Speciation is probably the answer you're looking for. But micro and macro refer to scale. I'm no evolutionary biologist though.
The two sentences I just gave are the reason I chose it as a comparison to begin with. It's a more apt comparison than what you tried to pass off based on those...
Same difference as microevolution and macroevolution - atheism and agnosticism in your view.
It's not impossible to not believe both until further evidence is presented. Simple, really.
Not sure what your point is. Can I have some of what you are smoking though?
I agree. So what are you...
Sorry. There's another reason I said it that has little to do with atheists, it's that 'theist' as a label is just not all that useful to many who would actually fall under that classification. There are so many theisms, e.g., monotheism, polytheism, henotheism, pantheism... it seems that...
You are describing two degrees of the same thing here. So then an agnostic is really just a wimpy atheist. Either that or an atheist is simply an arrogant agnostic.
Sure. I don't take issue with it, just commentating.
Tentatively.
I think it's a fair reason to stop debating the things that are being debated here.
The decade that Metropolis came out?
You've made it very simple, that much is true. I think the point Bunyip is making is that we're only ever really assigning definitions to the terms we use. We assign definitions based on the information we currently have and we're always making a judgment as to whether the definition fits our...
It doesn't cease to amaze me when people are so attached to the definitions they've ingrained in themselves that they fail to see that a particular word is given no context most of the time it is used. Knowledge of definitions for words like 'atheist' is primarily expedited through a sort of...
The way I look at it, it hardly matters the differences with mainstream Christianity. If it's close enough in most people's minds, the fact that certain groups may ostracize you is nullified by your continued insistence that you are a Christian.
OK. Just wondering, because I've only ever had conversations about atheism over the internet. Maybe brushed on the subject a few times, but that's about it. I've heard this definition a lot, but I'm just not sure how prominent it is in the real world and outside of religion/atheism specific...
Let me rephrase. You would gladly call an agnostic atheist an "atheist" if that was the label a person chose for himself. The rest of my post is totally in line with this.
"I don't believe any god exists. But I'm not claiming that -- I might be wrong."
Perfectly respectable position. You must be aware of how biases get in the way when someone has to choose how they identify himself. Generally a person doesn't go around saying he's an "agnostic atheist." While you...
The Christians used to be called atheists because they rejected the Roman gods. I don't know if that eludes not believing in gods though - they believed in one god at least, but that's not why they were called atheists. Again, I think the Christians believed these gods didn't exist.
How exactly...
You asked me before how I would learn what the definition of atheist was, so that I could understand a person. I'd like to turn the tables and ask you how did you get these definitions?
I think, again, you're falling into the trap of the etymological root fallacy. But again, you probably got...
Things are complicated no matter who you want to give blame to. There's no reason why people can't use the term to describe a person who lacks belief. And I get your reason for wanting clarity. It's never clear to me though.
It would be nice, but unfortunately we have people trying desperately to claim the word as their own. The word atheist, in philosophy, is almost universally (and I hope someone corrects me on that if I'm wrong) defined as a person who believes there's no god.