Guild Wars 2

you must be easy to offend then. I’m an Atheist too and I don’t care what people talk about in the map chat. Map chat is not your personal space.

And in fact people should stop using the “it offends me” card. I bet you anything, any topic that you can think about, it offends someone. However you don’t get to be a special snowflake and withhold others right to free speech, unless of course, they’re doing something against the rules themselves.

Kysin.6349:

Windu The Forbidden One.6045:

Funny thing is, while the existance of a higher power can’t be disproven, the existance of the christian god can. Many things this god supposedly has done like: create everything in 7 days, put the earth at the center of the universe, start the human race with just one man and one woman and many other things are all proven false.

So even if their god exists, it would not be the god their religion describes.

Nowhere does the bible say the earth is the center of the universe (the catholic church believed this a very long time ago).

Nowhere did I say it is stated in the bible. It was stated by the church, which always claims to relay the word of god.

Mirta.5029:

you must be easy to offend then. I’m an Atheist too and I don’t care what people talk about in the map chat. Map chat is not your personal space.

Exactly. Map chat is not your personal space. That includes for praising God. Religious people have the right to be offended, so I have the right to be offended when someone questions my lack of belief.

Don’t worry, some day the whole bible and jesus thing will go out of style like all New Age religions do at some point.

Bryzy.2719:

Exactly. Map chat is not your personal space. That includes for praising God. Religious people have the right to be offended, so I have the right to be offended when someone questions my lack of belief.

you have the right to be offended. But that’s about it. Everyone can ignore how you feel freely. Like I said before, unless it’s against the rules, you can’t stop others from using free speech. Some people would be offended if the conversation went to eating meat. Some people would be offended if politics, vaccinations, childcare, etc entered the chat. However they’re all valid topics. So yeah. You have the right to stay offended, but that’s about it.

Welcome to the internet.

Bryzy.2719:

Mirta.5029:

you must be easy to offend then. I’m an Atheist too and I don’t care what people talk about in the map chat. Map chat is not your personal space.

Exactly. Map chat is not your personal space. That includes for praising God. Religious people have the right to be offended, so I have the right to be offended when someone questions my lack of belief.

That’s a double edged sword, because there needs to be rights for people like me as well, who are offended by people being offended by something harmless just because they don’t like it. Censoring silly things also offends me. So in the end, nobody wins unless they all stop complaining.

One thing is for sure. Almost every current religion believes their god is the one true god. They leave no room for other religions. They can’t all be right. So at the very least they are all false except for one.

Mirta.5029:

Bryzy.2719:

Exactly. Map chat is not your personal space. That includes for praising God. Religious people have the right to be offended, so I have the right to be offended when someone questions my lack of belief.

you have the right to be offended. But that’s about it. Everyone can ignore how you feel freely. Like I said before, unless it’s against the rules, you can’t stop others from using free speech. Some people would be offended if the conversation went to eating meat. Some people would be offended if politics, vaccinations, childcare, etc entered the chat. However they’re all valid topics. So yeah. You have the right to stay offended, but that’s about it.

So why is it I get a warning for discussing the non-existence of God and criticising religion yet religious gamers get no warnings for praising God? Like you said, I have freedom of speech and right to express my opinion – so why is Atheistic discussion punishable and religious discussion isn’t?

Bryzy.2719:

Mirta.5029:

Bryzy.2719:

Exactly. Map chat is not your personal space. That includes for praising God. Religious people have the right to be offended, so I have the right to be offended when someone questions my lack of belief.

you have the right to be offended. But that’s about it. Everyone can ignore how you feel freely. Like I said before, unless it’s against the rules, you can’t stop others from using free speech. Some people would be offended if the conversation went to eating meat. Some people would be offended if politics, vaccinations, childcare, etc entered the chat. However they’re all valid topics. So yeah. You have the right to stay offended, but that’s about it.

So why is it I get a warning for discussing the non-existence of God and criticising religion yet religious gamers get no warnings for praising God? Like you said, I have freedom of speech and right to express my opinion – so why is Atheistic discussion punishable and religious discussion isn’t?

Because saying “I like Mickey Mouse” is not offensive, but saying “You are stupid for liking Mickey Mouse” is offensive.

Ameepa.6793:

Don’t worry, some day the whole bible and jesus thing will go out of style like all New Age religions do at some point.

