Richard dawkings and Faith/Atheism

[Rich]

Mike, if you follow Rich's posts on this orum you will have noticed his talent for winding people up.

sacre bleu! Moi?

 

[Mike375]

Mike, if you follow Rich's posts on this orum you will have noticed his talent for winding people up. I think the post you refer to is another fine example of his ability to do this. You seem thave taken the bait hook line and sinker. One up to Rich I think.

No. Rich, like any good little atheist can't explain why he believes 100% God does not exist. Of course the reason is faith fills in the gaps but an atheist is not allowed to use that word.

Alisa on the other hand is smart enough to avoid the question and thus does not need to drop down to phone book answers.

 

[Rich]

No. Rich, like any good little atheist can't explain why he believes 100% God does not exist. Of course the reason is faith fills in the gaps but an atheist is not allowed to use that word.

Alisa on the other hand is smart enough to avoid the question and thus does not need to drop down to phone book answers.

Faith has nothing to with reality

 

[Alisa]

No. Rich, like any good little atheist can't explain why he believes 100% God does not exist. Of course the reason is faith fills in the gaps but an atheist is not allowed to use that word.

Alisa on the other hand is smart enough to avoid the question and thus does not need to drop down to phone book answers.

100% belief in the nonexistence of god is NOT the definition of atheism.
more than 0% but less than 100% belief in the existance of god is NOT the definition of agnosticism.

Until you can get that through your apparently exceptionally thick skull, this will continue to be a pointless argument.

 

[speakers_86]

Rich, like any good little atheist can't explain why he believes 100% God does not exist.

Faith is not something that should have to be disproven. In order for it to be believed, it should be proven first. There is no good reason to believe in any religion, besides upbringing and mass rule. These two reasons are not enough to convince me, nor should they (Lord of the Flies).

I feel that if a person is unsure of what to believe, then they should default to atheism, due to a lack of evidence for religion.

For me, I don't know how all this got here. But thats okay with me. I don't expect my feeble mind to ever comprehend the cosmos. However, I'm pretty sure it had nothing to do with a talking snake, a river being split, or a man rising from the dead. These are all convenient little stories that that average Joe can understand, and help 'normal' people sleep at night. But hey, that is just my interpretation. If Jesus came to me and said I am wrong, then I would sing a different tune. But until that day comes, I am fine defaulting to atheism.

 

[Mike375]

Here is bible bashing site and definition of atheist. I got this site from an atheist forum. One thing interesting (assuming it is correct) is the word atheist is not derived from putting an "a" in front of theist. Obviously a comples area since there are four separate pages

http://www.evilbible.com/Definition_of_Atheism_1.htm

 

[Rabbie]

Here is bible bashing site and definition of atheist. I got this site from an atheist forum. One thing interesting (assuming it is correct) is the word atheist is not derived from putting an "a" in front of theist. Obviously a comples area since there are four separate pages

http://www.evilbible.com/Definition_of_Atheism_1.htm

The Oxford English Dictionary gives the etymology of Atheism as a - without, Theos - God.

So I know which source I think is correct here

 

[Mike375]

That site might have got it from the Wikpedia entry for Atheist as atheos is there a few times.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atheism

Actually atheos, meaning godless is probably closer to the truth as atheist is only covering one god. Someone who is a polytheist would be an atheist but they are not godless??

 

[Rabbie]

Without being picky the etymology of the greek word atheos is the same as previously given. A polytheist is NOT an Atheist as they believe in gods. Your pointless hairsplitting of the exact meaning of words is reminiscent of medieval theolgians arguing as to how many angels could dance on the point of a pin.

Words often change their meaning slightly over time and do not always mean exactly the same as the words they derive from.

We all know what is meant by Agnostic, Atheist or Believer so why do you keep making the same juvenile points in post after post and thread after thread. I can only find two explanations

1. You are just think it is funny to wind people up
or
2. You are a bit thick.

I tend to go for reason 1 but perhaps there is another alternative.

