On Thu, 11 Oct 2007 06:48:50 -0700, Midjis <midwinter_m@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
wrote:
>On 11 Oct, 01:32, Al Klein <ruk...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>
>> Or both. One has nothing to do with the other.
>
>Hmm. Hold that thought...
>
>
>> The answer to the question "Do you believe in any god" is either yes
>> or no. Unless the questionee doesn't understand his own thoughts.
>
>You missed out "I don't know"
You don't know your own thoughts? That would be the "unless".
> - which, though both atheist and
>believer may scoff at it for their own reason, is the answer you're
>likely to get from a lot of people. And, to my mind, it's a good,
>honest answer, too; and to suggest that it's because the person
>"doesn't understand his own thoughts" is to deny the credit that's due
>to those people who spend significant amounts of time thinking over
>and analysing the various arguments in an attempt to find their own
>resolution.
As long as you're trying to decide whether you believe in a god, you
don't believe in one. There's no "I don't know whether I believe in
one". There's "I refuse to admit that I {believe|don't believe}", but
that's just dishonesty.
>For myself, I can't see how one can be both atheist ('without a god')
>and agnostic ('not known'),
One is an atheist ('without belief') and agnostic ('unwilling to make
assertions for which one has no evidence'). MOST atheists (and
theists) are agnostic about most things.
>since atheism represents a specific
>position whereas agnosticism represents an unwillingness or inability
>(whether short- or long-term) to commit firmly one way or the other.
An unwillingness to make statements without evidence has nothing to do
with belief (which is antithetical to evidence). Atheism (and theism)
are orthogonal to agnosticism.
--
Al at Webdingers dot com
"A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy,
education and social
ties and needs; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a
poor way if he
had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after
death."
- Albert Einstein
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