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I don't know how "hardcore" I am. My lack of belief is due to lack of evidence. The quality of my life is pretty good (perhaps due to my WEIRDness) and, yes, th

I don't know how "hardcore" I am. My lack of belief is due to lack of evidence. The quality of my life is pretty good (perhaps due to my WEIRDness) and, yes, that would probably prevent me from looking to something "else". That said, if the evidence were significantly more convincing, I'd change in a heartbeat.

linsistine 8y ago
Evidence in what regard? Evidence to validate the proclaimed truth behind religion?
- tw04 8y ago
  Evidence to prove the Bible isn't an entirely fictional work with very little basis in fact. Portions of which can be used to assist in developing a solid moral compass, but historically has been used to justify atrocities rather than elevate mankind.
  - linsistine 8y ago
    Well it's hard to convince anyone of the validity of religion because it is faith-based. I am a religious person because it gives me peace and strength, and in an odd way makes sense to ME. My personal experiences validate it, but of course this is not universal and hard to communicate to someone. But, the belief in a Higher Power, a God, a Creator of some sort, is rooted in using logic. That is something that I don't understand how someone can deny.
- z3t4 8y ago
  A win in the startup lottery maybe. But I would probably claim it's due to my own skill of being at the right place of the right time.
- lucozade 8y ago
  Probably for the existence of God. God's existence, if He were to have a reasonable fraction of the attributes ascribed to him, would be trivially provable to the most hardened atheist. The fact that that hasn't happened, with no clear reason why not, is quite tricky for a lot of sceptics to get passed.
trey-jones 8y ago
Lack of evidence and willingness to change sounds more like "agnostic" than atheist to me. I'm not trying to split hairs - I am much more OK with declaring myself to be agnostic than athiest (I'm an American and southern to boot, Grandfather was a preacher). The best way I've heard it put is that Athiests believe there is no God. Agnostics believe that it is unknown and unknowable whether there is a god.
- ykevinator 8y ago
  But defaulting to god being possible is itself religious. There is equal proof of the existence of 2 gods as there is one. And equal proof of 100. Throw god away and start with a clean slate, ask what happened and you will come up with big bang and evolution. No modern adult would start with a god. The fact that its an option is a legacy and one that I think pollutes agnostics' thinking.
- ceejayoz 8y ago
  The counterpoint to this is Russell's teapot: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell%27s_teapot https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell%27s_teapot Yes, technically, I'm agnostic about a teapot orbiting Mars, or an invisible unicorn living on the Moon... but it's a reasonable statement to just say flatly "there's no such thing" until someone presents some pretty solid evidence that's incorrect. I've also heard folks make a distinction between "weak" and "strong" atheism; weak being "I don't believe there's a God, but I could be convinced with good enough evidence" and strong being "nothing would convince me of a God".
ykevinator 8y ago
Exactly. Atheism is nothing more then accepting an evidence based belief system.
- linsistine 8y ago
  What is your evidence?

linsistine 8y ago

Evidence in what regard? Evidence to validate the proclaimed truth behind religion?

tw04 8y ago
Evidence to prove the Bible isn't an entirely fictional work with very little basis in fact. Portions of which can be used to assist in developing a solid moral compass, but historically has been used to justify atrocities rather than elevate mankind.
- linsistine 8y ago
  Well it's hard to convince anyone of the validity of religion because it is faith-based. I am a religious person because it gives me peace and strength, and in an odd way makes sense to ME. My personal experiences validate it, but of course this is not universal and hard to communicate to someone. But, the belief in a Higher Power, a God, a Creator of some sort, is rooted in using logic. That is something that I don't understand how someone can deny.
z3t4 8y ago
A win in the startup lottery maybe. But I would probably claim it's due to my own skill of being at the right place of the right time.
lucozade 8y ago
Probably for the existence of God. God's existence, if He were to have a reasonable fraction of the attributes ascribed to him, would be trivially provable to the most hardened atheist. The fact that that hasn't happened, with no clear reason why not, is quite tricky for a lot of sceptics to get passed.

trey-jones 8y ago

Lack of evidence and willingness to change sounds more like "agnostic" than atheist to me. I'm not trying to split hairs - I am much more OK with declaring myself to be agnostic than athiest (I'm an American and southern to boot, Grandfather was a preacher). The best way I've heard it put is that Athiests believe there is no God. Agnostics believe that it is unknown and unknowable whether there is a god.

ykevinator 8y ago
But defaulting to god being possible is itself religious. There is equal proof of the existence of 2 gods as there is one. And equal proof of 100. Throw god away and start with a clean slate, ask what happened and you will come up with big bang and evolution. No modern adult would start with a god. The fact that its an option is a legacy and one that I think pollutes agnostics' thinking.
ceejayoz 8y ago
The counterpoint to this is Russell's teapot: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell%27s_teapot https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell%27s_teapot Yes, technically, I'm agnostic about a teapot orbiting Mars, or an invisible unicorn living on the Moon... but it's a reasonable statement to just say flatly "there's no such thing" until someone presents some pretty solid evidence that's incorrect. I've also heard folks make a distinction between "weak" and "strong" atheism; weak being "I don't believe there's a God, but I could be convinced with good enough evidence" and strong being "nothing would convince me of a God".

ykevinator 8y ago

Exactly. Atheism is nothing more then accepting an evidence based belief system.

linsistine 8y ago
What is your evidence?