----- Original Message -----
From: "Marvin Long, Jr." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Brin-L" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Sunday, September 02, 2001 1:22 PM
Subject: Re: Contradiction Problems????
> On Sun, 2 Sep 2001 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>
> > But I think what they mean is that it requires as much faith to be
absolutely sure there is no "higher power" as it does to be absolutely sure
there is.
> >
> > But then we've had this discussion before, n'est pas?
>
> A-yup. I think that in this particular test, the tension arose from the
> following conflict: if it's within the realms of purely rational
> judgement to conclude by virtue of the lack of evidence that fairies and
> unicorns don't exist, then why is judging by a similar lack of evidence
> that God doesn't exist an act of faith, whereas in the less controversial
> cases it was just a rational judgement?
>
Well, there is a difference. Fairies and unicorns are emperical objects.
God is a transcendent being. Much more akin to the existance of God is the
existance of truth, good, human dignity, human rights, etc., as anything
more than arbitrary cultural constructs.
> Based on my observance of myself and others, I think there are really two
> kinds of atheism. Type 1 Atheism goes something like this: "If lack of
> evidence leads me to disbelieve in Quetzocoatl and Zeus and Ishtar, then
> by that same reasoning I disbelieve in Jesus, the prophets, and the
> saints. Cool!" Type 1 atheism is a rational judgement.
Actually, it involves a presupposition: all that exists is emperical. As
before, I'd be more than happy to debate the consequences of accepting or
rejecting that presupposition.
Rationality allows us to proceed from axioms to theorems. It is not
determining which axioms to accept. It does allow one to point out
contradictions between axioms, but there is no means to determine which of
several internally consistant systems one should accept solely through the
use of reason.
Dan M.
Type 2 Atheism
> sounds more like this, "I just can't bring myself to believe in the
> teachings of my church--or any church--anymore. Is there a God? There's
> no evidence. I can't bring myself to believe him Him anymore. I wish I
> could, but I can't." The Type 2 Atheist is depending on faith because he
> is beset by doubt, just as most religious believers are beset by doubts of
> their own.
>
> So, some atheists must exert their will to disbelieve in God, whereas
> other atheists might just say, "Heh, what's to believe in the first
> place?"
>
> Marvin Long
> Austin, Texas
>
> My hero is Guy Forsyth! www.guyforsyth.com
>
> "The ego that sees a 'thou' is fundamentally different from an ego that
> sees an 'it.'" -- Joseph Campbell
>
>
