Dear Nigel, Atheism arose from a default position of God's (gods' ?) existence over the millenia prior to rational thought. Ever since prehistoric humanity looked to gods for answers to natural phenomena, it has been assumed that there was an omnipotent, omniscient creator God.
Atheists believe that there can NEVER be a proof for something that does not exist. However, they do not impose that belief on others, understanding that this is a concept that is arrived at through introspection. Secular Humanism goes a step beyond that, as explained much more succinctly in this message from another mailing list I received just this morning.... ---- Humanism is not relativism. We have no dogma or creed as such but we do share ontology. That is to say we have a common understanding that reliable knowledge comes from testing the empirical world and that while many useful and probably correct ideas cannot be immediately tested, the more an idea is consistent with testable ideas, the more likely it is to be tested. It is that principle and a commitment to ethics that is the stuff of humanism. Atheists begin with the rejection of the gods and usually the supernatural. For us the supernatural is by definition that which is not empirically testable. We believe that it is is ethically wrong to believe a thing without evidence ( This is a paraphrase of Wm. K. Clifford "the ethics of belief" See. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evidentialist and http://www.infidels.org/library/historical/w_k_clifford/ethics_of_belief.html ). Since we weigh ideas related to the supernatural as among the least reliable, we are non-theists. But we are not nihilists or relativists. We have a standard for establishing knowledge on which we can act. It is our approach to knowledge that distinguished us from both atheists and the faith community. We do not expect to achieve absolute knowledge. It is not necessary. What we have is grounded knowledge. We have confidence not faith. Alan Levin ----- Everything you see around you today, except for the lavish houses of worship and their attendant hierarchies, have been developed based on our confidence in the scientific method. However there is a very real danger in the encroachment of the age of endarkenment. http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2007/aug/15/endarkenment?gusrc=rss&feed=science Truth Invigorates, Kevin Saldanha Mississauga, ON. ============ Date: Sun, 20 Jan 2008 15:15:18 +0530 From: "Nigel Britto" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> I never really did understand the concept of atheism, because, the very existence of the atheists proves the existence of God. When I first heard of atheists, my first thoughts were, how can you not believe in something you don't believe exists? Agnosticism is a more understandable concept, since you doubt the existence of God. (PS, this definition changes, according to what kind of agnostic you're talking to). And if you talk about the sacrifice for 'all', extending to atheists and agnostics, it really defies the concept of the narrow gate. Infact, it renders the Biblical notion of narrow gate obsolete. I meant that Eternal Life is ONLY through Jesus Christ, and without Him, it's not attainable. And then you mentioned about proclaiming, which contradicts your earlier statements about salvation for non-Christians. Truth Liberates Nigel Britto -- http://2008goanconvention.com
