Path: utzoo!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!rice!bcm!dimacs.rutgers.edu!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: technews@iitmax.iit.edu (Tech News Account) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Why believe? Message-ID: Date: 9 Mar 91 03:54:18 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: Technology News, IIT, Chicago, IL Lines: 42 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu As an atheist I do NOT "believe that god doesn't exist" nor do I "believe that god does exist" RATHER, I "do not believe that god does exist" It's not that I believe in her NON-existence, rather I don't believe in its EXISTENCE. There are three possible results one can reach: 1. There is more evidence FOR the existence than AGAINST = BELIEVE TRUE 2. There is more evidence AGAINST the existence than FOR = BELIEVE FALSE 3. There is equal or NO evidence either way= DOES NOT MATTER The claim that god exists, for me, is like the claim that Centaurs exist: There is NO evidence FOR the existence of centaurs, and there is NO evidence AGAINST the existence of centaurs. Therefore I *DO NOT HOLD THE BELIEF* that "centaurs do exist" In the same way, I *DO NOT HOLD THE BELIEF* that "god does exist" There is not enough evidence either way to for a valid conclusion. This is the way many atheists see it- the question "DOES god exist?" cannot be answered, since you cannot prove it, or disprove it. -- Technology News- IIT`s weekly student newspaper. Subscriptions available. kadokev@iitvax.bitnet technews@iitmax.edu My employer disagrees. [This position is normally described as "agnostic". When someone says they are atheist, most people take them to mean they are convinced that God does not exist. To quote the Merriam-Webster 3rd Collegiate: "agnostic: ... of or relating to the belief that the existence of any ultimate reality (as God) is unknown and probably unknowable." under atheist: "an ATHEIST is one who denies the existence of God and rejects all religious faith and practice; an AGNOSTIC withholds belief because he is unwilling to accept the evidence of revelation and spiritual experience." --clh]