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Guys, there's no hiding. If atheism is taken to be a view, namely the view that there is no God, then atheists must shoulder their share of the burden of proof to support this view.
You've still got it backwards. The theists are the ones seeing images of Mary on tree stumps.
It's like asking an adult why don't you still believe in ghosts like when you were a child. The adult is supposed to answer by proving that ghosts don't exist? One can't prove a negative.
For the same reason that you are an atheist or agnostic in regards to all other Gods. I don't mean that to be offensive, but it is true. The argument to claim that only one God exists, and that all other Gods are non-existent is really no different. We, as atheists, take it one God further.
Also, I don't think this was the original intent of the post, but isn't this question sort of like asking why someone does not belong to a religion? I can believe there is a God if I am agnostic. However classifying my God as a "specific" type of God is what religion does. As I brought up in another post, as most people believe, the mere belief that a God exists doesn't matter in terms of eternal salvation. It is actually picking the "correct" God that matters and accepting him as a part of your life that apparently matters. One way or the other, to concede that there is a possibility of God does nothing for one's eternal salvation. At least, that's what religion will tell you.
My heart is truly sad for you, this isn't greek mythology with Zeus at the head, you can choose to believe the way you like but I feel I would be remiss and not telling you that the one truwe living God loves you and your eternal salvation is totally up to you, not him he only gives you the opportunity.
You've still got it backwards. The theists are the ones seeing images of Mary on tree stumps.
It's like asking an adult why don't you still believe in ghosts like when you were a child. The adult is supposed to answer by proving that ghosts don't exist? One can't prove a negative.
Parktwain, yes, I agree, we share the burden of proof, as well. Christians are not given a free pass. I acknowledge this, but atheists need to do the same for their beliefs.
Parktwain, yes, I agree, we share the burden of proof, as well. Christians are not given a free pass. I acknowledge this, but atheists need to do the same for their beliefs.
My heart is truly sad for you, this isn't greek mythology with Zeus at the head, you can choose to believe the way you like but I feel I would be remiss and not telling you that the one truwe living God loves you and your eternal salvation is totally up to you, not him he only gives you the opportunity.
The fundamental mistake you are making is that I would first have to concede that something God-like exists. Then I would have to concede that that something greater is your God of which we have no proof of either. Attempting to scare me with fear of my eternal salvation does nothing for me. I'd first have to believe there's something to be saved.
Nick, as you are well aware, you cannot prove a negative. Please quit throwing strawmen into this discussion.
There is no atheist doctrine.
chielgirl,
If there's no evidence for God, that does not mean that God does not exist. An atheist would have to be ominiscient (all seeing, all knowing) to fully know that God does not exist. The claim that there is no God is unprovable. Simple as that. The theist is in the same playing field as the atheist, he/she does not have any absolute proof that God does not exist, but in my opinion, the theist surely has more plausible evidence for the possibility of God's existance (I've listed these points throughout this forum). But lets not get into that all over again for fear of getting this post deleted (like my previous).
I think atheists take this as a cop-out. No matter how much knowledge one has, there can always be more facts that you do not yet know. So one can never prove that there is no God. And so the atheist then somehow says that this is a demonstration that their beliefs need no defense!
As for your statement that you can't prove a negative...there are lots of ways to prove a universally negitave statement. We do this all the time. For example, I can take a small sample of something, even if the whole of the domain is too large for me to canvass, and make inducing conclusions on the basis of the evidence of that small sample. For example, taking as my domain all the microbes on planet Earth, I can confidently say, "no microbes have brains."
You might say that while it is admittedly true that negative/universal statements can sometimes be proven,the point is, the domain of God's existance is too large and our sampling is too small to come to any negative conclusion.
GCSTroop, a theist will say that science is on their side, as well (big bang, law of gravity, etc). I think this is a great idea for another thread, though!
If there's no evidence for God, that does not mean that God does not exist. An atheist would have to be ominiscient (all seeing, all knowing) to fully know that God does not exist. The claim that there is no God is unprovable. Simple as that.
If there's no evidence for God, why would I want to go with the story of the jealous Old Testament genocide-loving god of the Hebrews? (other than the reason that I was brainwashed to believe it from the time of my childhood) It is primitive. It is tribal. It is racist. It is sexist. It doesn't acknowledge the borrowings it made from neighboring societies (Hittites, Sumerians, Persians). It is a magnification of a relatively insignificant group of people into being the center of history. The Jews haven't been present in significant numbers in Palestine for 2,000 years until the 20th century, but today with the military assistance of Western Europe and America, Israel can kick around any Arab who gets in its way.
Nick, the thread header is: What are your reasons to be an atheist or agnostic? You are neither atheist nor agnostic. You are violating the ToS by derailing this thread and the moderator has already asked that this thread stay on topic.
This is not set up to be an argument thread, why do you insist on making it so? Please start your own thread to meet your needs.
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Sad for you
).
