Do you believe in God? Why/Why not?

[JWeinCom]

Peh said:

JWeinCom said:

Then I don't understand the distinction between this and my sandwich. Or if you prefer an animate example, a cactus. 

A cactus, by this definition, is an atheist as it lacks belief in the theistic position.  So your definition is not specific enough and you need to add to it. 

A cactus is also not a gamer if you understand where this is coming from. You can invent a label like atheist for this if you want to and call everyone who doesn't play games this label. 

Atheist is just a label for describing a certain theological position. 

I'm not quite sure what point you're making.  If I wanted to make a label for "everyone who doesn't play games" (let's say non-gamer), then that would have to exclude cactii.  Because a cactus isn't part of the set of everyone.  

And if we wanted to create that label non-gamer (which would be different from not a gamer) wouldn't it make sense to define the label in such a way that it would only apply to those with the capability to play games?  Would it be useful or sensible to apply that sort of label to a cactus or a cloud? (although pigs actually can play videogames.) Probably not.  So it would be better to define it a way that would limit it to those with the potential to play video games.  Similarly, I think atheist should be defined in a way which would only apply to those with the capacity for belief.

Atheist is not a label for describing a certain theological position.  That's atheism.  Atheist is a person who holds that position.  If we define it like that (which I would say is probably a good definition), it would exclude cacti, pigs, and babies, as none of them could be demonstrated to hold any position.  

Last edited by JWeinCom - on 13 September 2018