[ExI] Atheism again (was: How many current members of ExI?)

Ben Zaiboc ben at zaiboc.net
Sun Apr 19 16:10:19 UTC 2020


On 19/04/2020 12:51, Guiio Prisco wrote:
> Strong beliefs (including atheism) ...

We've already had this discussion. Atheism, by definition, is /not/ a 
belief. Your later comments ("atheists or believers...", "atheists and 
believers...") admit as much. Saying things like the above is simply 
inflammatory.

If someone believes there are no gods, they are not an atheist. If 
someone refuses to change their opinion when presented with 
incontrovertible evidence that contradicts their opinion, that's not 
atheism. If it can be proven that a god exists, then accepting that the 
god exists is no longer believing in it. An atheist can say "Yes, I now 
know that this god exists", without becoming a non-atheist, as long as 
there is proof for the existence of the god.

"there's no way to talk atheists or believers out of their convictions, 
and discussions are much more likely to end in name calling than in 
mutual understanding"

You said it. In this case, the name-calling is the "there's no way to 
talk atheists ... out of their convictions" bit. The opinions of 
atheists are not convictions. They are evidence-based opinions.

-- 
Ben Zaiboc

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