A question for athiests

[Eudaimonist]

Every belief and religion has the weirdos including Christianity and your atheistic one. To pick a few crazies and say this is the Christian religion is not only wrong, but also show just how little you know about Christianity.

Yes, this is basically correct. Every ideological group of any sort has its kooks. There are no exceptions. The problem with kooks is that they are more noticable than the rest.

I would like to just point out I said weirdo, not extremist, because an "extreme" Christian is just what this world needs...

True, and extreme atheists of various sorts.


eudaimonia,

Mark

 

[tanzanos]

When was the last time you saw atheists mocking the recently deceased in front of their families outside the funeral?

Name some 'crazy' things some atheist weirdo's have done in the name of atheism. I don't doubt there are some, but I think they are far lesser in number in comparison to the amount done by religious nutjobs.

It takes a Brit to add some sense of sanity in a debate!

 

[maxbigwood]

'fraid that's just a myth. Most people are of some other religion than christianity for the same reason that most christians are christian: They were raised in that religion.

Specifically about atheists, most atheists arrived at their decision based upon some form of rational or empirical reasoning. A select minority (teenage goths. ) may be atheist because they're rebelling against something- whether it be their parents or authority, however I've never actually met one of these people and I question their existence.

Rational or empirical reasoning does not lead to the conclusion that there is no God.

 

[Brother Cavil]

Rational or empirical reasoning does not lead to the conclusion that there is no God.

You seem to have misinterpreted the meaning of the sentence:

Specifically about atheists, most atheists arrived at their decision based upon some form of rational or empirical reasoning.

Atheism does NOT assert that there is no god, it is simply lack of belief in a god or gods.

 

[Eudaimonist]

Rational or empirical reasoning does not lead to the conclusion that there is no God.

For you, perhaps.

Reasoning makes the claim that divine beings exist dubious and unconvincing to me. In this sense I conclude that there is no God, but it is not a logical "proof" of nonexistence. It is more like concluding that leprechauns don't exist because "leprechaunists" aren't convincing, and seeing little reason to think that they even might be correct.

When reasoning supports a naturalistic worldview, even Deism seems arbitrary and superfluous. So, the conclusion that there "is no God" is really more of a rational acceptance that a natural (and implicitly godless) reality is cognitively useful and worthwhile, and any theistic concepts are cognitively useless, ending up in the dustbin of intellectual history. If theists (or Deists) want to make their concepts useful, they will have come up with better concepts, and the evidence to back them up.


eudaimonia,

Mark

 

[Wiccan_Child]

Rational or empirical reasoning does not lead to the conclusion that there is no God.

And atheism doesn't that there is no God, so your point is moot.

 

[The Nihilist]

Am I the only atheist who does assert that there is no god?

 

[lordbt]

I'll second that.

 

[Eudaimonist]

Am I the only atheist who does assert that there is no god?

No, I as a philosophical naturalist do as well, but I don't claim to have in my possession an impossibility proof.


eudaimonia,

Mark

 

[Alunyel]

I'll quite happily say that I'm not going to exclude the possibility of any gods, insofar as I'm not going to exclude the possibility of an invisible pink unicorn, or the flying spaghetti monster.

They're all just as likely as the other.

 

[Freodin]

Am I the only atheist who does assert that there is no god?

I do that as well... but I also don´t claim it to be more that what it said: an assertion.

 

[Ayersy]

Am I the only atheist who does assert that there is no god?

Nope, I've asserted in the past that there's no god or gods.

 

[AV1611VET]

Am I the only atheist who does assert that there is no god?

There are a couple of [true] atheists here who are willing to admit that they believe in one God less than Christians do.

 

[shattered faith]

It had nothing to do with Christians and everything to do with Christianity.

same here, though i've been a proud atheist all my life

 

[The Nihilist]

There are a couple of [true] atheists here who are willing to admit that they believe in one God less than Christians do.

I'm reasonably confident I'll regret asking, but what do you mean?

 

[The Lady Kate]

So Columbus did --- or did not --- sail the ocean blue?

Actually, it was more greenish.

 

[The Lady Kate]

Sorry --- let me give the full statement here --- I left an ingredient out:

If atheists ran the world like they interpret the Bible, and used the Bible as their guide to do so, we would all be in trouble.

Why would an Atheist do such a thing?

 

[tanzanos]

Rational or empirical reasoning does not lead to the conclusion that there is no God.

Yes it does. Religion teaches us that God is an omnipotent omniscient being that created the Universe. Science has a a theory with empirical evidence on how the Universe was created and God is not part of the explanation; And thus one can conclude that at least the Abrahamic God had no part in creation and thus not worthy of the status given to him as the creator. There is absolutely NO hint of evidence of any Deity in science and one can conclude that no such beings can and or do exist. If one is to accept the existance of your God then you must accept the existance of other Gods from other religions unless you can prove that your God is the only one in existance. This will lead to the following paradox: If you prove that your God can exist then you have also proven that other Gods can exist thus claiming that only your God exists is a paradox.

A book written 2,000 years ago can hardly be taken as proof!

Do not confuse faith with existance!

 

[The Lady Kate]

I'm reasonably confident I'll regret asking, but what do you mean?

He doesn't know.

Christians reject the existence of every god except one... Atheists reject the existence of every god.

I'm fairly certain AV1611VET thinks this means something different.

 

[Brother Cavil]

Am I the only atheist who does assert that there is no god?

I would argue that making that assertion makes you something other than an atheist, and frankly, that particular claim is (IMO) as dubious as the claim that there is a god. Of course, that is only if is defined to be outside and beyond the universe since we can not make claims about that which is completely imperceivable to us. If, on the other hand, god is defined to exist within our perception, than that conclusion can be argued rationally.