4 ms·

I think that would be more clearer if he was agnostic. Since he explicitly denies God, it seems a bit counter productive

krastanov 5y ago
I can not speak about him specifically, but most people that call themselves atheist in this setting mean "agnostic atheists", i.e. "of course I can not prove there is no god, but I do not see the point of god, so let's focus on morality from within". A gross simplification, of course, but hopefully it clarifies what I think is just a semantic misunderstanding.
- noptd 5y ago
  For those interested, the spectrum of theistic probability explains this quite well - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectrum_of_theistic_probability#dawkins-formulation https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectrum_of_theistic_probabi... Where 6 would be the scientific stance for most atheists imo. >6. De facto atheist. Very low probability, but short of zero. "I don't know for certain but I think God is very improbable, and I live my life on the assumption that he is not there."
- andrei_says_ 5y ago
  Depending on the definition of “God”, I might me an atheist to agnostic to religious. Old white loving fatherly figure watching me 24/7 in order to punish me if I don’t obey the orders of some cult? Probably not. The sum of all laws of physics, known and unknown, along with all causation chains from the beginning off time, in all directions and interpretations of “time”, in all dimensions etc.? Count me in, I do see the sacredness of it all, in a completely impersonal way. Love this answer on religion by Carl Sagan: https://youtu.be/ML4kiFCKZGo https://youtu.be/ML4kiFCKZGo
woodruffw 5y ago
Why would you need to be religious (much less believe in capital-g god) to answer questions about morality or our place? These are basic questions answered by a variety of secular philosophies.
- badRNG 5y ago
  To be fair, there are religious atheists, though often not Christian. There are (neo)-pagans, Buddhists, and minority religious group members (various indigenous religions, The Satanic Temple, among others) that often describe themselves as "atheistic" or "non-theistic."

krastanov 5y ago

I can not speak about him specifically, but most people that call themselves atheist in this setting mean "agnostic atheists", i.e. "of course I can not prove there is no god, but I do not see the point of god, so let's focus on morality from within". A gross simplification, of course, but hopefully it clarifies what I think is just a semantic misunderstanding.

noptd 5y ago
For those interested, the spectrum of theistic probability explains this quite well - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectrum_of_theistic_probability#dawkins-formulation https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectrum_of_theistic_probabi... Where 6 would be the scientific stance for most atheists imo. >6. De facto atheist. Very low probability, but short of zero. "I don't know for certain but I think God is very improbable, and I live my life on the assumption that he is not there."
andrei_says_ 5y ago
Depending on the definition of “God”, I might me an atheist to agnostic to religious. Old white loving fatherly figure watching me 24/7 in order to punish me if I don’t obey the orders of some cult? Probably not. The sum of all laws of physics, known and unknown, along with all causation chains from the beginning off time, in all directions and interpretations of “time”, in all dimensions etc.? Count me in, I do see the sacredness of it all, in a completely impersonal way. Love this answer on religion by Carl Sagan: https://youtu.be/ML4kiFCKZGo https://youtu.be/ML4kiFCKZGo

woodruffw 5y ago

Why would you need to be religious (much less believe in capital-g god) to answer questions about morality or our place? These are basic questions answered by a variety of secular philosophies.

badRNG 5y ago
To be fair, there are religious atheists, though often not Christian. There are (neo)-pagans, Buddhists, and minority religious group members (various indigenous religions, The Satanic Temple, among others) that often describe themselves as "atheistic" or "non-theistic."