Dear Atheists

[Jesster]

A Atheist is someone who Doesn't believe in Gods everyone else believes in, but he himself will believe in a god sometimes which might be better labeled as Agnostic Atheist.

Nope. Atheists disbelieve in gods. It doesn't matter which one you are talking about. If someone believes in any god at all, they are not an atheist. That includes both gnostic and agnostic atheists. The formal definition of "agnostic" (which is what I am) just means you don't assert knowledge about your beliefs or disbeliefs.

I'll let you define your own form of religion, but I'll also have to correct you when you're talking about the label attached to me. I just want to avoid the straw man that loves to show up here.

[ParagonLost]

So, how did you go about figuring out which parts were to be believed, and which parts are ok to disbelieve or ignore?

How are you sure the parts that you ignore or disbelieve, aren't important parts to believe?

What algorithm did you use, so I can use it too, to discern the important parts?


There certainly isn't any in the Bible itself.

I figured it out by having the moral standards of the 21'st century. Slavery is not okay back then or now. I also don't believe in circumcision, stoning, executions, , or the atonement of sins. That is. I don't believe it's moral For God to sacrifice his son for my sins and yours so we can all get to heaven. I say God and his son because I think they're separate beings but part of the God-head. Don't be fooled by the idiom, were just talking Christian theology. (You don't have to accept the language)

I think for the resurrection, eschatology is a important word and that i think means the end of violence in this world. It means God please help us, Lord fix the world. But how are Paul and Jesus stating that this world is going to get fixed? They do it in different languages. Jesus claims the kingdom of heaven is here. He is not saying that it is in the future or coming soon but that it's happening now and we are called to join or partake. Another word is Participatory Eschaton. I think Jesus learned God is not violent and he's not going to supernaturally change the world with the wave of his hand. But we have to join God and humans together and participate together to fix this mess. Paul is stating it differently by stating The Resurrection has begun.

The algorithm is in the writing itself. It's very complicated to understand the Bible because the Bible authors don't agree with each other. The writing and the context of that time period has to be understood to understand the Bible. Writing as you know takes place with metaphors, and idioms, similes, and figurative language in general.

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A Atheist is someone who Doesn't believe in Gods everyone else believes in, but he himself will believe in a god sometimes which might be better labeled as Agnostic Atheist.

Nope. Atheists disbelieve in gods. It doesn't matter which one you are talking about. If someone believes in any god at all, they are not an atheist. That includes both gnostic and agnostic atheists. The formal definition of "agnostic" (which is what I am) just means you don't assert knowledge about your beliefs or disbeliefs.

I'll let you define your own form of religion, but I'll also have to correct you when you're talking about the label attached to me. I just want to avoid the straw man that loves to show up here.

Hey Jesster, thanks for clearing that up. My friend was a Atheist (that's what he called himself) and he didn't disbelieve in God because he couldn't prove there certainly was no God but he was an atheist in the sense that he didn't practice believing in God like I do. I guess he was an Agnostic. I just think folks who don't believe lack awareness of God. Or an Atheist can be someone who has no faith in God. Faith means I commit my life to this vision of the world.

[Minimalist]

[Jesster]

Hey Jesster, thanks for clearing that up. My friend was a Atheist (that's what he called himself) and he didn't disbelieve in God because he couldn't prove there certainly was no God but he was an atheist in the sense that he didn't practice believing in God like I do. I guess he was an Agnostic. I just think folks who don't believe lack awareness of God. Or an Atheist can be someone who has no faith in God. Faith means I commit my life to this vision of the world.

Let me clear this up for you more then. You don't have to prove something wrong to not believe in it. You either believe something or you do not. There is no middle ground. If your friend did not disbelieve, then that means that he believes. That would make him theistic, even if he doesn't apply the belief in the same way that you do. That is unless he does not believe and also doesn't know, in which case he would be an agnostic atheist.

Atheism has nothing to do with gnostism or agnostism (at least in the sense of the formal definitions as I stated before). Those words apply to knowledge, while theism and atheism only regard belief.

