(April 17, 2012 at 4:32 pm)Abishalom Wrote:(April 17, 2012 at 4:27 pm)mediamogul Wrote: Then what was your point?
Also it's absurd to claim to know what babies believe. I hope this is self evident. Without language one cannot believe in these concepts.
Do you know what a predisposition is? There a difference between believing a concept and having a predisposition. A belief in a concept requires conditioning. A predisposition is involuntary and does not have to be taught.
My point answering somebody's claim of that a baby is naturally an atheist. This is wrong. Humans have a natural predisposition to belief in a higher being and that everything in the natural world has a purpose.
I understand you want to have it both ways but it cannot be.
If you say that a baby believes in god he is a theist. This is clearly not a substantive claim.
If a baby lacks belief in a god then it is an atheist. Resorting to saying they have a "predisposition" to belief in god is first highly questionable and second it is still not a belief in god. Hence, babies do not believe in god.
A predisposition does not equal a belief. A predisposition to learn language, one of the actual predispositions a human possesses, does not mean that a baby understands language.
"A casual stroll through the lunatic asylum shows that faith does not prove anything." -Friedrich Nietzsche
"All thinking men are atheists." -Ernest Hemmingway
"Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." -Voltaire
"All thinking men are atheists." -Ernest Hemmingway
"Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." -Voltaire