Don't you know we are a theocracy

[Khamsin]

Khamsin, again, if you don't know, then you don't have faith in a theistic explanation.

True.

Thus, you are an atheist- you lack theist belief.

I wouldn't say it's that black and white. Again, this is another case of "If you're not A, then you must be B", because you've defined B as "Not A". I can see why you would, because of the term a-theist. However, it's a bit of a misnomer, as the word has evolved to mean a bit more than the simple combination of the prefix a- and the word 'theist'. It's not so much "Not theist", but rather "Anti-theist". It's meant to be the opposite of a theist, not simply a catch-all for anything that isn't a theist.

It's fully possible for an atheist to confess to not knowing all the universe's secrets while simultaneously saying they have no cause to believe in Yahweh/God/Allah/Vishnu/Thor/et al.

An atheist not only says they have no cause to believe in a deity, they refuse to consider the possibility of one. It's not worth trying to search for evidence or attempt to prove it. It's a pointless waste of resources. There is no god.

An agnostic "has no cause to believe", but also, no cause to explicitly disbelieve. Sure, any intelligent person will realize that, as Max has said, there are simpler, more elegant solutions to the mysteries of the universe than a deity. Many things that we couldn't explain before can now be explained easily without unknown, unmeasurable magical forces entering the picture. An agnostic will admit that based on the lack of evidence there is no reason to necessarily believe in a deity. However, they won't refute the possibility, and would not consider it a waste of time to gather more data on the subject. Science is always open to new data even on seemingly closed cases.

It's more about keeping an open mind than anything else. Consider if a new 21-24 NM is introduced to the game that, over the course of a year, has never dropped a single item. 'Atheists' may simply accept that it drops nothing and not bother with it anymore. They'll never kill it except out of extreme boredom or to piss off the 'theists' who still kill it daily. 'Agnostics', on the other hand, also accept that it may drop nothing yet also consider that it may just have a shitty drop rate and everyone's just been really unlucky. They may kill it on occasion if they see it up, but won't make it a daily LS activity like the 'theists', who are out there every day determined to be the first to get whatever it drops.

[Kuya]

APPEASEMENT TO THE RELIGIOUS ESTABLISHMENT. FIGHT THE POWER

[Nevex]

Religion topics are common on these forums so I might as well take my chance to ask this question.

The world we live in basically forces nearly all people to pick between belief, atheism, or one of the shades of agnosticism, depending on their view on the whole God's existance matter. Then we have those who don't openly admit where they stand.

What about those who are utterly oblivious of the fact that you might even question whether a god exists or not, who have absolutely no idea of what a religion is. Which category do they fall in? Or rather, how are they called?

In other words, if you lived until now without knowing anything regarding this whole subject, then someone for the first time tells you about the whole religion argument, would it be accurate to be called agnostic? How can you be doubious about something you never asked yourself in the first place? Doesn't make sense.

I don't know whether civilized people like this might exist today (other than very young children I guess?) since religions exist nearly everywhere, and atheism and agnosticism with them.

[Kuya]

I'll show you atheist scum that God exists!

http://i50.tinypic.com/2zef2o0.jpg
Debate over.

[Zieara]

Sitting quietly, doing nothing,
Spring comes and the grass grows by itself.

[Ziero]

And if Thor came down and talked to us all, said he was the real deal and that the God of Abraham didn't exist, no Christian would be saying "I still choose not to believe in you."

Yes, they would...they totally would. Some of these people can turn denial into a work of art.

I actually have taken to cussing in the name of Thor instead of a generic god, it's funnier to say "BY THE MIGHT OF THOR AND HIS FUCKING HAMMER" instead of "BY FUCKING GOD AND JESUS CHRIST TOO!", it amuses me greatly.

I'm totally gonna start bogarting this idea.

[quannum]

i love threads that just argue semantics. you know who else does? jesus


thinkaboutit

[Max™]

If you notice my posts, any time I would have said "god dammit" or "by god man!", I've taken to using "Thordamned", or "by Thor!"

[zoobernut]

Hey Thor doesn't need you Zealot, Thor stands on his own. Don't try to steal credit from Thor's greatness.

[Max™]

True, I did get the idea from Zoob and Zeal having an exchange about it in an older thread, which amused me enough to adopt it fully, even in real life.

The looks of baffled amazement you get when you cuss in the name of Thor are priceless.

[Max™]

Is it just me...

http://graphicworlds.files.wordpress...08/08/thor.jpg

...or is Thor about to lay the smack down on Jesus?

I mean, Jesus does have a bad history with hammers and nails...

Thor's a pretty cool dude eh...

http://lynx.uio.no/jon/gif/fiction/thor.jpg

Beats up giant negros and doesn't afraid of being disturbingly oiled and muscular either.

But really, look at this beard:

http://scrapetv.com/News/News%20Page...ges-3/thor.jpg

Where does the beard end, and the awesome begin?

No one knows.


http://www.geekologie.com/2009/04/21/thor.gif

[Obev]

For thou shalt know of Thor's manliness, and despair.

[zoobernut]

Giant rocks are no match for Thor's mighty hammer!

[Kryssan]

The one thing I will say for the Norse religion, is that I was always intrigued by how after Ragnarök the world comes back into being simply as the world, and not some afterlife deal. While most religions have an ending that is a new beginning, most of them are in the form of some spiritual/ethereal one. The old Norse mythology doesn't have that, which I find interesting...



Then again, how mighty can Thor really be, since he dies in Ragnarök? Mjolnir is the real power there. It is unfortunate though, that the Christian taint would have to pollute the tales contained in the Eddas. I'd be most interested to know how the original tales went.

[Khamsin]

All in all, agnosticism is a pretty edgy and bold position to hold. Given the amount of fire it draws from both atheists and theists, only the most strong-willed and those unafraid of criticism can truly claim they are agnostic. You must not waffle on the issues, or ride the fence. You must be clear and bold on where you stand, even in the face of adversity. Agnosticism.

Atheism is mostly a bandwagon or 'edgy to be cool' thing nowadays, and theism is as theism does. Want to truly be edgy? Be agnostic.

[Eratosthenes]

Thor's got one day every week with his name on it. Jesus gets one per year, and it's actually his title instead of his name.

[Nystul]

just from personal experience- when I'm in a discussion/argument/debate with someone and they resort to nitpicking semantics, that is the point at which I know I've won and they have no more ideas left.

Semantics is the refuge of the intellectually bankrupt.

Just sayin...you know...that folks are probably getting in pissing contests over the precise definition of words (and really, is there a precise definition of ANY word? Think about it) that describe inherently nebulous concepts it's probably because they are unprepared to discuss the applications of those words.

[Khamsin]

So... we win then? But that's no fun, I don't really mind arguing semantics with them. What else am I going to do with my time, besides attempt to win internet debates? It's cold outside!

(and really, is there a precise definition of ANY word? Think about it)

Yes, depending on whether the language in question has an official board that regulates the language, such as the Dutch Language Union does for the Dutch language.

Unfortunately, unlike Dutch, English has no regulatory committee, but we need one. Currently, we have loopholes that allow even abominations like "ain't" to be considered real words simply because people use and understand it's meaning.

[Kryssan]

There is a reason English is the world's only Class V language, y'know.

[Cantih]

There is a reason English is the world's only Class V language, y'know.

Erm, what?

I just did a search, and there seems to be no classification system like the one you speak of.