Christianity has been around for over 2000 years and the Christian God has been worshiped for approximately 4000 years before that. What you say is highly unlikely to ever happen.

I told you guys this would spiral…..

Praise the Lord, Hallelujah. God will smite these atheists.

alcopaul.2156:

Praise the Lord, Hallelujah. God will smite these atheists.

The power of the almighty Flying Spaghetti Monster compels you!

Lazaar.9123:

Two.1627:

Lazaar.9123:

Two.1627:

I understand Atheism less then I understand God/Allah. Seems to be a group of people set on letting everyone else know they are wrong.

Atheism is just the lack of a belief, you are thinking of anti-theism.

If Atheism is the lack of belief how can you get anybody to believe in it?

Oh boy… okay, i’ll say it again. Lack of belief. You do not believe in lack of belief.

Ok, I ll say atheisim is more than a lack of belief, it is a belief in no god. A as a prefix means not, or non thei represents god/religion, and ism is basically a belief/practice

so atheisim, i would say is not the lack of belief in god, but rather the belief in no god.
i think agnosticism, is probably more properly a lack of belief.

Bryzy.2719:

So why is it I get a warning for discussing the non-existence of God and criticising religion yet religious gamers get no warnings for praising God? Like you said, I have freedom of speech and right to express my opinion – so why is Atheistic discussion punishable and religious discussion isn’t?

having a hypothetical discussion is alright, however I bet you actually tried to insult them, or say that they shouldn’t be allowed to discuss it at some point. Like some other post said:
“I like Micky Mouse” is alright
“I don’t believe/ don’t like Micky Mouse” is equality alright
“you’re not as intelligent as me because of the position you hold” is not alright.

Please unruffle your fedora, OP.

phys.7689:

Ok, I ll say atheisim is more than a lack of belief, it is a belief in no god. A as a prefix means not, or non thei represents god/religion, and ism is basically a belief/practice

so atheisim, i would say is not the lack of belief in god, but rather the belief in no god.
i think agnosticism, is probably more properly a lack of belief.

the default position is always negative until proven otherwise. “I have a dolphin in my bath” “I don’t believe in you”. Atheism is a similar deal. Still you can’t believe in lack of belief. That’s kind of like playing “I’m not going to play chess because I dislike it”.

And this is why most every MMO guild I’ve been in has had a rule of “no politics or religion in chat.” Even civil discussions can rapidly escalate as differing ideologies clash, and it has nothing at all to do with game play. It’s been successful enough that sometimes I can know a friend for years in a game and be surprised when I find out they have opinions opposite to mine on the merits of belief in a deity, or whether or not the President is admirable.

I don’t find proselytizing in map chat offensive so much as grossly out of place and highly unlikely to accomplish what the person doing it really wants. I’m in Tyria, which has its own mythos, and it’s rather jarring to see chat going on about Terran belief systems. So I almost always ignore it completely. (I’m only human, sometimes I do get the urge to post a response to something. Usually I firmly quash the impulse).

As a Christian I see a lot of things in chat that could potentially offend me. But as a grown adult I make a choice not to get offended. It’s not hard.

alcopaul.2156:

Praise the Lord, Hallelujah. God will smite these atheists.

If the smiting happens and can be repeated in controlled experimental conditions, that’d be sufficient empirical evidence to disprove the null hypothesis.

Mirta.5029:

phys.7689:

Ok, I ll say atheisim is more than a lack of belief, it is a belief in no god. A as a prefix means not, or non thei represents god/religion, and ism is basically a belief/practice

so atheisim, i would say is not the lack of belief in god, but rather the belief in no god.
i think agnosticism, is probably more properly a lack of belief.

the default position is always negative until proven otherwise. “I have a dolphin in my bath” “I don’t believe in you”. Atheism is a similar deal. Still you can’t believe in lack of belief. That’s kind of like playing “I’m not going to play chess because I dislike it”.

default position is not negative until proven otherwise, that is fallacy. The default position is unknown.
When someone says something incredulous, saying i dont believe them, is not the same things as saying you are a liar.

its like not guilty, does not mean you are innocent, it means i do not have the suffecient evidence to prove your guilt.

mathematically,

do you believe
X = 5 based on this equation X+Y=7
the answer maybe no
but to say you believe x is not equal to 5 is a different thing.

and that is why the OP is so offended, its because his belief system and theirs clash, and he hates that his belief system feels unsupported.

