tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812241728597205774.post5524165256404133394..comments2023-12-25T12:43:09.743-05:00Comments on Respectful Atheist: Do Atheists Need Faith?Respectful Atheisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03303760970096374936noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812241728597205774.post-14773634339007939402012-03-30T22:59:52.356-04:002012-03-30T22:59:52.356-04:00I'm an agnostic about most metaphysical matter...I'm an agnostic about most metaphysical matters. Nevertheless, your claim, "Let's get back to my original question...is it necessary, or even healthy, for any of us to cleave to a "belief that is not based on proof"? Ever?? No. Absolutely not." is something that needs to be argued for extensively.<br /><br />See: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/religion-epistemology/<br /><br />I enjoyed the video clip and your post. Keep it up.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17140684212927343634noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812241728597205774.post-21822433370122506552012-03-16T03:02:06.215-04:002012-03-16T03:02:06.215-04:00First off thanks for blogging. I find your perspe...First off thanks for blogging. I find your perspective and commentary interesting and your topics relevant. At times I question the "respectful" part because you tend to look at Christians... condescendingly may be the best word but in the strongest sense of that word. I find it interesting that you're a closet atheist. If you've blogged about why please point me in the direction so you don't have to write about it again but this seems quite curious. I am a Christian and I do like hard questions so this (like several of your other posts) is fun for me to read and it has caused me to think about things. <br /><br />A few points about this post. I will often say "I don't know" in many situations. I know many things but one of the things I'm constantly learning is how much I don't know. There are so many people out there who are smarter than I and also those who are more learned. This doesn't shake my "faith" and I am talking about "belief without proof." Are Christians not allowed to use the "I don't know" phrase without being seen and foolish? Lacking knowledge about a topic doesn't immediately make one unintelligent or even wrong. Your percentages point doesn't seem really logical to me and maybe I just don't understand it. Most of the things you're talking about are based on past experience and other theories conjured from generally accepted sources but in reality the future is unknown. But then you make the jump from knowing the future to belief in a God which is not exactly comparing apples to apples. Honestly a better analogy would be Santa to God. Except that God has so many more plausibilities (and I'll admit they are not empirical facts simply plausibilites) than Santa as to make such a comparison seem silly and, interestingly, a comparison to knowing the future at least seem closer. You go back to creation a lot and while you currently hold the "big bang" theory to be the most logical explanation you hold that loosely and say "I don't know" if something else comes up against it. Is it possible, even in the smallest minute chance, that it might have had some sort of intelligent overseer behind it all? To be fair I have no idea what happened at the beginning of what we call time. Did God poof the universe as a whole into existence with all of it's history latent in the making or did He use a Big Bang to kick things off? Where did the other nations and peoples come from that Cain was afraid of and eventually move out to live among? To be honest I don't really care. I'm curious but it doesn't matter one hill of beans to me either way. My faith in God isn't based on that. It's not based on a feeling altho the joy and hope is a nice fringe benefit. Its informed by but not even really based on Scripture. God's basic design and plan make sense to me (okay sure I'll admit there are hard things to swallow that God has said and done in the past but those don't change the basic ideas of God) and at the end of the day I simply want to believe in God. If at the end of my life I find out I'm wrong I will honestly have no regrets. I will have lived a life full of joy, hope and love. I will have done the best to help those around me. I may not have a huge amount of wealth to show for it all, but I am truly happy and expect my love of life, wife, family, and the world around me only to grow as I do. And I attribute all of that simply to my faith in a good God. I'm curious what motivates an atheist. What do you look forward to? What guides where you want to go with your life and how you want to act towards and be seen by others? <br /><br />Respectfully,<br /><br />Dan CUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09475624196939165560noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812241728597205774.post-81962685538753442252012-03-10T20:10:51.444-05:002012-03-10T20:10:51.444-05:00I can't think of any good reason to believe in...I can't think of any good reason to believe in something without proof. Because it makes you feel good? I guess that's why kids believe in Santa, but as an adult we have to be more realistic. Good post. I liked your paragraph on the varying degrees of certainty.Davehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11573272063962305618noreply@blogger.com