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Is Unbelief Possible?
March 20, 2014 at 6:50 pm
(Just to preface my question, I'm a Christian, but I don't force my beliefs on anyone. I think that people have a right to believe whatever they want, and no religion or perspective should ever be forced on anyone. That said, healthy and honest discussion is what I hope to spark here in my post).
To me, belief seems to be unavoidable. If you stand for it, and will take it to your grave, you are putting belief into it. It doesn't matter what you believe, at all. Because no matter what, the end is death. The end is the same for everyone, and its high risk to believe in anything, something or nothing, or to not even be sure. It's all risk. I guess my question is, is it possible to get rid of belief, and if so, is it ultimately a desireable option?
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RE: Is Unbelief Possible?
March 20, 2014 at 6:52 pm
You're addressing a bunch of atheists. Atheism is by definition unbelief. What answer do you think you will get?
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RE: Is Unbelief Possible?
March 20, 2014 at 6:53 pm
I'm not sure what you mean by "get rid of belief." Our beliefs can change; they probably do all the time as we learn more about whatever it is we express a belief in. I only desire to 'get rid of' beliefs that are not true, and come to believe things that are. But we're not really the most rational of creatures thanks to a brain that remains in a state better suited to whatever it was we were doing before we ditched hunter-gatherer societies for farming and city-building.
"Well, evolution is a theory. It is also a fact. And facts and theories are different things, not rungs in a hierarchy of increasing certainty. Facts are the world's data. Theories are structures of ideas that explain and interpret facts. Facts don't go away when scientists debate rival theories to explain them. Einstein's theory of gravitation replaced Newton's in this century, but apples didn't suspend themselves in midair, pending the outcome. And humans evolved from ape- like ancestors whether they did so by Darwin's proposed mechanism or by some other yet to be discovered."
-Stephen Jay Gould
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RE: Is Unbelief Possible?
March 20, 2014 at 6:54 pm
(This post was last modified: March 20, 2014 at 6:55 pm by Bob Kelso.)
Belief pertaining to a god? Of course it's avoidable.
Or perhaps you meant something else.
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(September 17, 2015 at 4:04 pm)Parkers Tan Wrote: I make change in the coin tendered. If you want courteous treatment, behave courteously. Preaching at me and calling me immoral is not courteous behavior.
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RE: Is Unbelief Possible?
March 20, 2014 at 6:56 pm
I'm not sure I undertand the question. What do you mean "get rid of" belief?
You can certainly challenge beliefs.
Even if the open windows of science at first make us shiver after the cozy indoor warmth of traditional humanizing myths, in the end the fresh air brings vigor, and the great spaces have a splendor of their own - Bertrand Russell
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RE: Is Unbelief Possible?
March 20, 2014 at 6:59 pm
I've personally known believers, including one extremely rabid YEC literalist, who went on to become atheists. So clearly it's possible to get rid of belief. People do it all the time; all it takes is more and better information.
As for being desirable, I would prefer to see the world as it truly is and only entertain envisioning the world as I wish it to be in my private fantasies.
At the age of five, Skagra decided emphatically that God did not exist. This revelation tends to make most people in the universe who have it react in one of two ways - with relief or with despair. Only Skagra responded to it by thinking, 'Wait a second. That means there's a situation vacant.'
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RE: Is Unbelief Possible?
March 20, 2014 at 7:02 pm
I guess I didn't communicate my thoughts properly. Thanks for your patience!
What I'm getting at is this: From what I've been told from religious people (which is why I'm not asking them this question) Atheism "believe" there is no God. But that this is still some form of belief even if it is a lack of belief, or a disbelief that god is real because you're putting trust into what you know to be true. Does that make better sense?
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RE: Is Unbelief Possible?
March 20, 2014 at 7:03 pm
Sounds like a slimy back door version of Pascal's Wager.
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RE: Is Unbelief Possible?
March 20, 2014 at 7:03 pm
Hez, everybody believes something.
If they didn't they would never get out of bed.
