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Poll: Atheist, Deist, Theist?

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Re: Poll: Atheist, Deist, Theist?

#81

Post by TrevorJ »

bendotc wrote: post #80
TrevorJ wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe that God exists, I however also believe that his existence cannot be proven empirically, what category does that put me in?

I believe lots of theists believe in God without believing in the possibility of an empirical truth. I've certainly met Christian scientists (not to be confused with Christian Scientists) who fall into this category. It would be silly to call them agnostics. As another poster wrote, often times agnostics approach the question as one of knowledge , whereas most theists as well as "weak" atheists see it as a question o…

To put a finer point on it, I DO believe in absolute truth, I just believe that the existence of God cannot be proven scientifically.

Re: Poll: Atheist, Deist, Theist?

#82

Post by TrevorJ »

biohacker42 wrote: post #71
Herring wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So what happens when they don't see a black sheep?

As Dawkins puts it, if there were a teapot orbiting the sun, we'd have no way of detecting it. It is too small for our telescopes, so we have absolutely no evidence for a teapot orbiting the sun. You don't believe in that teapot, do you? That's silly. But Dawkins is a biologist, and I'm a computer scientist, I don't believe in the teapot, but I also don't KNOW it's not there. And that has nothing to do with shyness.

I'm a 3D animator for my day job, I definitely believe in the teapot, I saw it in the Cornell box so I know it exists. (apologies if this is way too much of an inside joke)

Re: Poll: Atheist, Deist, Theist?

#83

Post by olavk »

biohacker42 wrote: post #71
Herring wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So what happens when they don't see a black sheep?

As Dawkins puts it, if there were a teapot orbiting the sun, we'd have no way of detecting it. It is too small for our telescopes, so we have absolutely no evidence for a teapot orbiting the sun. You don't believe in that teapot, do you? That's silly. But Dawkins is a biologist, and I'm a computer scientist, I don't believe in the teapot, but I also don't KNOW it's not there. And that has nothing to do with shyness.

The shyness part is probably when people treat the question of belief in certain supernatural beeings as "special". Nobody is "agnostic" about their belief in the Tooth Fairy. They just plain don't believe in him (her?). Beeings from still living religions are treated differently since the issue is more sensitive.

Re: Poll: Atheist, Deist, Theist?

#84

Post by TrevorJ »

shawnyar217 wrote: post #76
lst wrote: post #58

I have a (simple) question to all atheists: If you didn't create yourself (and you didn't , otherwise you would know/remember/etc.), and (consequently) some other one did , how do you call it ?

I have a (simple) question to all THEISTS: If you believe god created you, what name do call that god by? Jesus? Allah? Yahweh? Buddha? Zeus? Theists, talk amongst yourself. If you ever settle on one name for god, then maybe we atheists will start taking you more seriously. Logically, if you didn't create yourself: 1) Maybe a god created you. 2) Maybe something else created you. 3) Maybe you weren't created at all. (…

By that logic, all theories would need to be proven down to the detailed fundamentals before deemed worthy of discussion. It's like saying you have to determine the make, model and age of a car in the parking lot before you are allowed to assert that (any) car may exist in the parking lot.

But, as I have said before, I agree with you in that I don't feel the real truth of the matter can be proven externally. I choose to believe in God, but I have no 'proof' scientifically speaking.

Re: Poll: Atheist, Deist, Theist?

#85

Post by lst »

shawnyar217 wrote: post #76
lst wrote: post #58

I have a (simple) question to all atheists: If you didn't create yourself (and you didn't , otherwise you would know/remember/etc.), and (consequently) some other one did , how do you call it ?

I have a (simple) question to all THEISTS: If you believe god created you, what name do call that god by? Jesus? Allah? Yahweh? Buddha? Zeus? Theists, talk amongst yourself. If you ever settle on one name for god, then maybe we atheists will start taking you more seriously. Logically, if you didn't create yourself: 1) Maybe a god created you. 2) Maybe something else created you. 3) Maybe you weren't created at all. (…

I can only speak for myself, and this is the way I see it (but this is already Faith):

"God" is defined this way: the only one not caused by anything else.

So, if God is the only one not caused by anything, but simply cause of Himself, nobody can reach God, if He doesn't allow to be reached.

So, the only possibility for us to know something about God is that He deliberately decided to communicate Himself to us.

From this premises, it's clear that there can only be one real Religion, and that all the other ones are simply negations of some parts of the real one...

Re: Poll: Atheist, Deist, Theist?

#86

Post by electromagnetic »

geuis wrote: post #52

Unless we're hacking gods, or the Large Hadron Collider poked one in the eye and there's a scientific study detailing the result, why in the hell is this even posted on HN. This place is turning into Digg before my eyes.

One thing I've noticed is that hackers seem to like statistics, and I poll on what language you use would do equally well. I know that personally I like collecting information even if it is completely irrelevant.

Re: Poll: Atheist, Deist, Theist?

#87

Post by olavk »

axod wrote: post #17

As the popular quote goes, Atheist and Theist are so alike.. only difference is the Atheist believes in one less god.

Some theists believe in more than one god.

I wonder if a polytheist in anciant Greece which believed in one less god (e.g. didn't belive in Cronos, but did believe in the rest of the pantheon) would be concidered an atheist by his contemporaries?

Re: Poll: Atheist, Deist, Theist?

#88

Post by tsally »

noodle wrote: post #2

so, to be clear, you noticed that pandora's box is closed and you figure it would be good to open it?

While intellectually I'm interested in the results of this poll, I agree with what was said above. It's simply better not to get into this type of stuff as ultimately it will detract from the value of this site. As such, I've flagged this and I encourage others to do the same.

Re: Poll: Atheist, Deist, Theist?

#89

Post by beardman »

biohacker42 wrote: post #22
mlLK wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As long as Pandora's Box comes in the form of a poll and defined carefully within some scope of intelligence, this case it's HN, then I say go ahead and open it; the people of the community are always the ones that make-up whatever it's contents are, which are always interesting nonetheless.

I'm sorry I have to disagree with the fundamental assumption of your argument. Polls like this one attract new people and change the community. Any one article will not profoundly change HN, but a steady stream will over time do just that. And then HN will not be interesting any more.

Damn straight. Convinced me to sign up.

Re: Poll: Atheist, Deist, Theist?

#90

Post by unalone »

astine wrote: post #18
mdasen wrote: post #5

Posters here tend to be a little more reserved. Reddit can be a bit like tabloid newspapers. G-d kills millions, Noah unavailable for comment! Atheist saves boy from well; Christians baffled. The discussion here just tends to be less absolute about things and considers more viewpoints. Nuanced thought is more highly regarded and rewarded (in terms of voting) and people who post with comments that one would never say…

There's been a bit of a reaction against the constant anti-religious bashing on Reddit lately and I don't think that it's any less secular than it used to be. I think people just eventually get tired of hearing the same arguments repeated over-and-over against, with less intelligence and less wit each time. I think that people here realize the problems that a religious debate can lead to, and so avoid them.

The problem appeared when the /atheism/ subreddit became one of the defaults. Some of the /atheists/ aren't in it for discussion, they're there for blind antireligion. When that turned mainstream it pissed a lot of people off.
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