(September 11, 2014 at 12:28 pm)sswhateverlove Wrote: I ask because of the absolute nature of the atheist perspective. Most atheists I know argue they are 100% sure there is no intelligent design, no influencing entities, however, how can you be so sure? What is it that confirms that for you? I mean, "agnostic" seems to be the way to go when there are obviously so many variables that we can't possibly control for. Aren't you concerned about the possibility of having to "eat crow" later on?
Oh, and what does being American have to do with anything?
Then you don't know what the majority of atheists actually think.
The vast majority of atheists are also agnostic. Atheism and agnosticism are not mutually exclusive positions.
Very few atheists claim to know, with absolute certainty, that a god or gods do not exist.
Atheism is a provisional position, not a dogmatic one.
As long as the god claim continues to be unsupported with evidence, reasoned argument, and valid/sound logic, my atheism will continue.
You'd believe if you just opened your heart" is a terrible argument for religion. It's basically saying, "If you bias yourself enough, you can convince yourself that this is true." If religion were true, people wouldn't need faith to believe it -- it would be supported by good evidence.
