Ask an Atheist | 28 comments (28 topical, 0 hidden)
Richard Dawkins (none / 0)
Dawkins' book "The God Delusion" is a classic and cured me of my agnostic tendencies. Today I watched an excellent panel Q&A in Australia with Dawkins on YouTube. Wow. His crystal clear reasoning is matched by his charm and passion. He put the others to shame. Yes, I have a total man-crush on Dawkins. :) Watch it here, it lasts about an hour in total. At one point there was a political discussion about immigration in Australia, just skip over that part. I loved his take on the New Testament.

by mr science on 03/09/2010 02:18:04 AM EST

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Ahhhhh! (none / 0)

Agnostic don't think Atheist are wrong! We just don't know if you're completely right. I've nothing against Atheist - many of my friends are Atheist - but we humans don't know everything. Sure, we have to accept scientific facts, but there is more to heaven and earth (maybe - I just don't know)

As an Agnostic I would never try to convince an Atheist of anything... You guys are probably correct .. I'm just telling you what I think. And like a typical Agnostic, I just don't know what the whole picture is and I will never know. 

by kmuzu on 03/09/2010 02:34:08 AM EST

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again (none / 0)
To be an atheist DOES NOT MEAN TO CLAIM KNOWLEDGE. It simply means not to believe. You are a self described agnostic. That means you don't believe in gods. You are a nonbeliever. A de facto a [prefix meaning "without"] theist [believer in god(s)]. The point I'm trying to make is that there is a difference between believing and knowing. Atheism (and theism) address belief, not knowledge.

by mr science on 03/09/2010 02:51:49 AM EST

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Why God doesn't shine (none / 0)
To be an atheist DOES NOT MEAN TO CLAIM KNOWLEDGE.

Speak for yourself. I know God doesn't exist with as much certainty as I know the sun is a mass of incandescent gas, a gigantic nuclear furnace, where hydrogen is built into helium at a temperature of millions of degrees.

by OneHitKill on 03/09/2010 09:13:34 AM EST

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true... (none / 0)
There is a subset of atheists that claim to know gods don't exist. However this is not the defining thing. Again, a-theist means non-believer in god(s). I guess it's best to say, Atheists don't necessarily claim specific knowledge.

by mr science on 03/09/2010 11:27:45 AM EST

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Exactly (none / 0)
Atheism is just the lack of belief. It's not a assertive claim about anything. Some atheists may then go on to make an assertive claim that there is no god, but that's going beyond what the term atheism strictly implies.

by jhufford on 03/09/2010 12:34:14 PM EST

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Look again (none / 0)
I disagree. The etymology of the word is clear:

A = no

THEOS = god

An atheist is NOT someone who just doesn't believe in God. It's a person who DOES believe there is NO God. A person who just doesn't believe should be called something else. Maybe "acreist."

by OneHitKill on 03/09/2010 09:02:37 PM EST

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atheos? (none / 0)

The word is not atheos, its atheist. Theist may have derived from the root theos, but the word theist very clearly means believer in a god or gods.

by mr science on 03/09/2010 09:44:23 PM EST

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It's Greek (none / 0)
Atheos = Godless

The spelling is different but the meaning is the same. So what I contend remains: If a theist believes in the existence of God, then an atheist believes in the non-existence of God.

You can continue being Mr. Science. I, however, am Mr. Language.

by OneHitKill on 03/10/2010 09:37:09 AM EST

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godless (none / 0)
I am godless. All nonbelievers are.

by mr science on 03/10/2010 10:16:13 AM EST

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Thanks! (none / 0)
Thanks! I enjoyed the Q&A.

by Felicia on 03/15/2010 08:39:37 PM EST

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Ask an Atheist | 28 comments (28 topical, 0 hidden)