Subject:
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Re: The God Game!
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Tue, 25 Apr 2006 16:47:28 GMT
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Viewed:
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1801 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Timothy Gould wrote:
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I don’t want to start a whole big thing here, but I’d take issue with that
statement as being too broad and non-specific.
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Would you also argue that the statement “people who believe in God must make
a leap of faith” is too broad and non-specific?
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No, that sounds right on the money to me. Here are the statements that we need
to consider:
A. I believe that God exists.
B. I do not believe that God does not exist.
C. I believe that God does not exist
D. I do not believe that God exists.
A and C are statements of positive belief; that is, each statement is a
declaration that speaker has a belief (ie., the belief itself exists).
B and D are statements of negative belief; that is, each is a declaration that
the speaker does not have a belief (ie., that the belief itself does not exist).
A is broadly similar to B, and C is broadly similar to D, but they are, at their
root, four distinct statments.
Incidentally, I know of no one who would assert B without also asserting A, and
I include B only for the argument.
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I would have to say that you are either an agnostic or you have made a leap
of faith. It is my opinion that an atheist believes God does not exist and
that is how I define the word. I suspect that you subscribe to the broader
definition of atheism (that which includes agnosticism) and under your
definition my statement is too broad.
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I distinguish my view from agnosticism because agnosticism (in my understanding)
declares that man fundamentally can’t know whether or not God exists. In
contrast, I argue only that the available evidence does not support the
conclusion that God exists, though it certainly seems to me that God could let
us know whether exists or not. Since, in my view, we could (in theory) know
whether or not God exists, I don’t think that my view is agnostic.
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So, to change your sentence to one that covers both our positions (italics my
changes)
“One school of though of the definition of atheism--the belief that God
does not exist--may require a leap of faith, but that’s not the only choice
of definition. I, for example, do not believe that God exists, and a lack
of belief requires no faith at all which I consider to be a form of atheism
although some may call it agnosticism and not atheism.”
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I can accept that formulation.
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This has been discussed here previously, of course, and I’d be happy to
point you to an earlier articulation of my view if you’d care to read it.
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Here it is, from quite a
while ago. And that pesky Dave Koudys was involved with it way back then, too!
Dave!
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: The God Game!
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| (...) Would you also argue that the statement "people who believe in God must make a leap of faith" is too broad and non-specific? (...) I would have to say that you are either an agnostic or you have made a leap of faith. It is my opinion that an (...) (19 years ago, 25-Apr-06, to lugnet.off-topic.debate, FTX)
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