If he simply did not believe, it wouldnt bother him so much, but he does believe, that their is no god.

phys.7689:

When someone says something incredulous, saying i dont believe them, is not the same things as saying you are a liar.

but default position of Atheism IS “I don’t believe you”. And OP is just being childish. The same way that some religious people are capable of being childish and offended over someone not believing. Lack of a belief system doesn’t make you any less human in your behavior and it also doesn’t save nor kitten you to make any more or less mistakes.

EDIT: to make it simpler: I do not believe in any God or Deity. I might very well be wrong. However there isn’t sufficient evidence for me to believe in them.

punkinkatt.4823:

Ameepa.6793:

Don’t worry, some day the whole bible and jesus thing will go out of style like all New Age religions do at some point.

Christianity has been around for over 2000 years and the Christian God has been worshiped for approximately 4000 years before that. What you say is highly unlikely to ever happen.

Why is it unlikely? It spread here around 900 years ago during the northern crusades and our old gods were around for thousands of years before that. Why wouldn’t the same thing happen again when the next big thing comes?

Bryzy.2719:

Over time I’ve seen people discussing God/Allah in chat as though he exists. As an Atheist, I find this offensive, just as a Christian or a Muslim would find it offensive if I talked about his lack of existence. Yet these people don’t get warned. I have previously received angry whispers from some players for talking openly about Atheism in Say chat (which I have since learned from an no longer bring any kind of cultural views into chat).

A lot of you are missing the point. Especially the person that said this:

“Are you serious about this? As in, are you asking for people not to discuss stuff in mapchat because you are offended by opinions?”

By that same logic I could discuss disliking a particular race of people, because that’s my opinion. That opinion would be very offensive, but by what you’re saying I should be allowed to express that without consequences.

What I am saying is that religious discussion about God and the appraisal thereof should be prohibited if my open criticism of religion in chat is prohibited.

As the posters in this thread have proven, any kind of real-world religious discussion sparks a LOT of debate; debate which can’t lead anywhere good. As such, ALL religious discussion in game chat should be prohibited, regardless of whether its someone praising God or dismissing him as non-existent.

" Yet these people don’t get warned. I have previously received angry whispers from some players for talking openly about Atheism in Say chat (which I have since learned from an no longer bring any kind of cultural views into chat)".

1. Where is your evidence that these people don’t warned? They are the only one who see their computer.
2. You learn next time to no longer bring any kind of cultural views into chat: that is good. Learning is very good experience so we do not repeat same mistake again

Read here if they violate Arena net: Guild Wars 2: Rules of Conduct. If they did not violate Rules of Conduct: like other player suggest, block them.

1. “While playing Guild Wars 2, you must respect the rights of others and their rights to play and enjoy the Game. To this end, you may not defraud, harass, threaten, embarrass or cause distress and/or unwanted attention to other players. This includes posting insulting, offensive, or abusive comments about players, repeatedly sending unwanted messages, reporting players maliciously, attacking a player based on race, sexual orientation, religion, heritage, etc. Hate speech is not tolerated”.

2. Rules 2-23: Include Guild Wars 2 Naming Policy.

Can we get a mod to lock this thread? Its stupid and has no merit to the game itself.

Mirta.5029:

phys.7689:

Ok, I ll say atheisim is more than a lack of belief, it is a belief in no god. A as a prefix means not, or non thei represents god/religion, and ism is basically a belief/practice

so atheisim, i would say is not the lack of belief in god, but rather the belief in no god.
i think agnosticism, is probably more properly a lack of belief.

the default position is always negative until proven otherwise. “I have a dolphin in my bath” “I don’t believe in you”. Atheism is a similar deal. Still you can’t believe in lack of belief. That’s kind of like playing “I’m not going to play chess because I dislike it”.

Right on. Atheism isn’t a belief in the lack of something. It’s the refusal to accept untestable theories as explanations for what happens in the universe. I dismiss god as an explanation for things for the same reason that I dismiss the possibility that my car runs on skittles that pretend to be gasoline.

