Comments on: Agnosticism vs. Atheism

By: Andy

Andy — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 20:25:01 +0000

Strong atheist here. I personally have more respect for devout Christians than I do for those who claim to be agnostic. The agnostic (under the definition of one who believes there is no god, but can’t be certain), is a person who possesses and understands the argument but is too weak (or possibly frightened) to commit wholely, or as stated above, “on the fence.”

How absurd. How can one not take this debate seriously enough to make up their minds? These are the type of folks that go into politics. Ewwwwwww.

By: candy

candy — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 12:30:43 +0000

great posts and arguments. my Spanish husband is a 100% atheist. i’ve clung to the term agnostic, i think mainly because i was raised in a family that basically told me since i was a baby–believe in jesus or die in hell. (yikes, that sounds so harsh!) silly, i know, because i don’t believe in god or allah or buddha or isis or any diety.

anyway, he (Spanish husband) introduced me to Richard Dawkins who has really enlightened me in so many ways. But I have to say, I like the interview he gave to Bill Maher when he said that he was not 100% atheist because, as a scientist, he could concede that anything could happen. (I saw this clip a while ago, so don’t pounce on me if I am quoting it slightly wrong, as i am pretty sure i got the gist of it).

i really think you guys have some interesting arguments here and am glad to see them.

by the way, my favorite phrase of my husband’s is “thank god i’m an atheist!” that just cracks me up!

By: darin

darin — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 22:09:36 +0000

Also, I forgot to say - Congratulations on your impending parenthood. It is definitely fun and never what you can imagine. Best wishes to you.

By: darin

darin — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 21:38:06 +0000

Oh no, of course it doesn’t weaken your position. That is not at all what I was trying to imply. I was just trying to point out the obvious irony of you making such a remark on the same page where you where denoucing God. I found it quite funny is all - thanks

By: Erik R.

Erik R. — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 21:04:38 +0000

Darin, is it so strange that an atheist might blaspheme? The concept of god is ingrained in our culture and language. Expressions from “goodbye” to “damn it!” to “oh my god!” (and it’s internet-oriented abbreviation, “OMG!”) are commonplace. I don’t think that using them weakens my position on the existence of a deity.

MHNATY, Darin.

By: darin

darin — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 20:59:08 +0000

Me and my short fingers — phrase

By: darin

darin — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 20:54:26 +0000

Erik:
Please explain to me what, in light of your claim to be an atheist, does the phase “OH MY GOD!” (posted on this very page by you) mean to you?

By: costarossa

costarossa — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 09:21:53 +0000

Having read all the comments, I’d never even dare to step out with a puny attempt at defending my positions which is agnosticism.

However, I have a comment to Adamus’ post, totally in style with my blondness. I found labelling to be quite convenient and even necessary sometimes. For example, for registering on a matchmaking site. Knowing the person’s religion or lack of it helped my decisions. I might have not asked someone directly about their religion on a first date in real life but on those sites, there it is, plain and clear. Now, not that I am prejudiced or mind having friends of any confession, but I wouldn’t want family arguments about baptizing children in the future.

By: Adamus

Adamus — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 08:14:33 +0000

What a load of bullocks here in the comments. “Atheists are really agnostics.” “Atheism is also faith.” “Atheists don’t know what they are.” “Atheism is as fundamentalist as religion.” “Atheists want to redefine atheism because they don’t like it.”

Armchair philosophers abound here.

The core of the matter is that we like to label things. We want people to fit into neat little boxes, and if they don’t then we get all silly-willy and invent new boxes just so we can put a label on it and make everything in the world right again.

Call me whatever you want. I do not believe that God exists. Atheist, agnostic, fundamentalist, stick your labels on me and pretend you understand. You don’t.

If you did, you’d be standing here right next to me.

By: kevin

kevin — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 05:06:53 +0000

0.999 != 0.999…

the right side is equal to 1, on the left its 0.999

there really is a difference between thinking something is impossible and thinking something is impossible to understand.

i enjoyed your second part,
but when you say “The null hypothesis states that any extraordinary claim must be assumed to be false and the burden of proof is on the claimant”

the notion of “extraordinary claim[s]” is exactly what the scientific method tries to avoid. what determines a point of view is on the extra-ordinary side and which is ordinary??
That’s NOT how you use the null hypothesis at all

in conclusion i disagree with most of what you said but it was interesting

you’ll probably never end up reading this tho. lol oh well.