Subject:
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Re: WMD, again...
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Mon, 21 Apr 2003 22:25:36 GMT
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Viewed:
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1782 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Dave Schuler writes:
> In lugnet.off-topic.debate, John Neal writes:
>
> > > Hey, I've said all along that if God appeared to me and made a convincing
> > > case, I'd believe that He exists.
> >
> > "convincing case" Do I detect a caveat?
>
> Not an intentional one. I just meant that any powerful being, like Bill
> Gates or Ashley Judd, could appear before me and make claims of divinity.
> But I'd need to see/experience convincing evidence (even if it's accessible
> only to me) before I could believe in the divinity of the petitioner.
>
> > > [1] Especially if He wiped away my student loans with a wave of His divine Hand.
> >
> > lol An example of a "convincing case"? So what if after having read this, I,
> > being a Christian man of substantial means (though sadly I am not; this is a
> > hypothetical), sent you a check for an amount greater than your student loans
> > because I believed God wanted it, would you then believe in the existence of
> > God? (the presumption being, as I believe, that God acts through His followers).
>
> In that case I'd probably be more kindly disposed to at least one
> Christian (thereafter referred to as my benefactor)!
A-ha! If *I* did send a windfall your way, no way would I take credit-- I'd
sign the card "from God, to Dave!" :-)
> > Aside from that and since we are on the subject of God, I have a question for
> > you if you care to answer-- What is the difference in reasoning between an
> > Atheist and a Deist? I am not able to come up with anything.
>
> I haven't done too much research on Deism, but my general sense is that
> Deists acknowledge (or believe in) a Creator/deific entity who hasn't really
> involved him/her/itself since the time of creation. Sort of like winding a
> clock and letting it run. This is compatible with certain theories of
> Intelligent Design, but not really with Christianity, for example.
> Atheists, in contrast, generally don't worship or believe in any
> god/creator/deity. There's a whole rainbow of different kinds of atheism
> ranging from strict materialists to solipsists to postmodern "It's all a
> matter of perspective"-types. The difference is that, for atheists, there's
> no belief in or worship of the god figure, even if such a figure is accepted
> to exist.
Whoa, you lost me. Are you saying that it is possible for an Atheist to accept
the existence of a God?
> Deism is, in daily life, very similar to atheism and can actually be a
> sort of bulwark for someone not comfortable with full-blown atheism (ie, "I
> want to believe in *something*") Many of the founding fathers were Deists,
> by the way.
>
> Does that provide a suitable answer?
Thank you. I suspected as much, that Atheism and Deism were similar. Neither
acknowledges that the existence of God is provable, yet a Deist believes anyway
(leap of faith). Now it seems to me that an Atheist also takes a leap of faith
of sorts by not believing in something that is by definition unprovable. That
is, whether one believes in God or not is a sort of toss up-- Deists seem to me
to be Atheists who accept the existence of God and not much else without any
justifiable reason other than, as you mentioned, personal comfort level.
I guess my question for you and other Atheists would be: why choose Atheism and
not Deism?
JOHN
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: WMD, again...
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| (...) Does He have to use stamps, or does he just create the card in my mailbox? (...) I think so (though not for me personally). I think the deal is that the atheist doesn't worship the god in question. Maybe this analogy would work: I believe in (...) (24 years ago, 22-Apr-03, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: WMD, again...
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| (...) Not an intentional one. I just meant that any powerful being, like Bill Gates or Ashley Judd, could appear before me and make claims of divinity. But I'd need to see/experience convincing evidence (even if it's accessible only to me) before I (...) (24 years ago, 21-Apr-03, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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