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| NLN |
 Posted: Mon Apr 28, 2008 6:46 pm Post subject: An Atheist's Creed |
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Forum Freshman
Joined: 17 Mar 2007
Posts: 20
Location: Southern California
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| I thought you folks might be interested in reading An Atheist's Creed, by physicist Mano Singham. It's an exceptional piece. |
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| Obviously |
| Posted: Mon Apr 28, 2008 11:11 pm Post subject: Re: An Atheist's Creed |
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Forum Ph.D.
Joined: 14 Aug 2007
Posts: 890
Location: Norway
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| NLN wrote: |
| I thought you folks might be interested in reading An Atheist's Creed, by physicist Mano Singham. It's an exceptional piece. |
Not bad, I liked it.
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“After Darwin, God's role changes from being the designer of all creatures, great and small, to being the designer of the laws of nature, from which natural selection can unfold, to being just perhaps the chooser of the laws.”
~ Daniel C. Dennett |
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| marnixR |
| Posted: Mon Apr 28, 2008 11:37 pm Post subject: |
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Forum Cosmic Wizard
Joined: 10 Apr 2007
Posts: 2139
Location: Cardiff, Wales
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saying that, i never subscribe to another person's beliefs
it just so happens that my own thinking has led me to conclusions not too dissimilar from the ones described in the link, so, in a way, i don't find anything in the author's "i believe"s that i vehemently disagree with
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| Harold14370 |
| Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2008 12:49 am Post subject: |
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Forum Professor
Joined: 13 Apr 2007
Posts: 1244
Location: Pennsylvania
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An atheist creed. That's an oxymoron, isn't it? While he denies having any beliefs, in the religious sense, these parts of his creed do look to me a lot like religious belief.
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| I believe in the power of science and reason and rationality to further deepen our understanding of everything around us and to eventually overcome superstition and erase the petty divisions sown by religion, race, ethnicity, and nationality. |
There is no objective proof that religion, race, ethnicity or nationality are responsible for petty divisions. You cannot eliminate race or ethnicity. Will eliminating religion or nationality erase petty divisions? I highly doubt it.
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I believe in the power of ideals such as peace and justice and shared humanity to inspire us to create a free and just world. |
There is no objective evidence for this.
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I believe in kindness, love, and the human spirit and their ability to overcome challenges and adversity and to create a better world. |
There is no objective evidence for this, either. |
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| Obviously |
| Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2008 3:17 am Post subject: |
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Forum Ph.D.
Joined: 14 Aug 2007
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I doubt the world will ever become "one". There will always be "petty" division amongs man. There's probably an evolutionary reason for why there's division, and it's not necessarily a bad thing. It depends. Other than that, I found it quite good. But nothing special really.
As marnixR said, I have reached my own conclusions. There's nothing I completely disagree with, but I have my own thoughts on it.
_________________
“After Darwin, God's role changes from being the designer of all creatures, great and small, to being the designer of the laws of nature, from which natural selection can unfold, to being just perhaps the chooser of the laws.”
~ Daniel C. Dennett |
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| Pong |
| Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2008 3:50 am Post subject: |
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Forum Senior
Joined: 08 Apr 2008
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Sorry NLN, I imagine any of the above posters could have written that, or better. You too.
The line that struck me, was, about refusing to bow... since there is no God to bow to, then what does that gesture cost the atheist? I'm one of those polite atheists pleasantly entertained by people saying grace over dinner and I even get a kick out of leading it. Atheists need not worry what God thinks of their actions. |
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| (Q) |
| Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2008 7:08 am Post subject: |
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Forum Ph.D.
Joined: 12 May 2005
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Although an interesting creed, it should be re-written to exclude the opening of sentences, "I believe."
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I may have no understanding of the current theory of evolution. But that's because science keeps changing it. A few weeks ago I read in the newspaper that it had once again been adjusted & just the other day I discovered a new book called "The New Theory of Evolution" ~~Steven Titchenell : W.V.B.I.G. President. |
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| marnixR |
| Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2008 9:32 am Post subject: |
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Forum Cosmic Wizard
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Location: Cardiff, Wales
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even with the proviso stating that "scientific belief doesn't equate religious belief" the word "belief" has too many religious overtones ...
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biology without evolution is but stamp collecting |
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| Obviously |
| Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2008 9:41 am Post subject: |
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Forum Ph.D.
Joined: 14 Aug 2007
Posts: 890
Location: Norway
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| (Q) wrote: |
| Although an interesting creed, it should be re-written to exclude the opening of sentences, "I believe." |
| marnixR wrote: |
| even with the proviso stating that "scientific belief doesn't equate religious belief" the word "belief" has too many religious overtones ... |
Bah... I think you guys are taking it too far, it's only words. Besides, it's not like he said "I have faith". 
_________________
“After Darwin, God's role changes from being the designer of all creatures, great and small, to being the designer of the laws of nature, from which natural selection can unfold, to being just perhaps the chooser of the laws.”
~ Daniel C. Dennett |
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| verzen |
| Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2008 10:37 am Post subject: |
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Forum Sophomore
Joined: 27 Dec 2007
Posts: 162
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Faith is the belief of something with no proof..
An exampe being, "I have faith that my brother will win the race"
That has no religious context at all. The reason it became associated with religion, is that religion has no proof at all about what they believe. So they have faith in a god of which they have no proof.
Kind of like trying to convict a man for murder without a body.. They have faith that a murder did happen. Do they have proof? Not really... |
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| esbo |
| Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 9:28 pm Post subject: |
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| marnixR |
| Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 11:42 pm Post subject: |
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Forum Cosmic Wizard
Joined: 10 Apr 2007
Posts: 2139
Location: Cardiff, Wales
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| esbo wrote: |
| Atheists are animals. |
i'm afraid you have this back to front - that should read : animals are atheists
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| TvEye |
| Posted: Tue May 06, 2008 3:19 am Post subject: |
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Forum Senior
Joined: 10 Nov 2007
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I wonder if anyone's ever asked one of those sign language gorillas whether he-she believes in a god. I'd like to know what the response would be. I'm guessing, 'give me more banana'
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"First we build the tools, then they build us" - Marshall McLuhan. |
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| marnixR |
| Posted: Tue May 06, 2008 5:44 am Post subject: |
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Forum Cosmic Wizard
Joined: 10 Apr 2007
Posts: 2139
Location: Cardiff, Wales
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| TvEye wrote: |
| I wonder if anyone's ever asked one of those sign language gorillas whether he-she believes in a god. I'd like to know what the response would be. I'm guessing, 'give me more banana' |
agreed - "what's god ? does it taste nice or can i have sex with it ?"
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biology without evolution is but stamp collecting |
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