Since Watcher is probably right and this is a troll I will continue posting.
This is for all you lurkers out there are who reading this post but will probably not say anything.
Statements such as "We exist and that DEMANDS an explanation" do not have any explanatory power. Our existence demands nothing of the sort. Now you could say "Our existence MAKES US WANT an explanation" but simply because you desire something doesn't mean you are going to get it.
--->>>STRONG<<<--- Atheism claims to have knowledge of there being no gods. Due to this the Strong Atheist has made a positive claim and therefore must give proof. However in the Strong Atheist's defense many people of all religions claim to know things such as fairies etc don't exist but are not required to shoulder any proof other than saying "Prove to me it is there?"
However anyone other than a strong atheist such as an Agnostic Atheist etc does not claim to know for certain whether or not such a thing as deity exists. The claim an Agnostic Atheist would make is that they have not seen any reliable evidence for deities existence. The Agnostic Atheist therefore can provide reasons as to why the evidence that is presented is not seen as evidence to them.
I will save you a lot of time STRONG POSITIVE ATHEISM cannot prove 100% beyond any shadow of a doubt that there is no such thing as deity. >>>NOTICE<<< That is not necessarily referring to SPECIFIC deities such as the CHRISTIAN GOD. It is possible that there is actually evidence against certain kinds of gods existing if those gods are defined in certain ways.
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For example: IF there was a deity that was stated to heal all sickness upon hearing the prayers of the believer the deities claim could be tested. If someone prayed and was not healed of their sickness then the deity did not perform the action and is either a liar or does not exist.
Caveat: I am not suggesting this is the Christian God I am simply making a point with some made up form of deity.
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So again, there may be SOME form of deity out there. Many people feel like this is an atheist admitting defeat and will run out and claim victory. This is very annoying however and a COMPLETE LIE. It is a common thing for people to take people's statements and inflate them to say whatever the person wants them to say.
For example there was someone who listened to Dawkin's claim something and has run around saying "DAWKIN'S IS NOT REALLY AN ATHEIST!". However if you actually READ WHAT DAWKINS said not people's "modified and improved version" you will find out that he was making a point about probabilities. He was stating it was not possible for him to know 100% but rather 99% and compared his agnosticism to God to his agnosticism towards fairies. I said that because I am trying to head off someone claiming that atheists are conceding something by saying this.
It is really annoying when intellectual honesty is manipulated into something to make someone appear dishonest. Jireh, you have your answer about STRONG POSITIVE ATHEISM. There is no 100% proof that there is no such thing as a deity. However if you want to start discussing the probability of YAHWEH/JEHOVAH I.E. the Christian God's existence as defined by the Bible we can discuss things a little bit more directly.
For all of you lurkers out there please be very careful when reading threads like this. Don't ever take anyone's answer on here for granted and continue to read/research for yourself.
This is for all you lurkers out there are who reading this post but will probably not say anything.
Statements such as "We exist and that DEMANDS an explanation" do not have any explanatory power. Our existence demands nothing of the sort. Now you could say "Our existence MAKES US WANT an explanation" but simply because you desire something doesn't mean you are going to get it.
--->>>STRONG<<<--- Atheism claims to have knowledge of there being no gods. Due to this the Strong Atheist has made a positive claim and therefore must give proof. However in the Strong Atheist's defense many people of all religions claim to know things such as fairies etc don't exist but are not required to shoulder any proof other than saying "Prove to me it is there?"
However anyone other than a strong atheist such as an Agnostic Atheist etc does not claim to know for certain whether or not such a thing as deity exists. The claim an Agnostic Atheist would make is that they have not seen any reliable evidence for deities existence. The Agnostic Atheist therefore can provide reasons as to why the evidence that is presented is not seen as evidence to them.
I will save you a lot of time STRONG POSITIVE ATHEISM cannot prove 100% beyond any shadow of a doubt that there is no such thing as deity. >>>NOTICE<<< That is not necessarily referring to SPECIFIC deities such as the CHRISTIAN GOD. It is possible that there is actually evidence against certain kinds of gods existing if those gods are defined in certain ways.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For example: IF there was a deity that was stated to heal all sickness upon hearing the prayers of the believer the deities claim could be tested. If someone prayed and was not healed of their sickness then the deity did not perform the action and is either a liar or does not exist.
Caveat: I am not suggesting this is the Christian God I am simply making a point with some made up form of deity.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So again, there may be SOME form of deity out there. Many people feel like this is an atheist admitting defeat and will run out and claim victory. This is very annoying however and a COMPLETE LIE. It is a common thing for people to take people's statements and inflate them to say whatever the person wants them to say.
For example there was someone who listened to Dawkin's claim something and has run around saying "DAWKIN'S IS NOT REALLY AN ATHEIST!". However if you actually READ WHAT DAWKINS said not people's "modified and improved version" you will find out that he was making a point about probabilities. He was stating it was not possible for him to know 100% but rather 99% and compared his agnosticism to God to his agnosticism towards fairies. I said that because I am trying to head off someone claiming that atheists are conceding something by saying this.
It is really annoying when intellectual honesty is manipulated into something to make someone appear dishonest. Jireh, you have your answer about STRONG POSITIVE ATHEISM. There is no 100% proof that there is no such thing as a deity. However if you want to start discussing the probability of YAHWEH/JEHOVAH I.E. the Christian God's existence as defined by the Bible we can discuss things a little bit more directly.
For all of you lurkers out there please be very careful when reading threads like this. Don't ever take anyone's answer on here for granted and continue to read/research for yourself.