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Your problem is that you don't understand the word "unknown", and somehow confusing it with "denying". People like you only read what you want to read.. or maybe you really don't understand simple English.
I'm not having any trouble. Something "unknown" could be possible--as if the thing were IMpossible, it would be known. So anything unknown would at least be possible.
I think this is what's called "missing the point" or just misusing words.
The Yellow Emperor of Taoism I believe is very much an authority figure. If you don't accept his existence he is still an authority figure within the system he exists. Or Jean Luc Picard is an authority within the world created for him and no one thinks he literally exists.
However if one is raised to believe in that Jean Luc Picard is an authority in our reality, and that you must respect him, a person may rebel against that. Most likely they will rebel against him just because they know he doesn't exist, but if his existence were widely believed it might also be possible they would rebel just because they dislike his authority.
Well, you've clearly established your faith in make-believe authority figures.
I reject them as anything more than characters in a myth or story.
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Again this is what's called "missing the point."
There are many systems that do not date from the bronze age, but are not atheistic. And you're not even trying to actually respond to anything with this statement. It's pretty much only a way to broadcast one's smug superiority, something many atheists are all atwitter to do regardless of the situation, but says almost nothing.
It says that you're upset that I don't see your belief system as rock-solid reality.
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I don't think so. I didn't say political reasons are common, but there are political ideologies that are atheistic. I do know of historic people who abandoned belief in God in order to be say Marxist-Leninist rather than became Marxist-Leninist due to their atheism.
And today's control-freakish political movement is known as "the religious right."
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I do not personally know anyone's eternal fate. You may go to Heaven, I may go to Hell. I'm not even certain that's relevant because like many atheists I think you have a poor or non-standard understanding of what the word "arrogance" even means.
Arrogance - Overbearing pride evidenced by a superior manner toward inferiors.
I think arrogance is very rarely a motivator of atheism. It's likely not even your motivator. It can be a byproduct of it though. I would certainly say many atheists have a sense of superiority and strongly assert people of other beliefs are inferior. Those of you who cite studies saying you're smarter almost certainly don't do it because people say you're dumb, because mostly people don't. You do it because of that desire to show your superiority to those you deem inferior.
This kind of thing is not unique to atheism. Any system that emphasizes itself as true, and other systems as delusions, can likely lead to arrogant people. Catholicism certainly has at times, both now and especially in the past. Catholicism has an advantage in that other systems can be praised based on their conformity to natural law and virtue. Some atheists can also praise theistic systems based on say some kind of cost-to-benefit analysis. And the "older atheists" I read did, but the Internet and "New Atheists" seem less interested in that. They're more interested in a simple binary true/false and so they're sometimes victims of arrogant black-and-white thinking.
That being said I'm not opposed to one thinking their own beliefs are True or the Most True. It's the castigating of the "False" and the degrading of those "in error" I find more worrisome. That kind of atheism is common on the Internet. And I think it's intolerant, arrogant, and potentially dangerous.
You're more than welcome to that opinion, of course.
But other than raising your hackles as you flame away at your keyboard, atheism presents no threat to you whatsoever. You're free to pursue your beliefs as guaranteed by the Constitution. We atheists aren't the ones trying to inject our beliefs (we don't have any) into our secular government.
.............so sure that God dosent exist??,i mean apart from that you think its unlikely,or apart from having bad religious experiences,,, because if anyone says anything about the existence of God,you all seem so sure that its just fairytales or spaghetti monsters and stuff,loads of things may be unliklely but that dont mean that its immpossible???
I gave "God" a little test. I asked for my bathtub to be filled with gold. When I arrived home from work, the bathtub was empty. That confirmed to me that God doesn't exist.
I'm not having any trouble. Something "unknown" could be possible--as if the thing were IMpossible, it would be known. So anything unknown would at least be possible.
No TK, I wasn't asking the question to insult you. It was a question, begging to be asked, as in this reply, you clearly do not know the definition of simple English.
I quantified every statement I made about the unknown. Whereabouts you just repeatably say the same thing, only slightly modifying it when I point out the hilarity behind it; without what it appears any thought or reasoning. You are not expressing yourself; so refusing to discuss this topic with me, as such this attempted discussion between us is over.
How else would you define something as impossible, unless you KNEW it to be? If it is not impossible, then it is possible, whether it is known or not. All unknown things are possible.
It would appear that you are the one having trouble with simple English.
How else would you define something as impossible, unless you KNEW it to be? If it is not impossible, then it is possible, whether it is known or not. All unknown things are possible.
It would appear that you are the one having trouble with simple English.
Already addressed this.
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Originally Posted by Gplex
If you want to claim anything that is unfalsifiable as possible, then a near infinite unfalsifiable claims, must be accepted as possible. Something I would rather stamp as UNKNOWN. I do this, for the simple fact that it is UNKNOWN to be possible.
You on the other hand wish to push forward the unknown impossible, and the possible all under POSSIBLE. This is just dishonest.
Not "near infinite". Everything not known to be impossible is possible. That's how it works. "Impossible" is an antonym of "possible"--which means it means the opposite thing!
The "impossible" is not an unknown...because if you can establish it as "impossible" you would know what it is.
Not "near infinite". Everything not known to be impossible is possible. That's how it works. "Impossible" is an antonym of "possible"--which means it means the opposite thing!
The "impossible" is not an unknown...because if you can establish it as "impossible" you would know what it is.
Because you have to establish it as impossible, for it to be impossible. Until then, anything is possible until proven otherwise. Extraterrestrial life? Possible. Santa Claus? Possible. Splitting the atom? Possible.
.............so sure that God dosent exist??,i mean apart from that you think its unlikely,or apart from having bad religious experiences,,, because if anyone says anything about the existence of God,you all seem so sure that its just fairytales or spaghetti monsters and stuff,loads of things may be unliklely but that dont mean that its immpossible???
This is really a silly question, to think that in this day and age someone would actually ask why any person would be sure that a god doesnt exist when the issue explains itself. Really, c'mon.
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