Christians...Please be careful!

Originally posted by stellspalfie
hi bill, i like the cut of your jib, you sound like a good atheist in the making. we will welcome you with open arms when the penny drops.

I believe he leans to the left, from what I've noticed in the Debates forum. And somehow, it seems there are a LOT of left-leaning atheists, while theists tend to lean to the right. (This is a never-ending source of confusion for me, since I am a left-leaning theist AND I feel that today Christ himself would be labeled a 'socialist'.)

Originally posted by Great King Rat
I don't think a theist is just an atheist who's been deluded. When have I said so? The moment you believe these fairy tales you are not an atheist.

I don't know that you've ever "said so". It's been declared many times here in this forum that "babies are atheists by definition", so an atheist could make the argument that a theist is an atheist who has been deluded from the common sense 'natural law' by promises of 'stuff'. As you say, as soon as you believe ("delusion sets in" ), you're no longer an atheist. QED.

Originally posted by Suzianne
I don't know that you've ever "said so". It's been declared many times here in this forum that "babies are atheists by definition", so an atheist could make the argument that a theist is an atheist who has been deluded from the common sense 'natural law' by promises of 'stuff'. As you say, as soon as you believe ("delusion sets in" ), you're no longer an atheist. QED.

Yes, I've noticed this "babies are atheists" many times here. I find it very uninteresting and it adds nothing to understanding the difference between theists and atheists, even though it is technically correct. Again, it's semantics which I don't find particularly interesting or helpful when discussing something.

As far as I'm concerned a person is an (a)theist when he has the ability to think about these things in one way or another. There are plenty of people who've been dragged to church by their parents from a very early age and who therefore have "always" been a theist.

Originally posted by divegeester
For your comments to carry any real weight, I think you need to be a regular poster here yourself demonstrating what this looks like.

He's selling 'less is more' - the brilliance of that strategy is, by not being here much, he is already setting an example of what 'less' is like. 😛

Originally posted by Great King Rat
Yes, I've noticed this "babies are atheists" many times here. I find it very uninteresting and it adds nothing to understanding the difference between theists and atheists, even though it is technically correct. Again, it's semantics which I don't find particularly interesting or helpful when discussing something.

As far as I'm concerned a person ...[text shortened]... to church by their parents from a very early age and who therefore have "always" been a theist.

It's not just a matter of semantics.

I agree that babies being atheists is not really interesting, but those who argue
against it are demonstrating that they either don't agree, accept, or understand
what the word atheist actually means.

And as that is relevant to quite a few discussions/arguments its a relevant issue
to discuss. [at least to my mind]

Agreeing what the words you are using mean is important in any debate because
otherwise how is anyone supposed to understand anyone else?

Anyhow, that's my perspective on it... I would dearly love to not need to discuss it
because it is a highly uninteresting topic... but there seems to be an unending need
to explain what the word means.

Originally posted by googlefudge
It's not just a matter of semantics.

I agree that babies being atheists is not really interesting, but those who argue
against it are demonstrating that they either don't agree, accept, or understand
what the word atheist actually means.

And as that is relevant to quite a few discussions/arguments its a relevant issue
to discuss. [at least to ...[text shortened]... uninteresting topic... but there seems to be an unending need
to explain what the word means.

As I said, technically it is correct.

But I find it meaningless.

Let's put it this way. If I wanted to know whether or not there are more atheists than theists in the world and if I wanted to know how that division (I am doubtful if that is the correct word) had changed over the years, would I count all the people <2 years to the atheists and would I look at the number of births now compared to say 20 years ago? I wouldn't because it would not give me the answer I really wanted. I want to know of those people who are capable of thinking about these issues what their thoughts are.

Again, that does not negate the fact that everyone is born an atheist.