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Originally Posted by renderator  Quote:
Originally Posted by Vinterland You will have to clarify by what you mean by atheist.
It seems that you contend that an atheist must be sure that there is no God. | Atheism is not believing in any deity. The assumption that there is nothing except matter in the Universe. |
I suppose that might be a common assumption amongst those claiming the title of atheist, but this is an agnostic forum. The assumptions of those attracted towards agnosticism are probably more varied. The common meaning of agnosticism is simply the willingness to question what a person thinks they know. For most people, terms such as atheism and agnosticism are more mental attitudes than clearly defined philosophies.
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The absence of God is just a necessity to be rational. One cannot prove anything without having taken this premise. Because if God exists, any miricle is possible and you can be sure in absolutely nothing, you even cannot be sure that Newton's Law works right now as ever, because you cannot garantee, that God has not changed the law right in this moment.
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Apparently, that is your definition of a theistic God, but that isn't the only possible definition. Besides absolute constraint of deism, there are varying degrees of constraint to God's power that even many monotheists will agree to.
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Originally Posted by Vinterland EVERY agnostic, if not an atheist, is a theist; it's one or the other. | Yes, I know it. But what does it mean? Can I find an agnostic Christian, for example?
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I can't see why an agnostic has to be either a theist or an atheist. This is an overly simplistic binary choice that hardly covers the many possible philosophies and theologies.
By the way, you can find people claiming to be agnostic Christians even on a forum like this. If you want to know how such a creature is possible, then just ask them.
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Originally Posted by Vinterland As for comparing God to fairies and whatnot, the question of God is much more implicative, granted importance alone does not measure how true something is. I think if anyone puts God in the same level as leprechauns and Santa, then they are question begging by assuming none of those exist. | So what's the difference between God and leprechauns? Why is God better to exist than leprechauns? I can see no difference between them. Both are the product of imagination.
By the way Santa Claus is a Christian saint, so he is as real as God for Christians.
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The difference is that there is tons of complex thinking about theology and comparative mythology in relation to the monotheistic God, but leprechauns are mostly an ancient folk belief that few intellectuals have given much thought to. As for Santa Claus, even most Christians don't believe in him.