Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by a7 on January 22, 2010 at 10:17pm

LOL,

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Permalink Reply by a7 on January 22, 2010 at 10:51pm

did my links work for you, i seem to be a havving a probloemk viewing them.

take care paddy.hehe

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Permalink Reply by Fox Mulder on January 27, 2010 at 3:30pm

When you say 'passive atheist' what exactly do you mean? Do you mean one that doesnt constantly speak out against religion?

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Permalink Reply by a7 on January 27, 2010 at 6:39pm

well I will be perfectly honest here, I cant remember what I was actually thinking when i wrote that but I would take a guess that you are right.

to change the world we need to move the atheist movement forward.

Be loud and proud, get right in their faces, we have them on the run.


tora tora tora

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Permalink Reply by Kirk Holden on January 27, 2010 at 4:19pm

your passive atheists link is fubar, pls correct as I am on the edge of my seat...

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Permalink Reply by a7 on January 27, 2010 at 6:36pm

sorry about that, i was very unwell, i cant rememeber what picture I linked for that.

fubar, great word. i will use this soon.

take care

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Permalink Reply by Kris Feenstra on January 30, 2010 at 10:02pm

What about the innumerable agnostics that aren't sitting on the fence? Are they cool?

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Permalink Reply by a7 on January 31, 2010 at 6:05pm

Agnostics that dont sit on the fence ? thats news to me.


keep it loud and proud man


take care

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Permalink Reply by Kris Feenstra on February 1, 2010 at 1:20pm

Sure. Many agnostics are staunch atheists. Really, I'd say that atheism and agnosticism are the best compliment, though that's not to say I haven't known a few interesting agnostics with deep theistic beliefs as well.

Regardless of theistic belief (or lack thereof), I wonder how anyone that extols the virtues of scientific reasoning could be anything other than agnostic or ignostic. That said, I'm not sure how anyone that concerns themselves with science in any depth could maintain their theism, in any conventional sense of the word, with any intellectual honesty.

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Permalink Reply by Reggie on February 1, 2010 at 1:30pm

In the strictest sense of the words, most atheists are agnostics. It seems redundant to use both, to me. In a more popular sense, people I know use agnosticism to describe their belief that something could be out there, some force or cosmic spirit, they just don't know for sure what it is. I know that it is a perversion of the true meaning, but to avoid long explanations and confusion over connotational shortcomings, I prefer to simply use atheism as the correct term for my position. I think this is where A7 is coming from, as well.

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Permalink Reply by Kris Feenstra on February 1, 2010 at 1:59pm

How is it redundant? The terms describe two separate ideas. If you water them down, don't you just lose the ability to be concise? If they are truly redundant, then doesn't gnostic atheist become a contradiction in terms?

I suppose my real problem with it is that the repurposing of agnostic doesn't provide anything useful. There are numerous other words that could be used in place without confusion. If one wants the meaning of 'undecided', isn't it more clear just to say 'undecided' in place of 'agnostic'?

Philosophical concepts are often already difficult to articulate with clarity. I don't see how obscuring word meaning makes this any easier.

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Permalink Reply by Shine on February 1, 2010 at 4:34pm

I suppose my real problem with it is that the repurposing of agnostic doesn't provide anything useful. There are numerous other words that could be used in place without confusion. If one wants the meaning of 'undecided', isn't it more clear just to say 'undecided' in place of 'agnostic'?

I completely agree with you, but most people seem to think that "agnostic" makes them sound cooler than "undecided." Or perhaps these people are frightened by the misconception of "atheism" as a staunch declaration that there is definitively no god. It all stems from a fundamental misunderstanding of the difference between knowledge and belief.

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