(September 26, 2010 at 2:16 am)blood_pardon Wrote: Im not going to bash on people for not believing in God, but I dont think anyone who calls themselves atheist should ever say "There is no God" in any sort of affirmative way. The proper answer is "I just dont know"No absolutely not. As an atheist the 'proper answer' is that: "god does not exist". I would happily affirm and argue for that position. The agnostic/weak/negative atheist stance is that there is no reason to believe. I would argue that position is also wrong, but clearly we share more common ground than with theism.
As for the argument from personal experience of the divine. You may want to believe that your experience of the holy spirit is in some way veridical and affirms your faith. That is up to you. But it's an argument doomed if you think it proves the existence of the xtian god or any god for that matter. It is also the argument tripped out by dangerous and desperate religious demagogues the world over, who not only speak to the divine but surprise, surprise find that aft their encounters god thinks like them too and agrees with their actions/deeds/thoughts etc.
"I still say a church steeple with a lightning rod on top shows a lack of confidence"...Doug McLeod.
