Re: Did you "Choose to Believe," or "Choose not to believe"?

On 13 mayo, 19:34, cazay...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 wrote:
> On May 13, 1:24 pm, SkyEyes <skyey...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>
>
>
> > On May 13, 11:04 am, cazay...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 wrote:
>
> > > On May 13, 12:30 pm, asilentskeptic <asilentskep...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
wrote:
>
> > > > ...I am not a "faith" person, and therefore require
> > > > something to be evidenced.
>
> > > > I am not an atheist because I chose to believe a god does not
exist. I
> > > > am an atheist because I chose to follow wherever the evidence led
(and
> > > > it did not point towards a god)
>
> > > Hello !
>
> > >   I'm new to the area.
> > >   The statement above says a lot.
> > >   You have a 'belief' and you 'chose to follow .. the evidence'.
>
> > >   You hint that you believe there is no god because there is no
solid
> > > proof of the existence of god.
> > >   This thinking I can understand.
> > >   How can you state a firm belief that there is no god, when there
is
> > > a lack of evidence of there not being a god?
> > >   It seems that the athiesm you practice involves faith.  You
believe
> > > even though there is no evidence for the belief.
>
> > >   I can understand an agnostic who states 'I don't know if there is
a
> > > god, because there is no evidence either way'.
> > >   Help me to understand atheism better in how it is not a faith
> > > itself.
>
> > "A-theism" simply means "without belief in gods."  That's known as
> > "weak atheism," and the vast majority of regulars on alt.atheism
> > probably fall into this category.  ("Strong atheism" is the positive
> > statement "I don't believe a god exists."  There are a few strong
> > atheists on a.a., and they have very good reasons for their positive
> > belief, but don't make the mistake of thinking that all of us are
> > strong atheists.  Most of us just lack the belief.) You can view it as
> > a kind of agnosticsm if you like, but that's not really right.
> > Agnosticism is a statement about knowledge, whereas atheism is the
> > condition of lacking belief in gods.  One can be both an agnostic
> > *and* an atheist, and I consider myself to be one of those people.
>
> > If some actual evidence that sup****ts the existence of a god (any god)
> > comes along, we'll be happy to consider it, and if the evidence stands
> > up to examination, I daresay many of us will become theists, it's that
> > simple.
>
> > What you want to know is because there's no *negative* evidence - hard
> > evidence that no god exists - why we don't believe that god *does*
> > exist?  And the reason is that you cannot "prove" a negative, and what
> > is the point in believing that something exists when its existence has
> > no sup****ting evidence?  Where does a person draw the line?  There's
> > also no evidence that vampires don't exist, or unicorns, or
> > leprechauns.  I daresay *you* don't believe in the existence of any of
> > these things, and we are the same way when it comes to god belief.
> > There simply is no reason to sustain a belief in any god, because
> > there's no evidence that one exists.  Want us to become believers?
> > Simple.  Provide evidence that a god exists.  We'll be delighted to
> > examine it for you.
>
> > Brenda Nelson, A.A.#34
> > EAC Professor of Feline Thermometrics and Cat-Herding
> > skyeyes nine at cox dot net
>
> This was a great explanation.  Thank you for that.
>
> I don't think I was asking you to believe in god since there is not
> evidence that he doesn't exist.
> I was only asking how someone could 'believe' there is no god, when
> there is no evidence to sup****t that there is no god.
>
> As logical as an athiest is in saying there is no proof of god, I
> would expect the same person to say there is no proof of the absence
> of god.
> I thought this would lead a logical person to agnosticism.
> (There's no proof or hard evidence either way)
>
> I understand from your explanation, though, that not all athiest are
> alike.
> Again, thank you for the response.
> Salut!
>
> michel

think that again.  If you tell me there is marble inside a box, I
would ask you the reasons to believe that.
You tell me something but is not satisfactory to me.   Then I ask you,
have seen the inside of the box?  And you tell me, no  I have not
looked inside.  Then I would ask you, how do you know there is a
marble inside?  Because it is written in this book.  In a book?  Yes,
it is holy book.  This marble has magic properties, and I am the
custodian of the marble that is inside the box.
Can I open the box to see there is inside any magic marble?
 No, you cannot open the box.  Nobody can open the box.
And what is the purpose of this marble?
This marble helps people in his worries, keep them to be healthy and
rich, etc.
Then can I ask a favor to the marble?  I want to bed a lady that is a
little tight.
No, you can't.  You are not a member of our church.
What I need to do to become a member?
You have to pay each month some money to our church, and I will teach
you the proper way to ask the marble any favors and wonders you need.
I will be pondering this.

Well, I have not any way to prove there is not any real magic marble
inside the box.  But if I am not too naif .
I can understand easily this marble story is nothing but a swindle.
leopoldo