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Athiests: Why not agnostic?

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout: Debate & Discussion' started by SexyButIgnorant, Aug 20, 2013.

  1. SexyButIgnorant

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    This is a message directed towards athiests.

    I've been studying the world, its origins, the complexity in what we see as of late. Richard Dawkins, an Athiest, writes in his book "The Blind Watchmaker" that "biology is the study of complicated things that give the appearance of having been designed for a purpose".

    Now that's an interesting thought. The appearance of having been designed for a purpose. I see Dawkins saying if it barks like a dog, smells like a dog, looks like a dog, it's probably not a duck.

    Physicist and Ph.D Paul Davies also writes that "the cliche that 'life is balanced on a knife-edge' is a staggering understatement in this case: no knife in the universe could have an edge that fine." If any other circumstance were different, life wouldn't've evolved to this point. The chances of life evolving to our modern point were improbably.

    I don't want to turn this into a 'why don't you belong to Christianity, or Islam, or Judaism' debate. Not a conversion at all. I'm genuinely curious as to why someone would completely deny the possibility of a higher being in the face of such overwhelming scientific research. It would seem that being agnostic seems more scientifically plausible. There is a certain complexity in the world that is difficult to say comes from simplicity. There looks to be some sort of design.

    I'm also just starting to read up on all this, so I apologize if Ive made any rookie assumptions.
     
  2. CometsWin

    CometsWin Breaker Breaker One Nine

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    What overwhelming scientific research?
     
  3. meh

    meh Contributing Member

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    To me what you described seems to suggest that humans are just a lab experiment of some aliens who want to see how they can create different life forms. Similar to how human biologists treat bacteria and other low forms of life.

    Would you consider such aliens God?
     
  4. Jetfuel

    Jetfuel Member

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    I think many Atheists haven't really considered the issues beyond their reaction to religion and idea of god as prescribed by the various big religions.

    The problem is with the word 'God.' It's just too loaded with meaning and history.

    Personally, I utterly reject all man made religions as false and see no evidence of any veracity to their claims. But I remain open to the possibility of greater / more advanced beings having had some role to play in OUR creation.

    Which makes me an Agnostic Atheist, and I think if you drill MOST Atheists about it they'd come to a similar conclusion.
     
  5. Haymitch

    Haymitch Custom Title
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    The difference, in practice, isn't much. So it's really just a debate about definitions, and internet debates about who means what and what words mean are just excruciating.

    I use "atheist" but only because when I used agnostic some took that as me being a free agent looking to be courted by the (a)theists.
     
  6. chrispbrown

    chrispbrown Member

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    That is hardly evidence. Improbable does not mean impossible.

    This being said, I can't see where things began. It is like the chicken or the egg. Sure Big Bang yada yada, but who or what created the components of the Big Bang? I think that my rejection of a lot of religions comes from the fact that I can see a lot of human emotion put into beliefs. A lot to me is justifying our importance above other things and given the size of the universe we are irrelevant.
     
  7. rhadamanthus

    rhadamanthus Contributing Member

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    For the 40 billionth time, the two terms are not mutually exclusive.
     
  8. Rocket River

    Rocket River Member

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    You can be an ATHEIST [Believe there is no god] and an Agnostic [Believe in the possibility of a God] at the same time?
    :confused:

    Rocket River
     
  9. chrispbrown

    chrispbrown Member

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    Maybe you can believe in the possibility of a god, but that god is non existent...woahhh mannnn
     
  10. rhadamanthus

    rhadamanthus Contributing Member

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    You can be an agnostic atheist (i.e. you don't believe in any god and you claim there is no way to know this for fact) or you can be a gnostic atheist (i.e. you don't believe in any god and you claim to know this as fact). Most atheists are agnostic atheists, although some may not necessarily be aware of it.

    There all sorts of fun debates to be had with these terms (for example, regarding the practicality of a given position), and we've had them here in this forum many times.
     
  11. srrm

    srrm Contributing Member

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    psst... Ancient astronauts, not aliens.
     
  12. Sweet Lou 4 2

    Sweet Lou 4 2 Contributing Member
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    I don't believe in any god or deity we have in any religious book, but I do believe there are things going on that we don't understand that explain the purpose of existence.

    What does that make me?
     
  13. bigtexxx

    bigtexxx Contributing Member

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    the question that stymies atheists over and over again is around the origin of life. They simply cannot explain it.
     
  14. Haymitch

    Haymitch Custom Title
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    Jeremy Lin
     
  15. durvasa

    durvasa Contributing Member

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    Can you explain it (without invoking some variant of "it's a miracle/magic")?
     
  16. val_modus

    val_modus Member

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    Atheists are almost as irritating to listen to as a fundamentalists to me. When it comes to the origins of life and the mysterious beyond, Bill Maher said it best, "I just don't know, and anybody who says they do... probably a ****ing liar"
     
  17. JuanValdez

    JuanValdez Contributing Member

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    I agree.

    But, I call myself an atheist anyway. Agnosticism is for wishy-washy types who are afraid to make a decision.
     
  18. Ubiquitin

    Ubiquitin Contributing Member
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    Whose is the true religion?
     
  19. apollo33

    apollo33 Member

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    because agnostics are for p*****s

    do or do not, no try
     
  20. stonegate_archer

    stonegate_archer Contributing Member

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    Me too: What overwhelming scientific research???
     

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