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Why Carl Sagan rejected atheism
#1
Why Carl Sagan rejected atheism
Quote:“Those who raise questions about the God hypothesis and the soul hypothesis are by no means all atheists. An atheist is someone who is certain that God does not exist, someone who has compelling evidence against the existence of God. I know of no such compelling evidence. Because God can be relegated to remote times and places and to ultimate causes, we would have to know a great deal more about the universe than we do now to be sure that no such God exists. To be certain of the existence of God and to be certain of the nonexistence of God seem to me to be the confident extremes in a subject so riddled with doubt and uncertainty as to inspire very little confidence indeed. A wide range of intermediate positions seems admissible, and considering the enormous emotional energies with which the subject is invested, a questioning, courageous and open mind seems to be the essential tool for narrowing the range of our collective ignorance on the subject of the existence of God.”

— “The Amniotic Universe,” Broca’s Brain

Some food for thought.
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#2
RE: Why Carl Sagan rejected atheism
(October 13, 2013 at 3:03 am)Vincenzo "Vinny" G. Wrote: Some food for thought.

No it`s not.

This subject has been discussed countless times. You are merely opening this thread because you can add the name Carl Sagan, and believe that it would somehow somewhere add somekind of weight to your pathetic possition. I for one am not impressed more by something if a famous name is added under it, maybe you are, and maybe you are the only one on thif forum.

My rejection of religion is not simply a rejection based on scientific discovery alone. It is also a rejection based on the personal need to determine myself aswell as a rejection based on moral values. Since I rejject the values of people like you for reasons that you have shown yourself by being one of the most disgusting members of this forum.
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#3
RE: Why Carl Sagan rejected atheism
I'm not hungry.
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#4
RE: Why Carl Sagan rejected atheism
(October 13, 2013 at 5:08 am)The Germans are coming Wrote:
(October 13, 2013 at 3:03 am)Vincenzo "Vinny" G. Wrote: Some food for thought.

No it`s not.

This subject has been discussed countless times. You are merely opening this thread because you can add the name Carl Sagan, and believe that it would somehow somewhere add somekind of weight to your pathetic possition. I for one am not impressed more by something if a famous name is added under it, maybe you are, and maybe you are the only one on thif forum.

My rejection of religion is not simply a rejection based on scientific discovery alone. It is also a rejection based on the personal need to determine myself aswell as a rejection based on moral values. Since I rejject the values of people like you for reasons that you have shown yourself by being one of the most disgusting members of this forum.

You sound quite bitter about the past. I hope you learn to look forward to a bright and positive future.

As for your response about the quote, you missed the point.
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#5
RE: Why Carl Sagan rejected atheism
(October 13, 2013 at 5:32 am)Vincenzo "Vinny" G. Wrote: You sound quite bitter about the past. I hope you learn to look forward to a bright and positive future.

Do you really believe that you can simply come back to this forum after you insulted and attacked members on this forum, who never did anything to you, in the most garstly and disgusting way and simply continue as if nothing ever happened?????

Yu behavior will not be appologised and the very fact that you refuse to even adress or appologise for your disgusting behavior (attacking people and whining arround that it was their fault) only adds to the contempt towards you.

Quote:As for your response about the quote, you missed the point.

No I did not.
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#6
RE: Why Carl Sagan rejected atheism
(October 13, 2013 at 3:03 am)Vincenzo "Vinny" G. Wrote:
Quote:“Those who raise questions about the God hypothesis and the soul hypothesis are by no means all atheists. An atheist is someone who is certain that God does not exist, someone who has compelling evidence against the existence of God. I know of no such compelling evidence. Because God can be relegated to remote times and places and to ultimate causes, we would have to know a great deal more about the universe than we do now to be sure that no such God exists. To be certain of the existence of God and to be certain of the nonexistence of God seem to me to be the confident extremes in a subject so riddled with doubt and uncertainty as to inspire very little confidence indeed. A wide range of intermediate positions seems admissible, and considering the enormous emotional energies with which the subject is invested, a questioning, courageous and open mind seems to be the essential tool for narrowing the range of our collective ignorance on the subject of the existence of God.”