I don’t spend my day thinking of all of the things that God isn’t doing any more that I spend it thinking of how my dog isn’t causing the sun to emit light. Atheism is a belief in what IS rather than what ISN’T. It just so happens that theism is one of the dominant forces in our world, so we have to define ourselves by saying we aren’t part of that mindset.

It’s probably for the best this thread gets locked indeed. It adds nothing to the game and is just an endless spiral.

Well, atheism is of itself sort of a religious belief, in the sense that you believe that god doesn’t exist, and as such anyone insulting you or anything over your belief is to be punished.
I doubt you were ever punished by saying that you don’t believe in god, what you can be punished for is for saying something like “You’re an idiot if you believe god exists”. Which, lets face it is the position of a few atheists in the chat.
I don’t believe you’d ever be punished for expressing your belief in a non-inflammatory manner though.

I do subscribe to the theory that political and religious discussion has no place in map chat though. It simply doesn’t. If you wanna debate these themes in game create a LFG or a guild for it, and use those chats.

In the same sense some people will abuse that clause and will use offensive stances within their religious position. (Like you’ll see some people using the whole muslims are terrorists thing to slip in some hate while pretending to be muslims).

Mirta.5029:

phys.7689:

When someone says something incredulous, saying i dont believe them, is not the same things as saying you are a liar.

but default position of Atheism IS “I don’t believe you”. And OP is just being childish. The same way that some religious people are capable of being childish and offended over someone not believing. Lack of a belief system doesn’t make you any less human in your behavior and it also doesn’t save nor kitten you to make any more or less mistakes.

im not really arguing the childish point, im more saying that atheism is not a lack of belief, it is a belief that god does not exist.
there is a difference.

agnostic, or i dunno, represents a true lack of a belief
atheism represents a belief in the non existence of god.

atheism isnt so much, i dont believe you, so much as, you are wrong.

theist= believes in god
agnostic= has a lack of belief
athiest believes in non existence of god.

thats all im saying really.

this is why many athiests tolerate theists poorly, because their belief systems clash. That is not to say that some people are more ok with people with different belief systems to them.

stale.9785:

For you, Lanfear! Anything for you!

OMG! <3 it! TY!

People always forget that Freedom of speech ends once you click the play button and enter onto private game servers where you agreed to act in a certain way in EULA/COC/TOS.

Also if you read the fine print in alot of thing you will find allot of times that you give up certain rights to take certain action etc.

Honestly religion and politics have no place in chat since they are hot topics with people having deep emotions on both sides that leads to hate speech and other things that disrupts other players game expericance.

Becuase you may have the Right to Freedom of Speech, Relgion, and Expresission you don’t have the right to abuse those rights by saying/doing anything you whish as they are govenernd by laws, contracts and what socitey as a whole finds acceptable.

Where I live if I flipped someone off I could be fined of a Class C misdemeanor and $500 fine.

ReaverKane.7598:

Well, atheism is of itself sort of a religious belief, in the sense that you believe that god doesn’t exist, and as such anyone insulting you or anything over your belief is to be punished.

Except it isn’t. Atheism is not the belief that God doesn’t exist, it’s a lack of belief that God exists. That is an important distinction. There are literally an unending number of things that don’t exist, none of which are necessary in order to define those things which do exist.

Edit: it seems like some people are confusing agnosticism with atheism. Agnostics say “there might be a god who just made that happen but I don’t know” and atheists say “what is the explanation for what just happened?” Atheists don’t say “there might be a god but I don’t believe it” any more than we say “there might be a twelve-headed phantom cow in my bedsheets that I cannot interact with in any way, but still might be there.”

phys.7689:

theist= believes in god
agnostic= has a lack of belief
athiest believes in non existence of god.

I can’t believe i’m jump into that mess, someone kick me lol.

theist = believe in god
Atheist = don’t believe in god
Gnostic= Knowledge of god
Agnostic= have no knowledge of god

Believe and knowledge are two separate concept. I don’t believe in god, but I have no knowledge if god exist or not.

gr8 b8 m8

A+

Rhialto.8423:

Mirta.5029:

phys.7689:

Ok, I ll say atheisim is more than a lack of belief, it is a belief in no god. A as a prefix means not, or non thei represents god/religion, and ism is basically a belief/practice

so atheisim, i would say is not the lack of belief in god, but rather the belief in no god.
i think agnosticism, is probably more properly a lack of belief.

the default position is always negative until proven otherwise. “I have a dolphin in my bath” “I don’t believe in you”. Atheism is a similar deal. Still you can’t believe in lack of belief. That’s kind of like playing “I’m not going to play chess because I dislike it”.

