Author Topic: British Theism And Atheism  (Read 14206 times)

Theoretical Skeptic

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Re: British Theism And Atheism
« Reply #125 on: October 23, 2020, 06:02:10 PM »
A god is an object of worship usually to satisfy a desire or nullify a fear.  An example of one is Sol, the sun.  Many people go on pilgrimages to sun soaked beaches on the Mediterranean coast where they prostrate themselves on towels to soak up its warmth.  The Germans even place their prayer towels in position the night before.

Right. The sun is a god. It exists. Gods sometimes exist. Sometimes they don't. But even when they don't they are still gods. Right?
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ippy

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Re: British Theism And Atheism
« Reply #126 on: October 23, 2020, 06:20:02 PM »
What is a god? Do any exist?

There's nothing substantial available that could be seen in any way confirm that there is any such thing as a god or gods.

Here's your chance T S, provide the necessary viable evidence that god or gods exist and you'll be able to claim world fame as the first person to prove that a god or gods do in fact exist.

You're not one of these Cargo Cultists are you? Only Americans have spent a lot more time cruising around those south sea islands than most of us from the UK?

ippy.
 

torridon

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Re: British Theism And Atheism
« Reply #127 on: October 23, 2020, 06:23:02 PM »
No it isn't. Colloquially speaking gods exist. Colloquially speaking gods don't exist. Do gods exist? Yes. You have to be specific. Did the god Zeus literally exist? No. Does Jehovah literally exist. No one knows for sure. Some have faith that he does and some have faith that he doesn't.

The Sumerian king Tammuz, Jesus and Moses were gods. Did they exist? Who knows for sure?

Eric Clapton, idols and respected or influential people are called gods. Are these the gods in the definition of atheism? They exist. Doesn't matter if the reference is colloquial. Makes no difference at all.   

It does make a difference if you want to have a meaningful discourse. If you fail to differentiate between 'Clapton is God', and 'Jesus is Lord' for instance, then your conversation will likely be redundant nonsense, valueless noise leading nowhere. You need to be clear what you are talking about and in what sense you use words where there are multiple meanings.

Stranger

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Re: British Theism And Atheism
« Reply #128 on: October 23, 2020, 06:28:16 PM »
Doesn't matter if the reference is colloquial. Makes no difference at all.   

It does if you want to make any sense at all and have any sort of meaningful discussion on the subject of theism and atheism.
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Gordon

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Re: British Theism And Atheism
« Reply #129 on: October 23, 2020, 06:32:46 PM »
Right. The sun is a god. It exists. Gods sometimes exist. Sometimes they don't. But even when they don't they are still gods. Right?

Might it not be more useful, and in line with knowledge to date and the normal use of language, to refer to the Sun as being a 'star'?

 

bluehillside Retd.

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Re: British Theism And Atheism
« Reply #130 on: October 23, 2020, 06:37:47 PM »
TS,

Quote
No it isn't. Colloquially speaking gods exist.

If by “gods exist” you mean that adjectival descriptions of various phenomena (eg Clapton or cheesecake) exist, then yes they do. 

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Colloquially speaking gods don't exist.

See above – using this meaning of “gods”, colloquially yes they do.

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Do gods exist?

Which of the various meanings of the term “god” are you attempting here?

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Yes.

Yes what?

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You have to be specific.

You’re telling other people to be specific? Good grief… I need a break.

(By “break” I mean an interruption. I also mean a snapping of something. I also mean a vacation. I also mean the revelation of some news. I also mean what a wave does before it collapses onto a beach – hey it’s fun just lumping disparate and different meanings together and pretending that they’re all just one meaning. Maybe you’re on to something after all!)     
 
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Did the god Zeus literally exist? No.

How do you know that?

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Does Jehovah literally exist. No one knows for sure.

And yet you just claimed to know for sure that Zeus did not literally exist. Why the special pleading?   

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Some have faith that he does and some have faith that he doesn't.

And some assert as a fact that he does.

And some simply say that they have no sound reason to think that he does. We call these people “atheists”, a position that requires no faith at all. 

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The Sumerian king Tammuz, Jesus and Moses were gods. Did they exist? Who knows for sure?

No-one does, though some have claimed to.

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Eric Clapton, idols and respected or influential people are called gods.

Only in the colloquial sense,

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Are these the gods in the definition of atheism?

Of course not.

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They exist. Doesn't matter if the reference is colloquial. Makes no difference at all.

