What about freedom FROM religion?

[Dutch Uncle]

But you never tell Dutch he just "Frantically Googled" the answer. (And you know he does...just like you do)

You are pretty biased.

Do you understand the difference between Googling something and supplying references versus Googling answers and then acting like you knew it off the top of your head, Jank?

Once someone lies to me, Jank, I never trust a word they say until the prove they've stopped lying.

 

[Ross Dolan]

I always figured Jefferson and the other Deists of the Enlightenment were probably struggling with being an atheist. Religion, on its face, makes no sense to an organized thinker. And since they were all raised in the traditions of the western Christian Church most of them would have defaulted to understanding religion in that frame. So Jefferson took his Bible and eliminated all the supernatural stuff from Christ's actions. That's cool, it's effectively what I do and I'm a full-on atheist. The teachings are good but the idea of the supernatural is useless to me.

There's a possibility they truly believed there was some ineffible being outside of space and time, but I wonder how many were just desperately trying to AVOID falling into atheism.

(And yes I differentiate atheism from agnosticism since the agnostic feels the question can never be answered while the atheist can simply fail to believe in God. The example I gave to another poster is: "You are not agnostic about invisible elephants in the road as you drive but they COULD be there." The question is one of "I don't REALLY fully know". The atheist can answer it by saying "I simply fail to believe there are any invisible elephants in the road in front of me so I don't need to slow down on an open road.")

I have stopped calling myself an Agnostic (a chosen descriptor) and have simply posted my take on the issue. Here it is:


I do not know if any GOD (or gods) exist or not;
I see no reason to suspect that gods cannot exist…that the existence of a GOD or gods is impossible;
I see no reason to suspect that at least one GOD must exist...that the existence of at least one GOD is needed to explain existence;
I do not see enough unambiguous evidence upon which to base a meaningful guess in either direction on whether any gods exist or not...so I don't.

(When I use the word "GOD or gods" here, I mean "The entity (or entities) responsible for the creation of what we humans call 'the physical universe'...IF SUCH AN ENTITY OR ENTITIES ACTUALLY EXIST.)

 

[IBDaMann]

I have stopped calling myself an Agnostic (a chosen descriptor) and have simply posted my take on the issue. Here it is:


I do not know if any GOD (or gods) exist or not;
I see no reason to suspect that gods cannot exist…that the existence of a GOD or gods is impossible;
I see no reason to suspect that at least one GOD must exist...that the existence of at least one GOD is needed to explain existence;
I do not see enough unambiguous evidence upon which to base a meaningful guess in either direction on whether any gods exist or not...so I don't.

(When I use the word "GOD or gods" here, I mean "The entity (or entities) responsible for the creation of what we humans call 'the physical universe'...IF SUCH AN ENTITY OR ENTITIES ACTUALLY EXIST.)

You are an atheist.

 

[Dutch Uncle]

You are an atheist.

You don't get to decide, Sybil. You are not God or Jesus.

 

[PostmodernProphet]

Imagine if there was a coin that said... In Transgender we trust.

That would be the equivalent.

are you claiming God is transgendered?.....or are you just saying you are really, really stupid?......

 

[Dutch Uncle]

are you claiming God is transgendered?.....or are you just saying you are really, really stupid?......

God doesn't have human limitations, dumbass. God is genderless.

 

[IBDaMann]

You don't get to decide, Sybil.

There's not much you can do about it, Terry. I have made the correct determination and made it known.

You are not God or Jesus.

Perhaps, but I'm the next best thing.

Don't be afraid to come to me with the hard stuff.

 

[IBDaMann]

God doesn't have human limitations, dumbass. God is genderless.

The Bible seems to disagree with you. What is your source of information about God?

Remember, you can always come to me with your difficult questions.

 

[Jarod]

are you claiming God is transgendered?.....or are you just saying you are really, really stupid?......

Neither

 

[Saint Guinefort]

LOL

What about those, Perry? Do you see a pattern in who they are directed? No doubt all the Trumpers you cherry-picked those posts from appreciate your support.

It shows you are extremely immature and unable to control your emotion.

 

[Saint Guinefort]

Do you understand the difference between Googling something and supplying references versus Googling answers and then acting like you knew it off the top of your head, Jank?

Once someone lies to me, Jank, I never trust a word they say until the prove they've stopped lying.

I'm sure you are more than familiar with crappy research methods.