[ParagonLost]

Hey Jesster, thanks for clearing that up. My friend was a Atheist (that's what he called himself) and he didn't disbelieve in God because he couldn't prove there certainly was no God but he was an atheist in the sense that he didn't practice believing in God like I do. I guess he was an Agnostic. I just think folks who don't believe lack awareness of God. Or an Atheist can be someone who has no faith in God. Faith means I commit my life to this vision of the world.

Let me clear this up for you more then. You don't have to prove something wrong to not believe in it. You either believe something or you do not. There is no middle ground. If your friend did not disbelieve, then that means that he believes. That would make him theistic, even if he doesn't apply the belief in the same way that you do. That is unless he does not believe and also doesn't know, in which case he would be an agnostic atheist.

Atheism has nothing to do with gnostism or agnostism (at least in the sense of the formal definitions as I stated before). Those words apply to knowledge, while theism and atheism only regard belief.

Thank you for that. Are you personally an Atheist or Agnostic? Please share.

[Jesster]

Let me clear this up for you more then. You don't have to prove something wrong to not believe in it. You either believe something or you do not. There is no middle ground. If your friend did not disbelieve, then that means that he believes. That would make him theistic, even if he doesn't apply the belief in the same way that you do. That is unless he does not believe and also doesn't know, in which case he would be an agnostic atheist.

Atheism has nothing to do with gnostism or agnostism (at least in the sense of the formal definitions as I stated before). Those words apply to knowledge, while theism and atheism only regard belief.

Thank you for that. Why are you personally an Agnostic?

As to why I am agnostic and an atheist, my answer is about the same for both. I've seen no reasonable evidence for any god claim. If anyone ever has something like that, I am open to changing my mind. So far nobody has had anything convincing for me. If a god does exist, I'm sure it could change my mind. Either it does not want to convince me or it is not there at all. The only reason I was a Christian before was because I was raised to be one by my parents.

[ParagonLost]

Thank you for that. Why are you personally an Agnostic?

As to why I am agnostic and an atheist, my answer is about the same for both. I've seen no reasonable evidence for any god claim. If anyone ever has something like that, I am open to changing my mind. So far nobody has had anything convincing for me. If a god does exist, I'm sure it could change my mind. Either it does not want to convince me or it is not there at all. The only reason I was a Christian before was because I was raised to be one by my parents.

Very interesting, thank you. I'm sure you were a christian at one point and I do not doubt it; unless you do, in so much as your parents raised you that way without your say. Have you ever experienced God in your life? What was that experience like when you were a Christian? How do you interpret it now?

Best Wishes-

[Jesster]

As to why I am agnostic and an atheist, my answer is about the same for both. I've seen no reasonable evidence for any god claim. If anyone ever has something like that, I am open to changing my mind. So far nobody has had anything convincing for me. If a god does exist, I'm sure it could change my mind. Either it does not want to convince me or it is not there at all. The only reason I was a Christian before was because I was raised to be one by my parents.

Very interesting, thank you. I'm sure you were a christian at one point and I do not doubt it; unless you do, in so much as your parents raised you that way without your say. Have you ever experienced God in your life? What was that experience like when you were a Christian? How do you interpret it now?

Best Wishes-

I don't believe in God now because I've never experienced one before. Obviously if a god decided to share some of that experience I would have to believe. I was just raised Christian by my parents and I actively practiced the beliefs I had at the time. I did believe back then, too. I just didn't demand the same level of evidence back then that I do now.

Right now I just think of it as any other mythological claim, such as Zeus or dragons. Sure, maybe something like that exists somewhere. Nothing I've experienced in my life makes them at all evident, though. Why would I go through the trouble of believing in any of them before evidence actually supports them? I also don't see the value in going through the trouble of trying to prove something like that wrong. Until they are proven right, they do not concern me.

[robvalue]

Hello there

My position on gods is very simple. I don't care. They can exist or not exist, makes no difference to me.

Can you tell me why I should care?

[Mister Agenda]

Welcome, ParagonLost. I hope you like it here and become a good contributor.