Epistemically, it makes all the difference in the world. That’s where keep going wrong.     

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Right. The sun is a god. It exists. Gods sometimes exist. Sometimes they don't. But even when they don't they are still gods. Right?

Wrong – see above.
« Last Edit: October 23, 2020, 06:39:48 PM by bluehillside Retd. »
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ippy

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Re: British Theism And Atheism
« Reply #131 on: October 23, 2020, 06:38:06 PM »
Because, though atheist will be quick to point out that atheists have nothing in common they are equally quick to point out the commonalities of their opposition. Not particularly bright, atheists, really.

You dismiss me easily with Spud or Alan Burns or Vlad. Tack that on me. Makes no difference to me. You are all just Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins. That isn't a compliment.

So we're the same sort of idiots. You should have figured that out long ago.

Yes you're right T S, atheist certainly do have a form of commonality in the ways they express themselves because if anyone is doing their best to reason things out and to be as rational as possible it would be inclined to look like we're all proceeding down a bit of a one way street.

Yes T S, I'll have to give you that one.

ippy.

Theoretical Skeptic

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Re: British Theism And Atheism
« Reply #132 on: October 23, 2020, 06:41:53 PM »
TS,

Does it not occur to you that the problem here isn’t that atheists “cannot grasp the simple concept of god”, but rather that by smooshing together very different concepts of god you’ve made the claim of “a” concept incoherent?

No, I've taken the concept of deity, gods, that have existed for 6,000 years and still exists today. You are trying to "smoosh" the definition of gods together because you don't believe or lack belief in a narrow category of gods (supernatural). Your limited concept of the supernatural creator God of western culture dictates the erroneous limited concept that no gods can exist because a god doesn't have to be any of those things. Some gods are and some aren't.

You could make it a better conversation if you at least acknowledged the objection to what you’re doing, and then try to address it.

I have. Just now and many times in this thread prior to this. 

 
We don’t need to – it’s incoherent.

How is it incoherent? Jehovah wasn't a god until someone said he was. You can't be a god until someone recognizes you as a god. Jehovah said he would be God to Israel. Jehovah said Moses would be God to Aaron and Pharaoh. Jehovah said the judges of Israel were gods. He said the angels were gods. Jesus was a god. Not God. A god. What does all of that mean? It means that to Israel, Jehovah was mighty and venerated. It means that Moses would be mighty to Aaron and Pharaoh. It means the judges, whether they were faithful or not, were mighty. It means the angels were mighty. It means that Jesus was mighty. Satan is called the god of the world. He's mighty to the world. That is what god means. Why is that incoherent? Because you don't understand it. 

Again, just the latter…

No, not just the latter. Speak for yourself.

No, just the gods proposed by deists and by theists - in both cases “supernatural”, and in the latter case the ones able at will supposedly to intervene in human affairs.

Are only some of the examples. Supernatural and intervening in human affairs isn't necessary to be a god.
 
Yes there is - the gods of deists and of theists.

Show me a dictionary definition that specifies this.

There’s no such thing as "atheist ideology”. If you want to call adherence to reason and logic an “ideology” though, that applies to vastly more ”-isms” than to just atheism.

Equating your invisible ideology with reason and logic is only the justification of an ideologue. Everyone has an ideology. Everyone uses reason and logic.

No it doesn’t. What it “dictates” - all it dictates in fact - is that the atheist has been given no sound reasons to believe there to be gods.

Nobody cares. Doesn't matter.   


No, your actual problem with atheism is either that you don’t understand what it entails, or you choose to mischaracterise what it entails.


I don't have a problem with atheism. Only a small portion of it's definition.
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Theoretical Skeptic

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Re: British Theism And Atheism
« Reply #133 on: October 23, 2020, 06:43:31 PM »
Might it not be more useful, and in line with knowledge to date and the normal use of language, to refer to the Sun as being a 'star'?

The sun is a star. The sun is a god. It was known as a god before it was known as a star, though that isn't relevant. A god can be anything or anyone.
“Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty.” ― Frank Herbert, Chapterhouse: Dune

ippy

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Re: British Theism And Atheism
« Reply #134 on: October 23, 2020, 07:22:36 PM »
The sun is a star. The sun is a god. It was known as a god before it was known as a star, though that isn't relevant. A god can be anything or anyone.

Maybe the sun was thought to go around the earth before we learnt more about it and that's without referring to the flat earth idea?

