Anyone Here Believe in Noah's Ark?

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Originally Posted by Frogacuda

Well the interesting thing here is that people will call just about anything God. Like if you talk to a lot of people, especially theists or deists outside of an organized religion, God has become a vague, almost meaningless concept. It seems as if the desire to name something God is stronger than the actual belief in a specific concept of God.

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That's how I see it too. As far as I'm concerned, gods are imaginary. That doesn't preclude the existence of something vaguely similar in concept, but to call such a thing God would be inaccurate.

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Originally Posted by Timber

I'd say that's pretty damn close to what I said.

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Yeah but you also seemed to not understand that difference with that and theism/atheism because you claimed most Atheists claim to KNOW that there is no god.

Merriam-Webster Definition of Atheism

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2 a : a disbelief in the existence of deity b : the doctrine that there is no deity

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Belief or disbelief without proof requires faith IMO.

lol No.

Belief in something despite evidence requires faith.

Non-belief in something without any reason to believe requires nothing.

Merriam-Webster Definition of Faith

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1 a : allegiance to duty or a person : loyalty b (1) : fidelity to one's promises (2) : sincerity of intentions
2 a (1) : belief and trust in and loyalty to God (2) : belief in the traditional doctrines of a religion b (1) : firm belief in something for which there is no proof (2) : complete trust
3 : something that is believed especially with strong conviction; especially : a system of religious beliefs <the Protestant faith>

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Not just belief in something despite evidence.

Exactly!

So if you have a firm belief that there isn't a "god" or higher power you wouldn't call that faith?

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Originally Posted by Timber

So if you have a firm belief that there isn't a "god" or higher power you wouldn't call that faith?

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No. Not having a belief in something is not a firm belief in itself.

It's the whole burden or truth is on the one making the claim issue. I know from your perspective you see it as the same thing, but it's not. A lack of a belief is not a belief.

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Originally Posted by Giga Power

lol No.

Belief in something despite evidence requires faith.

Non-belief in something without any reason to believe requires nothing.

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no, at some point it still requires faith. You have faith that there is not more information past what you've already have perceived in coming to your conclusion. And you have faith in yourself that you are not wrong or made mistake in your judgment.

EDIT: you're naive to think that you have no reason to believe. There is enough information out there to at least make you pause and think. The fact that a handful of religions have crafted our world is enough to make one question "is there something to this?"

Ugh, this stupid debate drives me almost as nuts as dumb Christians, especially since everybody I know IRL already knows the difference. Atheism doesn't come from sticking a- on the front of theism, it comes from sticking -ism on the end of atheos ("no god"). So yes, it means an assertive believe that there is nothing beyond the physical, not just passive non-belief.