Hi,

As Atheist's like to claim the logical high ground for some reason, I was just wondering if any of you can actually give me one logical/rational explanation for Atheism, in particular Materialistic Atheism, which is the only kind as far as I am aware.

Btw I am not Religious or Atheist.

Cheers,
Bob

Bob,

We know the material world exists. There is no evidence for "supernatural" things or deities, and no logical necessity for them. If you want to argue for the existence of anything beyond that which we readily observe, you have to do just that: make a positive case *for* whatever it is you want to claim to exist. Materialist atheists find that all existence claims for deities and such have failed to be compelling. Some theist apologists would like you to believe that "Observable universe+personal creator God exist" ist just as valid a default position as "Observable universe exists". It isn't, the first option introduces an extremely complicated additional assumption which does not solve any problems and only introduces new ones. Therefore, it is out of the window unless you have compelling evidence. Some apologists want to argue that their god is a logical necessity - all these arguments are nonsense.

I do not believe in a god or gods because I have not seen anything to make me think otherwise. Thats it.

Bob

You don't know much do you?

Does one need a specific explanation for the claim that one doesn't believe religious claims? That's all atheism is, by the way; a lack of acceptance of religious dogma, nothing more.

As concerns materialism, I shan't be speaking for everyone, but I doubt you'll find a strict materialist anywhere around here; most of us are smart enough to realize that we don't know everything yet, and thus won't directly discount the possibility that something more/as yet unknown about the material world exists. However, the time to properly believe that such a thing is out there is the time one has evidence that it does.

We aren't unjustified in believing in the material world because... well, it's here. We're... we're in it.

Question is OP, do you believe in a god? If yes, please provide us the means to verify your claims. Otherwise you are an atheist.

(February 12, 2014 at 7:21 am)Bob101 Wrote: I was just wondering if any of you can actually give me one logical/rational explanation for Atheism, in particular Materialistic Atheism, which is the only kind as far as I am aware.

I found no evidence, material or otherwise, for god.

Yes, I would like to emphasize LastPoet's point. Most of us who identify as atheists don't mean that we have a 100% logically absolute forever fixed belief that deities don't exist. This is just not how we use the word. We simply, given our current knowledge, don't believe that deities exist. You could as well be an atheist in our sense - what is it for you?

I find the agnostic shtick "I can't prove either way, so I'm in the middle of the road and refuse to say anything on the topic" extremely annoying, because it is dishonest. These agnostics don't operate like that for any other claim, but this one is singled out and treated special to not offend. Do they also play the same silly game for Frooofroo the invisible unicorn? No they don't!

p.s. You misspelled atheism in the OP, that means you lose 5 points.

(February 12, 2014 at 7:33 am)LastPoet Wrote: Question is OP, do you believe in a god? If yes, please provide us the means to verify your claims. Otherwise you are an atheist.

(February 12, 2014 at 7:21 am)Bob101 Wrote: Hi,

As Atheist's like to claim the logical high ground for some reason, I was just wondering if any of you can actually give me one logical/rational explanation for Atheism, in particular Materialistic Atheism, which is the only kind as far as I am aware.

Btw I am not Religious or Atheist.

Cheers,
Bob

So you claim that atheists universally claim the "logical high ground"? I don't agree but lets move on.

As has already been pointed out to you, most of us do not claim to know whether or not gods exist. We merely do not believe in any based on what we now know. Upon receiving more adequate evidence we of course will be free to revise what we believe. So atheism as such does not necessarily entail a knowledge claim. It is merely a statement regarding a class of beliefs, those involving gods.

So, whether or not you are an agnostic surely you know whether you entertain a belief in a god, don't you? I know nothing of any gods, and so like you am an agnostic. But I know I have not a shred of belief in any gods since nothing I have experienced or been told has been sufficient to engender such a belief. How about you? Do you have any belief in gods?

Perhaps you have as much difficulty answering this question as I do. I have only the vaguest of ideas what a god is supposed to be. It is pretty tough evaluating the existence of something that is so fuzzily defined as a god. But from what I can gather, I don't find I pay them (gods) any mind in making any decisions. They are a non-factor in my deliberations. Do you find yourself taking the possible existence of gods into account in your deliberations? If not, I suspect you are actually an atheist, someone devoid of a belief in gods.

(February 12, 2014 at 7:46 am)Alex K Wrote: Yes, I would like to emphasize LastPoet's point. Most of us who identify as atheists don't mean that we have a 100% logically absolute forever fixed belief that deities don't exist. This is just not how we use the word. We simply, given our current knowledge, don't believe that deities exist. You could as well be an atheist in our sense - what is it for you?

Unless they can magically con us that the laws of physics aren't real, they should all bash their heads into a brick wall, their god surely would welcome a true believer.