Thursday, October 04, 2007

Sam Harris offers a cogent reason for dispensing with the word "atheist."
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8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Complete nonsense. First, I find it offensive that it lumps anyone that beleives in any kind of a G-d into "not not having reason or common sense." So, people like Einstein, Newton, etc. etc. did not have as much reason as the writer; what arrogance.
Second, since most of humanity beleives in some kind of G-d, doing away with the word athiest would be like doing away with the word "blind" (since most of humanity has sight). We do not have a specific word for someone who believes in G-d because that is the norm, just like we do not have a specific word for someone who has sight.


Stan

2:57 PM
Fish Belt O'Reilly said...

"Sighted"

9:58 PM
Mac said...

Belief in God -- or anything for which there's no evidence -- doesn't imply abject incompetence. But I think one could argue that it's essentially "excess baggage" insofar as dealing with the empirical world is concerned. The subjective world is another matter entirely.

10:14 PM
Anonymous said...

It is only your opinion that there is "no evidence" for G-d. In my opinion (as a very rational logical being) there is overwhelming evidence for the existence of G-D.

Stan

7:52 AM
Anonymous said...

Sighted is a word that is a description of someone with sight. It is not a word for having sight, any more than hearinged, or speakinged are words for having other senses.

Stan

7:55 AM
Anonymous said...

"In my opinion (as a very rational logical being) there is overwhelming evidence for the existence of G-D."

Stan, in your opinion, what are the top 3 pieces of evidence that God exists? And why do you insert a hyphen in the word God?

I used to consider myself an atheist, until I realized that's a belief system, also. Now I'm more comfortable with the term agnostic, if one needs a term in the first place. To me, belief in God or some religion is largely irrelevant. I see it as delusion.

5:48 PM
lerchbase said...

Amen! I have squirmed each and every time someone has asked me to define myself, and this quote is why. I'm human, that's what. Thinking, rational,not superstitious. Human

8:13 PM
Anonymous said...

First, why I use G-d.
My mother's family was extreme orthodox Jewish.
My uncle explained to me that to say G-d's name, or to write it, would be to define G-d in human
terms. G-d was to him beyond all human conception. It makes sense to me, and if I write the word
God, it does not express my belief as well as the word G-d.

There are many levels to the other part of the question.
I will simplify for expedience.
There are laws of physics and mathematics. 1 and 1 equals two. Why should that be, and why is it
always the case? Why does PI go on to infinity? Why should we be able to use Trig to calculate the
distance of one of Saturn's moons from Saturn. We can do it because there are laws that the
Universe follows. Laws that if broken only mean that there were other laws we did not know about.
There is a genius to these laws, and an even greater genius in how these laws interact with each other
to form everything we can perceive. I see no evidence of chaos.
Besides specific rules of math and physics, there are fantastic inventions of nature. Evolution itself;
A process that can take a group of elements, combine them into molecules, then evolve them into
thinking beings adding the very nebulous ingredient of time. There is an innate intelligence to this
process. In a universe that was not "guided", there would only be chaos. Such a process would not
be conceivable. Who says the strongest in a species will survive; logic of course. But why should
there even be logic?
What I have given is only a smattering of the "evidence" of an intelligent force behind the science of
the universe.
The evidence goes on through all aspects of existence transcending the logical. From the feeling you
get when hear Mozart to the innate understanding that we are alive, and not organic robots. If we
were mere chemicals, why would we feel this life and sense it. Why would we fear death, we would
already be dead. This too is just as strong evidence. When I look at every aspect of existence I see
as I said "overwhelming evidence."
I fully respect the rights of people to not see things the way I see them. But, telling me that I lack
common sense because I believe in G-d or even God is bullshit.

Stan

10:44 PM

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