Why atheists compare God to santa

[Hobbes' Choice]

Pathetic. After all that's been said, I'm still being asked why I don't believe in superman.

What do you believe in that makes you think you are so superior then?

[Reflex]

Pathetic. After all that's been said, I'm still being asked why I don't believe in superman.

What do you believe in that makes you think you are so superior then?

A foundation. I do not hang everything on thin air.

[Arising_uk]

Pathetic. After all that's been said, I'm still being asked why I don't believe in superman.

But you still haven't really answered the question and in fact you tend to not answer any questions if you can help it, why so evasive? But fair enough, what is it you know about this 'God' of yours? Or to put it another way why do you think you know anything about the Noumenon other than there is a probability that there is one.

[Nick_A]

Above all, God is the source of meaning for humanity. For some it is power and or money for example. They are the person's God. For others it is societal approval and their God is the Great Beast. For others it is love, family, and work for example. Their god is secular in nature. Then there are a minority who need the experience of meaning that doesn't arise from the earth. Simone Weil describes such people:

There is a reality outside the world, that is to say, outside space and time, outside man's mental universe, outside any sphere whatsoever that is accessible to human faculties.

Corresponding to this reality, at the centre of the human heart, is the longing for an absolute good, a longing which is always there and is never appeased by any object in this world.

Their God is not a product of the earth. Atheism is an earthly response so it is not surprising that it denies what it cannot understand. This denial takes the form disbelief which is a belief in the supremacy of earthly needs and denial of the rest as fantasy..

[Arising_uk]

Their God is not a product of the earth. Atheism is an earthly response so it is not surprising that it denies what it cannot understand. This denial takes the form disbelief which is a belief in the supremacy of earthly needs and denial of the rest as fantasy..

You're on a Philosophy forum, so tell us how you know anything about the Noumenon other than there might be one.

[Reflex]

Their God is not a product of the earth. Atheism is an earthly response so it is not surprising that it denies what it cannot understand. This denial takes the form disbelief which is a belief in the supremacy of earthly needs and denial of the rest as fantasy..

You're on a Philosophy forum, so tell us how you know anything about the Noumenon other than there might be one.

Pathetic. After all that's been said, I'm still being asked why I don't believe in superman.

But you still haven't really answered the question and in fact you tend to not answer any questions if you can help it, why so evasive? But fair enough, what is it you know about this 'God' of yours? Or to put it another way why do you think you know anything about the Noumenon other than there is a probability that there is one.

My God! You have the audacity to complain about my failure to answer questions? For someone who won't answer my questions, even the few I ask, that takes some real cojones. What do YOU think must be in order for what is to be as it is? Don't just sit there with 'I don't know' hanging from your lips like a dumb rock, posit something we can work with, something we can compare. I have what I call "God" (for the lack of a better word in spite of all its baggage); what do you have? How about positing something so we can have a genuine exchange of ideas? Is that too hard for you? Or do you simply prefer making meaningless quacking noises? Bearing in mind what it entails, try to justify your ignorance, at least.

After all, this is, as you said, a philosophy forum.

[Hobbes' Choice]

Pathetic. After all that's been said, I'm still being asked why I don't believe in superman.

What do you believe in that makes you think you are so superior then?

A foundation. I do not hang everything on thin air.

What foundation?

[Lacewing]

Atheism is an earthly response so it is not surprising that it denies what it cannot understand.

Nope. That's just how it looks to you. Having no belief in god can be extraordinarily SPIRITUAL! Having no belief in god can demonstrate ACCEPTANCE of what is not understood. There may simply be no need or logic or inclination to fill any space with a god. That's how it is for me and a whole lot of other people, Nick. And I'm really kind of shocked that you keep going on about something you are limited from seeing. Why not talk about what your god means to you... how your god inspires you... etc. Why do you keep defining atheists with these broad inaccuracies that are based on your limited perspective?

[Lacewing]

Strictly speaking, formal philosophy is conservative and works from the existing body of philosophical knowledge built by the ancient Greeks, Kant, Wittgenstein, Hume, etc., as opposed to reporting first-hand experiences or speculating without academic basis as we usually do here. At least some of the resistance may come from those who'd prefer a more academic approach.

I can understand that. I do wonder, though, about the intrigue of chewing on the same old ideas over and over. Why would we think the most profound insights and questions remain THERE? Isn't that similar to how a religion keeps looking to the past?

[Dontaskme]

The thinking is the thinker itself. The thinker cannot get rid of the thought.

[Nick_A]

Lacewing wrote:

Nope. That's just how it looks to you. Having no belief in god can be extraordinarily SPIRITUAL! Having no belief in god can demonstrate ACCEPTANCE of what is not understood.

A person without a belief in God cannot believe in MEANING since God is meaning. Philosophy is the love of wisdom. How can acceptance of the human condition and what it deprives a person of be considered an expression of the love of wisdom?

"He who believes in nothing still needs a girl to believe in him" - Rosenstock Huessy

Emotional denial needs the support of belief to make it meaningful.

[Lacewing]

A person without a belief in God cannot believe in MEANING since God is meaning.

Okay... glad to have this confirmation that there's absolutely no point in talking with you about anything further. With this statement above, you are completely shutting down all other awareness and reality. Your bubble is the complete existence you are aware of. Nothing exists beyond it. And god is in your bubble... as he's not allowed to interact or manifest through anything beyond it. I bet he hates that.

[uwot]

Actually it IS logically impossible for something to pop out from nothing: possibility and potentially aren't nothing. If it is, explain how. The onus is on you.

Well, you can categorise possibility and potential as things, if you wish; in which case you are right.

Is your logical structure grounded in "we don't know," too? Sad.

Did you think so when you said this?

For all we know, we're a brain in a vat somewhere.

You were right the first time; you don't know that we are not. Nor do we know anything about the pre big bang potential, other than that it went bang. Anything we might infer is currently hypothetical, because we simply do not have the technology to provide the sort of data we can generate compelling conjectures from.

[Nick_A]

Lacewing wrote:

Your bubble is the complete existence you are aware of. Nothing exists beyond it. And god is in your bubble... as he's not allowed to interact or manifest through anything beyond it. I bet he hates that.

Which God do you refer to; the god of money, power, fame or another which provides meaning? Which God do you refer to?

[Hobbes' Choice]

Lacewing wrote:

Your bubble is the complete existence you are aware of. Nothing exists beyond it. And god is in your bubble... as he's not allowed to interact or manifest through anything beyond it. I bet he hates that.

Which God do you refer to; the god of money, power, fame or another which provides meaning? Which God do you refer to?

WADDA YA GOT?