Can a potato be an atheist?

[Angrboda]

I'm a slut. If a god came to me, I'd become one with the ground. Let's face it, would you defy any mortal terror because of past theory?

If a religion developed around bigfoot, and he was described as doing all these douchey things, and then he walks into your living room, are you gonna flip him off and jump up and down on his toe? That's irrational.

And how do you know God is as described? Maybe he dropped by your flat to see if you could help him correct some of those mistaken myths. But before he can open his mouth, you empty a full can of flame retardant chemicals on his ass.

However, I'm not sure a god could readily meet my epistemic bar. I've lived most my life with psychotic delusions and other psychotic symptoms (though not many hallucinations), and I'm an anti-realist.

I can't imagine what I could experience that would persuade me of a god's reality. I'm always checking my six for false data as it is. But then, who knows what a god could do? (Stand up, stand on your head, pick your nose... how should I know?)

---

Atheists do not believe in god.

Atheism is the lack of a belief not a belief .

Potatoes don't believe in anything as they do not have the capability of thought.

Therefore Potatoes are Atheists.

A Potato couldn't be a strong atheist, though, because Strong Atheism is a belief that god definitely does not exist.

A Potato can certainly NOT be a theist which is also a belief.

Epistemology

I
Kick at the rock, Sam Johnson, break your bones:
But cloudy, cloudy is the stuff of stones.

II
We milk the cow of the world, and as we do,
We whisper in her ear, "You are not true."

— Richard Wilbur


You are not prepared to answer this one yet, grasshopper. Come back when you are ready.

But how will I know when I am ready?

When you are ready, then you will know.

[Haydn2]

I can't imagine what I could experience that would persuade me of a god's reality. I'm always checking my six for false data as it is. But then, who knows what a god could do? (Stand up, stand on your head, pick your nose... how should I know?)

Not invisibly in-pregnating my virgin girlfriend/wife .

[Mister Agenda]

I have no more problem with a potato not being a theist than I do with it not being a Republican or Democrat. Potatoes are apolitical.

[Red Celt]

Oh sweet Jesus... I'd hoped that I'd seen the end of this question in the mid 90s.

The age-old example isn't of a potato, but of a chair... and it's known as the atheist chair.

a- = without. Your chair is apolitical, amoral and atheistic.

Some atheists don't like that definition, because they feel that it makes it easier for theists to mock them (brainless = atheist). Well, I long ago gave up worrying what people think of me. Facts are facts, regardless of how those facts can be used against you.

And as a footnote to some of the above posts... the word is "atheist", not "Atheist" and the word is "god", not "God". Capitalised first letters are for proper nouns. The Christian god is God. Thor is a god, not a God.

[Reforged]

Awwww... no Vinny. No you can't be an atheist. I'm sorry :-(

[Vincenzo Vinny G.]

I don't think a potato could be an athiest. You have to be capable of thought, to in turn believe or make an opinion of something.

This is the core of the argument against my position.

But the ability to think is an assumed property in every other -ist, except atheism.

Atheism is the only position that seems to, by popular notion, define itself in the negative.

Consider epiphenomenalist- an affirmative belief. It's obvious that potatoes can't be epiphenomenalists.

Consider environmentalists- a position on something that incorporates a belief. It's obvious potatoes can't be environmentalists.

Consider feminists- a position that incorporates a belief, or a number of beliefs. Potatoes can't be feminists (feminists might argue that potatoes are part of the patriarchy and thus anti-feminist. Let me know, I might be mistaken).

All these -ists are positive beliefs, and thus obviously things only humans can hold.

But atheism is the LACK of a belief.

[Haydn2]

[This is the core of the argument against my position.

But the ability to think is an assumed property in every other -ist, except atheism.

Atheism is the only position that seems to, by popular notion, define itself in the negative.

Consider epiphenomenalist- an affirmative belief. It's obvious that potatoes can't be epiphenomenalists.

Consider environmentalists- a position on something that incorporates a belief. It's obvious potatoes can't be environmentalists.

Consider feminists- a position that incorporates a belief, or a number of beliefs. Potatoes can't be feminists (feminists might argue that potatoes are part of the patriarchy and thus anti-feminist. Let me know, I might be mistaken).

All these -ists are positive beliefs, and thus obviously things only humans can hold.

But atheism is the LACK of a belief.

Then i put it to you then Vinny , you are in fact the potatoe in question.

[pocaracas]

Atheism is the only position that seems to, by popular notion, define itself in the negative.

It's a prefix thing.
A- means negation
just like
Un-, as in unpleasant (not pleasant) or unmanned (not manned)
In-, as in independent (not dependent)
Im-, as in imperfect (not perfect)
Dis-, as in dishonest (not honest)
Non-, as in nonexistent (not existent)

The A- prefix comes in other words as well as atheist (not theist), atypical (not typical), achromatic (not chromatic), amorphous (not morphous, i.e., not crystalline), asymmetric (not symmetric), anaerobic (not aerobic), anhydrous (not hydrous - does not contain water), anoxic (not oxic, does not contain oxygen). Basically, words originating in greek have the A- or An- as negating prefix.


So, when I say that a molecule is apolar, it means that the molecule does not have any electrical poles. There's another thing that get's defined in the negative.

Can't say that atheism is alone in that category.
It is alone when you constrain yourself to "religious positions", but I'd say that, in this topic, it's a bit difficult to have more than one kind of atheism.

[Faith No More]

I think that is the essence, the spirit of atheism. A desire to live without the intervention of God into our daily conscious lives. And whether or not God actually existed was irrelevant.

At first I thought that the accusations of Vinny not being an atheist were unfounded, but this statement right here really makes me question where he stands. It's simply a rewording of the argument 'You believe in god, but you don't want to have to follow his rules' that only theists are so fond of spewing forth. Perhaps this is really Vinny projecting his own beliefs onto others, and since he desires to live without god's intervention, it must be the reason for all atheists not to believe.
Perhaps Vinny really is a theist. The most likely scenario, however, is that he is just a little slow in the head.

[Puddleglum]

Atheism is the only position that seems to, by popular notion, define itself in the negative.

Agnostics also define themselves in the negative