Nobodies found a fossilised Dinosaur saddle yet?

ippy.

Gordon

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Re: British Theism And Atheism
« Reply #135 on: October 23, 2020, 07:38:46 PM »
The sun is a star. The sun is a god. It was known as a god before it was known as a star, though that isn't relevant. A god can be anything or anyone.

You seem to be marooned in infantile thinking.

Theoretical Skeptic

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Re: British Theism And Atheism
« Reply #136 on: October 23, 2020, 07:58:29 PM »
You seem to be marooned in infantile thinking.

Oh, that's very clever. How is it that I'm marooned in infantile thinking?

You in denial? Ignorant of 6 thousand years of theism?

You think that be being completely ignorant of the word god you can make it go away by subscribing to atheism, and I'm marooned in infantile thinking?

Good one, Gordon. Very amusing.
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bluehillside Retd.

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Re: British Theism And Atheism
« Reply #137 on: October 23, 2020, 07:59:56 PM »
TS,

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No, I've taken the concept of deity, gods, that have existed for 6,000 years and still exists today.

No you haven’t. What you’ve done is shmoosh together claims about the objective existence of deities with descriptors of how people feel about various phenomena.   

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You are trying to "smoosh" the definition of gods together…

Er, no – I’m trying to separate them back to their discrete epistemological categories. You’re the one trying to blur the lines remember?

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…because you don't believe or lack belief in a narrow category of gods (supernatural).

I have no belief in the existence of supernatural gods, but that “because” is (another) non sequitur. I’m keeping the definitions separate because they’re different claims: “X exists”; “This is how I feel about Y” respectively.     

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Your limited concept of the supernatural creator God of western culture dictates the erroneous limited concept that no gods can exist because a god doesn't have to be any of those things. Some gods are and some aren't.

This is unhinged:

1. My understanding of claims about supernatural gods is limited only by my knowledge of such claims that have been made available to me.

2. I have no concept that gods cannot exist. It would help if you would stop misrepresenting me (and atheism for that matter) about this. I do not say that gods (or leprechauns for that matter) cannot exist. I merely say that I have no good reason to think that gods (or leprechauns) do exist. We call this position atheism (and a-leprechaunism).

3. Some definitions of the term “god” involve the supernatural, some don’t. My atheism concerns only the former.     

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I have. Just now and many times in this thread prior to this.

No you haven’t. What won’t you address the problem that claims about the supposed fact of supernatural gods are fundamentally different from expressions of feelings about non-supernatural entities?

What’s stopping you?     

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How is it incoherent? Jehovah wasn't a god until someone said he was.

Did you mean to say that? 

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You can't be a god until someone recognizes you as a god.

Why not? Why wouldn’t you be a god just floating about the place, get a bit bored, invent people, then have them call you “god”?

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Jehovah said he would be God to Israel. Jehovah said Moses would be God to Aaron and Pharaoh. Jehovah said the judges of Israel were gods. He said the angels were gods.

No, some books say that “Jehovah” said those things. You’re reifying - another fallacy.

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Jesus was a god. Not God. A god. What does all of that mean?

Nothing. It’s incoherent because you won’t tell us which meaning of the word “god” you’re attempting.

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It means that to Israel, Jehovah was mighty and venerated. It means that Moses would be mighty to Aaron and Pharaoh. It means the judges, whether they were faithful or not, were mighty. It means the angels were mighty. It means that Jesus was mighty. Satan is called the god of the world. He's mighty to the world. That is what god means. Why is that incoherent? Because you don't understand it.

No, because you won’t make up your mind about whether you’re claiming the objective existence of these things at all or just your feelings about them.   
 
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No, not just the latter. Speak for yourself.

Try looking it up. If someone wants to assert “there are no gods” I’m not sure there’s even a word for that, but atheism doesn’t require it.

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Are only some of the examples. Supernatural and intervening in human affairs isn't necessary to be a god.

It is for the purpose of the meaning that atheism addresses.
 
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Show me a dictionary definition that specifies this.

Try looking up “god”. Do you see how most dictionaries will number the various meanings? That’s because they’re different. Very, very different.   

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Equating your invisible ideology with reason and logic is only the justification of an ideologue. Everyone has an ideology. Everyone uses reason and logic.

Except you it seems, at least competently. Your fondness for logical fallacies gives you away. If you think preferring reason-based truths to just guessing about stuff makes me an “ideologue” though, knock yourself out. 

