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Let me start off by saying that you have
developed a refreshing site. I am still reading, but decided to
go ahead and write you. I am a natural rationalist-agnostic (if
there is such a thing) that is beginning to see the enlightenment
of atheism. Natural, because unlike most atheists and agnostics
I am not an ex-christian and had never been programmed via religious
dogma. Rationalist, because I tend to perceive the universe rationally.
Agnostic because I feel that a theist and atheist are one of the
same. What I mean by one of the same is that every human being does
not know and will never prove or disprove (maybe future generations
of atheists/agnostics will disprove with the assistance of science
and rational thought) God. Although I must say that there is more
evidence supported by science and reality that there is no God,
I cannot come to the final conclusion that there is no God until
I have that proven to me. Theist truly WISH that they knew the existence
of God but still do not know and atheist truly BELIEVE (based on
a rational and scientific thought process) that there exists no
God. The fact that atheism is the BELIEF of no God is irrational
in itself. Therefore theist and atheist are in reality agnostics
in denial. I truly know for a fact that I do not know of Gods existence
but I tend to BELIEVE in atheism because of universal evidence seeming
to disprove God.
The following is what I BELIEVE is happening:
Don't laugh
The universe is oscillating. There never
was a God (irrational belief). The universe always existed. Everything
is a cyclical. A sinusoidal positive and negative half wave of time
connected in a circle never starting and never ending born by repetitive
big bangs. Zero is equal to infinity. Can there be an infinite amount
of nothingness? Can there be an infinite amount of one thing that
it presents itself as nothing? Life is void of space and time and
only exists within ones mind... kick it around and write me back.
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I don't need to kick it around. I have had similar thoughts myself. As have
quite a few million Hindus and Buddhists too. But this idea is even harder
to disprove than God so I will let it pass me by. It might be true. We
probably will never know.
All we can know about is the present and we can learn much about the
past. Another Universe is unknowable. I am not very interested in cosmology,
of all the "sciences of atheism" this one is the least interesting because
there is no room for the amateur thinker. Physics and astronomy provide
answers but little room for home experiments of either the practical or
thought variety. I leave it to the experts. I am in danger of getting
my information fifth or sixth hand but that is unavoidable. I absorb the
theories that get as far as the popular media. Apparently the latest evidence
seems to suggest that your hunch is wrong. There is some reason to believe
that the current universal expansion will be literally infinite, no big
crunch is on the agenda. But as I say, that is just what I have absorbed
from the popular media, I cannot say who has concluded it or why.
I think your idea that atheists are irrational in having a belief
(how dare they!) that there is no god is quite bizarre. I look at my atheism
as being defined by theism. Before there was theism there was no atheism.
People simply did not have a belief in god. Now nobody can come at that
subject a virgin. The theist stance demands you take a line on it. There
are broadly four choices; to believe in the crap, not to believe in the
crap, or to resent or deny the question being forced on you or to believe
in an alternative package of crap. You are in the third category, I am
in the second. I have no problem with standing up for what I believe in.
I do not see belief as some kind of sin against rationality. I have many
working hypotheses. The one about gods all being made up is only one of
many.
I also believe without conclusive proof that my wife is a rational sentient
being with a similar set of feelings and motivations to myself, I believe
that she is as capable of feeling pain or making a decision as I am. There
is no way that I can ever be totally convinced that this is true but so
far every time I use this working hypothesis it tends to help me predict
the likely consequences of our interactions better than any other explanation.
I believe she is as real and human as I know myself to be and that
seems to fit the pattern of behaviour I see. I see no reason to put my
belief in the non existence of god in any special category. It is one
of hundreds of working hypotheses I have that have served me well and
that I am very unlikely to give up without a good reason. So I am in the
category of atheist.
It is arguable whether I am a strong atheist or not, depending on how
you define it. If you want to give the concept of belief some special
meaning then I don't fit the strong atheist category because my belief
in the non existence of god would not go beyond the point at which I would
have belief against the evidence. I you introduced me to god personally
and I could see him and his power then I would believe in him. My atheism
is not a faith, but it is a belief.
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Thanks for the reply -- I placed Meme Machine
on my favorites. Maybe I am atheist after all.
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Hello,
I have to thank you. You've helped me find
my 'religion.' Before I found your website, I was confused. I had
always thought religion was useless, but I was afraid to call myself
an atheist. Now, I have no fear. I have publicly announced it. It
feels much better, not having to worry about displeasing the 'God.'
Religion is a joke to me now.
Thanks a million.
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I feel like running around with my shirt pulled over my head. Yeeesss!
I've scored! One less of them, one more of us.
This has made me want to re-double my efforts. I am taking a week
off work anyway, now I have the courage to spend all day at the
computer. One down, five and a half billion to go...
yours ecstatically,
Martin.
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