Right on. Atheism isn’t a belief in the lack of something. It’s the refusal to accept untestable theories as explanations for what happens in the universe. I dismiss god as an explanation for things for the same reason that I dismiss the possibility that my car runs on skittles that pretend to be gasoline.

I don’t spend my day thinking of all of the things that God isn’t doing any more that I spend it thinking of how my dog isn’t causing the sun to emit light. Atheism is a belief in what IS rather than what ISN’T. It just so happens that theism is one of the dominant forces in our world, so we have to define ourselves by saying we aren’t part of that mindset.

if you dont know what your car runs on at all, you shouldnt really eliminate skittles from being the answer. People could build a car that runs on skittles, and you would thus be incorrect. In fact, being that skittles can power animals movements, it really isnt that improbably that one could create a car that uses the chemical energy in skittles to power a vehicle.

People have a bad habit of thinking because they do not know something, it does not exist. That isnt a logical argument. This is the same logic people would have used against radio waves, infrared and ultraviolet colors, atoms, etc.

a lack of belief, and the belief that something is false, those are two very different ideas.

now, you are free to believe whatever you want, and spend no time thinking about things you dont care about. But the lack of proof, is not a proof that something is not true. That is a mistake in logic.

Heretics. All of them. What God? What Jesus? What Allah? Who are these “deities”?

May the Six have mercy on their dim lost souls. As my grandpa used to say, “burn them all and let Grenth sort them out.”

phys.7689:

agnostic, or i dunno, represents a true lack of a belief
atheism represents a belief in the non existence of god.

the answer is one googling away!

“atheism
?e????z(?)m/Submit
noun
disbelief or lack of belief in the existence of God or gods.”

Everyone is atheist to a point. For example if you’re Christian you won’t have any belief in Egyptian gods. Take that for what you will. Agnosticism and Atheism are both very much interchangeable words.

I’m thinking we need to create some new terms to clear up the many different interpretations of what “atheist” means.

How about we use “atheist” to describe those who believe that they don’t know and are erring on the side of “there probably isn’t a god”, “agnostic” to describe those who don’t care, and “antitheist” to describe those who believe that there absolutely is no deity?

Ameepa.6793:

punkinkatt.4823:

Ameepa.6793:

Don’t worry, some day the whole bible and jesus thing will go out of style like all New Age religions do at some point.

Christianity has been around for over 2000 years and the Christian God has been worshiped for approximately 4000 years before that. What you say is highly unlikely to ever happen.

Why is it unlikely? It spread here around 900 years ago during the northern crusades and our old gods were around for thousands of years before that. Why wouldn’t the same thing happen again when the next big thing comes?

Those ‘old’ gods, as you put it, are still worshiped in some places. Even in America. The only god’s that I know of that have come close to extinction are the greek gods (Zeus, etc). But you can still find a few people who believe in them too. They are younger gods, however, than the Christian God, who is the oldest known God to be worshiped anywhere.

phys.7689:

Rhialto.8423:

Mirta.5029:

phys.7689:

Ok, I ll say atheisim is more than a lack of belief, it is a belief in no god. A as a prefix means not, or non thei represents god/religion, and ism is basically a belief/practice

so atheisim, i would say is not the lack of belief in god, but rather the belief in no god.
i think agnosticism, is probably more properly a lack of belief.

the default position is always negative until proven otherwise. “I have a dolphin in my bath” “I don’t believe in you”. Atheism is a similar deal. Still you can’t believe in lack of belief. That’s kind of like playing “I’m not going to play chess because I dislike it”.

Right on. Atheism isn’t a belief in the lack of something. It’s the refusal to accept untestable theories as explanations for what happens in the universe. I dismiss god as an explanation for things for the same reason that I dismiss the possibility that my car runs on skittles that pretend to be gasoline.

I don’t spend my day thinking of all of the things that God isn’t doing any more that I spend it thinking of how my dog isn’t causing the sun to emit light. Atheism is a belief in what IS rather than what ISN’T. It just so happens that theism is one of the dominant forces in our world, so we have to define ourselves by saying we aren’t part of that mindset.

if you dont know what your car runs on at all, you shouldnt really eliminate skittles from being the answer. People could build a car that runs on skittles, and you would thus be incorrect. In fact, being that skittles can power animals movements, it really isnt that improbably that one could create a car that uses the chemical energy in skittles to power a vehicle.

