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How do you view atheism?

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Atheism - the belief that no gods exist - is just as unfounded as any flavour of theism. There is no evidence pointing to the existence of a god, but there is no credible evidence the other way either; therefore, it is rational to suspend judgement. I think what is commonly referred to as atheism, or perhaps "weak atheism", is really a form of agnosticism; that is, the position of a "lack of belief" in the existence of a god.

I consider the embracing of agnosticism one of the long-term goals for our species.
 
Cecil said:
Atheism - the belief that no gods exist - is just as unfounded as any flavour of theism. There is no evidence pointing to the existence of a god, but there is no credible evidence the other way either; therefore, it is rational to suspend judgement. I think what is commonly referred to as atheism, or perhaps "weak atheism", is really a form of agnosticism; that is, the position of a "lack of belief" in the existence of a god.

I consider the embracing of agnosticism one of the long-term goals for our species.
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Well, I was going to ignore this comment, as its an old and tired one, but I'll poke it with a stick...

Do you beleive that dragons exist?

Can you prove that they do not?

Let's make three terms:

Dragonist = someone who believes in dragons
Adragonist = someone who beleives that dragons do not exist
agdragonist = someone who says that they aren't sure if dragons exist or not becuase its impossible for them to prove that they don't exist.

You would classify yourself as an agdragonist I assume.

I'm 100% positive that "god" does not exist. "God" has no meaning, and there is not one single thing that leads to the suspicion that "god" miight exist if "god" could even be defined.

The entire "god" concept does not even make sense.

No, I am an athiest, 100% confident that "god" does not exist, 100% confident that there is no "heaven" and no "hell", no "afterlife" (they call it death for a reason), and nothing "supernatural" at all, i.e. I am a materialist, and IMO the only that makes any sense is materialism.
 
Cecil said:
Atheism - the belief that no gods exist - is just as unfounded as any flavour of theism. There is no evidence pointing to the existence of a god, but there is no credible evidence the other way either; therefore, it is rational to suspend judgement. I think what is commonly referred to as atheism, or perhaps "weak atheism", is really a form of agnosticism; that is, the position of a "lack of belief" in the existence of a god.

I consider the embracing of agnosticism one of the long-term goals for our species.
Click to expand...

i can't disprove that old pesky teapot isn't oribiting the sun but the chances (in my opinion at least) are too slim to consider seriously (or at all). for me, it's the same when it comes to believing in a god.

atheism and agnosticism are indeed two different things.

and if we want to get into semantics, i prefer "i don't believe gods exist" as opposed to "i believe that no gods exist"
 
I am an atheist....period. I would have voted for the first choice but that whole personal preference does not apply (it implies that people choose their beliefs).
 
Malachi151 said:


Well, I was going to ignore this comment, as its an old and tired one, but I'll poke it with a stick...

Do you beleive that dragons exist?

Can you prove that they do not?

Let's make three terms:

Dragonist = someone who believes in dragons
Adragonist = someone who beleives that dragons do not exist
agdragonist = someone who says that they aren't sure if dragons exist or not becuase its impossible for them to prove that they don't exist.

You would classify yourself as an agdragonist I assume.

I'm 100% positive that "god" does not exist. "God" has no meaning, and there is not one single thing that leads to the suspicion that "god" miight exist if "god" could even be defined.

The entire "god" concept does not even make sense.

No, I am an athiest, 100% confident that "god" does not exist, 100% confident that there is no "heaven" and no "hell", no "afterlife" (they call it death for a reason), and nothing "supernatural" at all, i.e. I am a materialist, and IMO the only that makes any sense is materialism.
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you're my hero Malachi151

Atheism isn't a 'belief":)


It's not believing. It's not being able to believe in something that in no way exists.

It's anti-belief.

I also don't believe the tooth fairy takes my kids' teeth. I know...I forgot to retrieve one once, and the kid found it the next morning. Dumb tooth fairy, could help a parent out once in a while, sheesh :D
 
Sometimes Im an atheist and sometimes Im not. During the playoffs I find myself praying quite a bit.

Depending on my mood i do and dont believe. Is that so bad? Its a comfort thing. Plus in a death situation it makes practicle sense to believe in god. If hes real, your in, if hes not, so what your dead.
 
Tmy said:
Plus in a death situation it makes practicle sense to believe in god. If hes real, your in, if hes not, so what your dead.
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You're making the assumption that there's one god, when in reality their are hundreds of religions and thousands of gods. Do you believe in all of these gods simultaneously, in order to save your immortal soul? Oops... Thou shalt have no other god before me, or some such.
 
