Why atheism cannot escape absolute truth

[Whateverist]

Truth is a characteristic of language which presumes there is an actual state of affairs for language to get right.  That is all truth is.  From considerations of the nature of truth it is possible to conclude .. absolutely nothing about the way things actually stand.

[Delicate]

A bunch of people have asked different variations of the same question: What is absolute truth?

I take absolute truth to be a synonym for objective truth. That is, truth that is discovered, not created. This is opposed to relativism, which is roughly the view that the truth of a claim is relative, subject to features (usually beliefs, preferences, values, etc) of individuals or groups.

[Homeless Nutter]

A bunch of people have asked different variations of the same question: What is absolute truth?

I take absolute truth to be a synonym for objective truth. That is, truth that is discovered, not created. [...]

Oh, so you mean - like evolution, which has been discovered, as opposed to creation myths, which have been made up out of whole cloth?
 So basically "absolute truth" is "truth". Why not just call it that, then?

[The Valkyrie]

I escaped absolute truth.

I tunnelled under the walls, hiding the dirt frim the tunnel in my trouers. (started looking bloody fat, too, until I worked out I could hide the dirt in the courtyard).

Then I dressed as an absolute guard in a uniform I stitched together from blankets, sacks, and uniforms I stole ftom the guards.

I hitched my way to a town where, with forged papers made if chewing gum rappers and red cross packages and slipped unnoticed aboard a train.

Then I stole a motorbike and escaped over the Swiss border.

Those who escaped with me were all recaptured and brainwashed into thinking there was really an absolute truth.

[Foxaèr]

A bunch of people have asked different variations of the same question: What is absolute truth?

I take absolute truth to be a synonym for objective truth. That is, truth that is discovered, not created.

Stating that god is the truth means that the truth has not be discovered, at least according to your definition of truth.

God has always been the easy answer, but never the truth.

You are correct in stating that the truth must be discovered, but creating a temporary answer along the way does no one any good in finding the truth.

[Losty]

In a different thread, an atheist indicated that absolute truth is a difficult view to give up. He's right. 

But it's worse than that: It's impossible to give up absolute truth.

The reason is, in any conceivable universe, operating under any given specification of natural laws, if we reject absolute truth, we reject the ability to say anything meaningful about these possible universes. The very claim "In universe1 there are no absolute truths" is either true or false, and absolutely so. Once you jettison absolute truth, your statements about this possible universe become meaningless.

But the problem goes further than that. If you simply want to reject absolute truths in our world, you demolish the foundations of reason and science, which are irreparably dependent on absolute truth.

Hitting closer to home, the claim "There are no absolute truths" held as a claim cannot be rationally affirmed or denied if it is true. 

Thus, atheists cannot escape absolute truths, on any level.

[Darkstar]

That is, truth that is discovered, not created. This is opposed to relativism, which is roughly the view that the truth of a claim is relative, subject to features (usually beliefs, preferences, values, etc) of individuals or groups.

Is "1 + 1 = 2" absolutely true? No one discovered 1, nor did they discover + or =. This statement would be unintelligible to someone using a different system of mathematics. If you define 'absolute' truth simply as this which is, by definition, true, then of course it exists. But that doesn't really mean anything significant. Perhaps by that what you are really asking is "does objective reality exist" to which I would answer that it probably does. But that isn't the most direct way of wording the question, and referring to absolute truth is usually trying to get at something beyond merely acknowledging that reality exists.

[Jackalope]

Personally, I've never taken the views that absolute truths don't exist, as far as I can remember.

However, I do think the OP has about as much grasp of the nature of those truths as anyone else does - which is to say not very much at all.

I'm not really sure what the point of the OP was, other than strawmanning what atheists believe. Good job?

[robvalue]

[Fidel_Castronaut]

The reason is, in any conceivable universe, operating under any given specification of natural laws, if we reject absolute truth, we reject the ability to say anything meaningful about these possible universes.

No 'we' don't.

A bunch of people have asked different variations of the same question: What is absolute truth?

I take absolute truth to be a synonym for objective truth. That is, truth that is discovered, not created. This is opposed to relativism, which is roughly the view that the truth of a claim is relative, subject to features (usually beliefs, preferences, values, etc) of individuals or groups.

That's a description of what you 'think' it is, not what it is.

Tell us what it is.