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Nobody cares. Doesn't matter.

If you don’t want your mistakes corrected, stop making them.   

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I don't have a problem with atheism. Only a small portion of it's definition.

Which you get wrong. I‘m an atheist. I’m an atheist because I have no sound reasons to believe in the existence of supernatural deities. This position requires no claims about the non-existence of gods.   

Now write that down until it sinks in.
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Theoretical Skeptic

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Re: British Theism And Atheism
« Reply #138 on: October 23, 2020, 08:05:05 PM »
It does make a difference if you want to have a meaningful discourse. If you fail to differentiate between 'Clapton is God', and 'Jesus is Lord' for instance, then your conversation will likely be redundant nonsense, valueless noise leading nowhere. You need to be clear what you are talking about and in what sense you use words where there are multiple meanings.

Nonsense. I've explained a simple concept to you all repeatedly. You're obtuse. Blinded by ideology.

Clapton is God. A God is, among other things, defined as an adored, admired, or influential person. In that capacity Clapton is God, which is exactly the same as saying Jehovah is God. Or Jesus is Lord.

Stop reading into what is a god. It only means venerated from a root word meaning mighty. Veneration is defined as great respect; reverence.

Short of drawing you a picture I can't help you in your denial.

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bluehillside Retd.

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Re: British Theism And Atheism
« Reply #139 on: October 23, 2020, 08:11:56 PM »
TS,

Quote
Clapton is God. A God is, among other things, defined as an adored, admired, or influential person. In that capacity Clapton is God, which is exactly the same as saying Jehovah is God. Or Jesus is Lord..

No it isn't. The first means: "This is how I feel about Clapton"; the second means, "this is what Jehovah is". As you keep ignoring the explanation though, what's the point of repeating it?
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ProfessorDavey

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Re: British Theism And Atheism
« Reply #140 on: October 23, 2020, 08:15:38 PM »
Clapton is God. A God is, among other things, defined as an adored, admired, or influential person. In that capacity Clapton is God, which is exactly the same as saying Jehovah is God. Or Jesus is Lord.
No it isn't - all 'Clapton is god' means is that some people thought he was a very good guitar player - a 'guitar god' so to speak. No-one (I suspect) ever considered that Clapton actually possessed the characteristic that define a god, namely some kind of supreme and all powerful entity that is above nature, hence supernatural.

Even if there really were Clapton-god believers (I don't actually think there ever were) their worship/veneration of him is entirely different to that of the believers in Jehovah or Jesus as god.

And if you simply going to define everything as somehow god then the whole notion of theism as well as atheism becomes completely meaningless.

ProfessorDavey

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Re: British Theism And Atheism
« Reply #141 on: October 23, 2020, 08:16:44 PM »
TS,

No it isn't. The first means: "This is how I feel about Clapton"; the second means, "this is what Jehovah is". As you keep ignoring the explanation though, what's the point of repeating it?
Indeed - and actually it goes beyond that, the former means "This is how I feel about Clapton's guitar playing".

torridon

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Re: British Theism And Atheism
« Reply #142 on: October 23, 2020, 08:41:18 PM »
Nonsense. I've explained a simple concept to you all repeatedly. You're obtuse. Blinded by ideology.

Clapton is God. A God is, among other things, defined as an adored, admired, or influential person. In that capacity Clapton is God, which is exactly the same as saying Jehovah is God. Or Jesus is Lord.

Stop reading into what is a god. It only means venerated from a root word meaning mighty. Veneration is defined as great respect; reverence.

Short of drawing you a picture I can't help you in your denial.

Definition of 'god' from Oxford languages :

noun
1.
(in Christianity and other monotheistic religions) the creator and ruler of the universe and source of all moral authority; the supreme being.
2.
(in certain other religions) a superhuman being or spirit worshipped as having power over nature or human fortunes; a deity.

Whilst Clapton may be a great blues guitarist, no one seriously believes him to be the creator and ruler of the universe. People talking like that are profiting from the expressive versatility of the English language to make a point in the reasonable expectation that others will also read that in the same way.  I've yet to meet anyone who identifies as atheist on the basis of not admiring Clapton's guitar work. Have you ? I think you are just playing about with obtuse word games and misdirection.

Gordon

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Re: British Theism And Atheism
« Reply #143 on: October 23, 2020, 08:45:24 PM »
Oh, that's very clever. How is it that I'm marooned in infantile thinking?

