jwism is to use it right back on them when they come to your door.
say you're a fader and you've moved to the territory of a different circuit where the jws there don't know your jw background.
when they come knocking at your door, just put on the jw mindset and pretend to yourself that the jws at the door are not jws but members of a "false religion.".
It's a funny idea, but hard to master and not give away that you're really an ex-JW. I'd like to hear about it when someone actually does this.
Eden
stemming from the 'absentheism' thread, an old question came to my mind.
what exactly is "belief"?.
is it the same to ask: "do you believe in god?
Viviane: You're adorable
awww shucks! Thanks!!
(fallacy of taking out of context)
Eden
stemming from the 'absentheism' thread, an old question came to my mind.
what exactly is "belief"?.
is it the same to ask: "do you believe in god?
Ruby, thanks for putting it in such a succint way.
Eden
stemming from the 'absentheism' thread, an old question came to my mind.
what exactly is "belief"?.
is it the same to ask: "do you believe in god?
Azor: Cofty and Viviane and others with your viewpoint why bother engaging eden one and outlaw? It seems like you give credibility to a subject that doesn't merit it.
To begin with, if you don't like this thread, you can chose not to read it. Easy. However, many do and, even if they don't have light bulb moments, at least they can see that this isn't all black and white. It's more complicated and nuanced than hard theists and hard atheists usually claim it is. So, I think a thread like this is useful, even if, as you said, is at times discussing things "out there".
Discussions about words aren't exactly "triffles"; only for those with lazy minds. Definitions matter, especially when one is trying to determine exactly where he/she stands.
This thread started out by making a question: What exactly is "belief"? When an atheist claims he lacks belief, what exactly is that belief that's lacking? Is that lack of belief a belief in itself? That's what we've been discussing. It's not irrelevant.
The tactic of not "discussing with theists because it lends credence to their claims" is advocated by modern atheists. But this question is being made by a non-theist. So basically you suggest that atheists should only debate with other atheists? Isn't that some sort of intellectual masturbation? Or isn't that a sign of lazyness?
Eden
researchers say todays lord almighty shares many traits in common with the chimp deity, including color vision and omniscience.. .
berkeley, cachallenging long-held views on the origins of divinity, biologists at the university of california, berkeley, presented findings thursday that confirm god, the almighty creator of the universe, evolved from an ancient chimpanzee deity.. the recently discovered sacred ancestor, a divine chimp species scientists have named pan sanctorum, reportedly gave rise over millions of years to the lord our god, maker of heaven and earth.. although perhaps not obvious at first glance, there are actually overwhelming similarities between the supreme being of today and this early primate deity who preceded him, said dr. richard kamen, a leading biologist who also heads berkeleys paleotheology department.
the holy chimp moved around on all fours, but its descendants eventually began walking upright to expend less energy while foraging across the infinite reaches of the universe.
the adaptive value of Pan sanctorum’s immortality proved critical to its survival,” said Kamen
Priceless!
Eden
