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Richard Dawkins says he is a Cultural Christian

John53

John53

I go leaps and bounds
Premium Member
YoursTrue said:
He can hear the prayers and can read the heart. He knows more than ourselves our mental makeup. And our situation.
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Doesn't answer the question I asked which doesn't surprise me in the least. It does surprise me a little that I got any answer at all.
 
John53

John53

I go leaps and bounds
Premium Member
YoursTrue said:
No, it's not. I only know what I know. For anything that God knows, maybe you should ask Him.
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He/she/it responds less than you do to questions. To the point of the only reasonable explanation being he/she/it is non existent.
 
I Am Hugh

I Am Hugh

Researcher
This doesn't actually surprise me. Although I think he usually gets the Bible wrong, because he criticizes Christianity, he is fair in a logical sense in his approach. And just because you criticize something doesn't mean you hate it or are against it. Family, for example.

 
IndigoChild5559

IndigoChild5559

Loving God and my neighbor as myself.
ChristineM said:
By his own words he is also not atheist.

'Outspoken atheist' Dawkins admits he is agnostic
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What an interesting read. Thanks.

This remark by the author of your article is absolutely not true, and I will discuss it below. "Agnostics neither believe nor disbelieve in the existence of God, preferring to accept that the truth of such claims is unknowable. Their stance is somewhat different to that of atheists, who are certain there is no deity." Sorry, NOT the case.

An atheist is anyone who lacks a belief in God/gods. An agnostic who says, "I don't know for sure God doesn't exist, and I cannot prove that he doesn't exist, but I still have no belief in God," is both an agnostic AND an atheist. A person does not have to make the positive statement "There is no God" in order to be an atheist. They simply have to lack a belief in God/gods.

IOW Atheism comes in different flavors. For example, a child who is two is an atheist because they are too young to even have a concept of God. A person who simply doesn't care whether God exists or not, and just goes about their merry way, is an atheist. There are people who have simply never been exposed to the idea of God, and so lack a any belief; these are also atheists. There are those who have thought it over thoroughly, and sit on the fence--the classic agnostic--who still lack a belief in God, and so are atheists. And finally of course there are those who take the extra step and say "There is no God."

All of the above can be put into one of two categories of atheists, and I think this is pertinent to this thread.
  • A positive/strong/hard atheist says affirmatively, "There is no God."
  • A negative/weak/soft atheist makes no such statement. They simply lack a belief in God.
I think people have assumed that Dawkins is a positive atheist, because of his great hostility towards religion. But it appears that is not the case. He is an agnostic atheist, which is a form of negative atheist. Your article makes this clear, and so was a very welcome item in the forum.

FWIW there are also agnostic theists, such as myself, who will say "God can neither be proven nor disproven, but I nevertheless believe in God. Now, I may be wrong, but that is in fact what I think is most probably the case."

Perhaps some of the readers of this thread may be interested in this helpful video, which outlines the various types of atheists:
 
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mikkel_the_dane

mikkel_the_dane

My own religion
IndigoChild5559 said:
What an interesting read. Thanks.

This remark by the author of your article is absolutely not true, and I will discuss it below. "Agnostics neither believe nor disbelieve in the existence of God, preferring to accept that the truth of such claims is unknowable. Their stance is somewhat different to that of atheists, who are certain there is no deity." Sorry, NOT the case.

An atheist is anyone who lacks a belief in God/gods. An agnostic who says, "I don't know for sure God doesn't exist, and I cannot prove that he doesn't exist, but I still have no belief in God," is both an agnostic AND an atheist. A person does not have to make the positive statement "There is no God" in order to be an atheist. They simply have to lack a belief in God/gods.

IOW Atheism comes in different flavors. For example, a child who is two is an atheist because they are too young to even have a concept of God. A person who simply doesn't care whether God exists or not, and just goes about their merry way, is an atheist. There are people who have simply never been exposed to the idea of God, and so lack a any belief. These are also atheists. And there are those who have thought it over thoroughly, and sit on the fence--the classic agnostic--who still lack a belief in God, and so are atheists. And of course there are those who take the extra step and say "There is no God."

There are two larger categories of atheists that I think are pertinent to this thread.
  • A positive/strong/hard atheist says affirmatively, "There is no God."
  • A negative/weak/soft atheist makes no such statement. They simply lack a belief in God.
I think people have assumed that Dawkins is a positive atheist, because of his great hostility towards religion. But it appears that is not the case. He is an agnostic atheist, which is a form of negative atheist. Your article makes this clear, and so was a very welcome item in the forum.

FWIW there are also agnostic theists, such as myself, who will say "God can neither be proven nor disproven, but I nevertheless believe in God. Now, I may be wrong, but that is in fact what I think is most probably the case."

Perhaps some of the readers of this thread may be interested in this helpful video, which outlines the various types of atheists:
Click to expand...

Well, there is also an indirect version of a strong atheist. Anyone who knows religion as supernatural and the universe as everything, natural and not supernatural, is in a sense a strong atheist.
 
IndigoChild5559

IndigoChild5559

Loving God and my neighbor as myself.
mikkel_the_dane said:
Well, there is also an indirect version of a strong atheist. Anyone who knows religion as supernatural and the universe as everything, natural and not supernatural, is in a sense a strong atheist.
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Yes, i agree with you that the above would be a form of positive/strong/hard atheism. I think the above would say, "There is no God." I'm not sure why you would call this indirect.
 
RestlessSoul

RestlessSoul

Well-Known Member
John53 said:
So you have to ask a particular question or is wording the problem?
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Why are you asking me? If you want to know if God is real, ask Him. Seek and ye shall find, but if you truly seek knowledge of anything at all, it’s probably best to do so with an open heart and mind.
 
John53

John53

I go leaps and bounds
Premium Member
RestlessSoul said:
Why are you asking me? If you want to know if God is real, ask Him. Seek and ye shall find, but if you truly seek knowledge of anything at all, it’s probably best to do so with an open heart and mind.
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I asked you because you suggested I was doing it wrong. At least that's what I got from your post.
 
mikkel_the_dane

mikkel_the_dane

My own religion
John53 said:
He/she/it responds less than you do to questions. To the point of the only reasonable explanation being he/she/it is non existent.
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Well, it is not logical as a deduction:
God doesn't respond
Therefore God doesn't exist

So what kind of reasoining are you using?
 
John53

John53

I go leaps and bounds
Premium Member
mikkel_the_dane said:
Well, it is not logical as a deduction:
God doesn't respond
Therefore God doesn't exist

So what kind of reasoining are you using?
Click to expand...

Sorry but I have no idea how to answer your question.

When I was a Christian I tried to communicate with God regularly. I never received any response. The only reasonable conclusion I can think of is that the Christian God I was trying to communicate with does not exist.
 
mikkel_the_dane

mikkel_the_dane

My own religion
John53 said:
Sorry but I have no idea how to answer your question.

When I was a Christian I tried to communicate with God regularly. I never received any response. The only reasonable conclusion I can think of is that the Christian God I was trying to communicate with does not exist.
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Yes, that is one answer. One other is that it is another God.
 
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