RE: What are your thoughts on Richard Dawkins?
March 27, 2017 at 9:33 pm
(This post was last modified: March 27, 2017 at 9:37 pm by masterofpuppets.)
(March 27, 2017 at 12:26 pm)Simon Moon Wrote:(March 26, 2017 at 10:26 pm)It_Was_me Wrote: I'm an agnostic not I am not atheist nor Christian, so maybe I am a little biased.
Not to pile on what others have already said, if the question is "do you currently BELIEVE that a god exists?", and you answer anything other than "yes", you are an atheist.
All that it takes to be an atheist, is to not be convinced that a god exists.
"Agnosticism" is the position that it is currently unknown if a god exists (and possibly unknowable), it is NOT some sort of fence sitting position between belief that a god exists, and disbelief. That is the colloquial definition, not the formal one.
Not only that, but it is my contention, that fence sitting between belief and disbelief is not even possible. Belief is a binary mental state. Either one accepts a premise or proposition is true, or they do not have that belief.
Most atheists are "agnostic atheists" ( the 2 positions are not mutually exclusive), even Dawkins.
It really grinds my gears when I hear an "agnostic" say that they "neither believe nor disbelieve in a god", as if such a middle ground exists. To disbelieve something is to not believe something. Saying anything/anyone is neither X or its direct logical negation is in violation of the logical absolutes, which is asinine. It's like saying "I neither like nor don't like Coca Cola".
Also, "do you believe in god" is a yes/no question. When "agnostics" answer with "I don't know", that means (a) their answer is actually no, and (b) they didn't even answer the question properly. I really wish people could get this right.
"Faith is the excuse people give when they have no evidence."
- Matt Dillahunty.
- Matt Dillahunty.