I might be realizing I'm a deist

@ghost-of-a-duke said
For crying out loud sonship, it's Moonbus not Moonbase.

Don't forget about moonbeam, moonstone, moonshine, moondog, moonlight, moonlit, moonstruck, moonrise, moonwalk and moonquake.

@fmf said
I'm not sure yet.

I can't just decide to be one, obviously.

But I can - and maybe one day will - decide to declare that I am one if I realize that it is what I am.

It's a process not a decision.

What will theists make of this if it happens?

And what will atheists make of it?

Thoughts and pertinent YouTube clips welcome.

I am agnostic atheist who began searching for some evidence (or truth) of a god some 30 years ago. No such evidence ( or truth) exists, although it may be hidden.
I have come to conclusions concerning Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
Judaism : An amalgamation of pagan religions
Christianity : An amalgamation of Judaism and pagan religions with a resurrection cult or 2 thrown in. (See Zalmoxis)
Islam : An amalgamation of Judaism and Christianity.
I believe it is an important part of any search process to strive to uncover what is NOT true. In chess, most players would reject the first move by white 1. h4 as a probability that it could be the best move.
No one has uncovered any truth to the existence of a god but, I agree, it would be nice to know.
Perhaps it is just too far beyond our comprehension to unravel this mystery.

@secondson said
Don't forget about moonbeam, moonstone, moonshine, moondog, moonlight, moonlit, moonstruck, moonrise, moonwalk and moonquake.

What have you got against mooncake?!

@caissad4 said
I am agnostic atheist who began searching for some evidence (or truth) of a god some 30 years ago. No such evidence ( or truth) exists, although it may be hidden.
I have come to conclusions concerning Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
Judaism : An amalgamation of pagan religions
Christianity : An amalgamation of Judaism and pagan religions with a resurrection cult or 2 th ...[text shortened]... would be nice to know.
Perhaps it is just too far beyond our comprehension to unravel this mystery.

And then there is a little problem of bias, which gets in everyone's way, even the most well-intentioned.

@ghost-of-a-duke said
What have you got against mooncake?!

Mooncake? How about moonpie? Moonsoup? Moonburger?

@ghost-of-a-duke said
Depends. Is your computer mouse sentient?

Is an infant truly 'sentient'? How about 'sapient'?

@suzianne said
Is an infant truly 'sentient'? How about 'sapient'?

Infants cry differently, and a mother can identify her infant by its cry. I think that indicates that infants are sentient.

@sonship said
FMF, I suppose you better check if moonbase also thinks you are getting old and senile and dementia is responsible for considering Deism.

I've heard both suspicions that his mind is failing and that he fears approaching death. How about after years one just decides the evidence has mounted to the point that it leads elsewhere to what he originally thought?

You have suggested that my "change of mind after a life full of experience" is because I am willing member of "Satan's" rebellion, because I suffer from malignant narcissistic personality disorder, and because my ideas are like eating animal excrement.

What you haven't suggested is something like "...after years [FMF] just decided the evidence had mounted to the point that it led elsewhere to what [FMF] originally thought".

No surprise there.

Did moonbus say something "mean" that you didn't like?

@sonship said
@moonbus

There is nothing mean about accepting the fact that a man’s capacity for following long and complicated logical arguments may wane with age. It happened to Kant, it happened to Emerson, it happened to Flew.

You jump to a conclusion you wish, I think.

When you age details of minute past events and speeches may not be recalled. But overall b ...[text shortened]... an speak for YOU - "His previous reasonings were better." He changed his mind. You haven't.

Why do you capitalise the A in "atheism"?

@moonbus said
Infants cry differently, and a mother can identify her infant by its cry. I think that indicates that infants are sentient.

That's not the same as "able to apply cognitive thought to an abstract concept".

@suzianne said
Is an infant truly 'sentient'? How about 'sapient'?

Human beings are born void of any belief, concept or awareness of the divine. (They are atheists). God is something they become aware of later, through contact with older human beings, whether that be parents, teachers or the like. The myth of God is simply passed on from one generation to the next.

That said, a child born and raised in isolation on a desert Island may still come to believe in some form of the divine as it seems to be a recurrent facet of the human condition to want answers to explain the world around them.

@ghost-of-a-duke said
Human beings are born void of any belief, concept or awareness of the divine. (They are atheists). God is something they become aware of later, through contact with older human beings, whether that be parents, teachers or the like. The myth of God is simply passed on from one generation to the next.

That said, a child born and raised in isolation on a desert Island ...[text shortened]... ems to be a recurrent facet of the human condition to want answers to explain the world around them.

You don't know that! For all you know they cry because of their knowledge of who He is and what we are.

@ghost-of-a-duke said
Human beings are born void of any belief, concept or awareness of the divine. (They are atheists). God is something they become aware of later, through contact with older human beings, whether that be parents, teachers or the like. The myth of God is simply passed on from one generation to the next.

That said, a child born and raised in isolation on a desert Island ...[text shortened]... ems to be a recurrent facet of the human condition to want answers to explain the world around them.

I just think calling an infant an atheist is putting too fine a point on the argument. There's no cognition to bring to bear on the question.

In other words, do they know they are an atheist?

@ghost-of-a-duke said
Human beings are born void of any belief, concept or awareness of the divine. (They are atheists). God is something they become aware of later, through contact with older human beings, whether that be parents, teachers or the like. The myth of God is simply passed on from one generation to the next.

That said, a child born and raised in isolation on a desert Island ...[text shortened]... ems to be a recurrent facet of the human condition to want answers to explain the world around them.

Yes, but this is not what “sentient” means. “Sentient” means capable of registering sense impressions and feelings; nothing to do with cognitive beliefs.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sentient

@suzianne said
That's not the same as "able to apply cognitive thought to an abstract concept".

Of course it’s not the same, but that is not what “sentient” means. See above reply to Ghost.