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The difference between aetheists and religious

Iacchus said:
Or, better yet, we could just take a vote on it. ;)
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So an omnipotent being can't rig a coin not to fall, but can be decided by popular opinion?

Strange sort of god you have there.


[sorry to derail--I'll leave]
 
Theists are taught to love their neighbor and love God as they understand God to be. They always fall for short--most not for lack of trying.

Atheists seldom talk about universal love. Its always evidence this, proof that, define your terms, (yawn) :boxedin:
 
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ruach1 said:
Theists are taught to love their neighbor and love God as they understand God to be. They always fall for short--most not for lack of trying.

Atheists seldom talk about universal love. Its always evidence this, proof that, define your terms, (yawn) :boxedin:
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Maybe because we see evidence and proof being effectual and universal love not so much.
 
Mercutio said:
So an omnipotent being can't rig a coin not to fall, but can be decided by popular opinion?

Strange sort of god you have there.
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My God? Why should I argue for that which can't be proven? Sounds like a big waste of time if you ask me.
 
For me it is not a matter of faith at all, it is purely a matter of evidence, there is no evidence for a creator (god) so there is noo God end of story move on.
 
Ladewig said:
I cannot recall meeting any religious folk that could describe specific events that would lead them to become atheists.
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I asked a religious friend this once. He thought awhile and said that nothing could ever make him lose his belief in god.

Now who appears close-minded?

LLH
 
LordoftheLeftHand said:
I asked a religious friend this once. He thought awhile and said that nothing could ever make him lose his belief in god.

Now who appears close-minded?

LLH
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Depends. Did you ask him why he believes? Maybe he is convinced by what he perceives as evidence, and so your question to him might be like asking if he could ever lose his belief that the Earth is spherical.
 
T'ai Chi said:
Depends. Did you ask him why he believes? Maybe he is convinced by what he perceives as evidence, and so your question to him might be like asking if he could ever lose his belief that the Earth is spherical.
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It doesn't matter if he thinks he has evidence. New evidence can occur that will change our views.

Obviously, new evidence will not convince him. Which makes him close-minded.
 
Well, I understand Jung must have been pretty close-minded then ...

Although he usually avoided discussing his private religious convictions, he seems to have been caught slightly off guard in an interview with John Freeman. When Freeman asked Jung whether or not he believed in God, Jung (1977: 428) answered, after a pregnant pause: ``I know. I don't need to believe. I know.'' What Jung claims to know here is consistent with his definition of God as that autonomous power in the psyche which is greater than the ego. Whatever Jung knows about God is the result of his direct experience of the God-image in the human psyche.
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T'ai Chi said:
Depends. Did you ask him why he believes? Maybe he is convinced by what he perceives as evidence, and so your question to him might be like asking if he could ever lose his belief that the Earth is spherical.
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The earth is not spherical. It is an oblate spheroid. We've known that for some years. New evidence convinced us. Go figure.
 
Iacchus said:
Well, I understand Jung must have been pretty close-minded then ...
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If you go by that quote, then yes, Jung was close-minded.

But we don't have to go by that quote. We can go by most of his other writings as well. As with most psychoanalytic thought, the theory determined the evidence, rather than vice versa. Yup, close-minded.
 
I wish otherwise intelligent people wouldn't say "you can't prove a negative". Of course you can. You cannot prove a universal negative by referring to limited evidence, though. That's what inferences are for.
 
T'ai Chi said:
Yeah, Newton was such an intellectual lightweight!
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My original post was not "Atheists can think" it was "Atheists think". Having the ability to think and actually doing it are not the same thing. Newton also spent time in alchemy. Of course Einstein, who proved Newton's theories were lacking in the areas of time and space, was an atheist.

his Autobiographical Notes (1949, pp. 3-5): "Thus I came--despite the fact I was the son of entirely irreligious (Jewish) parents--to a deep religiosity, which, however, found an abrupt ending at the age of 12. Through the reading of popular scientific books I soon reached the conviction that much in the stories of the Bible could not be true. The consequence was a positively fanatic [orgy of] freethinking coupled with the impression that youth is intentionally being deceived...Suspicion against every kind of authority grew out of this experience, a skeptical attitude... has never left me..."
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Most religious people who can think choose not to delve too deeply into thinking about their faith. Those who do think deeply about their faith figure it out and become atheists or agnostics.

Incidentally , the above from Einstein is the origin of my screen name here.
 
Freethinker said:
My original post was not "Atheists can think" it was "Atheists think". Having the ability to think and actually doing it are not the same thing. Newton also spent time in alchemy. Of course Einstein, who proved Newton's theories were lacking in the areas of time and space, was an atheist.
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In the passage quoted, Einstein says he "reached the conviction that much in the stories of the Bible could not be true", and that he had "a skeptical attitude". Not that he's an atheist.
I never thought one of edge's posts would turn out to be useful, but you might want to look at this one.

I'm not saying Einstein was necessarily a theist, but I would not call him an atheist until sufficient proof has been provided.
 
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