(October 5, 2012 at 1:11 pm)Akincana Krishna dasa Wrote:Quote:Well, it's not for us to disprove the claim of gods, or do you suggest that you should be able to prove that Voldemort indeed doesn't live in my closet?
Why would someone call themselves an atheist if they don't have an active disbelief in God?
Having an active disbelief in the existence of gods is not the same as claiming to KNOW a god does not exist.
Atheism is NOT the claim that a god does not exist. Atheism is the absence of BELIEF that a god exists. Atheism is not a position that concerns knowlesdge.
Quote:God has, historically, been a really popular answer for answering questions like "Why do I exist?" "Where does everything come from?" "Why can't I have or do whatever the hell I feel like?" "Why do I have to die?" Stuff like that, and more.
So was, "it is flat", was a really popular answer to, "what shape is the earth?". Appeal to popularity will always be fallacious.
Quote:As an atheist, it seems to me that the least you're saying is "Well, I know the answer to all those questions isn't God." So then what - do you have a better answer?
No.
Atheism is simply the response, "I don't believe your claim. Please provide me with demonstrable evidence, reasoned argument and valid logic to support it", when someone claims a god exists.
You'd believe if you just opened your heart" is a terrible argument for religion. It's basically saying, "If you bias yourself enough, you can convince yourself that this is true." If religion were true, people wouldn't need faith to believe it -- it would be supported by good evidence.
