Exactly. We have nothing but your word that your view is one of not accepting theist claims rather than a belief that no gods exist.
What else could there be, other then my word, when it comes to the things *I* believe or don't believe?
You can't discover my beliefs under a rock, you know... if you wish to know what someone believes or doesn't believe... the only thing you can do is ask them.
Last time I checked, we still don't have any mindreading devices.
I've already shown a prominent, outspoken atheist flat out admitting that your claim is typically not honest, but rather nothing more than an attempt to dodge burden of proof.
A "prominent, outspoken atheist" can't read my mind either, nore is such a person my spokesman or representative. It's really kind of hilarious, and a bit sad, to see you
insist on asserting that I have certain beliefs or make certain claims, while I'm right here telling you that that is not what I believe nore is it what I claim.
It's a bit mindblowing, really...
I think I know better then you what things I believe / claim and which things I don't believe / claim.
Yeah, this is exactly what I'm talking about. What do you think "strong disbelief" means?
Here, let me help you with that:
from:
Definition of DISBELIEF
A "rejection of something as untrue." A "disbelief" in the existence of gods means you reject their existence as untrue. I.E. - it is untrue that gods exist. THAT IS A POSITIVE CLAIM!!
1. Why do you ignore the "or" in the definitions between "lack of belief" and "disbelief"?
2. for the upteenth time, when you answer 'no' to the question "do you believe X?", it does NOT mean that you'll answer 'yes' to the question "do you believe NOT X?".
I have no idea what more is needed to expose this sham. We repeatedly see atheists struggling (or just burying their heads in the sand) with simple definitions that consistently show atheism as a belief that gods don't exist (a positive claim).
We've seen one of the most prominent atheists ever, Richard Dawkins, holding the view "God doesn't exist," with no backlash or correction from the atheist community.
Richard Dawkins doesn't make that claim either. Not that it matters what Dawkins claims, when we are discussing OUR views.
In his book The God Delusion, he shares a ranking systems from 1 to 7 where 1 equals "there is a god" and 7 equals "there are no gods". In that ranking, he puts himself at 6.
He goes out of his way with this ranking system to clearly explain his position.
Since that comes from his own hands in a relatively recent book, it overrides third party claims about his views.
Here's another - Sam Harris, another extremely prominent, popular, and outspoken atheist. He wrote an article titled "There is no God (And You Know It)"
There is No God (And You Know It)
So he also comes right out and declares a positive claim against the existence of gods,
Then maybe you should be having this discussion with him? Or, you know... with somebody else who actually holds such views?
and once again, no backlash or correction from the atheist community.
Why should there be? Sam Harris' opinions and views are his own. I see no reason why I should have to "release a statement" or whatever, whenever the guy says something I disagree with.
And I've even cited a well known, outspoken atheist flat out admitting the atheist claim that "we just don't accept theists' claims" is just a cover for avoiding burden of proof.
It seems you are under the delusion that there is some kind of "atheist community" with a central authority which dictates what atheists should and shouldn't believe.
I don't care what some atheist somewhere's opinions are concerning his atheism. I have my own views. If you wish to know MY views, you should ask ME.
What some "well known, outspoken prominent atheist"'s views are, are that person's views - not mine. Unlike certain theists, I don't let others decide for me what I should and shouldn't believe.
Sorry, atheists, but I'm just not buying your "ignore the man behind the curtain" routine at all.
It rather seems that you're not "buying" anything we say when it doesn't confirm your a priori beliefs.
Here we are, me telling you what I believe and claim and what I don't believe and claim... and there you are, telling me I'm "wrong" about what I believe and claim and that I
really believe and claim other things....
It's truelly mindblowing.
Oh, ok. Here you go:
Dad on Youtube
Question: Where do you think gods & goddesses come from? They have to come from somewhere.
Your Answer: It's called superstition and imagination.
That's NOT a claim that gods don't actually exist?? Yeah, dry that one out and you can fertilize the lawn.
Dishonest quote mining.
That wasn't the entire question. The question also included the origins of fallen angels, myths and religions in general.
We know for a fact that humans have invented religions, myths, legends, etc pretty much out of thin air. You more then likely will even agree to that when it comes the pantheon gods like those of the ancient egyptians, greeks, romans,... Norse gods like Thor and Odin. The stuff that scientologists believe in. You name it.
And here's the kicker........... ALL religions claimed by mankind could be wrong and originate in human's imagination and superstition..... and some god might still exist.
As it stands, as good as ALL religions are mutually incompatible.
So at best, all but one of them are false. That necessarily means that the vast majority of them are human inventions and mistaken interpretations of events.
More then likely, since they all make the same kind of claims, they are all wrong.
But once again:
that's an argument concerning the specific religions. It could be that all
religions are wrong, and that one or more gods nevertheless exist. You believe in the christian god. Presumably, you also believe that the christian god existed before christianity did...
So you must not have any trouble accepting that a god could exist, without humans having an "appropriate" religion concerning said god.
So, to conclude: you have failed to point out where I ever claimed that no god(s) exist.
A specific religion and a generic god are not the same thing.
EDIT: and ps, I find it noteworthy that you pulled up a post from march 2014... Do you keep a list/index of posts that you think to be able to use one day to make a point or something? Just curious how you ended up there.
