Sticky for theists.
February 15, 2011 at 6:25 pm
(This post was last modified: February 15, 2011 at 6:29 pm by Oldandeasilyconfused.)
Below is a sticky to which theist members especially on another forum are referred. What do you think? Apologies if I've posted this before. I don't remember doing so.
Quote: WOLTY'S LIST
1. Understand what an atheist is.
This is important.
* Atheism is not a religion, we do not share a common creed, and we do not acknowledge any of your "holy" books or people as credible.
* Atheists are simply people who accept that there is no credible scientific or factually reliable evidence for the existence of a god, gods or the supernatural.
2. Burden of proof lies with you.
* If you make a claim, that claim should have a basis, and we're asking you to show that basis.
* If you have a peer-reviewed academic paper, other publication, or article which supports your claim, please show us your proof.
3. Questioning your belief is not a personal attack.
* We are interested. Of course we disagree, since we are atheists, and we will question why you believe this or that thing, in order to better understand your motivation and thought process.
* If an idea appears to be stupid in our view, it doesn't necessarily reflect on you.
4. Circular reasoning means Wolty gets annoyed.
* He's not the only one.
* Of course the holy books and holy book commentaries of your faith are going to support your ideas. But "the bible says god is real, and god wrote the bible, so the bible must be right" is a circular argument.
* We're not going anywhere if you cannot find some starting point all parties agree on, at least to some extent.
5. Read your bible.
* We have ex-christians and a few ex-clergy, as well as a few historians and theologians here. If you cite something, you must be sure of what you're citing.
6. Don't pick and choose from the bible. It is all or nothing.
* If you're going all Leviticus on our gay friends, then be prepared to avoid shellfish, and accept that the same bible tells you to keep your kidddies ready for eating.
* Verses out of context, and convoluted interpretations, do not convince anybody.
7. Remember, it is your interpretation, which means not a lot.
* Speaking of those interpretations... a respectable published source agreeing with you would help.
8. Answer questions.
* Preach-only devices don't get censored. What they get is turned off. This is a forum, not your pulpit: please learn the difference, as it appears so cruel of us if we have to demonstrate the difference.
* We don't like boredom, if you don't respond to questions, particularly repeated ones, or resist any sort of meaningful dialogue we will assume you don't really want to be here. You aren't expected to have answers to everything but we do expect some sort of response, particularly if the question is itself prompted by something you have said.
* Avoidance is futile.
9. Understand, the bible does not prove god.
* The bible doesn't prove the existence of god, is not always congruent with actual history, and has changed over time.
* Use it to illustrate a point, but it would be better if you used something more reliable for key points.
10. Understand that science does not equal atheism and vice versa.
* There were atheists before the idea of gods, and certainly before there was science.
* Attacking science does not weaken atheism: it merely sets you up for a devastating rebuttal.
11. Learn the concepts of evolution: it isn't difficult.
* (If you really don't want to annoy people, learn what the scientific definition of a "theory" is, too.)
* The Darwin/evolution thing? No, not essential to atheism.
* Richard Dawkins is merely a very clever man: some of us have never read his books, and he is certainly not a "high priest" or leader of ours... remember, we are NOT a united creed.
12. Understand we are not just picking on your religion, we are picking on all of them.
* When it comes to superstitions, each of us is an equal-opportunity destroyer.
13. Don't go all "free speech" on us. You are our guest.
* Our forum does not equal your pulpit.
* You are here with the purpose of conversing with atheists. To do this properly, you need to be able to communicate.
* This list was made to help you talk to us: if you're seeing it as an obstacle, it's possible you're not actually here to communicate, but for another reason, like pride, or leaving a mark on the wall of atheism.
* You will not be censored except for illegal images or hate promotion. You may be taken off the soap box and asked to leave: that is not censorship, any more than ejecting a troublesome interjector from any meeting is censorship.
14. (Croc's Codicil) Post evidence, not excrement
* When posting evidence in the form of articles or citations, be sure you understand, and can fully explain, everything that you post.
* If you cannot understand the origins of your evidence, or have a single doubt that your evidence will impede your case rather than improve it, do not post it.
* Longer is not always better
* Use big words only if you fully understand what they mean. Big words can be deceiving.
