Does a belief in a god show lack of education?

[Dan From Smithville]

Which question? I will happily answer it.

The question I asked earlier. You could look back and see. Or will it be plausible deniability instead?

My mom used to say, "If Johnny walks off a cliff should you walk off too?" It sounds like you are "walking off a cliff is good if others are doing it".

 

[Sheldon]

The standard English grammar for this is that if you are talking about a monotheistic God, you capitalize the G. If you are talking about one of many gods, you say god with a lower case g.

Einstein is on record saying he did not believe in any personal god, that was my point. He didn't much care for labels either, like atheist.

 

[IndigoChild5559]

To what end and on what basis are you claiming that a 10% atheist population is bogus?[/QUOTE]
The Pew Religious Landscape survey reported that as of 2014, 22.8% of the U.S. population is religiously unaffiliated, atheists made up 3.1% and agnostics made up 4% of the U.S. population. The 2014 General Social Survey reported that 21% of Americans had no religion with 3% being atheist and 5% being agnostic. Irreligion in the United States - Wikipedia.

So, about 3% in the US. I know its somewhat higher in Europe.

 

[IndigoChild5559]

Einstein is on record saying he did not believe in any personal god, that was my point. He didn't much care for labels either, like atheist.

And what I'm saying is that a Deistic God is still God with a capital G, in the English language.

 

[Heyo]

And what I'm saying is that a Deistic God is still God with a capital G, in the English language.

Yes, but it isn't a rule it is an exception of the rule.Usually names are capitalized, categories are not. That's why I take the liberty to capitalize named gods (Zeus, Allah, Loki, YHVH) with their preferred pronouns and use "god" (and "it") when it isn't clear which god is meant.

 

[Sheldon]

Yes, but it isn't a rule it is an exception of the rule.Usually names are capitalized, categories are not. That's why I take the liberty to capitalize named gods (Zeus, Allah, Loki, YHVH) with their preferred pronouns and use "god" (and "it") when it isn't clear which god is meant.

It's not an important point really, and it wasn't about grammar, I just find it ironic when people use appeal to authority fallacies and try and claim Einstein as one of their own. Hitler was pretty emphatic about being a theist, they never want him in their ranks, even the SS had Gott mit uns on their belt buckles, and swore their oath to Hitler "before God". I mean where is it people think centuries of European antisemitism comes from exactly, but I digress.

I just find things like that pretty ironic.

 

[IndigoChild5559]

Yes, but it isn't a rule it is an exception of the rule.Usually names are capitalized, categories are not. That's why I take the liberty to capitalize named gods (Zeus, Allah, Loki, YHVH) with their preferred pronouns and use "god" (and "it") when it isn't clear which god is meant.

No, the rule is that if you are referring to a monotheistic God, the Creator (whether it is the Jewish version or Deistic version or whatever) you use a capital God. You only use a small case g when you are referring to one of many gods.

 

[Heyo]

No, the rule is that if you are referring to a monotheistic God, the Creator (whether it is the Jewish version or Deistic version or whatever) you use a capital God. You only use a small case g when you are referring to one of many gods.

Then I'm doing it right since even the allegedly monotheistic gods are a category of all the widely different images people have of them.

 

[night912]

That is a false equivocation. Let's redact what I said to 90% and accept the (bogus) atheist claim that 10% of people worldwide are atheists.

Atheists claim evidence supports their stance, therefore, they are claiming that 90% of persons are irrational, which is de facto illogical.

Then I offer them a chance to prove their assertion: Name anything else in the universe that people believe falsely in these high numbers! We can even go back through history to see countless religious people and cultures.

Most people believe in evolution, in gravity . . . most people disbelieve in Moon landing hoaxes, that 9/11 was an inside job and that the Earth is flat. So I should accept that atheists believe that the ONLY thing universally mistaken by people is belief in invisible deity (deities)? That makes no sense.

It's irrational to believe(in this case it's you) that evolution was once false because majority of the population didn't believe in evolution, but it's now a fact since majority of people now believe in evolution.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Is a person who believes in God less intelligent than a person who believes God does not exist? I would say they are the same since they both rely on beliefs.

It's not a matter of intelligence.

IMO, the person who believes in God has probably made a mistake in critical thinking, but intelligent people can make mistakes in critical thinking.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

No, the rule is that if you are referring to a monotheistic God, the Creator (whether it is the Jewish version or Deistic version or whatever) you use a capital God. You only use a small case g when you are referring to one of many gods.

"God" is capitalized when you're using it as a proper noun.

It's no different from other terms. For instance:

The Gruffalo said that no gruffalo should ever set foot in the deep, dark wood.

