Ask an Atheist

[Braddogg]

I thought Athiest was not belief in Religion ... not that there was not higher power other than ones self ... or is that agnostic?  teach please

Atheist: a-theist.  "a" is a negator, and "theist" is one who believes in a god.  So, an atheist is one who does not believe in a god.

Atheist: one who believes that there is no god

Which is significantly different from "one who does not believe in a god"

Atheism isn't a lack of belief; it's the specific belief that there is no god.

Joe

We keep butting heads on this, and I keep asking the question just to make sure I understand you.  Atheism -- that is, the assertion that there is no god -- you say is irrational.  Is it irrational to say that fairies don't exist and that there is no elephant tap dancing on your head whenever you say the word "clock"?  If the answer is yes, then you're at least being consistent.

[MaineShark]

We keep butting heads on this, and I keep asking the question just to make sure I understand you.  Atheism -- that is, the assertion that there is no god -- you say is irrational.  Is it irrational to say that fairies don't exist and that there is no elephant tap dancing on your head whenever you say the word "clock"?  If the answer is yes, then you're at least being consistent.

It is irrational to say that fairies don't exist.  It is not irrational to say that there is no elephant tap-dancing on my head.  I can't observe the whole universe, in every possible way (in part because I don't know the extent of the universe or what ways may be used to observe it, which I might not be aware of), so I can't say that fairies don't exist.  As with the Judeo-Christian-Islamic God, I find their existence difficult to accept, but I can't rationally say that I know they don't exist.

An elephant, on the other hand, is something I know how to observe.  I know what an elephant is, have seen them in the past, and would recognize one if it was placed in my presence, let alone tap-dancing on my head.  Ergo, since I do not currently see any elephants, or feel my head being crushed, I know there is no elephant tap-dancing on my head.

Of course, that's not a direct comparison, since it's a general versus a specific.  So, to be fair, I'll also answer the question you failed to ask: it is not rational to say that there are no elephants that tap-dance on peoples' heads, anywhere.  Once cannot observe the whole of the universe and gather the data needed to rationally make that claim.

Joe

[Braddogg]

We keep butting heads on this, and I keep asking the question just to make sure I understand you.  Atheism -- that is, the assertion that there is no god -- you say is irrational.  Is it irrational to say that fairies don't exist and that there is no elephant tap dancing on your head whenever you say the word "clock"?  If the answer is yes, then you're at least being consistent.

An elephant, on the other hand, is something I know how to observe.  I know what an elephant is, have seen them in the past, and would recognize one if it was placed in my presence, let alone tap-dancing on my head.  Ergo, since I do not currently see any elephants, or feel my head being crushed, I know there is no elephant tap-dancing on my head.

No, see, you don't really understand the nature of elephants.  The attributes you associate with elephants -- big, heavy, gray -- aren't really the elephant.  Well, not the entirety of the elephant.  There's more to an elephant than we see.  The big gray thing is the projection made from the elephants who really live in the 8th Dimension.  It is not the big gray thing, which is only one part of the elephant, atop your head, but rather the essence of the elephant that is atop your head.  I can see it, because it is visible to me through walls (it's because it lives in the 8th Dimension), but you cannot see it, because every time you try to look at it it hides itself.

[MaineShark]

No, see, you don't really understand the nature of elephants.  The attributes you associate with elephants -- big, heavy, gray -- aren't really the elephant.  Well, not the entirety of the elephant.  There's more to an elephant than we see.  The big gray thing is the projection made from the elephants who really live in the 8th Dimension.  It is not the big gray thing, which is only one part of the elephant, atop your head, but rather the essence of the elephant that is atop your head.  I can see it, because it is visible to me through walls (it's because it lives in the 8th Dimension), but you cannot see it, because every time you try to look at it it hides itself.

Doesn't work.  When I refer to "elephant," I'm referring to the creature described in Webster's.  If your critter is under discussion, we'll call it an L-ephant and, based on your description, I won't say that I know it isn't tap-dancing on my head.

Joe

[Caleb]

I think the problem is that atheists don't do enough proselytizing...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRmC0DaE6rE
(the atheist proselytizing doesn't begin until about 2 and a half minutes into the skit)

[ChiMoHe]

If You Enjoyed that book ... you would probably enjoy this http://www.amorahquanyin.com/