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...go to the Christianity subforum and post challenging-to-hostile thread starters like Christians do here on a regular basis? I admit that I didn't look past the first page of threads on their subforum, but I saw nothing like the (pretty much) daily thread posted by some Christian, basically looking for a fight or, more delusionally, to proselytize and convert us godless heathens.
Do they go to the other religions' subfora and tell them they're wrong as well?
The main forum is the proper place for ridiculous, tendentious arguments.
Or, they can keep coming back here. I think of it as target practice, even though I typically invoke the pig wrestling rule when it comes to arguments on the "merits."
They are not Christians, just delusional people with illiteracy issues.
I look at them, but I really can't get into the doctrinal trivia.
This is the case for me as well. Nothing puts me to sleep quicker than scripture quoting semantic arguments when there is no objective basis to establish the credibility of such scriptures....let alone how they ought to be interpreted and read in context.
This is the case for me as well. Nothing puts me to sleep quicker than scripture quoting semantic arguments when there is no objective basis to establish the credibility of such scriptures....let alone how they ought to be interpreted and read in context.
That's the main limiting factor for me also. The ratio of total posts to the ones I can bring myself to read, much less participate in, is very low. If I were not a former theist myself, it would approach zero.
That may well be because nearly all atheists ARE agnostics. Belief vs knowledge. Overlapping but not mutually exclusive.
If you aren't willing to identify as not believing in any gods, then you are an agnostic theist. If typical in my experience, you are a theist only about the Christian deity. You simply assign a much lower probability / certainty to it than most Christians would.
Thank you mordant, you have increased my knowledge regarding the commonalities between the categories. Still nice to see the word "Agnostic" appear separately on occasion if for nothing more than visual balance.
except for one thing. "not willing to identify as not believing in any gods" makes you an "agnostic theist". That is a made up label, it has no meaning. It is put on to people by other people that think if you are not with us you are against us.
if that notion of all or nothing/black and white is ok with you, then so be it.
I look at them, but I really can't get into the doctrinal trivia. If I notice something that directly relates to atheism/agnosticism, and I think I might be able to shed some light on a question that someone has, I might post, but it's pretty rare.
I don't like it when they try to proselytize me, so I don't try to proselytize them.
Yes, I'm in those subforms either to shed some light on doctrinal trivia that I might have a little knowledge of, educate others about science, or educate against bibliolatry or other wrongness in general. I always tone myself down in those areas, but I'm not ever really in full campaign mode not even in the Agnosticism subforum that we are forced to share with atheists for acceptance/statistical reasons. The general R&S subforum is where I might start a minorly aggressive discussion thread but its usually as a response to the overwhelming ire or ignorance from other people there. I feel like most of the time I'm defending one or a few posters who believes they are part of that particular subforum but some others don't agree or misunderstand them.
I myself come across many agnostic Deists and agnostic Christians.
except for one thing. "not willing to identify as not believing in any gods" makes you an "agnostic theist". That is a made up label, it has no meaning. It is put on to people by other people that think if you are not with us you are against us.
if that notion of all or nothing/black and white is ok with you, then so be it.
It's called terminology Arach. And it's no more made up than any other term is made up to describe something, or some general behavior.
And to apply the label agnostic theist is anything but black and white....it is a precisely and purposely nuanced label to describe a generalized position on theism. There is no obligation to accept the label for oneself but it is helpful terminology when conversing about theistic belief/knowledge positions.
For instance, I would describe you as a gnostic deist based on your posts and assertions. You don't need to agree with my description but hiding behind "I defy labels" is just unhelpful self-important arrogance in my view and useless for discussion purposes.
I go to the Christian site often but seldom post. I do not know any fundamentalists of any religion and can gleem a little understanding on what makes them think the way they do. On the Relgious and Spirutality forum I perhaps post too much but most of it is when evolution or geology is in play.
What I do not do is tell them that their religion is a fairy tale or a lie, I simply do not believe in it and see no reason to do such. I have also gone to the Islam and the Judaial sites and the Islam one is full of bashing and hating of Muslims.
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