Quote:I'm an atheist, and I have no faith.
Apologies, but that's not possible, except for those who haven't heard god claims.
Quote:I agree that atheists ought to be completely faithless.
Ok, so we will then reject all claims that reason can analyze assertions about what does or doesn't form the foundation of all reality (the essence of god claims) until someone proves that reason is qualified for this task. If we instead use reason to analyze such claims, without proof that reason is qualified for this job, we are using faith.
This is very simple.
1) Have holy books proven they are qualified to credibly tell us what the foundation of reality is or isn't? No. So holy books are set aside.
2) Have ouija boards proven they are qualified to credibly tell us what the foundation of reality is or isn't? No. So ouija boards are set aside.
3) Has human reason proven that it is qualified to credibly tell us what the foundation of reality is or isn't? No. So human reason is set aside.
If we subject ALL chosen authorities to the very same test, which is what reason requires us to do, we will soon see all chosen authorities fail the test, for the question is simply too large.
Quote:Some make positive claims of gods not existing; I disagree with those claims for the reason that disproving a premise is exceedingly difficult unless internal contradictions can be demonstrated.
Internal contradictions are irrelevant, until someone proves that the rules of human reason are binding on the arena claims and counter claims are being made about.
Quote: The Christian conception of god is one which is riven with contradictions, so I'm perfectly comfortable asserting his absolute nonexistence;
Please prove that the rules of human reason are binding upon all of reality, the realm the Christian god is proposed to rule over.
Here's a hypothetical example to illustrate the point.
What if the Christian god, or any god, both exists and doesn't exist, at the same time?
Many readers will immediately say this is impossible, absurd, ridiculous etc. Let's observe reality to find out.
The overwhelming vast majority of reality from the subatomic to cosmic level is empty space. Space is clearly there, or all of reality would be just one big blob. But space is a void, a nothing, a state of non-existence.
Space both exists, and doesn't exist, at the same time.
Point being, it seems absurd to our human reason that something could exist and not exist at the same time, and thus we always frame the god question as...
Does God exist or not?
The dualistic nature of human thought compels us to ask a yes or no question. And yet, when we actually observe reality, the vast majority of it, we can quickly see the answer is neither a yes or a no.