People have a bad habit of thinking because they do not know something, it does not exist. That isnt a logical argument. This is the same logic people would have used against radio waves, infrared and ultraviolet colors, atoms, etc.

a lack of belief, from the belief that something is false, those are two very different ideas.

now, you are free to believe whatever you want, and spend no time thinking about things you dont care about. But the lack of proof, is not a proof that something is not true. That is a mistake in logic.

I think the key was “skittles pretending to be gasoline” but good job homing in on the fact that I mentioned skittles.

Atheism isn’t the belief that God doesn’t exist. It is the lack of belief that God is a necessity for describing the universe. It is the act of saying “why did that just happen” without ascribing the possibility of anything but what is observed. If I don’t know what my car runs on, I will try to find out. I won’t say “I don’t know so it’s god until I prove otherwise.” The only reason that atheists define themselves according to what they aren’t is because the majority of people we meet define themselves by a different standard and we need to distinguish somehow.

My other posts were lost to the forum squirrels, apparently.

i find this thread offensive

Highness.9061:

i find this thread offensive

^This.

Rhialto.8423:

phys.7689:

Rhialto.8423:

Mirta.5029:

phys.7689:

Ok, I ll say atheisim is more than a lack of belief, it is a belief in no god. A as a prefix means not, or non thei represents god/religion, and ism is basically a belief/practice

so atheisim, i would say is not the lack of belief in god, but rather the belief in no god.
i think agnosticism, is probably more properly a lack of belief.

the default position is always negative until proven otherwise. “I have a dolphin in my bath” “I don’t believe in you”. Atheism is a similar deal. Still you can’t believe in lack of belief. That’s kind of like playing “I’m not going to play chess because I dislike it”.

Right on. Atheism isn’t a belief in the lack of something. It’s the refusal to accept untestable theories as explanations for what happens in the universe. I dismiss god as an explanation for things for the same reason that I dismiss the possibility that my car runs on skittles that pretend to be gasoline.

I don’t spend my day thinking of all of the things that God isn’t doing any more that I spend it thinking of how my dog isn’t causing the sun to emit light. Atheism is a belief in what IS rather than what ISN’T. It just so happens that theism is one of the dominant forces in our world, so we have to define ourselves by saying we aren’t part of that mindset.

if you dont know what your car runs on at all, you shouldnt really eliminate skittles from being the answer. People could build a car that runs on skittles, and you would thus be incorrect. In fact, being that skittles can power animals movements, it really isnt that improbably that one could create a car that uses the chemical energy in skittles to power a vehicle.

People have a bad habit of thinking because they do not know something, it does not exist. That isnt a logical argument. This is the same logic people would have used against radio waves, infrared and ultraviolet colors, atoms, etc.

a lack of belief, from the belief that something is false, those are two very different ideas.

now, you are free to believe whatever you want, and spend no time thinking about things you dont care about. But the lack of proof, is not a proof that something is not true. That is a mistake in logic.

I think the key was “skittles pretending to be gasoline” but good job homing in on the fact that I mentioned skittles.

Atheism isn’t the belief that God doesn’t exist. It is the lack of belief that God is a necessity for describing the universe. It is the act of saying “why did that just happen” without ascribing the possibility of anything but what is observed. If I don’t know what my car runs on, I will try to find out. I won’t say “I don’t know so it’s god until I prove otherwise.” The only reason that atheists define themselves according to what they aren’t is because the majority of people we meet define themselves by a different standard and we need to distinguish somehow.

My other posts were lost to the forum squirrels, apparently.

so by your definition, what is the difference between an atheist, and someone who says i dunno.
or is there no difference in your opinion?

OPs views on religion are just being used as a vehicle to discuss the nature of free speech irrespective of offense. This is probably in response to Gaile’s (silly, imo) comments in the other thread.

It’s not a thread about religion guys.

I don’t have a problem with religious discussions as long as both sides are allowed to speak.

If only one side is allowed to voice their opinion in chat, then no, it should not be allowed.