You in denial? Ignorant of 6 thousand years of theism?

You think that be being completely ignorant of the word god you can make it go away by subscribing to atheism, and I'm marooned in infantile thinking?

Good one, Gordon. Very amusing.

Glad you enjoyed it, but you are missing the point.

So far as I can see 'God' is meaningless white noise and, as such, is easily dispensed with when it is used to refer to aspects of religious superstitions involving supernatural agents. It is even easier to dispense with when it is used in your equivocation-laden formulation, where you see the term being relevant to pretty much anything that takes your fancy.


Theoretical Skeptic

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Re: British Theism And Atheism
« Reply #144 on: October 23, 2020, 08:52:28 PM »
Definition of 'god' from Oxford languages :

noun
1.
(in Christianity and other monotheistic religions) the creator and ruler of the universe and source of all moral authority; the supreme being.
2.
(in certain other religions) a superhuman being or spirit worshipped as having power over nature or human fortunes; a deity.

Why stop there? There's more. Kind of dishonest don't you think? Did you think you were the only one to get that link?

For the non-atheists or atheists who don't think they can redefine god after six thousand years, here is the Complete Definition.
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Theoretical Skeptic

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Re: British Theism And Atheism
« Reply #145 on: October 23, 2020, 08:58:10 PM »
Glad you enjoyed it, but you are missing the point.

No, I get the point. Anyone who doesn't think like you is a marooned infantile  thinker. I've run across enough atheists to be familiar with non-dogmatic dogma, faith in no faith, belief in no belief and the Utopian science agenda. Eugenics and all that. Nothing new there. 

So far as I can see 'God' is meaningless white noise and, as such, is easily dispensed with when it is used to refer to aspects of religious superstitions involving supernatural agents. It is even easier to dispense with when it is used in your equivocation-laden formulation, where you see the term being relevant to pretty much anything that takes your fancy.

Not necessarily my fancy. Anyone's fancy. You still don't understand and you won't be able to understand until you a) do some research and b) abandon your nonsensical dogma. 
“Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty.” ― Frank Herbert, Chapterhouse: Dune

torridon

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Re: British Theism And Atheism
« Reply #146 on: October 23, 2020, 09:08:16 PM »
Why stop there? There's more. Kind of dishonest don't you think? Did you think you were the only one to get that link?

For the non-atheists or atheists who don't think they can redefine god after six thousand years, here is the Complete Definition.

Yes, we all know there are multiple derivatives and variations and colloquialisms, language is like that.  Someone identifying as atheist however is likely referring to the core definition and not one of its many lesser derivatives.  I don't see that you are making any real point, just playing ambiguous word games with shades of meaning to garner some sort of faux air of superiority.

Owlswing

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Re: British Theism And Atheism
« Reply #147 on: October 23, 2020, 09:16:17 PM »

Yes, we all know there are multiple derivatives and variations and colloquialisms, language is like that.  Someone identifying as atheist, however, is likely referring to the core definition and not one of its many lesser derivatives. I don't see that you are making any real point, just playing ambiguous word games with shades of meaning to garner some sort of faux air of superiority.


You really expected something, anything, else?
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Theoretical Skeptic

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Re: British Theism And Atheism
« Reply #148 on: October 23, 2020, 09:22:56 PM »
Yes, we all know there are multiple derivatives and variations and colloquialisms, language is like that.  Someone identifying as atheist however is likely referring to the core definition and not one of its many lesser derivatives.  I don't see that you are making any real point, just playing ambiguous word games with shades of meaning to garner some sort of faux air of superiority.

In other words you don't have any real argument. You see, the Bible says God created the heavens and earth. (Genesis 1:1) Let us create man in our image. (Genesis 1:26; 3:22; 11:7; Proverbs 8:30; John 1:3; Colossians 1:16) So, you have people in 1513 BCE using the term God. But then you have that same god saying that those people shouldn't ambiguously, if you will, worship other gods; that is they shouldn't put other gods before him. Who are they? Was it a competition to see who was the real creator like that old American game show

 
« Last Edit: October 23, 2020, 09:35:09 PM by Theoretical Skeptic »
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Re: British Theism And Atheism
« Reply #149 on: October 23, 2020, 09:25:15 PM »
You really expected something, anything, else?

Note to the reader: they have no argument. At all.
“Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty.” ― Frank Herbert, Chapterhouse: Dune