"Gruffalo" is used as both a proper noun and a regular noun in that sentence, and the capitalization reflects this.

When you capitalize "God," you're using the term "god" as a name (or in place of a name).

God is a god.

 

[BilliardsBall]

This person never ever believed in sky fairies.
Upon discovering people's beliefs, I thought
they're crazy. I'm far from alone.
Many people would never experience what you
claim if not indoctrinated by parents.

By implication, you are both making 99% of parents irrational, which still proves my point and claiming that only a fraction of people (atheists) are rational enough to escape such irrational behavior, which also proves my point.

 

[BilliardsBall]

No, the poster was quite clear & logical.
He showed that your argument fails because
it would apply to any wrong but popular belief.
It's reductio ad absurdum.

Um, there is no other "wrong but 99% popular belief" in all of human history. AGAIN, if you can name one that isn't spirituality or God you prove their (erroneous) point!

 

[BilliardsBall]

Do we agree that a significant number of people believe in astrology, homeopathy or ghosts?
Do we agree that a belief in astrology, homeopathy or ghosts is not backed by evidence?
Do we therefore agree that a significant number of people are not rational in their beliefs?

I do acknowledge your point, and I've pointed out already on this thread that some believe in a flat Earth or 9/11 conspiracy but that UNIQUELY, 99% of people believe in the divine.

If you can name one thing in the known universe that 90% of people believe in falsely, despite the evidence, I will concede. I thought I made this simple and broad enough for us, THE KNOWN UNIVERSE.

I tell you that I personally believe God loves you, which is why He has provided such clear figures for your review.

 

[BilliardsBall]

Here's one. A lot of bible believers believe that the canonical gospels were written by first hand eyewitnesses despite there being no author assigned to them and the evidence against it.

I didn't say "a plurality or a majority of a sect holds to the tenets of the sect they've joined". I said name anything other than God in the known universe where 99% of ALL humans believe falsely.

 

[BilliardsBall]

The question I asked earlier. You could look back and see. Or will it be plausible deniability instead?

My mom used to say, "If Johnny walks off a cliff should you walk off too?" It sounds like you are "walking off a cliff is good if others are doing it".

I'm a little busy to search 16 pages of thread. Respectfully to you, yours cannot be an important question if neither of us recall what it is.

I didn't use the Johnny cliff analogy. I challenged non-theists to tell me ANYTHING ELSE IN THE KNOWN UNIVERSE that 99% of people believe falsely that isn't God.

God graciously gives even skeptics pointers--here's one--nothing else in the known universe is so rigidly adhered to as faith in the divine. I though you were likewise a theist with faith in the divine?

 

[BilliardsBall]

Argumentum ad populum.

You are not addressing your claim of ad populum in context. Let me help you think through the issue. It is indeed true that we cannot cite number of adherent or percentage of adherents in a sub group as fact, however:

1) Most people are rational

2) When 90% of people agree on a fact, usually these 90% are correct

3) When 10% of people agree on a fact, usually this minority is incorrect

4) Every culture in history has been religious and 90% of all people, ever, have expressed a belief in the divine

You are saying "ad populum" as your mantra (I say that because you feel it's "winning" to do so on four or five of my posts daily) without acknowledging that in this case (God exists) you are claiming that most people who have lived are not rational.

If you accept my #1 above, kindly deal with 2-4 above, instead of telling me I don't know what an ad populum is. Of course I know what it is and also that you're guilty of ad populum (most atheists agree, there is no evidence for God).

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

I'm a little busy to search 16 pages of thread. Respectfully to you, yours cannot be an important question if neither of us recall what it is.

I didn't use the Johnny cliff analogy. I challenged non-theists to tell me ANYTHING ELSE IN THE KNOWN UNIVERSE that 99% of people believe falsely that isn't God.

God graciously gives even skeptics pointers--here's one--nothing else in the known universe is so rigidly adhered to as faith in the divine. I though you were likewise a theist with faith in the divine?

Everyone has failures of critical thinking. The question is whether we try to find them and fix them, or proclaim them as holy and demand tax breaks for them.

And I think you're overstating how many people are theists. Worldwide, only 85% of people are adherents of a religion, and that includes nominal adherents who count themselves as members (and say so on censuses and surveys) but don't actually believe.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

1) Most people are rational

Objection. Assumes facts not in evidence.

 

[Revoltingest]

By implication, you are both making 99% of parents irrational, which still proves my point and claiming that only a fraction of people (atheists) are rational enough to escape such irrational behavior, which also proves my point.

People can indeed be irrational.
To believe that a religion is absolutely true simply
because of popularity is one example of it.