Thanks for creating a forum with real debate!

[jstrodel]

Atheism is a blank slate position. If I wanted to express the things I actually cared about, I'd call myself a humanist. A skeptic. A naturalist. A centerist, politically. You know nothing about me except that I don't believe in a god, with the atheist label.

You missed the three pages that I write describing the history of atheism in the last 150 years. Whatever it is that you may believe, this history has strongly influenced you, judging by the labels 'skeptic', 'naturalist', 'humanist', etc, which are common for atheists. The point is not to stereotype, it is to identify cultural forces that have historically given rise to modern day expressions of atheism and appreciate larger scale forces that may have a greater role in defining history than even yourself.

Otherwise I'll assume that you are a foaming at the mouth, bible-thumping, gay-hating (probably secretly homo yourself) sort of Christian.

But there is some truth to that. A lot of Christians are against homosexuality (though few actually hate gays), a lot preach the Bible aggressively and actually thump the Bible and a lot conform to some degree to Protestant or Catholic stereotypes.

---

An atheist (defined historically, not individualistically) cannot be a Fideist because Fideism is a position that elevates what people commonly called "blind faith" and conflicts with typical Western atheists critique of the epistemology of religious belief, most commonly along the lines that religious belief should be organized around certain types of evidence and that Christians fail to meet a universal standard of evidence the atheists define in their own terms.

I suppose an atheist could be a fideist if they repudiated this critique of the epistemology of religious belief, but this criticism is the most common way to attack belief in God.

[KichigaiNeko]

Me on the other hand, I'd likely have stabbed him in the face with a fork after 30 seconds.

Damn I like a woman with passion. The fact that you'd use the fork shows you care. (You know what they say, spare the fork and spoil the theist.) Are you quite certain you're gay and not just holding out for some fine old vintage tom cat?

Personally I would use a spoon... it inflicts a greater degree of exquisite pain. But a fork does seem potentially more ....creative

---

Anyone for cream?

[Cyberman]

Me on the other hand, I'd likely have stabbed him in the face with a fork after 30 seconds.

I admire the strength of your patience, to hold out for all that time.