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Andrespetmonkey said:
Jay520 said:
Andrespetmonkey said:
Jay520 said:
Andrespetmonkey said:
osamanobama said:
wow...this poll is retardedly offensive.
so only atheists are free thinkers, so i didnt think on my own, when i decided Christianity was by far the most logical believe system their is.

in my experience, almost all atheist i have come across are the least free thinking people there are, instead functioning as a hive mind.

Firstly, YOU are the one trying to be offensive in that last sentence and secondly, I've never really met any atheists like that, since most atheists come to atheism as a conclusion. If you think that's offensive to a religious person, you don't know what the term "free thinker" means.

Argument stops here please, like I said at the start of the thread, no arguing. 

Definition: Freethought is a philosophical viewpoint that holds that opinions should be formed on the basis of science, logic, and reason, and should not be influenced by authority, tradition, or any dogma.

For example: Someone may reject the belief of the Adam and Eve story based on science, logic, and reason, however if they were influence by authority, tradition or any form of dogma the only science, reason and logic they may accept will be what fits with said story, while rejecting any evidence agaisnst it.


 



No need to only associate the term with athiests/agnostics when thiests can be free thinkers as well. One can choose a religion based on science, logic, & reason. Such doings are not limited to athiests or agnostics.

Im just saying...

I guess I'm an agnostic. There is no proof for the existence of god, while there is also no proof for his inexistence, although due to the nature of God, one can't actually disprove it's existence anyway. Therefore, I have no beliefs or disbeliefs.

I highlighted the part that shows how it's incredibly difficult to be religious and a free-thinker (in my post), you will be influenced by dogma. 
Correct me if I'm wrong, but if you lack a belief in something, doesn't that automatically leave you disbelieving in it? It doesn't mean that you are sure it doesn't exist, it just means you lack a belief in it, which would be disbelieving. 



Put it this way: I don't believe in any dieties; I also don't disbelieve. Both of the aforementioned are due to lack of evidence. Both can be possible, but due to my own ignorance, I have no reason to believe in either.

This may be a bad analogy, but here goes nothing. Imagine someone presents their clenched hands before you, one with a coin & one without. This person then asks you "which hand do you believe the coin is in?". You would have no answer. You have no evidence to believe which hand holds the coin. You simply have no beliefs.

Probably a bad analogy, but I tried my best.

But with that analogy, you know there is a 50/50 chance of a coin being in whatever hand you believe to have the coin. Whereas with the idea of gods, I have no reason to have any belief in a god, so my default stance is disbelief - if I ever do get reason to believe, my stance will change, but until then it's disbelief.

But I do understand what you mean, and I know it's hard to make a good analogy for it.



okay, better analogy.

Imagine someone presents one clenched hand & claims that there is a coin in it. You have no reason to believe there's a coin in his hand, but you know there's a possibility. There is no reason to believe he has a coin, but There is also no reason to have absolute faith in the inexistence of the coin. You simply don't know, but you do KNOW both scenarios are equally possible (not together, of course)

I think that mirrors my feelings about God quite well.