categories

mankind

Question:: 
what is man's orgin.
Atheist Answer: 

Something which was very nearly a man (or woman), but was technically an ape according to our modern classification system.

The offspring was very slightly mutated; it was just different enough from its ape parents to get across our arbitrary line and be properly human. Whatever was different, it was probably something beneficial like longer legs, stronger hands or a bigger brain.

Of course, the first human didn't care about classifications and it didn't know it was human. We just think about it this way in retrospect.

- SmartLX

Waht am I if I believe this?

Question:: 
The way that I had always heard the term atheist used is someone who believes that God does not exist. It would seem that many people would define this as a strong atheist. (An agnostic strong atheist would then be someone who still has a belief that God doesn't exist, but is open to the possibility that he is wrong.) A person who is genuinely undecided, and is unwilling to commit to one belief or the other, would then be a weak atheist. (The qualifier agnostic would be redundant for a weak atheist.) If this is not how the terms are used, then someone can correct me. The term weak atheist is what most people would probably refere to as an agnostic(noun). My question is, if the common usage of the terms is already as I have described, then why insist on this pedantic, all-inclsive definition of atheist, which envelopes everyone by default who isn't a theist? It seems logical that, if the belief in God's existence has a title to itself, then the belief in His nonexistence deserves one as well. Perhaps those of us who are genuinely unsure, and do not consider ourselves closer to either position, would rather not be lumped in with one category over the other. That seems about as fair as labeling everyone either pro-life or pro-choioce, and then saying "If you haven't made up your mind, we're going to call you pro-choice." It would seem that a lot of confusion could be saved by using the more logical definitions. Before you wave the Oxford dictionary at me, keep in mind that dictionaries aren't final authorities. The meaning of words change, which is why dictionaries are always being rewritten, and perhaps sometimes there's a reason why they change.
Atheist Answer: 

"Weak atheist" is someone who is of the opinion or has reached the conclusion that there are no gods. It's not a positive belief.

"Strong atheist" is someone who believes that there is no god or equivalent. There are few of these.

I think the modern atheist position is not "There is no god" or even "There is no EVIDENCE for any god". It's "There is no AVAILABLE evidence for any god, and based on this (and other factors) I disregard the small probability that one exists." We acknowledge that we can't prove non-existence, but we assume it anyway.

Better?
- SmartLX

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