Thread: If athiests ruled the world

Originally Posted by gismo

And there are those who don't think there is one, but arrived at this conclusion by different means. Whilst less thoughtful, I would first like to say that it doesn't imply hatred. The notion of an invisible man in the sky, and blind faith in the Bible, which is quite clearly a book of myths totally staggers me and I find it's stupidity glaringly obvious. This group generally cannot give the same arguments as the first, their arguments tend to be "lol godfag" or something like that. Whilst crude, and something I personally try to avoid (if I am being serious), it doesn't imply hatred (I doubt few, if any of these guys have murdered a religious person for their faith, the opposite cannot be said however) and it doesn't always carry with it a notion of "im clevr".

He does have a point. I've been an atheist since I was about 7. Not because I saw any flaws in the bible or because I read up on evolution or because I understood the inherent flaws in Pascal's Wager. It was more that I simply didn't see any necessity in believing in a God (I suppose I was more of an Agnostic). As I grew up the things I learnt seemed to only confirm this more until I decided to drop the obnoxious 'Agnostic' label and call myself an atheist. This is because I don't believe there is a God, simple as.

There's been a lot of talk in the media over here about the importance of respecting people's beliefs. Surely that's just wrong. I respect the right to hold whatever beliefs you so choose but if I think it's stupid then I believe that I should have the right to say so. That's all that's gone on so far in this thread (in regards to Gismo's posts) and I don't entirely understand why everyone's joining the 'lolidiot' bandwagon other than maybe because his contribution was poorly worded and slightly brassy.

Originally Posted by Syme

There is no way that reading up on various scientific topics could ever provide you with any evidence against the existence of a god. I say this as an atheist and someone spends a lot of free time reading scientific literature.

This is true but it can certainly spark the way towards atheistic beliefs. Of course it's not going to provide you with evidence against a higher power but that's only because such belief is predicated entirely on a lack of evidence (see: faith). This argument isn't so black and white.

Originally Posted by simonj

This is true but it can certainly spark the way towards atheistic beliefs. Of course it's not going to provide you with evidence against a higher power but that's only because such belief is predicated entirely on a lack of evidence (see: faith). This argument isn't so black and white.

Even if belief in a higher being wasn't predicated entirely on a lack of evidence, science would still be incapable of providing evidence against it. Anyone who believes otherwise doesn't understand science or how it works. I'm not sure what you mean by "this argument isn't so black and white". The only thing I'm saying in black-and-white terms is that science is incapable of providing evidence against the existence of supernatural entities. That's just a fact.

Incidentally, I came about my atheism the same way you did: When I was about 8 years old, I said to myself, "Wait a minute... I don't have any evidence that this guy exists. Generally speaking, I don't believe things unless I have a reason to believe them. So why is God different?"

Originally Posted by Syme

Even if belief in a higher being wasn't predicated entirely on a lack of evidence, science would still be incapable of providing evidence against it. Anyone who believes otherwise doesn't understand science or how it works. I'm not sure what you mean by "this argument isn't so black and white". The only thing I'm saying in black-and-white terms is that science is incapable of providing evidence against the existence of supernatural entities. That's just a fact.

Incidentally, I came about my atheism the same way you did: When I was about 8 years old, I said to myself, "Wait a minute... I don't have any evidence that this guy exists. Generally speaking, I don't believe things unless I have a reason to believe them. So why is God different?"

Ok, we're saying the same things here, just in two misunderstood ways so let's just disagree to agree.