(March 11, 2012 at 10:43 am)Tiberius Wrote:(March 11, 2012 at 7:37 am)Phil Wrote: On the contrary my dear, all theists think that humans are special in the universe.
Bullshit. Theism = belief in God, just as Atheism = disbelief / non-belief in God. Theism is not specific about kinds of Gods, just as Atheism is not specific about kinds of Gods.
That's like saying mammals = nurse young with milk, and is not specific about whether the nurser has to have any biological metabolism.
Theism is a construct carried by human minds operating in a human society. Therefore it must carry traits compatible with its own on-going operation in the human minds in the context of societies, in addition to belief in gods. One such traits would have to be an assertion of its own relevence in the lives of those who hold it. The nearly universal form of this assertion comes in the form of "god will suspend the normal course of universe for you if you pray to it". A form of theism that says god is utterly indifferent to you, and all that you wish will not be granted to you if it contradicts an all emcompassing plan of universal progress will not be worth holding to most regardless of its appearent truth or untruth. Such a form of theism is still theism, but I bet it has no adherants population worth noting.
So it is insightful, if not strictly padentically definitional, to say all theists think that humans are special in the universe.
