Quote:To the hundreds of millions of hypocrites who claim to believe in the power of prayer (and of course, God) Do you believe in God and his powers or don’t you?

Absolutely and I believe you will see it in the world all around you, even if you don't personally know that you're seeing it because you think it's an annoying superstition of some kind.

(August 23, 2013 at 4:56 pm)Maelstrom Wrote: I meant my comment the way I stated it. Plain and simple.

Since this was my comment:

Quote:When an atheist mentions god, he is mentioning the fictitious character from the boring fiction book that should be retitled The Unholy Babble.

Do you see mention of all atheists or even a pluralization of the word in that statement?

Tisk tisk tisk....

My fellow writer!!!

You should know that when a person writes:

When an atheist etc. etc..... that the phrase "an atheist" is what is termed a "collective plural" and is the same as saying: "any atheist".

For example, if I were to make the statement:

"When an atheist talks about God, they are talking about something they do not believe exists."

The above is understood to mean: When any atheist talks about God. Not some atheists, not two atheists, not a whole bunch of jolly atheists.... but "any" atheist.

If I wanted to refer to a couple, or three, or a whole bunch, then whatever I was trying to convey would be given in the sentence and it would precede the word atheist(s) as a specifier.

(August 23, 2013 at 4:53 pm)discipulus Wrote:

(August 23, 2013 at 4:40 pm)Maelstrom Wrote: Not at all.

Allow me to explain then, my fellow writer....

You stated that when an atheist mentions god, he is mentioning the fictitious character from the boring fiction book that should be retitled The Unholy Babble.

There are several reasons why this statement is not true.

1. You cannot possibly know what every atheist's conception and understanding of the word "god" is. This is knowledge you would have to possess in order for your statement to be true.

2. It is demonstrably false in that I can supply you with at least one quote from an atheist who understands "god" to refer to any supernatural entity, irrespective of a particular religious conceptualization.

To sum up, you would have been more accurate in stating that some atheists, or many atheists are mentioning the fictitious character from the boring fiction book that should be retitled The Unholy Babble when they mention god instead of atheists without a specifier.

Your statement was ambiguous and demonstrably false. Although I will be charitable and give you the benefit of the doubt when I say that I do not believe it was your aim to make such a broad and sweeping claim to knowledge as you have made. I will just take it as a mistake on your part.

I now see, you have edited your initial reply to include the statement that "an opinion can never be false".

Well now, how does this change things?

You are of the opinion that atheists are referring to the God of the Bible when they mention "god".

But not every atheist understands "god" to be the God of the Bible. So you are still wrong.

Saying something is your opinion does not mean that what you say cannot be false.

You can be of the opinion that the earth is actually a flat table resting on a turtle's shell. You would still be wrong even if it were your opinion. It would still be a false proposition.

Checkmate, athiests!

Wow. The fact we athiests are in a discussion with Christian apologists does nothing to excuse our understood shorthand of god meaning Yahweh? Maybe we should define every word we type, too.

(August 23, 2013 at 5:10 pm)discipulus Wrote: When an atheist etc. etc..... that the phrase "an atheist" is what is termed a "collective plural" and is the same as saying: "any atheist".

False. You are arguing semantics and misinterpreting my comment to suit your own apologist agenda. Sometimes when a writer states the curtains are blue, they are just blue. It does not mean that the blue curtains are an analogy for the character's depression.

Disc, get out of the fucking weeds. You'll get no respect here by toying with plainly understood statements. All of us, including yourself, understood what he meant, so if your intention is to trip people up in their words, then you're actually acting like the Pharisaic Jews that your Jesus Christ spoke out against.

Desperate times call for dickhead measures.

BadWriterSparty,

Go easy on discipulus, He's just typing what god is telling him in his head, and obviously he's getting some very bad reception. Maybe he needs to climb to the top of a hill when he prays for guidance so he'll be closer.
Besides, god is so very feeble after his stroke that he can only talk in an inaudible whisper.

discipulus,

Do you think you might have had a faulty baptism? Even with the best intentions, your "god ear" can be messed up if your baptizer uses the wrong magic words.. Yes the bible says this!

(August 23, 2013 at 5:49 pm)Brakeman Wrote: BadWriterSparty,

Go easy on discipulus, He's just typing what god is telling him in his head, and obviously he's getting some very bad reception. Maybe he needs to climb to the top of a hill when he prays for guidance so he'll be closer.
Besides, god is so very feeble after his stroke that he can only talk in an inaudible whisper.

You done went and fucked up...Disc will see your last sentence and call you a liar for being an athiest.

I'll make it easy on him. I think that anyone who professes to believe in any variant of an all-powerful sky-daddy is a delusional fool.

Now you don't need to worry about plurals.

(August 23, 2013 at 5:58 pm)Minimalist Wrote: I'll make it easy on him. I think that anyone who professes to believe in any variant of an all-powerful sky-daddy is a delusional fool.

Now you don't need to worry about plurals.

Seconded, and the motion passes!