Thanks Steve, We understand each other I think (and Harris it seems). As so often happens we end up with a linguistic problem for something that doesn't really matter very much - the labelling for not believeing in anything unbelievable.
How about "normal", "well-adjusted' or simply "sane" ;-) ? Ian On 1/29/08, Steven Peterson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hi Margaret, Ian, > > > >I've been thinking this over for a few days to > >decide how to best answer and because I share > >commonality in my beliefs with what Marsha just > >posted about why she is is an athiest and > >with what Sam Harris wrote - which seems to imply > >not being an athiest - > > If you follow the link and read the rest of the speech (the part I excerpted > was the end) called "The Problem With Atheism," Sam Harris gives his reasons > why he thinks we (meaning people who do not believe in gods) should not call > ourselves atheists (though he is considered on of "The New Athiests.") > > This speech was very contraversial in the atheist world. It is interesting > reading. You can also watch the speech here > http://www.samharris.org/site/media_video/ > > >How do you define 'atheism'? If you or a group's > >definition has already been posted - sorry to > >have missed it. > > An atheist is someone who has considered the dogmatic claims of religion but > is unconvinced. Harris says we shouldn't need a word for such a person since > this is not a philosophical position. There are an uncountable number of > things that we don't believe, but we don't label ourselves as unbelievers > with regard to those things. He only grudgingly accepts the labelling. > > > > >I think it's funny that science has become an 'ism'. > > Scientism is the self-defeating philosphical position that only claims that > are verifiable through scientific means are true. (This position is not > verifiable through scientific means.) Harris does not subscribe to this > philosophy. > > Regards, > Steve > Moq_Discuss mailing list > Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. > http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org > Archives: > http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ > http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/ > Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