I am most definitely an atheist. I think society would be a lot better off with out religion but I would never condone enforcing atheism on anyone. Thus the second option mkaes the most sense to me.
 
Yes, Malachi, I agree with your response, too, and thank you for stating it so well.

It is one of the few 'buttons' I have when theists begin defining me for me. They seem unwilling and incapable of grasping the simple concept.

I am an atheist. I'm not a weak atheist nor a strong atheist. I am an atheist. I possess no belief in a god.

I suspect, though, that your 'agdragonist' example will fall on deaf ears. I have used similar examples with theists and they pooh-pooh them without comment saying I'm just desperate or don't get it or whatever.

Then I kill them and feed their entrails to Satan.
 
Malachi151 said:


Well, I was going to ignore this comment, as its an old and tired one, but I'll poke it with a stick...

Do you beleive that dragons exist?

Can you prove that they do not?

Let's make three terms:

Dragonist = someone who believes in dragons
Adragonist = someone who beleives that dragons do not exist
agdragonist = someone who says that they aren't sure if dragons exist or not becuase its impossible for them to prove that they don't exist.

You would classify yourself as an agdragonist I assume.
Click to expand...
That's not the same thing. Dragons as we have defined them are limited to living on the Earth. Since we have explored the vast majority of the surface and seen no dragons, it is rational to conclude that dragons do not exist. "God", since it created the universe, must necessarily exist outside of the universe. Therefore, we can accumulate no evidence at all about the existence of a god.

"God" has no meaning
Click to expand...
The cause of the universe's existence.

No, I am an athiest, 100% confident that "god" does not exist, 100% confident that there is no "heaven" and no "hell", no "afterlife" (they call it death for a reason), and nothing "supernatural" at all, i.e. I am a materialist, and IMO the only that makes any sense is materialism. [/B]
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Be sure you understand there is a difference between being an atheist and disbelieving in the god of one particular religion.

There is a paradox called the "Lottery Paradox". Suppose you are running a lottery with an infinite number of tickets. Each ticket has only an infinitesimal chance of winning, but if you believe of each ticket that it will not win, then you must conclude that the lottery will not be won by any ticket, a patently false conclusion. Therefore, of each ticket it is not rational to believe that it will win, nor is it rational to believe that it will lose; you may think it very unlikely to win, but you should not believe it to be a loser.

The same goes for the propositions:
(1) No gods exist.
(2) God g1 exists.
(3) God g2 exists.
(4) God g3 exists.
...
for an infinite number of gods.
 
Cecil said:
That's not the same thing. Dragons as we have defined them are limited to living on the Earth. Since we have explored the vast majority of the surface and seen no dragons, it is rational to conclude that dragons do not exist. "God", since it created the universe, must necessarily exist outside of the universe. Therefore, we can accumulate no evidence at all about the existence of a god.

The cause of the universe's existence.

Be sure you understand there is a difference between being an atheist and disbelieving in the god of one particular religion.

There is a paradox called the "Lottery Paradox". Suppose you are running a lottery with an infinite number of tickets. Each ticket has only an infinitesimal chance of winning, but if you believe of each ticket that it will not win, then you must conclude that the lottery will not be won by any ticket, a patently false conclusion. Therefore, of each ticket it is not rational to believe that it will win, nor is it rational to believe that it will lose; you may think it very unlikely to win, but you should not believe it to be a loser.

The same goes for the propositions:
(1) No gods exist.
(2) God g1 exists.
(3) God g2 exists.
(4) God g3 exists.
...
for an infinite number of gods.
Click to expand...

Why would anyone buy a ticket for a lottery wih an infinite number of combinations?

However little you spent on the ticket, it would still be a waste of money.

The same goes for your propositions.

Graham
 
Too many gods around...

I cannot remember where I read this a few days or weeks ago....
But I think it is fitting:

I am no atheist, I just believe in one god less then you do. :D
 
Cecil said:
Dragons as we have defined them are limited to living on the Earth. Since we have explored the vast majority of the surface and seen no dragons, it is rational to conclude that dragons do not exist.
Click to expand...

What makes you think dragons live on the surface?
 
Cecil,

Do you think the Loch Ness Monster may exist?

Also:

You state that ""God", since it created the universe, must necessarily exist outside of the universe." and "Therefore, we can accumulate no evidence at all about the existence of a god."

Were this the case then good could neither infulence us or be relevent to anything in the universe. Not only that but there is no evidence whatsoever to suggest the existence of anything outside the universe, quite on the contrary, since the universe is defined as being the place where everything extant exists.

So god does not exist.
 
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