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Please don't assume that just because I don't believe in any God I have to be an 'atheist" (whatever that means).

The best description of my beliefs in this area is agnostic. There is no good reason to believe it seems to me. Trying to prove a negative is an exercise in futility.

So I haven't got the faintest idea whether there's a God or not, and regard all strong beliefs in this area sceptically. The biggest difference, in my experience, is that non-believers rarely impose their beliefs on others whereas, in my exp, believers have been attempting that all my life.

Abortion is one easy example to support my perspective. There are many

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ORIGINAL: tweakabelle
Usually, beliefs are held because of the preponderance of evidence affirming the belief.

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ORIGINAL: tweakabelle
Not believing in an ideology is not a matter of faith, it is a matter of absence/lack of evidence.

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ORIGINAL: rawtape
... is that there is no particular reason to "privilege" a thesis about god any more than all the other concepts whose validity or lack thereof is currently not provable...

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ORIGINAL: eihwaz

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ORIGINAL: Owner59
Science doesn`t start with faith.

Science is based on the unprovable assumption that the cosmos is ordered rationally according to universal, discoverable laws.  So you could say that science does start with faith.

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ORIGINAL: tweakabelle

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ORIGINAL: eihwaz

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ORIGINAL: Owner59
Science doesn`t start with faith.

Science is based on the unprovable assumption that the cosmos is ordered rationally according to universal, discoverable laws.  So you could say that science does start with faith.

Yeppers.

Ultimately science is as much a cult as any other ordered system of thought. It just works better than most.

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ORIGINAL: juliaoceania

Science is a cultural construct.....

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ORIGINAL: Kirata

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ORIGINAL: Hippiekinkster

We don't need to prove anything. We aren't the ones making an assertion that cannot be backed up by any evidence.

You don't need to prove anything if you simply don't believe in God. And people who believe in God don't need to prove anything either. But people who declare it to be a fact that there is no God are in the same boat as people who declare it to be a fact that there is one.

K.

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Stating that Rationalists are in the same boat as Supernaturalists is as disingenuous as stating that there is some sort of controversy over Evolution, and that "Intelligent Design" is equally as valid a "point of view", when in fact, any such controvery is manufactured, and there is no evidence whatsoever to support ID.

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ORIGINAL: eihwaz

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ORIGINAL: rawtape
... is that there is no particular reason to "privilege" a thesis about god any more than all the other concepts whose validity or lack thereof is currently not provable...

And in what knowledge domain is the god thesis "privileged?" 

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...And what does it matter to you what someone's personal religious (or nonreligious) beliefs are?

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ORIGINAL: juliaoceania

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Stating that Rationalists are in the same boat as Supernaturalists is as disingenuous as stating that there is some sort of controversy over Evolution, and that "Intelligent Design" is equally as valid a "point of view", when in fact, any such controvery is manufactured, and there is no evidence whatsoever to support ID.

Here you are owning people by naming them, not all people who believe in something larger than themselves believe in intelligent design, not all of them believe that a god concept requires something "supernatural"... if god exists he/she can be nothing but natural.

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ORIGINAL: Kirata

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ORIGINAL: Hippiekinkster

Stating that Rationalists are in the same boat as Supernaturalists is as disingenuous as...

Bullshit. People who issue statements of fact about things they cannot possibly know are imbeciles. It doesn't matter whether they're talking about gods or earthworms.

K.

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ORIGINAL: eihwaz

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ORIGINAL: Owner59
Science doesn`t start with faith.

Science is based on the unprovable assumption that the cosmos is ordered rationally according to universal, discoverable laws.  So you could say that science does start with faith.

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Definition of SUPERNATURAL
1: of or relating to an order of existence beyond the visible observable universe; especially : of or relating to God or a god, demigod, spirit, or devil
2a : departing from what is usual or normal especially so as to appear to transcend the laws of nature b : attributed to an invisible agent (as a ghost or spirit)
(Merriam-Webster Dictionary)

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And deists don't need to prove there is a god, until they open their mouths. At that point, they are asserting the existence of something for which there is no evidence of. And at that point, I want them to show me some concrete evidence. They cannot. So I conclude that, since there has been, throughout the entire history of Mankind, no proof whatsoever that there is in fact some sort of supernatural phenomenon labelled "God", that there is no such thing.

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ORIGINAL: Kirata

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ORIGINAL: Hippiekinkster

If you want me to believe in a deity, provide proof. Otherwise, no such thing exists.

Get yourself a fucking windmill to play with. There is nothing in this world about which I give less of a fuck than whether or not you believe in a deity. I have never even claimed that there is one, let alone tried to convince anyone else of such a thing.

K.

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ORIGINAL: juliaoceania

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Definition of SUPERNATURAL
1: of or relating to an order of existence beyond the visible observable universe; especially : of or relating to God or a god, demigod, spirit, or devil
2a : departing from what is usual or normal especially so as to appear to transcend the laws of nature b : attributed to an invisible agent (as a ghost or spirit)
(Merriam-Webster Dictionary)

Some people think that god is an observable phenomena. They believe he is part of the observable order of things. That god does not "transcend" the laws of nature, but is a part of them.

From the things you argue you would seem to judge all people who believe in something bigger than themselves as being like Christians..

Now, it seems as though you have a problem with people expressing faith

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And deists don't need to prove there is a god, until they open their mouths. At that point, they are asserting the existence of something for which there is no evidence of. And at that point, I want them to show me some concrete evidence. They cannot. So I conclude that, since there has been, throughout the entire history of Mankind, no proof whatsoever that there is in fact some sort of supernatural phenomenon labelled "God", that there is no such thing.

Perhaps no one cares about showing you jack... it is a free country, after all.

I do not understand the hostility of some people towards others because of differences... and the above quote reeks of hostility.

Personally speaking, I have no interest in proving anything to anyone. I could care less if people believe in whatever they like, as long as they leave me alone to believe my own thing

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No. You carefully tap-dance around the issue without committing to a position, apparently preferring instead to take potshots at those who are either passive Atheists, or are opposed to Deism as a destructive ideology.

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Tell me, what is "somthing bigger than one's self"?