RE: Atheist or Agnostic?
April 3, 2015 at 10:48 pm
(This post was last modified: April 3, 2015 at 10:57 pm by Thumpalumpacus.)
(April 3, 2015 at 9:13 pm)datc Wrote:(April 3, 2015 at 8:02 pm)Parkers Tan Wrote: I'm an agnostic atheist. I have no faith, and I see no reason to lend credence to bullshit bereft of evidence, but I know better than to claim knowledge I don't have.
Is the proposition "God does not exist" also "bullshit bereft of evidence"?
What evidence do you think exists for a negative claim?
Also, since you seem to be taking up the god-cudgel, you'll have to define what you mean when you use that word.
Now, if you're talking about Yahweh, then yeah, bullshit bereft of evidence. If you've got evidence for god(s), feel free to present it. Bring facts.
(April 3, 2015 at 9:31 pm)Bad Wolf Wrote:(April 3, 2015 at 9:13 pm)datc Wrote: Is the proposition "God does not exist" also "bullshit bereft of evidence"?
Let's be clear about who is claiming what. Religion is claiming that a god exists and we should worship him. We atheists are simply saying 'we don't believe you'.
I think the sweet jar analogy is very relevant here.
Imagine a big jar of sweets, neither you or I know how many are in the jar, there are too many to count.
Now you claim that the amount of sweets in the jar is odd.
I say, I don't believe you, because you haven't demonstrated that. You have no way of knowing how many sweets are in the jar.
Now, because I don't believe the amount of sweets in the jar is odd, does that mean that I believe the amount of sweets in the jar is even?
No, of course not.
And this is the atheist position.
Christianity and all other religions and their followers have not met the burden of proof. They have not provided sufficient evidence for their claims.
A more accurate telling would be him guessing the exact number, out of a thousand or so possibilities.
Simply because I know that his guess is very likely to be wrong does not mean that I think I know the right number. Indeed, I'm very happy to say I don't have a clue as to the exact number.