Originally posted by googlefudgeWhy don't you point out all the "massive glaring holes in his position" that you see?
Wow. This is a new low for you, quoting that evil moron.
Can you really not see the massive glaring holes in his position? Do you really need them spelled out to you?
08 May 16
Originally posted by twhiteheadWhat they call "witchcraft" in Africa is really voodoo.
I disagree. Gods or other supernatural entities are common beliefs throughout the world, but the concept of a single God is not so common and has largely spread from one single source. The need for explanations and the subsequent imagining of hidden intent behind life's happenings is endemic to mankind, but not the concept of God. The God concept is just ...[text shortened]... maginings. Astrology is another popular one. Where I come from Witchcraft is a very popular one.
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08 May 16
Originally posted by ThinkOfOneI guess you really are that stupid. Ok, here goes.
Why don't you point out all the "massive glaring holes in his position" that you see?
Many atheists claim that atheism is the default position. In other words, they claim that when persons are born, they are naturally atheists and that it is only through indoctrination that they become theists. But, this claim is nothing more then an unsubstantiated opinion. How does an atheist know that people are not hardwired to believe in God? How does an atheist know that children don't naturally believe in God and have to be taught not to believe in God?
WHICH GOD?
Matt Slick is a Christian and naturally only thinks about [his version of] the Christian god.
However, it was only relatively recently in history that the idea of the Christian god was even invented.
And moreover before and during the rise of Christianity a majority of people in the world have believed in different
or no gods. If everyone was born pre-loaded with belief in the Christian god this would not be the case.
If you don't indoctrinate people with belief in the Christian god, they don't magically start believing in that god.
Therefore, it is not an idea we are born with. [and that's before adding in any science on the topic]
Next, the rational default position on any truth claim is lack of belief until there is sufficient evidence/reason to
believe one way or the other.
The claim that a god exists is no different and the default lack of belief position is an atheist position.
If the atheist says that it must be a cognitive choice to believe in God, then again we have to ask how the atheist knows this.
This atheist, like most if not all here, do not say that it is a choice to believe in gods. In point of fact I just got done
writing a post explaining exactly why you don't choose to believe things. Which is a common refrain from the atheists
on this site. So this is a straw man.
People believe in things without really understanding why, and oftentimes they're surprised at what they do believe in naturally. So, that doesn't work either.
It is true that people seldom understand why they believe something. In fact the evidence suggests that almost all 'reasons'
given for why a person believes something are post-hoc justifications for a 'decision' we don't understand.
So when an atheist says that atheism is the default position, he is offering nothing more than an unsubstantiated opinion upon which he wants to build an argument that atheism is somehow valid or superior or natural. The conclusion is not supported by the premise.
Atheists are not he we are they.
This is an unsubstantiated claim as it rests upon the 'argument' that comes before that I just rebutted and refuted
without even trying.
But, what if it is true that atheism is the natural position of the person? Now, we are not saying that is the case, but what if it were? Would it mean that there is no God? Of course not. Even if an atheist were to hold the position that atheism is the default position (which cannot be verified), what does that have to do with whether or not God exists? It is irrelevant to the issue.
Then why are you so freaking scared of admitting that lack of belief is the neutral starting position with respect
to any belief claim?
It's not like we are actually arguing that atheism is correct because it's the default position. As I/we make clear
any and every time this comes up. Again, this is a straw man attack on a position we don't hold and are not arguing.
So, when atheists like to say that atheism is the default position, I like to respond with a request for them to prove it. They can't. They need to stop offering unsubstantiated opinions as facts.
Actually we can, and he would know that, which means he's lying.
08 May 16
Originally posted by AThousandYoungWell given that the people who practice it are typically called witches, I think 'witchcraft' is appropriate. It may be a different type of magic than what Harry Potter uses, but the terminology is necessarily borrowed from the European concepts.
What they call "witchcraft" in Africa is really voodoo.
Voodoo is what americans call it, a term borrowed from the black slaves who brought it from west Africa.
08 May 16
Originally posted by FetchmyjunkYou thought wrong.
There I was thinking it was a wilful, cognitive, rational decision.
Oh well. I need to wait for atheism to overtake my mind while I am blissfully unaware of it.
Do you have a biological father?
Did you take a DNA test to prove he was your biological father?
Did you make a wilful, cognitive, rational decision to believe he was your father? Could you decide tomorrow to believe he is not?
Originally posted by apathistTheism is based on reason, it is not based on a decision. I do not 'confirm his point'. I point out the error in his point. One does not decide to believe what one knows to be true.
Your questions confirm his point, tw. Atheism is a position based on reason. (That's why babies are not atheists, btw.)
And babies are atheists. Atheism isn't a 'position' at all, its a lack of a particular position. Many atheists may hold a position, but that is not what makes them atheist.
08 May 16
Originally posted by twhiteheadYou thought wrong.
You thought wrong.
[b]Oh well. I need to wait for atheism to overtake my mind while I am blissfully unaware of it.
Do you have a biological father?
Did you take a DNA test to prove he was your biological father?
Did you make a wilful, cognitive, rational decision to believe he was your father? Could you decide tomorrow to believe he is not?[/b]
At least I admit to making mistakes 😛
Do you have a biological father?
Did you take a DNA test to prove he was your biological father?
Did you make a wilful, cognitive, rational decision to believe he was your father? Could you decide tomorrow to believe he is not?
What does that have to do with the price of eggs? Then again its not like you to ever admit that you are wrong...