Posts by EdenOne

284

I'm an ABSENTHEIST. Are you also?

by EdenOne in

it just dawned on me.

the existence of god can't be proved, neither is there evidence of god's inexistence.

so, i'm neither theist neither atheist.

EdenOne

Wizzstick,

The Dictionary.com defines "deity" as: "1. A god or goddess 2. divine character or nature, especially that of the Supreme Being; divinity 3. the estate or rank of a god 4. a person or thing revered as a god or goddess 5. the Deity, God; Supreme Being."

I gave you one possible definition of deity, attested by a definition that can be found in a dictionary. I gave the example of Augustus in ancient Rome, and the cult of the emperor. And yet, you refuse to accept it as a valid example of a deity that empirically existed. You or I may not personally ascribe that deity any special power, but millions of people in the ancient roman empire did. It's therefore, a relevant example.

Eden

284

I'm an ABSENTHEIST. Are you also?

by EdenOne in

it just dawned on me.

the existence of god can't be proved, neither is there evidence of god's inexistence.

so, i'm neither theist neither atheist.

EdenOne

we should be abenteists with respect to santa living in the andromeda galaxy?

Not exactly, because one can accurately pinpoint the origin of that story:

"The legend of Santa Claus can be traced back hundreds of years to a monk named St. Nicholas. It is believed that Nicholas was born sometime around 280 A.D. in Patara, near Myra in modern-day Turkey. Much admired for his piety and kindness, St. Nicholas became the subject of many legends."

Since there's sufficient evidence that Santa Claus' story has been developed and embellished from a real life character, and we know pretty accurately how it came to present form, there's no need to be 'absentheist' about it, and it can be dismissed as legendary stuff. The same cannot be said about the origins of human belief in deities, although it's tempting to conjecture about it. And yet, if someone decides to believe Santa Claus in a flying sledge driven by raiders is real, who am I to aggressively go after such person?
Eden

201

These guys crash a Kingdom Hall on Memorial, video included

by Crazyguy in

jw
friends

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=7mars2mtaui.

to funny nice job....

EdenOne

Idiots. You may not agree with them but people have the right to worship without being harassed. They have just reinforced everything people are told about apostates.
Things like this are not helpful.

+1 my feelings exactly. It's idiotic beyond belief. If one must fight this cult, do it using civilized methods.

Eden

284

I'm an ABSENTHEIST. Are you also?

by EdenOne in

it just dawned on me.

the existence of god can't be proved, neither is there evidence of god's inexistence.

so, i'm neither theist neither atheist.

EdenOne

It is a nonsensical definition.

Why? Show me why you think its illogical.

From the same online source:

"3. the non-existence or lack of."

In my definition, the lack of God (absence) in the observable cosmos is the only thing we can confidently say about it. It doesn't say anything definitive about his existence or non-existence.

From another source: (Merriam-Webster)

a state or condition in which something expected, wanted, or looked for is not present or does not exist : a state or condition in which something is absent

: a failure to be present at a usual or expected place

No god that has ever been proposed in the history of humanity is supported by any evidence.

Cofty and Wizztick, that may be true for the type of "omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent" deity that you so fondly oppose to, but fact is, I have shown you a different type of deity, complete with a priesthood, temple and followers, and its existence is entirely verifiable by evidence. And you dismiss it just because it doesn't fit on your own definition of 'deity'?

Eden

284

I'm an ABSENTHEIST. Are you also?

by EdenOne in

it just dawned on me.

the existence of god can't be proved, neither is there evidence of god's inexistence.

so, i'm neither theist neither atheist.

EdenOne

There is no evidence for or against that idea, so should we then not be abentists with respect to santa?

The reasoning is that, since there is a possibility, albeit remote, that Santa lives in Andromeda (LOL!), anyone who holds a personal belief in that and doesn't attempt to determine other people's lives except its own around that belief, shouldn't be subject to aggressive contempt. Let that person be. Just as the aggressive behavior of religious fundamentalists towards non-believers is inexcusable, so is the aggressive behavior of atheists towards theists when they state their beliefs. Why is there this drive to be confrontational for no good reason? Is there a war going on that I don't know about?

