Ariel Paulson wrote:
>> Steve wrote in message <3794651B.29AD at armory.com>...
> >Malcolm McMahon wrote:
> >>
> >> On Sun, 18 Jul 1999 21:46:52 -0300, "M. McLeod" <mycloud at chebucto.ns.ca>
> >> wrote:
> >>
> >> >I missed that "atheism is a faith" bit the first time I looked. Can't
> >> >agree with you there. To have faith it has to be in something and an
> >> >atheist believes in nothing.
> >>
> >> Nobody "believes in nothing". Atheist believe in a material universe
> >> which is either eternal or arrose through "natural causes" (whatever
> >> that means in the context). They believe in Occam's Razor.
> >>
> >> What is a religion? I'd say a set of beliefs about the origins of the
> >> universe, who's running the show, what happens when we die. Atheists can
> >> make positive statements about all these questions.
> >------------------------------------
> >Sigh! You can say it's a religion if you want, it doesn't matter if it
> >is or isn't called something that is an absurdity, except as evidence
> >that someone doesn't understand very well.
> >
> >It remains that the best idea is to believe as little as one can get
> >away with, since the chances of being quite wrong are so very great.
> >Believe in as few things as possible, and then only pro tempore, only
> >provisional temporary belief, never permanant beliefs. Remember to
> >terminate beliefs immediately after usage for personal motivations.
> >-Steve
>> Believing in as little as possible is the only way to keep an open mind. So
> why all the big statements in your response to my earlier post? It seems
> you have QUITE a lot of set-in-stone opinions about unproveable things, when
> I'm trying to show that you shouldn't. A scientist doesn't believe in
> something he cannot prove / disprove.
-------------------------------------------
You neglect the fact that making an effort to recognize one's ignorance
leads to a very different analysis of those who do NOT do that. If
uncertainty is certain, then it says something about those who try to
deny it.
-Steve
--
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