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Can a potato be an atheist?

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Can a potato be an atheist?
FallentoReason Offline
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#31
RE: Can a potato be an atheist?
September 18, 2012 at 2:11 am (This post was last modified: September 18, 2012 at 2:15 am by FallentoReason.)
Vinny Wrote:All these -ists are positive beliefs, and thus obviously things only humans can hold.

But atheism is the LACK of a belief.

I think the 'lack' of belief has come by through the ability to choose. I have cognitive functions that have made me aware of this choice I can make, to believe or not, and I have chosen to lack the belief.

A potato isn't aware of this and to say it lacks a belief is ignorant of the fact it couldn't choose for itself to begin with.

EDIT: this is also true of the positive stance: to believe. It can only be attained through being able to think. This could only happen if one was made aware of the choice at hand. Therefore, the same reason why you wouldn't say a potato is a theist applies to the argument for why it doesn't make sense to call a potato an atheist.

No thought -> no choice can be made.
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it" ~ Aristotle
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greneknight Offline
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#32
RE: Can a potato be an atheist?
September 18, 2012 at 2:36 am
By that stupid reasoning, a potato is also a non-believer in Allah, Zeus, Santa Claus, fairies, unicorns, etc.
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Ben Davis Offline
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#33
RE: Can a potato be an atheist?
September 18, 2012 at 10:29 am (This post was last modified: September 18, 2012 at 10:29 am by Ben Davis.)
(September 18, 2012 at 2:36 am)greneknight Wrote: By that stupid reasoning, a potato is also a non-believer in Allah, Zeus, Santa Claus, fairies, unicorns, etc.
Hi greneknight, back to my point about improper use of the indefinite article again. A potato has a lack of belief in Allah, Zeus etc. and is not a non-believer; a potato is 'atheist' it is not 'an atheist'. Far from stupid reasoning, it's all about accurate use.
Sum ergo sum
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Darth Offline
The Unbelievable
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#34
RE: Can a potato be an atheist?
September 18, 2012 at 10:56 am (This post was last modified: September 18, 2012 at 10:59 am by Darth.)
The adjective would be 'atheistic' or 'atheistical' no? 'It would be atheistic', not, 'it would be atheist' =P.
Nemo me impune lacessit.
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Anomalocaris Offline
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#35
RE: Can a potato be an atheist?
September 18, 2012 at 10:57 am
No, a potato can not be an atheist, because a potato can be "Vinny" G's brain.
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Violet Offline
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#36
RE: Can a potato be an atheist?
September 18, 2012 at 11:03 am
Potatoes are highly religious beings who almost to the plant believe they shall be baked in the fire of the gods and devoured (doubters are few and far between). But pineapple are almost exclusively atheistic.

Especially the Very Prickly Pineapple.
Please give me a home where cloud buffalo roam
Where the dear and the strangers can play
Where sometimes is heard a discouraging word
But the skies are not stormy all day
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Tea Earl Grey Hot Offline
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#37
RE: Can a potato be an atheist?
September 18, 2012 at 9:04 pm
Saw this today and thought of this thread http://thefrogman.me/post/27771166059/th...t-leap-for
My ignore list




"The lord doesn't work in mysterious ways, but in ways that are indistinguishable from his nonexistence."
-- George Yorgo Veenhuyzen quoted by John W. Loftus in The End of Christianity (p. 103).
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jonb Offline
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#38
RE: Can a potato be an atheist?
September 18, 2012 at 10:22 pm
Ahoy there maties, thie would not disparage that there vegetable, if thee know of the tail that brought it forth. Arrgh!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgZ3IssSNts
[Image: signiture_zps1665b542.gif]
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Atheist Forums › Community › Atheism v
Can a potato be an atheist?

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