I understand the semantics between "I do not believe in god(s)" and "no god(s) are in existence", but they are both the same concept.

You've met people who claim that gods -can't- exist?  The strong atheist position is that they don't, that the statement "at least one god exists" is false...not that they can't.  

Do you recall why, by chance?  Morbid curiosity, lol.

I don't care what anyone thinks, but I find the statement 100% no Gods exist as disturbing as 100% (a) God/s exist ....

I don't believe anything 100%, but I don't disbelieve anything 100%.

I might almost certainly believe something or almost certainly not believe something but that is my limit ....

(June 17, 2016 at 7:52 pm)madog Wrote: I don't care what anyone thinks, but I find the statement no Gods exist as disturbing as (a) God/s exist ....

As quite the forum militant atheist, because honestly militant atheism does not spread further than the internet, I can state with certainty that you have more to fear from the latter than the former.

(June 15, 2016 at 6:00 pm)BlueGirl Wrote:

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I'm not trying to upset anyone here. This is my personal opinion and I just want to know if anyone agrees with me. I see so much hate flying around on the internet from both atheists and religious people and I really don't think any of it is nessesary.

I don't know what atheism is to you, but for me it's just a simple view: I don't believe in God. I get very annoyed when religious people try to convert me back to faith (I have one very devout family member who really irritates me) and I think that needs to stop. There's nothing wrong with not believing.

But I also don't have a problem with faith.

It really surprised me to see that atheists on the internet seem to have very little respect for religion. I understand that perspective- there really is no sense of logic to it, it's seems silly, and it can be dangerous. But I also think that in moderate amounts it can be a very good thing.

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Some people (most people) are comforted by faith in a god, and I really think it's something many people need in their lives to feel whole. I think that's probably why they so often don't understand how atheists can go without a God. Religion isn't required by all people to feel happy, but for some people it definitely is. I don't feel that this is a failure on the part of those people, but apparently many other athiests do.

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I think religious faith can contribute a lot to a persons life. Not every persons life -I certainly dont' want it- but why else would it have persisted so long if it didn't mean something? Tolerance of differing beliefs isn't just for athiests. I think it's important that we remember that all beliefs should be respected, even if they seem ludicrous to us.

So what do you guys think?

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I used to think that I should respect any religion that does not threaten or try to proselytize others.  Now I'm not so sure.  Why give any credence at all to ANY unsupported "woo" claim?  After all, listening to witch doctors and snake oil salesmen is what got the human race into this mess.  
  Religion is a comfort because it provides an imaginary "out" to the fear of death and the fear of being out of control.  If you have sky-daddy looking after you, someone is in control, and you get the ego-trip of telling people that the guy who created billions and billions of galaxies helps you find your car keys.
  The people who NEED religion were almost always raised in a religion.  There are a lot of folks here who were raised with no religion and will tell you that they have absolutely no need for religion.
   So no - it's possible that I don't need to respect any religion.  I need to respect a person's right to believe what they will, if it has no effect on me - but I do not need to respect religion.

There are limits to our knowledge.  The people who say that no gods exist take all of that for granted just as you do. It would make for an unwieldy preamble though....running off a list of every caveat to -any- knowledge claim.

(June 17, 2016 at 7:55 pm)Rhythm Wrote: The people who say that no gods exist take all of that for granted just as you do.

Hardly.

I have made the case quite clear that if any god existed, there would be actual proof of its existence.

The fact that there has been no proof within the past two thousand years speaks volumes toward god not existing.

I was speaking more towards the fundamental limits to knowledge that make a person call something like the sun rising in the morning a "99.9999% certainty". The terminus of every brain in a vat discussion. Or, "what if there's something you don't know"?

(June 17, 2016 at 7:55 pm)Maelstrom Wrote:

(June 17, 2016 at 7:52 pm)madog Wrote: I don't care what anyone thinks, but I find the statement no Gods exist as disturbing as (a) God/s exist ....

As quite the forum militant atheist, because honestly militant atheism does not spread further than the internet, I can state with certainty that you have more to fear from the latter than the former.

Ooops I forgot the 100% in the first line, I have now edited

You can replace God/s with anything such as the "Flying spaghetti monster" I would find it just as disturbing either way if the statement is 100% ....

I think anything conceived in our minds could exist, though almost certainly doesn't

(June 17, 2016 at 8:04 pm)madog Wrote: I think anything conceived in our minds could exist, though almost certainly doesn't

Not anything.

Something conceived through the mind that makes itself into actual existence, an architect designing a building, is one thing.

Something else conceived through the mind, clearly given the connotation of fiction because it has no place in reality, is something else entirely.