RE: Your stance on Hard Atheism
October 27, 2014 at 9:23 pm
(This post was last modified: October 27, 2014 at 9:29 pm by trmof.)
(October 27, 2014 at 9:14 pm)whateverist Wrote:(October 27, 2014 at 6:08 pm)trmof Wrote: By hard atheism I mean those who claim the non-existence of a God or gods as fact. They do in fact exist, and they are for the most part insufferable to have a conversation with.
As for the characteristics, a lower-case "god" would be a being which possesses power which would appear as incomprehensible magic to humans. This would apply to any being such as a demon or angel.
The creator God would be distinguished by his ability to, if not outright create, at least mold and shape universes to his liking.
Well at least you give me something to work with. Most people babble on about gods as if anyone really knew what they were. I do think your definition is inadequate to differentiate gods from advanced races of aliens. Or suppose there was a being of gigantic proportions whose scat consisted of galaxies? Would that count as a creator god by your reckoning?
Anyway I voted no to the poll. I personally am a very soft and accommodating atheist. I have as little belief in gods as anyone else but I have less settled opinions about what other people ought to believe and what they ought to base that on. That goes for hard atheists as well as hard theists. I don't see where I'm in any position to say either of them is whack. My choice is to take people as they come .. you're all so fascinating.
Yes, both of those things would qualify as gods in my book. The scat monster might still fall under the heading of a lower-case god. If it scatted universes, maybe, but of course that's just a matter of degree.
(October 27, 2014 at 9:05 pm)Chas Wrote:(October 27, 2014 at 8:33 pm)trmof Wrote: They probably couldn't feel remorse because they were sociopaths. I myself am a sociopath, so remorse does nothing to keep me from killing people. Religion does that.
OK, so you are claiming that atheism contains nothing that would restrain them.
You got that one right. But atheism is merely a lack of belief in any gods. So it has no bearing on their behavior.
And before you claim that religion gives one an objective reason to value human life, prepare some support for it.
I think I'd rather leave it at you admitting that I was right.
Though it is hardly scientific or a large enough sample size, I should point out that the poll is currently at 60/40 opposed to hard atheism. This suggests hard atheists might be a larger percentage of atheists overall than the tiny minority some would claim. However, again, it is unscientific.
