RE: Are you an assertive atheist or a passive one?
September 8, 2011 at 4:23 am
(This post was last modified: September 8, 2011 at 4:24 am by ElDinero.)
Ok firstly I'm to make a correction, and you're right that I have confused my stats in the US and my 25% estimate is off the mark. Luckily, this doesn't really make too much difference to my overall point, however one thing I will point out is that agnostics ARE atheists, by definition. People who say they are agnostic in my experience avoid the word atheist because it's got some stigma attached to it. Atheism is the 'lack of belief'. So when asked the question 'Do you believe in God?', if the answer is anything other than 'yes', you are an atheist. If you're not really decided on it, you're an agnostic atheist, but until you can answer that question with 'yes', you are one. This is why the term agnostic is a useless one.
Once again you misrepresent me. I did not say atheists are the most educated people on Earth, I said among the most educated people, the percentage of atheists will be higher proportionally than the percentage in the general population. There is a difference. Most 'nerds' are fairly likely to be atheists as well, in my experience.
Now, as for this ridiculous middle bit. If you told me that I make unsupported assertions, contradict myself etc, you would have to show that this is the case. I wouldn't think you were 'ungrateful' (ungrateful for what? Me giving my opinion?), I would look into it and if I had contradicted myself, I would clarify the contradiction. You can't just turn something like this around on me and think that'll make me see the error of my ways. I can happily point to instances of where you have done the things I claimed. Can you do the same to me?
So once again I ask: Can you prove that atheists lack imagination? And can you prove that atheists are ungrateful and pessimistic? If not, stop trying to base an argument off these points.
Finally, it doesn't matter if your mother is a self-proclaimed atheist or not. If she thinks everything is God, then by definition she is not an atheist. Can I be a 'self-proclaimed vegetarian' and still eat steak every day? Can I be a 'self-proclaimed libertarian' and be in favour of slavery? I really don't think so. Words have definitions. Atheism is the lack of belief in a God, so you cannot be one and think that God exists. That is a fact. Tell your mother to check a dictionary.
Once again you misrepresent me. I did not say atheists are the most educated people on Earth, I said among the most educated people, the percentage of atheists will be higher proportionally than the percentage in the general population. There is a difference. Most 'nerds' are fairly likely to be atheists as well, in my experience.
Now, as for this ridiculous middle bit. If you told me that I make unsupported assertions, contradict myself etc, you would have to show that this is the case. I wouldn't think you were 'ungrateful' (ungrateful for what? Me giving my opinion?), I would look into it and if I had contradicted myself, I would clarify the contradiction. You can't just turn something like this around on me and think that'll make me see the error of my ways. I can happily point to instances of where you have done the things I claimed. Can you do the same to me?
So once again I ask: Can you prove that atheists lack imagination? And can you prove that atheists are ungrateful and pessimistic? If not, stop trying to base an argument off these points.
Finally, it doesn't matter if your mother is a self-proclaimed atheist or not. If she thinks everything is God, then by definition she is not an atheist. Can I be a 'self-proclaimed vegetarian' and still eat steak every day? Can I be a 'self-proclaimed libertarian' and be in favour of slavery? I really don't think so. Words have definitions. Atheism is the lack of belief in a God, so you cannot be one and think that God exists. That is a fact. Tell your mother to check a dictionary.
