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

[John Clark]

On Mon, Apr 20, 2020 at 11:06 AM Will Steinberg via extropy-chat <
extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:

>* P.S. Russell's teapot doesn't count*
>>>
>>
>> Why not?
>>
>
> *> Because it makes an assumption that it does not attempt to prove--that
> believing in God is as ridiculous as believing in the teapot. *
>

I think it's more ridiculous. Granted I've never seen a teapot in orbit
around Uranus but I have at least seen teapots before, I have never seen a
omniscient omnipotent being who created the universe around anything.


> > I believe that God is a rational deduction which only requires
> materialism and the experience of one's own consciousness.
>

Trying to explain why there is something rather than nothing by kicking the
problem upstairs and then declaring it is strictly off limits to ask the
next obvious question doesn't sound very rational to me.


> *> Agnosticism is more palatable because I won't fault anyone for having
> no belief.  *
>

I think that's a weasel word, I willing to make a stand and boldly
declare that I am a teapot atheist. I'm a Bugs Bunny atheist too, I just
don't think Bugs really exists.

* > it is still true in my eyes that any scientist should rationally
> believe in substrate independent consciousness*
>

I agree, but I don't know what that has to do with God.

John K Clark
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