a3f4f1d4   
   XPost: alt.atheism, alt.religion, alt.politics.republicans   
   XPost: alt.philosophy   
   From: alaspectrum@netvigator.com   
      
   "James B." wrote:   
      
   > On Apr 23, 1:29 pm, Kelsey Bjarnason  wrote:   
   > > On Sat, 18 Apr 2009 00:47:37 -0600, Virgil wrote:   
   > > > Actually, reason, as in the reasoning behind Occam's razor, is on the   
   > > > side of atheism, or at least its weaker form called agnosticism.   
   > >   
   > > Agnosticism is not a form of atheism.  Agnosticism is a principle, of   
   > > _not_ asserting as true that for which there is insufficient cause to   
   > > claim it as true, or, more simply, "don't say it's so if you can't back   
   > > it up".   
   > >   
   > > This applies to both theism - "I don't _know_ if a deity exists, but I   
   > > choose to believe so" and atheism - "I don't _know_ whether deities exist   
   > > or not, but I see no reason to believe they do."   
   > >   
   > > You seem to be mistaking strong or positivist atheism ("Ain't no gods,   
   > > period!") with atheism as a whole; 't'ain't so. :)   
   >   
   > Weak atheism and agnosticism are virtually the same concept.   
   > Agnosticism carries the subtext that you can't possibly know one way   
   > or another if gods exist and that the question is irrelevant, while   
   > weak atheism goes one small step further and takes the logically sound   
   > default negative position to a given proposition.   
   >   
   > Saying that agnostics aren't atheists is splitting a pretty fine hair,   
   > in my opinion.   
      
   Atheism      [Emmett's final line applies to a good many folk around here ! ]   
      
   "Atheism is the world of reality, it is reason, it is freedom.  Atheism is   
   human concern, and intellectual honesty to a degree that the religious mind   
   cannot begin to understand. And yet it is more than this. Atheism is not an   
   old religion, it is not a new and coming religion, in fact it is not, and   
   never has been, a religion at all. The definition of Atheism is magnificent in   
   its simplicity: Atheism is merely the bed-rock of sanity in a world of   
   madness."   
   [Atheism: An Affirmative View, by Emmett F. Fields]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)