I see no value in atheism

[Desert Snake]

That's interesting thanks. I did not assume you were a Christian, I just gave an example.

Since I don't believe in the ''exclusivity'' of Xianity, I'm not sure how many self identified Xians would consider me a Xian. It is a confusing label, imo, it's somewhat vague. My threads on baptism, and some other topics, explore these ideas of 'what' xianity is.
/I'm not baptized, etc.//

 

[Bunyip]

Since I don't believe in the ''exclusivity'' of Xianity, I'm not sure how many self identified Xians would consider me a Xian. It is a confusing label, imo, it's somewhat vague. My threads on baptism, and some other topics, explore these ideas of 'what' xianity is.
/I'm not baptized, etc.//

Sure. And yes, further to our conversation - in that context my agnosticism and atheism of your position are redundant. You make no claim for me to be atheist in respect towards.

 

[Mohammad Nur Syamsu]

You mean raping little girls to death isn't actually wrong, it is right if the rapist says it is? Muslim Man Rapes Child Bride Until She Dies

To assert as pseudoscientific fact that raping little girls is wrong, does nothing to prevent rape of little girls. It only detaches all emotions from the question, so that it is not horrible, disgusting, etc. And we can well see that once emotions become detached, then pretty much anything at all can happen.

 

[FTNZ]

To assert as pseudoscientific fact that raping little girls is wrong, does nothing to prevent rape of little girls. It only detaches all emotions from the question, so that it is not horrible, disgusting, etc. And we can well see that once emotions become detached, then pretty much anything at all can happen.

If it is the revealed commands of god that tell us what is right and wrong, how did humans survive all those years before god revealed his commands?

 

[Mohammad Nur Syamsu]

If it is the revealed commands of god that tell us what is right and wrong, how did humans survive all those years before god revealed his commands?

.....you don't read what I write at all. You are just mindlessly seeking support for an indefensible position to reject subjectivity.

Good and evil are subjective. Knowledge of good and evil, proposing good and evil as fact, is the sin among sins in scripture, the original sin.

 

[ImmortalFlame]

Lol you can still hold faith in a belief in spite of skepticism too, but that didn't stop you from suggesting skepticism was an opposite.

Not quite. Skepticism is withholding belief until you have good reason to believe it (or, at least, that's one definition of skepticism). Like I said, it's not a perfect opposite, but it's more of an opposite than doubt is.

 

[ImmortalFlame]

"To believe" means that, TO YOU IT IS TRUE.

Correct. And?

To talk about whether a person is believing is to switch subjects.

This makes no sense.

 

[ImmortalFlame]

Here we totally disagree. I see this person as agnostic or more to the point, just sitting on the proverbial fence. They don't lack the belief, to use your words. Nor do they have belief. They exist in a middle ground.

Agnosticism and atheism are not mutually exclusive, and there is no "middle ground" between theism and atheism. You either have a belief or you lack a belief. You can't do both or neither, so there is no middle ground between theism and atheism.

 

[FTNZ]

.....you don't read what I write at all. You are just mindlessly seeking support for an indefensible position to reject subjectivity.

Good and evil are subjective. Knowledge of good and evil, proposing good and evil as fact, is the sin among sins in scripture, the original sin.

Not sure where you get such ideas from, but my question was a genuine one. Why do you not wish to answer it?

 

[ImmortalFlame]

Not in my opinion. I choice to believe in God for the reasons I have. For me, that was enough proof to send me to the theist side. Before that, I was more of an atheist.

How can you know that from reading this board? Bunyip, I assure you my belief is indeed genuine. In my heart I know there is God, by the way I define it. I'm not sure no,else to say that. Believe me, this is as real as it gets.

That doesn't sound at all like a choice. It sounds very much like you've been convinced as a consequence of your experiences, which is not the same thing as choosing.

I have a question: Could you now simply choose NOT to believe God exists?

 

[ArtieE]

To assert as pseudoscientific fact that raping little girls is wrong, does nothing to prevent rape of little girls. It only detaches all emotions from the question, so that it is not horrible, disgusting, etc. And we can well see that once emotions become detached, then pretty much anything at all can happen.

So raping little girls to death is right if the rapist feels that he's doing something right?

 

[ArtieE]

Good and evil are subjective.

So whether raping little girls to death is good or evil just depends on your subjective opinion? Maybe little girls don't want to be raped to death regardless of your subjective opinion?

 

[Willamena]

Correct. And?
This makes no sense.

Belief is the attitude of truth. The fact of believing is a leap to another foot.

 

[ImmortalFlame]

Belief is the attitude of truth. The fact of believing is a leap to another foot.

I'm afraid you're still not making any sense...

 

[Willamena]

I'm afraid you're still not making any sense...

Believing something and believing that something is true are two distinct things. You conflated them.

Theism is believing in god. Atheism is, variably, either disbelieving in god (the former, hard theism) or disbelieving the theist (the latter). Or both. But the point made was about the former.

 

[JoStories]

That doesn't sound at all like a choice. It sounds very much like you've been convinced as a consequence of your experiences, which is not the same thing as choosing.

I have a question: Could you now simply choose NOT to believe God exists?

If proof was to show me my experiences were simply a case of some kind of anomaly or there were a scientific explanation, you bet I could. Keep in mind, I was atheistic until those things happened.

 

[ImmortalFlame]

Believing something and believing that something is true are two distinct things. You conflated them.

They are exactly the same thing. To believe a claim is to assert the truth of that claim.

Theism is believing in god. Atheism is, variably, either disbelieving in god (the former, hard theism) or disbelieving the theist (the latter). Or both. But the point made was about the former.

They are both exactly the same. Atheism is the lack of belief in the proposition that a God exists. Disbelief means simply "not believing". "Disbelieving the theist" means exactly the same thing as "disbelieving in God".

If proof was to show me my experiences were simply a case of some kind of anomaly or there were a scientific explanation, you bet I could. Keep in mind, I was atheistic until those things happened.

But the question was could you choose to become an atheist now? Everything you just said indicates strongly that your beliefs are not a matter of choice: you could only "choose" not to be a theist as a consequence of things being presented to you that may cause you to change your mind.

 

[Willamena]

They are exactly the same thing. To believe a claim is to assert the truth of that claim.

And again, as I said earlier, in believing something it actually is true to you. We disagree.

They are both exactly the same. Atheism is the lack of belief in the proposition that a God exists. Disbelief means simply "not believing". "Disbelieving the theist" means exactly the same thing as "disbelieving in God".


But the question was could you choose to become an atheist now? Everything you just said indicates strongly that your beliefs are not a matter of choice: you could only "choose" not to be a theist as a consequence of things being presented to you that may cause you to change your mind.

 

[ImmortalFlame]

And again, as I said earlier, in believing something it actually is true to you. We disagree.

You've gone back to making no sense again. Believing something means "to accept a given proposition as being true". Where exactly do we disagree?

 

[leibowde84]

Is there any truth to a planet you've never heard of orbiting a star you know nothing about harbouring life just like ours? More significantly, is it false?

If it does in fact exist, it is true regardless of my knowledge of it.