 

[Mike375]

Without being picky the etymology of the greek word atheos is the same as previously given. A polytheist is NOT an Atheist as they believe in gods.

But in common use a theist is a monotheist and so a polytheist would not be a theist = atheist. But common use of "atheist" means "godless" rather that "not theist"

Your pointless hairsplitting of the exact meaning of words is reminiscent of medieval theolgians arguing as to how many angels could dance on the point of a pin.

Maybe, but the atheist site posted devotes 4 pages to the definition.

 

[Rabbie]

But in common use a theist is a monotheist and so a polytheist would not be a theist = atheist. But common use of "atheist" means "godless" rather that "not theist"

I agree but as the Oxford English Dictionary defines theism as "the belief in gods/god" I have no issues there.

Maybe, but the atheist site posted devotes 4 pages to the definition.

The OED is certainly more authorative than that website when it comes to defining English words.

I will not be replying to you unless you can come up with some new lines and not just repeating your juvenile nonsense

 

[Mike375]

I agree but as the Oxford English Dictionary defines theism as "the belief in gods/god" I have no issues there.

The OED is certainly more authorative than that website when it comes to defining English words.

I think you have missed the point. It is the real keen debating atheists that feel a problem with the definition.

 

[Rabbie]

I think you have missed the point. It is the real keen debating atheists that feel a problem with the definition.

What problem with the definition

in an earlier post you said

But in common use a theist is a monotheist and so a polytheist would not be a theist = atheist. But common use of "atheist" means "godless" rather that "not theist"

The OED definition makes it clear to anyone of normal intelligence(which may or may not include you) that there is no conflict between "godless" and "Not Theist"

Perhaps you can enlighten us why you think the OED definition is incorrect and your qualifications for doing so.

 

[Mike375]

Theism from Wikipedia. Check opening paragraph

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theism

So for common usage theism is treated as being montheism and specifically God.

Atheist is not a theist and neither is a polytheist a theist.

 

[Rich]

Wikipedia is American, use a proper dictionary

 

[Alisa]

I think you have missed the point. It is the real keen debating atheists that feel a problem with the definition.

Maybe you should go debate them. I don't have any problems with my definition.

 

[Rabbie]

Theism from Wikipedia. Check opening paragraph

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theism

So for common usage theism is treated as being montheism and specifically God.

Atheist is not a theist and neither is a polytheist a theist.

As usual you are just plain wrong. The OED - far more reliable than Wikipedia - defines Theism as the belief in gods/god. Sorry to have to have to repeat this but you seem to be being deliberately obtuse about this so please switch on your brain before replying.

It really is quite simple if you concentrate. Monotheism - beleif in one god. Polytheism - belief in more than one god
Theism - belief in gods/god - thus including both the above.

Now have you got that or do we need to do it one more time?

 

[Mike375]

"Yet many atheists do not, and this is not what the term means if one considers it from the point of view of its Greek roots. In Greek "a" means "without" or "not" and "theos" means "god." From this standpoint an atheist would simply be someone without a belief in God"

No gods

And God will refer to one god, the abraham version.

Oxford English Dictionary

 

[Alisa]

I think this about sums it up.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T69TOuqaqXI&feature=player_embedded

 

[Rabbie]

"Yet many atheists do not, and this is not what the term means if one considers it from the point of view of its Greek roots. In Greek "a" means "without" or "not" and "theos" means "god." From this standpoint an atheist would simply be someone without a belief in God"

No gods

And God will refer to one god, the abraham version.

Oxford English Dictionary

I give up. You are just too stupid and arrogant to have a sensible discussion. You seem to think you know more about the meaning of words than the Oxford English Dictionary. For your benefit the greeks used the word Theos to refer to any member of their pantheon - Zeus, Hera, Apollo etc and used the word in its plural form where applicable.