I’ve noticed some people referring to Atheism wrongly. It just means you don’t believe in a deity, you can in fact still be religious. For example Laveyan Satanists and Buddhists are Atheists as well. As long as they don’t believe in a deity.

Mirta.5029:

phys.7689:

agnostic, or i dunno, represents a true lack of a belief
atheism represents a belief in the non existence of god.

the answer is one googling away!

“atheism
?e????z(?)m/Submit
noun
disbelief or lack of belief in the existence of God or gods.”

Everyone is atheist to a point. For example if you’re Christian you won’t have any belief in Egyptian gods. Take that for what you will. Agnosticism and Atheism are both very much interchangeable words.

i think agnostic was created because atheism was being used too broadly.
because god does not exist, and a lack of a belief in god are two very different ideas.

phys.7689:

i think agnostic was created because atheism was being used too broadly.
because god does not exist, and a lack of a belief in god are two very different ideas.

yet you’re attaching a different definition to an already defined word. It might be used too broadly, however it still doesn’t change that the original word still carries the already defined meaning.

Censoring map chat can be done to your personal tastes with Block.

If you asked Anet to censor every incorrect opinion and fable we’d have very empty chat indeed. Gods are part of culture too and all sorts of people say “omg,” if it hurts your eyes Block it but don’t ask a higher power to remove it from ever being uttered aloud (this amusingly is the ask of most fanatics when it comes to blasphemy – don’t become similar to them).

phys.7689:

Rhialto.8423:

phys.7689:

Rhialto.8423:

Mirta.5029:

phys.7689:

Ok, I ll say atheisim is more than a lack of belief, it is a belief in no god. A as a prefix means not, or non thei represents god/religion, and ism is basically a belief/practice

so atheisim, i would say is not the lack of belief in god, but rather the belief in no god.
i think agnosticism, is probably more properly a lack of belief.

the default position is always negative until proven otherwise. “I have a dolphin in my bath” “I don’t believe in you”. Atheism is a similar deal. Still you can’t believe in lack of belief. That’s kind of like playing “I’m not going to play chess because I dislike it”.

Right on. Atheism isn’t a belief in the lack of something. It’s the refusal to accept untestable theories as explanations for what happens in the universe. I dismiss god as an explanation for things for the same reason that I dismiss the possibility that my car runs on skittles that pretend to be gasoline.

I don’t spend my day thinking of all of the things that God isn’t doing any more that I spend it thinking of how my dog isn’t causing the sun to emit light. Atheism is a belief in what IS rather than what ISN’T. It just so happens that theism is one of the dominant forces in our world, so we have to define ourselves by saying we aren’t part of that mindset.

if you dont know what your car runs on at all, you shouldnt really eliminate skittles from being the answer. People could build a car that runs on skittles, and you would thus be incorrect. In fact, being that skittles can power animals movements, it really isnt that improbably that one could create a car that uses the chemical energy in skittles to power a vehicle.

People have a bad habit of thinking because they do not know something, it does not exist. That isnt a logical argument. This is the same logic people would have used against radio waves, infrared and ultraviolet colors, atoms, etc.

a lack of belief, from the belief that something is false, those are two very different ideas.

now, you are free to believe whatever you want, and spend no time thinking about things you dont care about. But the lack of proof, is not a proof that something is not true. That is a mistake in logic.

I think the key was “skittles pretending to be gasoline” but good job homing in on the fact that I mentioned skittles.

Atheism isn’t the belief that God doesn’t exist. It is the lack of belief that God is a necessity for describing the universe. It is the act of saying “why did that just happen” without ascribing the possibility of anything but what is observed. If I don’t know what my car runs on, I will try to find out. I won’t say “I don’t know so it’s god until I prove otherwise.” The only reason that atheists define themselves according to what they aren’t is because the majority of people we meet define themselves by a different standard and we need to distinguish somehow.

My other posts were lost to the forum squirrels, apparently.

so by your definition, what is the difference between an atheist, and someone who says i dunno.
or is there no difference in your opinion?

That is nonsense. Of course an atheist will say “I dunno” if they don’t know something. Here’s the difference: an atheist would say “I dunno, so I’ll find out,” an agnostic would say “I dunno, so I’ll find out but I can’t say for sure that it isn’t god,” and a Theist would say “God sure works in mysterious ways.”