Eden

556

The Watchtower are Right About Blood...

by cofty in

... but, they fail to take note of one important detail.. i believe that if we are going to have any chance of reasoning with a jw about blood, this is the place we need to begin.. don't try to convince them that it was only a dietary law.

it wasn't, and they will never go along with it.. don't tell them that saving a life is more important than obeying a law, even a seemingly trivial one.

they take pride in obedience.

EdenOne

Cofty

Maybe I missed something, but you said:

If an Israelite was to bleed an animal without killing it - as the Maasai do - and take the blood to the altar, the blood would have no sacrificial value for the simple reason that no life had been taken.

Now, I do agree with you on this, but I haven't seen this clearly stated in any scripture of the OT. Only later the writer of Hebrews claims that "without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness." (Hebrews 9:22) And yet, even there's a connection with animal sacrifices where the animal was slaughtered so that the blood was shed, I still am struggling to see an instance in the OT that says that the blood of a living animal is unsuitable to be presented in the altar.

Eden

284

I'm an ABSENTHEIST. Are you also?

by EdenOne in

it just dawned on me.

the existence of god can't be proved, neither is there evidence of god's inexistence.

so, i'm neither theist neither atheist.

EdenOne

Bohm,

there are things that one can say "so-and-so is 100% true". Simply put, the existence or non-existence of deities isn't one of them, for the reasons stated before. If one wants to measure the amount of belief in a scale, fine. I wouldn't know how to grade such scale, so I refrain from it. Dawkins probably does it better.

Eden

284

I'm an ABSENTHEIST. Are you also?

by EdenOne in

it just dawned on me.

the existence of god can't be proved, neither is there evidence of god's inexistence.

so, i'm neither theist neither atheist.

EdenOne

I see you have changed the subject yet again.

Nope, I'm explaining why this thread was started. My argument still stands:

a) "What can be said about God (or deity) is that it's absent".

b) The definition of absent was given: something for which no evidence of presence has been found.

c) This definition of absence has not been refuted yet. It does NOT presuppose existence.

d) Both claims that "God exists" or that "deities don't exist" are so grandiose, that demand extraordinary and unequivocal evidence.

e) Theists provide evidence for the existence of deity that can be debunked, while atheists don't provide any evidence for the non-existence of God.

f) Therefore, the most sound assertion is that God is absent, or not present. This is verifiable and adheres to reality more closely than theism or atheism, and reflects the skeptical approach more accurately.

Eden

284

I'm an ABSENTHEIST. Are you also?

by EdenOne in

it just dawned on me.

the existence of god can't be proved, neither is there evidence of god's inexistence.

so, i'm neither theist neither atheist.

EdenOne

Wiki refers to a god that is defined as "omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent" .

Wrong.

"The strong atheist explicitly asserts the non-existence of gods." - Wiki

This isn't dependent of a definition of a deity as "omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent". I'm sure you CAN read.

Eden

284

I'm an ABSENTHEIST. Are you also?

by EdenOne in

it just dawned on me.

the existence of god can't be proved, neither is there evidence of god's inexistence.

so, i'm neither theist neither atheist.

EdenOne

Bohm,

You propose a very reasonable approach to the issue here, and I appreciate that. The whole point of my little discussion here isn't about me finding the wheel, or having a revelation when I woke up yesterday [Jonathan Drake totally fell for the "it downed on me" thing ... LOL]. The point I argue is that BOTH claims "god exists" and "god doesn't exist" are logically unsound because both are unsupported by evidence and therefore, dogmatic assertions such as those should be avoided and a position of skepticism with room for reasonable doubt should be left open. The aggressiveness that modern atheists display in their crusade against theism, as Cofty plainly keeps demonstrating, is unwarranted, and should be seasoned with some respect for those who hold different beliefs. Aggressive atheists sometimes make an ass of themselves and alienate people who might be inclined to re-evaluate their theist positions simply because they don't want to become this kind of jesters on a crusade type of people, the extreme opposite spectrum of fanatical evangelists that alienate people of reason. That's all this thread is all about, in fact.

Eden