Ann, Your observation is excellent. It appears that for some people here think that being called a "believer" is uncool and, a worst, an Ebola case. As such, they avoid giving any logical evidence for their assertions in order to be undefined, ambiguous and definitely not known as a "believer".
Who would have thought the B word has become pejorative? ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <awoelflebater@...> wrote : ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <curtisdeltablues@...> wrote : ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <jr_esq@...> wrote : Curtis, My responses are shown in red below: ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <curtisdeltablues@...> wrote : ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <jr_esq@...> wrote : Barry, Have you ever thought that atheism is also a belief-- and an unreasonable one at that? M: Couldn't help overhearing... Atheism is not a belief because it is not a positive assertion that there is no God. It is the assertion that there is no compelling evidence to support the belief. We don't need to have a belief that there are no unicorns. Maybe there are. We just don't have any evidence to support our belief in one. (Probably people made the story up, they tend to enjoy that being such creative creatures.) Atheism is defined as a belief in "no god", according to Webster's College Dictionary. By the suffix of the word "ism", the word is self-defined as a belief, according to the rules of the English language. It appears that the self-proclaimed atheists should understand what the meaning of the word "Atheism" means before saying that they are not "believers". M: You had to overlook the first definition to make your point" a disbelief in the existence of deity Which is as I said, not the same as having a belief. It is the absence of the belief in God. Not believing in something is not a positive belief. Most atheists would say they don't know if there is a God, only that there is no evidence for one if they are being careful with their words. I do not have a belief in God. There is no belief that takes its place. I think it is unlikely that there is a God or that if here was one that man could know about him. But that is not a firm belief in no God, it is the lack of a belief in God. Do you see the difference? I am not sure why some here are so careful to avoid being called "believers". They act as if this is just about the worst thing someone can say about them. Is this because to be 'a believer' it implies one has closed ones mind to other options? Does it imply that one is a slave to their beliefs in some way and therefore rendered impotent in some way? Does being a believer mean one is a dupe or in danger of being duped? What is it exactly that is so odious about believing something because you sure are doing a lot of wiggling to avoid having your atheistic assertions not categorized as beliefs. And I reiterate again (from a previous post) I haven't yet come to any hard and fast conclusion of what I believe when it comes to God or no God or many Gods so it is not the viewpoint I am interested in but the way in which one comes to investigate or the embrace or reject that viewpoint.
