Come and let us discuss atheism.

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  • Ellenna
    8 years ago | pl

    I'm not a scientist and don't pretend to be: I don't need to be one to know the difference between faith and proof. A scientific approach keeps the brain open and questioning and willing to change if new evidence for any proposition is found: faith results in a closed mind unwilling to change or learn.

    And that's MS by the way, not miss

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    • green_boogers
      8 years ago | pl

      So, I challenge you to disprove the existence of God. If you cannot do it, you are agnostic. If you still BELIEVE God does not exist, you are atheist. Notice that Aetheism is about what you believe, and agnosticism is about what cant be proven.

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      • slings_and_arrows
        8 years ago | pl

        Interesting...

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      • Ellenna
        8 years ago | pl

        It's impossible to prove a negative, if you're into proving things rather than faith, you prove s/he DOES exist. You're having a bet each way, aren't you: you ask me to prove the non-existence of god, while accepting god's existence on faith, not proof. Funny how that sort of woolly thinking abounds in certain religious circles.

        Atheism is NOT about what I believe, but what I DON'T believe - ie, the existence of imaginary friends in the sky, or heaven, or hell, or eternal damnation, or the virgin birth, or the shroud of turin, or the tooth fairy or santa.

        Agnosticism, which used to be my view, believes it's unlikely there are gods or other immaterial beings.

        Maybe you should buy yourself a dictionary instead of trying to impose your personal definitions on other people - talk about arrogance, I define myself, as does any other rational person.

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        • dude_Jones
          8 years ago | pl

          You claim it is impossible to prove a negative. Can you back up your claim? The burden of proof is on you. Show us this is true.

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        • green_boogers
          8 years ago | pl

          Impossible to prove a negative? I'm afraid you are sadly mistaken. I am not going to belabor my comment with a lesson in logic. But, I do suggest you read more about Agnosticism before you use ignorant supposition as a replacement for valid argumentation. Here's a link. And by the way, I am agnostic.

          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnosticism

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          • Ellenna
            8 years ago | pl

            It was actually a dictionary definition, I don't do ignorant suppositions, nor will I trade insults with you as I prefer rational argument.

            Please let everyone but especially me have an example of how to prove a negative: for example, prove to me that Santa doesn't exist

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            • green_boogers
              8 years ago | pl

              Probably the easiest example is to prove that the square root of a negative number cannot exist and is thusly an imaginary number. Sqrt(-1)=i. For a more detailed discussion search wikipedia for "Proof by negation". You will find the discussion to be interesting, I would think.

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    • GigglesGirl
      8 years ago | pl

      *Giggles* open mind *Giggles*

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      • Ellenna
        8 years ago | pl

        The standard of debate on this topic has moved so far beyond my rudimentary formal education AND my lifelong self-education that I don't feel I have anything much more to contribute without being patronised yet again.

        However, just because I can't explain to an academic standard why it's impossible to prove a negative doesn't mean I'm necessarily wrong. It's always seemed self-evident to me that this isn't possible and my university educated friends agree: for example, how could anyone prove a particular thing does not exist anywhere in creation without producing concrete proof it didn't exist in every single part of the known world? Seems impossible to me ........

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