|
In a message dated 12/19/2004 12:01:05 AM Eastern Standard Time,
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
It seems to me that one It's no longer obvious to
me that one needs to be a theist of any stripe to accept the
principles in the Declaration. Some atheists argue that theism rests
on a first principle which cannot be explained namely, God exists and is the
foundation of existence and morality. The atheist challenges this by arguing
what explains God's existence. Now I'm aware that some philosophers, St.
Anslem, Leibniz, Plantinga and others, believe that the necessity of
God's existence can be proven. But few atheists find these arguments
persuasive. Thus, for the atheist, theists assume without explaining the claims
about God's existence. But, of course, atheists cannot explain or
justify their first principles any more than theists can explain
their.
This stalemate
permits some atheists to accept claims about God as referring to the
"unknowable" or the "unprovable." In this sense, the Declaration's
reference to God can be accepted by atheists also.
Bobby
Robert Justin
Lipkin
Professor of Law Widener University School of Law Delaware |
_______________________________________________ To post, send message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, unsubscribe, change options, or get password, see http://lists.ucla.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/religionlaw
Please note that messages sent to this large list cannot be viewed as private. Anyone can subscribe to the list and read messages that are posted; people can read the Web archives; and list members can (rightly or wrongly) forward the messages to others.
