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RE: Where do you stand on the existence of God?
November 24, 2015 at 12:08 pm
(November 24, 2015 at 11:54 am)Clueless Morgan Wrote: I'm in between "I believe there is no God, but there is a possibility I could be wrong." and "I really don't know if there is a God or not, but since I have not yet seen any evidence, I live my life as though there isn't." and answered the poll question choosing the latter.
I have seen no compelling evidence for a god's existence, I've heard no compelling arguments for the existence of a god or gods, I have provisionally concluded that there most likely is no god or gods but I'm not so dead-set on this conclusion that I would refuse to change my mind.
In Dawkins Scale language I would be a solid 6.
![[Image: dawkins-scale.png]](https://images.weserv.nl/?url=wp.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblogs%2Funreasonablefaith%2Ffiles%2F2012%2F10%2Fdawkins-scale.png)
Interesting scale. I'd say 6 is more like the second option up top, but I guess it depends on how you look at it. Thanks for answering, my love. 
"Of course, everyone will claim they respect someone who tries to speak the truth, but in reality, this is a rare quality. Most respect those who speak truths they agree with, and their respect for the speaking only extends as far as their realm of personal agreement. It is less common, almost to the point of becoming a saintly virtue, that someone truly respects and loves the truth seeker, even when their conclusions differ wildly."
-walsh
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RE: Where do you stand on the existence of God?
November 24, 2015 at 12:08 pm
(November 24, 2015 at 11:40 am)Catholic_Lady Wrote: Hello heathens. Which option most accurately applies to your views?
(Basically it goes from most certain there is no God, to least certain. I am curious to see the answers!)
I'm curious about your certainty level then, Cathy. Where do you stand in terms of how certain you are that your god exists? (Either by your own scale (flipped to the theistic position) or on the Dawkins Scale)
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RE: Where do you stand on the existence of God?
November 24, 2015 at 12:08 pm
I don't know what it is, so I'm none of them.
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RE: Where do you stand on the existence of God?
November 24, 2015 at 12:17 pm
(November 24, 2015 at 12:08 pm)Clueless Morgan Wrote: (November 24, 2015 at 11:40 am)Catholic_Lady Wrote: Hello heathens. Which option most accurately applies to your views?
(Basically it goes from most certain there is no God, to least certain. I am curious to see the answers!)
I'm curious about your certainty level then, Cathy. Where do you stand in terms of how certain you are that your god exists? (Either by your own scale (flipped to the theistic position) or on the Dawkins Scale)
At this point in my life I feel certain that God is real. But I have had doubts before.
"Of course, everyone will claim they respect someone who tries to speak the truth, but in reality, this is a rare quality. Most respect those who speak truths they agree with, and their respect for the speaking only extends as far as their realm of personal agreement. It is less common, almost to the point of becoming a saintly virtue, that someone truly respects and loves the truth seeker, even when their conclusions differ wildly."
-walsh
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RE: Where do you stand on the existence of God?
November 24, 2015 at 12:18 pm
What was Dawkins himself? Does anyone know?
"Of course, everyone will claim they respect someone who tries to speak the truth, but in reality, this is a rare quality. Most respect those who speak truths they agree with, and their respect for the speaking only extends as far as their realm of personal agreement. It is less common, almost to the point of becoming a saintly virtue, that someone truly respects and loves the truth seeker, even when their conclusions differ wildly."
-walsh
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RE: Where do you stand on the existence of God?
November 24, 2015 at 12:24 pm
Pretty sure he was the scale maker.
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RE: Where do you stand on the existence of God?
November 24, 2015 at 12:24 pm
See .. I can be helpful.
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RE: Where do you stand on the existence of God?
November 24, 2015 at 12:28 pm
(November 24, 2015 at 12:08 pm)Catholic_Lady Wrote: Interesting scale. I'd say 6 is more like the second option up top, but I guess it depends on how you look at it. Thanks for answering, my love.
I t does depend on how you look at it. Your scale, IMO, spans the 4 to 7 range on the Dawkins Scale with the middle three options spanning some interpretation of the criteria for a 5 and a 6. This is sort of how I see your scale mapping (the number is the Dawkins Scale number):
Quote:(7) There is no God, and I am certain of this.
(High 6) I firmly believe there is no God, but there is a teeny tiny possibility I could be wrong.
(Low 6) I believe there is no God, but there is a possibility I could be wrong.
(5 or 6 depending on interpretation) I really don't know if there is a God or not, but since I have not yet seen any evidence, I live my life as though there isn't.*
(4) I have no idea one way or the other, and am always weighing both possibilities in my head.
I say I'm a solid six because I'm not inclined to be skeptical, I've extremely skeptical given the long history of god-claims being debunked, so to speak. Every time in history to date that a theistic claim has come under serious scientific scrutiny it has either been conclusively shown that the claim has a natural cause (lightening instead of god's wrath, mental illness instead of demons, germ theory of disease instead of curses, etc.) or no cause has yet been found, so to claim god as the cause of that phenomenon is an argument from ignorance. At the same time I cannot call myself a 7 because that's philosophically and evidentially unjustifiable (as unjustifiable to me as a theist claiming to be a 1), so I'm a 6. (Depending on the day and how crotchety I'm feeling, I could be a 6.9, a 6.5 or even a 5.5)
Until the trend of finding natural explanations for things claimed as the will or act of a god suddenly begins to reverse, then I kind of don't have a choice in the matter.
(November 24, 2015 at 12:17 pm)Catholic_Lady Wrote: At this point in my life I feel certain that God is real. But I have had doubts before.
So in Dawkins Scale speak you'd be a 1 or 2? Or maybe a 1.0000000001
Quote:But I have had doubts before.
Why did you doubt? Did you just feel less certain or was there a formal, argumentative reason (for instance, Problem of Evil)?
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RE: Where do you stand on the existence of God?
November 24, 2015 at 12:30 pm
(November 24, 2015 at 12:18 pm)Catholic_Lady Wrote: What was Dawkins himself? Does anyone know?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectrum_o...robability
Quote: In print, Dawkins self-identified as a '6', though when interviewed by Bill Maher[3] and later by Anthony Kenny,[4] he suggested '6.9' to be more accurate.
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RE: Where do you stand on the existence of God?
November 24, 2015 at 12:31 pm
On a more serious note, I'm quite sure that gods do exist - in cultures spread out almost everywhere. But they aren't literal thingies 'out there'. They are the creations of the human mind .. just as are the characters we take ourselves to be. We didn't put our selves together deliberately and we didn't do it on a whim. But our minds did it just as our organisms knew how to put our bodies together in the womb. Now my mind has withdrawn the god-creation .. at least from the notice of its me-creation. As far as I know, it doesn't seem to exist any more. But what do I know? My mind is a big and ancient place, a mansion with many rooms.
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