aww he left before I could get my popcorn.

Anyway rob, you need to consider dedicating a section of your blog to explain why lack of belief isn't a belief in itself. This point comes up almost every time there's a debate on atheism.

(April 15, 2015 at 3:16 am)CuriousInquirer Wrote: Hello, I'm new here and I just wanted to know what the difference between atheism and LeVeyan Satanism is? I brought it up to one of my friends and they said they were practically the same thing. Any insight into this?

Thanks in advance.

That is like asking what is the difference between Yoda and Lex Luther. 

I really am no fan of the Satanist movement. It really is nothing but a splinter club based on a character name still drawn from an ancient book. It is simply drawing off the past to create something new. 

Our species morality isn't in concocted myths or religions. Our species ability to be cruel or compassionate is in our evolution. 

If you've seen that famous video of the dog biting the kid in the driveway where the house cat pounces on the aggressive dog to protect the kid, it is obvious our own morality stems from the same evolution as all life.

Our clubs humans invent and call religions  are gap filling placebos merely reflecting the desires of the individual and or club they subscribe to. 

(April 15, 2015 at 10:05 am)CuriousInquirer Wrote: I'll take that as a yes

OK.
If we were to say that Satanism and atheism are the same thing (which they're not), so what?

You can call me an atheist. You can call me a Satanist. You can call me a blueberry pie.
I really could give a rat's ass what you call me. I am what I am.

Aoi: Thanks, yes you're right. I need to go into more detail about that. I do touch on it briefly, but I could do with more. When I'm up to it I'll see what I can do. I did write that onion story, I might adapt that.

http://atheistforums.org/thread-31417-pa...ht=my+blog

It's the last post on that page. It hopefully shows how rejecting a belief is not the same as believing the opposite. Using onions. Do you think that would be good enough? I could probably hammer home the "belief" side of it a bit more.

If I can convince Alex then I'll know it's good enough

Lost: Then he wins! Somehow.

(April 15, 2015 at 11:39 am)Aoi Magi Wrote: aww he left before I could get my popcorn.

Anyway rob, you need to consider dedicating a section of your blog to explain why lack of belief isn't a belief in itself. This point comes up almost every time there's a debate on atheism.

And then I'll come and troll the comments

(April 15, 2015 at 11:39 am)Aoi Magi Wrote: aww he left before I could get my popcorn.

Anyway rob, you need to consider dedicating a section of your blog to explain why lack of belief isn't a belief in itself. This point comes up almost every time there's a debate on atheism.

Well, sure - if you debate a crazy person, they'll insist, that sanity is another mental illness. A junkie will say that being "clean" is just another drug. And a racist will claim, that not being racist - is just another prejudice. Whatever helps them sleep at night, I suppose. 

Not to turn internet diarrhea into something interesting or anything, but I think lack of belief is still a belief. And here's why...To lack a belief, you have to be unconvinced by the evidence.  In other words, you have to believe that the evidence is unconvincing.  Even though we do not believe in god, we do so because we believe the evidence is unconvincing.

Hmm. I think I would say that I know the evidence is unconvincing to me. I know this because my brain is in the "unconvinced" state. I don't simply believe that, it must be the case, assuming I have any grip on what my mind is doing.

So really, I know I am an atheist because I know I am unconvinced by the evidence. Which is kind of a tautology.

Otherwise I'm speculating on whether I'm interpreting my own brain states correctly!

(April 15, 2015 at 10:06 am)robvalue Wrote: So what's an atheist then? I mean, I probably am one. But what is it? Does it mean I hate God? He is kind of annoying, but I don't know if I'd say "hate".

How many atheists does it take to screw in light bulb?
I must know this before answering any of these questions.

Well, that's the issue of knowledge of your belief. You know that you believe the evidence is unconvincing. It's not quite like someone is claiming 1+ 1 = 3 where you can say you know the evidence shows that is wrong. You can either be convinced by the evidence or not, which is a belief that the evidence is conclusive or not.

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(April 15, 2015 at 1:39 pm)CuriousInquirer Wrote: How many atheists does it take to screw in light bulb?
I must know this before answering any of these questions.

I've seen a dog come back to lick up its own vomit, but never a human on the internet!