Thoughts On Atheism and Faith

[Jackalope]

I'm interested in how someone can assert with 100% certainty "God does not exist" without formally disproving the existence of God.

Find someone that does and argue it with them.

[Whateverist]

If we do not know everything, then there will always be a degree of uncertainty when it comes to the existence of God.

I'll give you that. Most atheists are agnostic as well as not believing in this thing you call "god". But however uncertain I may be that God exists, I'm far less certain than that all Christians all have the same notion of God.

And it blows my mind that so many of you believe that God whipped everything into being from nothing at all. Such an immodest belief from a group fond of the saying "the meek shall inherit the world". More than that, Christians insist God creates us to be immortal, a claim as fantastic as it is implausible but no where near as much as it is presumptuous.

Then you come around here appalled that we don't own up to our own position also being one in need of some faith. I would be fine with that if what you believed was a little more down to earth. If you just admitted you don't know for sure what God is but you know He cares about you, comforts you and sometimes gives you guidance .. I'd be happy to say fine. Sure I believe things on faith too. Go for it. But then you insist this God -the belief in which you confess requires faith- has supernatural properties. You seem more convinced of what God's omni-properties must be than you are of His actual existence. That's just weird.

Nothing I believe on faith is anything near on par with the farfetched things you believe. Faith can be a good thing but to sling it around on the absurd things you believe requires gullibility and willful ignorance. So no your faith and mine are not of a kind, not even close.

[Cato]

The OP needs to read up on justified true belief. This whole 'degree of uncertainty', therefore faith, is fatuous bullshit. I have to assume that those deploying this tired argument fully understand they have absolutely no evidence to justify their beliefs and are desperate to have others acknowledge as respectable their entirely faith based position. Someone thinking that this reasoning is compelling has betrayed a severe ignorance of what constitutes knowledge (justified true belief).

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/knowledge-analysis/

[pocaracas]

Awww... did I miss the party?
New guy, ray3400, if your purpose is to try to make atheists look bad by saying that they require as much faith as the believer does, well.... I think you've noticed that you needed a refinement of what atheist is.
Kindly go back to your friends and let them know about that. I'm getting tired of people coming here with these misconceptions and flinging poo at no one.... you guys just stink up the place.

As others have said, God needs defining. There are way too many cults for us to disprove them all.... I do notice you label yourself as a follower of the cult of Christ. You are aware that you are actively denying the veracity of all other cults, right?
So, follow the same path you used to disprove all those others, like the Hindus, the Norse, the Classical Greek, Egyptians, Aztec, etc, etc, etc...
Or are you wanting to say that your believed upon cult is the right one and all others are therefore wrong?! Why?! Just because you believe it?! LOL!

I advise believers to try to track their own reasons to believe.... how did you get your faith?
Most often than not, indoctrination is the grand culprit.... a very well documented psychological mechanism to impose beliefs upon children... with a likely evolutionary basis.
But, most often than not, believers cannot grasp their own indoctrination.... you guys can't understand how you were indoctrinated... or can't accept that you were indoctrinated. It's a sad state of lack of self-awareness... really... Learn some psychology.... or even neurology... it helps.

[purplepurpose]

The core msg of religion is "You were made to serve/suffer for others, and not to consume. Comply or prepair for hell".

The msg is idealistic and beautiful till "comply or burn". If everyone would be very helpful to others, then you can call such place a paradise.

The problem is that people justly don't see a point in to giving up their lifes personal joys to attempt to persue such ideals, even if It means betting on the idea of permanent death.

[Faith No More]

As others have said, God needs defining.

Ooh, I'll help you with that one.  When they say "God," they mean "My God."

[pocaracas]

As others have said, God needs defining.

Ooh, I'll help you with that one.  When they say "God," they mean "My God."

Still... if any rational conversation is to be had, "My God" needs defining.

[The Grand Nudger]

The god of the bible, who made us out of dirt, who drowned the earth, who rained toads on people (or somesuch), and split a sea for a murderous fugitive.  

Pretty easy to assert that this god doesn't exist -as th believer takes the phrase to mean, and then demonstrate it...because none of that shit happened.

Simultaneously hilarious, because one does not need to assert that this god does not exist, to disbelieve, or lack belief in it. It plainly and clearly does exist, as a character in a work of fiction - not that this concession would be all that satisfying to the faithful.

[Excited Penguin]

The only way to assert with absolute certainty that there is no God is to formally disprove God.

That may not be true, OP. We don't have a complete science of the brain yet. We don't know if in the process of either disproving or proving something one necessarily gains or loses more faith than one who arrives at the same conclusion in their own minds or through other, less scientific means.

You seem like the perfect theist to debate however, I'm sure the others agree. Stick around, you'll get owned and get your ass delivered to you in no time. You might even deconvert if you're as honest as you seem to be forthcoming.

[Excited Penguin]

That wich is Asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.

It doesn't require faith. Faith is believing something without evidence. Disbelief requires therefore no faith. Pretty easy.

That's tricky, LP. We'd have to define evidence for that and make sure we specify the precise contexts in which it works that way. Certainly, in everyday life that doesn't hold as true, does it?