Originally posted by: tom.

theism is the lack of a belief that there is no god.
lol, world views.

Youre way off on this one.

Theist believe there is a god (or multiple gods). Christians are theists.

oh, he knows full well what he said. he's trying to go one step further from the statement about atheism that it is the lack of a belief in a god or gods rather than a belief in no gods.

the problem is that it doesn't work in reverse, and is actually unacceptable to virtually any flavor of christian theology, and therefore worse for his belief than my lack of it.

you getting all this tom?


they are sticking it to ya

Originally posted by: ricardo negromás

lol

Originally posted by: sidney

you getting all this tom?


they are sticking it to ya

the chances are high that you don't even know what is going on.

I don't see how atheism as compared to agnosticism involves some amount of faith. you don;t fucking know whats gonna happen after you die. you don't. niether does tom. but an athiest says I do know, when I die my consciousness goes away, it enters a void, it ceases to be, and i am no more. that is a faith statement. it may take less faith then the magic man in the sky hypothesis but it is certainly not scientifically verifiable thus it is some amount a faith statement. and if it's not, then hauerwas is right and athiests in america are boring to a fault.

Everyone just shut up.

Originally posted by: Liam ODonnell M.Div.

I don't see how atheism as compared to agnosticism involves some amount of faith. you don;t fucking know whats gonna happen after you die. you don't. niether does tom. but an athiest says I do know, when I die my consciousness goes away, it enters a void, it ceases to be, and i am no more. that is a faith statement. it may take less faith then the magic man in the sky hypothesis but it is certainly not scientifically verifiable thus it is some amount a faith statement. and if it's not, then hauerwas is right and athiests in america are boring to a fault.

almost all atheists are technically agnostic. you're attacking strawmen. however, most atheists use the term atheist and not agnostic because 1) agnosticism isn't a position at all and 2) atheists are more convinced than not that there is no god or gods, namely convinced by the lack of evidence and philosophical necessity, which is not the same thing as faith at all. but you already know this, since you've studied theology and at least some philosophy, and you have faith.

again, strawmen.

Originally posted by: adam.

Originally posted by: Liam ODonnell M.Div.

I don't see how atheism as compared to agnosticism involves some amount of faith. you don;t fucking know whats gonna happen after you die. you don't. niether does tom. but an athiest says I do know, when I die my consciousness goes away, it enters a void, it ceases to be, and i am no more. that is a faith statement. it may take less faith then the magic man in the sky hypothesis but it is certainly not scientifically verifiable thus it is some amount a faith statement. and if it's not, then hauerwas is right and athiests in america are boring to a fault.

almost all atheists are technically agnostic. you're attacking strawmen. however, most atheists use the term atheist and not agnostic because 1) agnosticism isn't a position at all and 2) atheists are more convinced than not that there is no god or gods, namely convinced by the lack of evidence and philosophical necessity, which is not the same thing as faith at all. but you already know this, since you've studied theology and at least some philosophy, and you have faith.

again, strawmen.

I don't think I am attacking strawmen at all. I do not believe that atheism, properly thought through, is the same as being unconvinced by the idea of God. and I am here arguing the position of some atheist philosophers of mind, that to be atheist is at root to be a materialist, or to be one who has not really pondered ones atheism. materialism is in fact a statement of conviction about metaphysics, and what I am saying is I am unconvinced that any statement about metaphysics is not a statement about faith. or to put it another way, I am pretty convinced those who call themselves athiests rather then agnostics but are not die hard materialist are probably not very smart