Six Questions to Ask An Atheist

last SG · 2012-04-05T16:15:24+00:00

This is a very entertaining and logically sound read- unlike our Thread Starter. Introductory note: Russell delivered this lecture on March 6, 1927 to the Na...

BroInChrist SG

So please stop saying atheism "meets every criteria to be a religion". You are just copying what fundamentalist websites say.

It doesnt.

The essence of religion is to believe in gods and deities.

Atheism isnt

Stop saying lack of doing sports is football.

I refer you to Ninian Smart's contribution. BTW, I think it is wrong in the first place to compare atheism with not playing football.

Tcmc SG

to tcmc,

lets see wad aneslayer replies...

despondent,

if today i tell you i saw a man with wings walking on water and flying around, would you believe me if i show you a book with writings on it?

Or would you want more credible evidence like eye witnesses, photographs, the credibility of the eyewitnesses?

Moreover, your bible talks about talking animals, man in a fish, flying men, unicorn and dragons.

Of cos we would want more evidence, not jus a book

despondent SG

i would take a stand that its possible he exists...i wouldnt say he dun exists...juz cos i havent seen him doesnt mean he dun exists...but atheists are taking the stand tat cos there r insufficient credible evidence hence God dun exists...

Tcmc SG

Sure then you can also believe in talking animals, tweety bird, superman and anything if you can belieeve ANYTHING!

despondent SG

i would say i dun affirm or advocate the beliefs BUT i dun deny their possible existence cos i cun prove tat the ppl/sources that claim their existence are lying...

Tcmc SG

i would say i dun affirm or advocate the beliefs BUT i dun deny their possible existence cos i cun prove tat the ppl/sources that claim their existence are lying...

No i never say they are lying. I jus say they could probably very seriously deluded.

despondent SG

which is why i nvr doubted the existence of Buddha, Shiva, Allah and other deities/gods...cos i have not been in this world long enuff and am not all-knowing enuff to noe they indeed dun exist...ppl of those religions have experienced their gods and who am i to doubt their personal experiences? is my lack of personal experiences in their gods a gd enuff evidence to prove they are deluded or lying? i certainly dun tink so...

BroInChrist SG

In the court, they dont go around proving if absent evidence is present?

No they don't. But neither do they say you are absolutely not the murderer. The courts only say they do not have evidence to convict you of murder. That doesn't mean you did not commit the murder.

Tcmc SG

depsondent,

then you are not a christian. Christians are supposed to believe that every other god is false,and that only Jesus is the true god.

Jacky Woo SG

who said Buddha is a god.

Buddha was not a god, never claimed to be a god, and did not call himself a god. He lived his life like a nor mall human He was awake and a human just like you and me, he bled, got sick and he he died of food poisoning. A god would not die from food poisoning.
--- Yes Buddha never claimed himself as a god, but he was a great teacher..., he is a human yet not an ordinary human, he reached the enlightenment, a maximum knowledge.. has neutral condition of anything around... he understood more than us could expected , the only way you can reached by practice meditation...
if you ever meet dhamma (buddha's teaching), then you have found a priceless, extraordinary diamond... , you can find out by yourself, why buddha is so special ... whatever your belief, you still can accept dhamma, because dhamma is truth .. valuable life knowledge... with loving based teaching, if you don't like it then you can leave it immediately..
~When asked if he were a God, Buddha said No. "Then, teacher, what are you?" to which he replied... "Awake!"
So the Buddha is not a God He is a teacher of all the things he learnt in his life.
But one more thing a normall human would just die as we know but when the Buddha died he met his enlightenment.
No, Buddha is not a God. Buddha was a man named Siddharta Gautama, who was the first person to receive enlightenment, or nirvana...

Aneslayer SG

@ BIC, you have been mislead to believe that coneys are ruminants or practise refection. Its is a fact that coneys/ badgers are not BY evidence of absence.

@Tcmc and despo,

A claim will need evidence to be held true. Not all situations can have evidence of absence or just ridiculous to demand when its not feasible, approaching appeal to ignorance. Tcmc understood me better... I feel warm inside :)

BroInChrist SG

For what we currently know and with the lack of evidence currently, yes it's true. It might not be true in future, (maybe evidence might surface for gods in future) but it is true for now.

You have a warped notion of truth. What is true now cannot be false tomorrow. If you claim lack of evidence, then you can only say that there is insufficient evidence to believe in the existence of God. You cannot say that there is no God.

despondent SG

tcmc,

this i have clarified wif pastors and christians. on their behalf, i apologise for using the word ''false'' which led to the misunderstanding...u must understand tat to christians, God is defined as the Creator along wif other things...so based on tat definition and believing that theres is only One creator which is the christian God, any other gods will be deemed as ''false''...false in the sense tat these gods are not the creator...

i modified the qn further by asking...wad if i define God as simply meaning higher being, would they still say all other gods are false and guess wad? the answer is no!!! as usual, u can choose to say i am lying or choose to doubt tat i am telling the truth since i cun provide evidence tat i have done my clarification...but this sth i noe i have done personally and the answer i got was satisfactory...

Tcmc SG

who said Buddha is a god.

Jacky,

THink no one said hes god here.

We are just saying buddhism has supernatural elements in it, like gods, spirits , depending on the sect and denomination.

So it qualifies to be a religion.

despondent SG

to aneslayer...

gd tat tcmc understood u better...lets hope he is enlightened by u...

despondent SG

if we define god as higher being, then buddha qualifies for it...

Tcmc SG

BIC

Fact is some truths change everyday. Even christian morals and christian truths change over time. (cremation, rock music etc)

Waht is true today might not be tomorrow.

Same for the evidence for gods. Today and for years to come, there will be no evidence to provr gods, but in future, who knows.

Now its true.

Tcmc SG

if we define god as higher being, then buddha qualifies for it...

despondent,

your way of thinking is way to simplistic for buddhism. Higher being means god? Cant he be a saint, a demi god or just a prophet?

despondent SG

tcmc,

some ppl define god as higher being...i am juz echoing their definition...tat is definitely not my definition...if anything these ppl are the simple-minded ones...

BroInChrist SG

@ BIC, you have been mislead to believe that coneys are ruminants or practise refection. Its is a fact that coneys/ badgers are not BY evidence of absence.

@Tcmc and despo,

You really missed the point about the use of the language of appearance, and merely trying to impose a modern restrictive meaning onto the text. In short, you just disregard the answer. Nothing in the website says that coneys or rabbits are ruminants. It only says that the term "chewing the cud" has been used on rabbits because that's what they would seem to do when observed by the Hebrew folks.

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