 

[Saint Guinefort]

I have stopped calling myself an Agnostic (a chosen descriptor) and have simply posted my take on the issue. Here it is:


I do not know if any GOD (or gods) exist or not;
I see no reason to suspect that gods cannot exist…that the existence of a GOD or gods is impossible;
I see no reason to suspect that at least one GOD must exist...that the existence of at least one GOD is needed to explain existence;
I do not see enough unambiguous evidence upon which to base a meaningful guess in either direction on whether any gods exist or not...so I don't.

(When I use the word "GOD or gods" here, I mean "The entity (or entities) responsible for the creation of what we humans call 'the physical universe'...IF SUCH AN ENTITY OR ENTITIES ACTUALLY EXIST.)

I prefer what is called "weak atheism". It is the philosophical position that one fails to believe that God exists but is open to more information and data.

As opposed to "strong atheism" which states "There is no God". That's not logically robust since it could be that GOd DOES exist but we are unable to see everywhere so that maybe we have missed him.

I am a "weak atheist".

God may or may not exist but I have seen no evidence for him so I fail to believe he exists.

 

[IBDaMann]

I prefer what is called "weak atheism".

Nope. There are no shades of grey on this matter. All lacks of theism are equivalent.

All people who lack a 55" UHD TV share the exact same lack of any 55" UHD TV. Those who lack theism share the exact same lack of any theism. Atheists lack any theism ... it's built into the word. Any theistic belief whatsoever precludes atheism.

You are an atheist. No other qualifiers apply.

It is the philosophical position that one fails to believe that God exists but is open to more information and data.

Congratulations. This describes someone who has no theism. This perfectly describes an atheist.

As opposed to "strong atheism" which states "There is no God".

Contradictory. The statement "There is no God" is itself a theistic statement, as one might find in Buddhism for example, and necessarily precludes atheism.

I am a "weak atheist".

You are an atheist. No qualifiers apply. This puts you in my category. We lack theism and it doesn't matter what we know or don't know or what we think is unknowable. That we lack theism is all that matters.

God may or may not exist but I have seen no evidence for him so I fail to believe he exists.

Exactly.

We have no belief that God/gods exist(s).
We have no belief that no God/gods exist(s).
Our position is characterized not by what we believe but by what we don't affirmatively believe ... or more secifically, by our lack of theism.

 

[Dutch Uncle]

The Bible seems to disagree with you. What is your source of information about God?

Remember, you can always come to me with your difficult questions.

If you could quote the Bible, you would, Sybil.

I forgive you for not being able to do so.

 

[Dutch Uncle]

There's not much you can do about it, Terry. I have made the correct determination and made it known.

Perhaps, but I'm the next best thing.
Don't be afraid to come to me with the hard stuff.

I love that you're such a schizo, Sybil.

You don't get to decide. You are not God or Jesus Christ.

Why do you only agree with your "friend", Sybil, and never, ever chastise him for the same things you do others?

 

[Dutch Uncle]

It shows you are extremely immature and unable to control your emotion.

Yet you refuse to cite proof..as usual. Why not, Perry? Can't you just Google it like you do all of your other answers? LOL

 

[Dutch Uncle]

I'm sure you are more than familiar with crappy research methods.

^^^
QED Can't do it. LOL

 

[PostmodernProphet]

God doesn't have human limitations, dumbass. God is genderless.

tell it to Jarot, Perry-sock.......I don't need your silly babbling.....

 

[Dutch Uncle]

tell it to Jarot, Perry-sock.......I don't need your silly babbling.....

Is that because you babble enough yourself, Pmp?

You worship Satan, you spread evil like a minion of Satan. You've never, ever acted like a Christian in the short time I've been here.

Did you used to be a Christian and then turned to Satan, Pmp? Or have you always been a bitter, evil and malicious person?

 

[IBDaMann]

Why do you only agree with your "friend", Sybil, and never, ever chastise him for the same things you do others?

Your obvious confusion once again stems from your abhorrent lack of reading comprehension. I absolutely agree with Into the Night that said other person is neither God nor Jesus Christ, just as I agreed with you that I am neither God nor Jesus Christ.

Somehow that confuses you, probably because you are an undereducated leftist who can't even distinguish between different people and who continues to believe that there really is only one other person in the world besides himself, a person who simulates multitudes through the use of socks. Your unmatched ability to make others feel better about themselves stems from your ability to make others so appreciative of not having your condition. I confess to getting a little bit of an uplift by interacting with you. You make me realize that my troubles are really not that bad at all.

If you're not capitalizing on this aspect of yourself on the lecture circuit, you should be. Of course, you don't see any point to going on a lecture circuit for only one person many times over.