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I have listened enough to know that there is no excuse for flames. This effectively ends our discussion. Let me know when you can be civil.You don't listen, do you?
No, atheism is not a specific cosmology or ideology. It doesn't even necessarily entail disbelief in the supernatural. (Although it does in my case.)i think it counts as a faith, insomuch as it certainly counts as a cosmology or ideology concerning the (non)existence of divinities or the supernatural.
Nonexistence is a different kettle of fish from disbelief.from dictionary.com:
a·the·ist
n. someone who denies the existence of god
Seems to me like the definition is the same as what I said only worded differently. The meaning behind both statements is the same. So according to the definition I am not lying. In order for the statement "atheists believe god is nonexistent" to be a lie it would have to mean that the opposite is the truth. And for an atheist to believe in God would be a contradiction in terms.
No diffeence, in my mind, between what you say and what I do.Inventing an argument that your opponent never made, presenting it as if the opponent had made the argument and striking down the argument that was never made BECAUSE it is easier to do than rebutt the opponent's REAL arguments is "raising a strawman".
Regards,
Scott
No, atheism is not a specific cosmology or ideology. It doesn't even necessarily entail disbelief in the supernatural. (Although it does in my case.)
Not really. Switching the order around in any set of words makes it mean a different thing.You do realize that that equates to the same thing as "belief in the nonexistence of god(s)." And if dictionary.com's "version" of atheism is incorrect what EVIDENCE do you have that YOUR "version" IS correct.
By the same token, I might claim that your non-belief in fairies (assuming you don't believe in fairies) makes a statement about the nature of flowers and humans' relation to them. But such a statement would really be entirely in my mind, not in yours.i think it is... it's a cosmology in that it states that there *is* no God, therefor making a statement about the nature of the universe and humans' relation to it. granted there is much diversity here, but i think that still qualifies as a definitive statement about the nature of the universe (sans-God).
Faith is utterly essential to the make-up of a human being. If you don't have faith in something, anything, you're not human.Everyone: do you see faith as a positive or negative attribute? Do you feel that reliance on faith is a good thing or a bad thing? Do you think that your assertion (one way or another) that atheism is either a faith or not is dependant on your personal feelings about faith?
Why?Faith is utterly essential to the make-up of a human being. If you don't have faith in something, anything, you're not human.
It doesn't have to be a cosmology in that it requires no description of how the universe was made.i think it is... it's a cosmology in that it states that there *is* no God, therefor making a statement about the nature of the universe and humans' relation to it. granted there is much diversity here, but i think that still qualifies as a definitive statement about the nature of the universe (sans-God).
Because we know what we know, and that's all we know. (to paraphrase a famous Sailor Man)Why?
I'm really not sure what you're getting at. We're part of reality, and we have some knowledge of reality, but our knowledge is incomplete.To be human is to have faith that the world as we know it is the world as it is. That says a lot. It says something about reality. It says something about us. It says something about the split. And probably most importantly, it says something about how we exist in this reality.
That's what religions are about.
Faith actually means having "trust" in a belief or set of belief. Faith is not just belief on its own.ChristineES said:Faith means belief, not necessarily a belief in a god. Just belief.
You had asked why I beleved that faith was essential to being human. It doesn't necessarily have anything to do with being religious (and it does).I'm really not sure what you're getting at. We're part of reality, and we have some knowledge of reality, but our knowledge is incomplete.
I don't understand, either, at all how having "faith that the world as we know it is the world as it is" has anything at all to do with religion. Many -- maybe most -- religions tell us that the world is in fact not as we know it; that there is a reality we have not observed that has been revealed through avatars of the divine or through prophets, and that we ought to have faith in these revelations even though we have not experienced them and don't "know" them.
faith-belief that is NOT based on PROOF.
Of course atheism is a faith, howbeit a negative one. This according to Professor Lawrence M. Principe of John Hopkins University, lecturer on science and religion. He's right, of course. To denial is non-religious religious-like dogma. Period. (Interesting lectures...if anyone is interested, you might find them at your public library on CD.)
Of course atheism is a faith, howbeit a negative one. This according to Professor Lawrence M. Principe of John Hopkins University, lecturer on science and religion. He's right, of course. To denial is non-religious religious-like dogma. Period. (Interesting lectures...if anyone is interested, you might find them at your public library on CD.)