— “The Amniotic Universe,” Broca’s Brain

Some food for thought.

"An atheist is someone who is certain that God does not exist, someone who has compelling evidence against the existence of God. "

I don't agree with that statement at all. An atheist is someone who does not believe that God exists. This may be due to a lack of compelling evidence for the existence of God. I believe, beyond a reasonable doubt that there is no God but no-one can ever be absolutely certain (about a great number of things).

Were compelling evidence brought forth then many, if not most, atheists, would become deists or theists accordingly.

This distinguishes them from an agnostic, who, neither believes nor disbelieves in the existence of God but is open minded on the subject.
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#7
RE: Why Carl Sagan rejected atheism
(October 13, 2013 at 3:03 am)Vincenzo "Vinny" G. Wrote:
Quote:An atheist is someone who is certain that God does not exist, someone who has compelling evidence against the existence of God.
How many times must it be said that this is not how most atheists identify themselves, until you get it?
A minority of atheists do share that point of view, but that's not how it comes across in that sentence...
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#8
RE: Why Carl Sagan rejected atheism
Okay, if we're going to do Carl Sagan quotes regarding God, here's a few more to consider:

-'Many statements about God are confidently made by theologians on grounds that today at least sound specious. Thomas Aquinas claimed to prove that God cannot make another God, or commit suicide, or make a man without a soul, or even make a triangle whose interior angles do not equal 180 degrees. But Bolyai and Lobachevsky were able to accomplish this last feat (on a curved surface) in the nineteenth century, and they were not even approximately gods.'

-'If we long to believe that the stars rise and set for us, that we are the reason there is a Universe, does science do us a disservice in deflating our conceits?....For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.'

-'Think of how many religions attempt to validate themselves with prophecy. Think of how many people rely on these prophecies, however vague, however unfulfilled, to support or prop up their beliefs. Yet has there ever been a religion with the prophetic accuracy and reliability of science?'

-'The idea that God is an oversized white male with a flowing beard, who sits in the sky and tallies the fall of every sparrow is ludicrous. But if by "God," one means the set of physical laws that govern the universe, then clearly there is such a God. This God is emotionally unsatisfying... it does not make much sense to pray to the law of gravity.'

-'Who is more humble? The scientist who looks at the universe with an open mind and accepts whatever it has to teach us, or somebody who says everything in this book must be considered the literal truth and never mind the fallibility of all the human beings involved?'

-'Anything you don't understand, Mr. Rankin, you attribute to God. God for you is where you sweep away all the mysteries of the world, all the challenges to our intelligence. You simply turn your mind off and say God did it.'

-'Atheism is more than just the knowledge that gods do not exist, and that religion is either a mistake or a fraud. Atheism is an attitude, a frame of mind that looks at the world objectively, fearlessly, always trying to understand all things as a part of nature.'

If Sagan wasn't an atheist, he was near enough as makes no odds.

Boru
‘But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods or no gods. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.’ - Thomas Jefferson
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#9
RE: Why Carl Sagan rejected atheism
(October 13, 2013 at 3:03 am)Vincenzo "Vinny" G. Wrote:
Quote:An atheist is someone who is certain that God does not exist, someone who has compelling evidence against the existence of God.

Some food for thought.

I'm not certain that any given god claim is false, but I'll continue identifying as an atheist all the same. Thanks, anyway, Carl Sagan!
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#10
RE: Why Carl Sagan rejected atheism
[quote='Vincenzo "Vinny" G.' pid='523890' dateline='1381647788']
Quote:An atheist is someone who is certain that God does not exist, someone who has compelling evidence against the existence of God.

If that's your definition, I would guess that there are no atheists in the world then.

Or do you know of one?
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