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" In that case, the person who believes in the true deity can consistently say that he as a theist believes in the true one while rejecting all the false ones w
by jamesbritt 17y ago
" In that case, the person who believes in the true deity can consistently say that he as a theist believes in the true one while rejecting all the false ones while the person who denies all of them includes in that denial the one true deity and hence is an atheist."
This looks to be a matter of definition of "atheist". (Or "theist", for that matter.)
Is an atheist one who does not believe the claims of the existence of deities? Or one who does not believe in the existence of what is in fact a deity?
"But this logic falls apart if one assumes there is one true deity ..." Isn't this just begging the question? By the same reasoning, if we posit that there are no deities, then no atheist is an atheist because they are not, in fact, disbelieving regarding any actual deities.
"In other words, from the theistic perspective, the question is whether there is indeed a true deity of whatever type. If so, that is pretty important. If not, then obviously it is not."
Well, that's the whole matter right there; it's pretty important whether you are a theist or an atheist, because that's part of what's under question. (More broadly, the question is whether there are any deities; there being but one is sort of a variation on that.)
- enjo 17y ago+1 for proper use of 'begging the question' :)
- jamesbritt 17y agoThanks. I cop to having a certain glee when the opportunity for that arises. :)
- grellas 17y agoAn atheist can be either one who does not believe the claims of the existence of deities (if no such deity exists) or one who does not believe in what is in fact a true deity (if the deity does exist). I will grant that, if the atheistic view is correct that there is no true deity, then it is the believer who suffers from reality distortion. That, of course, is the nature of that debate. But I don't think the point I am making here assumes that one or the other is correct. I'm simply trying to address the logic of the original piece that no one can meaningfully use the word atheist because that person in turn will deny the existence of other deities.
- ErrantX 17y agoBut you're talking from a position where it is currently not possible to prove the existence/non-existence of a God. If, for example, God were proven to exist then the definition of an Atheist would not change. However the people who were Atheists would absolutely change - myself for one :) because many current Atheists are also rationalists.
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