Atheism is a philosophy of negation, devoid of an argument. Why do then atheists continue their harping? [Spirituality & Religion]

@Northwest I feel the the OP is perhaps making the error of assuming that atheists say 'there are no gods' (i.e. that they're gnostic atheists), and perhaps some do.

I, however, do not, which is why I'm an agnostic atheist, have no gods, and incur no burden of proof

@Northwest [quote]Seems I'm blocked by some as well[/quote]

Timidity is always distasteful

@newjaninev2 Generally speaking, that's how I would describe myself.

@Wifebeater so, are we saying that people who do not believe in leprechauns are operating under a philosophy of negation? Because that is what it sounds like you are saying.

@ViciDraco Nope, they believe it. But they don't actively argue against it. New atheists do. If they said they believe God doesn't exist, I wouldn't ask this question. They argue based on negating theist arguemts. Please understand the difference. You seem to not get the nuance.

@Wifebeater an atheist simply disbelieves in god. The reject the claim that any gods exist. You do not have to argue against anything to be an atheist.

You are thinking of anti theists. Antitheists are most often atheists. But not all atheists are antitheists.

If you are going to make such claims about what something is, please make sure you have a solid understanding of what the words mean.

@newjaninev2 We know that dearie. As i said before you just aren't very bright so big concepts like that elude you.

@hippyjoe1955

[quote] The evidence of the existence is far greater than the evidence of atheistic evolution.[/quote]

Oh great. So let's examine the evidence by discussing specific data and the relative explanatory power of creation vs evolution for said data.

Aaaand that's where you back down.
Always. Every.
Single.
Time.

Speaks for itself, doesn't it?

@hippyjoe1955 Big concepts like oxymorons? How very deep and meaningful!

Do you understand that putting two words together don't necessarily result in a meaningful phrase?

@MarkA I've already talked about this somewhere on this question. Sorry, many people are engaging with me and I can't repeat what I've said already.

@MarkA No. It's about the ways that atheists argue. But good try. Go on.

negation is better than peddling drivel.......

People have believed in gods for hundreds of thousands of years, why is the onus on them and not the atheist who has come up with this new viewpoint contrary to the ancient consensus. @texasdaddydom

@MrMonnyPenny

[quote]People have believed in gods for hundreds of thousands of years[quote][/quote][/quote]

[i]That[/i] is a logical fallacy known as argument from tradition or appeal to antiquity.
Just because something has traditionally been believed does not independently justify that belief.

The reason that the onus is on theists to substantiate their claim is because [i]they[/i] are making the positive claim.
The atheist is simple applying good skepticism and saying "since you have not sufficiently supported your claim that a god exists, i am justified in rejecting that claim".

@texasdaddydom It's not actually impossible to prove that something does not exist, in general. The technique for such a proof is called reductio ad absurdum, i.e. contradiction. The technique is as follows:
Assume statement P is true.
Follow the logical implications of P being true.
Come to an absurd statement.
Conclude P cannot be true.
Here, statement P = x exists.

That's all abstract, but let's have an example. I will prove to you that there is no real number x such that
3 divided by 0 = x.
Proof technique: Assume such a number, x, exists.
Then 3/0 = x. By the multiplication property of equality, we can multiply both sides of our equation by 0.
0 * (3/0) = 0x.
Tf we look at the left-hand side, we have divided 3 by a number and then multiplied the result by that same number. Since division and multiplication are inverse operations, and the assumption that x exists implies that 3/0 is defined, we get that 0 * (3/0) = 3.
On the right-hand side, we have 0x, which equals 0 no matter what x equals by the zero property of multiplication.
Hence, 3 = 0, which is absurd. Hence, it cannot be true that x exits.

@SW-User My question is based on something Sam Harris said. Saying I'm wrong without proving it is negating my question, and what it implies. You're essentially doing what every atheist does in a different context. Thanks for the example for everyone else.

@SW-User 😆🥰

@GuyThatEvery1Seems2Hate if a person gets something from their personal beliefs, then good luck to them. I think that's great! But so many believers peddle their own personal beliefs as facts, then get upset when atheist's refuse to play along and start asking all sorts of awkward questions which the believer does not have answers to, possibly, I think, because it then makes the believer face up to the obvious holes and inconsistencies in their own beliefs. And nobody would like that....

@Wifebeater You are familiar?

@PrivatePeeks I'm not entirely sure. Are you referring to Saving Belief?

@Wifebeater

Class 'A' (Doubter)
Natural discontinuation/ the Assumptive system

Class 'B' (Dreamer)
Magical continuation/ the Permissive system

Class 'C' (Dabbler)
Magical discontinuation/ the Connective system

Class 'D' (Master)
Natural continuation/ the Tempered system

===============================================

You are very likely Class 'B', and resent Class 'A': it being the antithesis of your belief and proving system.

I am Class 'D'

@HerKing Yeah for me if it sounds anti-woman that tends to be an instant block, but sometimes people are not what their chosen username implies.

@newjaninev2 who are the old men and who are the gullible

Two reasons really: Emotional comfort and morality.

How is god/religion emotionally comforting?
1. Heaven - knowing you will see your loved ones again someday and also gives you hope and alleviates fear of death.
2. God as a judge - any injustices faced against you (or anyone else) will be justly retributed in the afterlife.
Also gives you confidence in doing the right thing yourself
3. Life narrative/ meaning - religion provides a great cosmic narrative to feel a part of
4. Community - religious holidays and services are social events and bring communities together

How is God/religion good morally?
1. Rights - It provides absolute backing to individual rights as every single person is made in gods image. This means there is a principle of the sanctity of life.
2. Free will - truth is we have no idea whether we have free will or not. And the implication of humans not having free will is that we are just a bunch of materials slapped together, a meaty robot. This is not a good world view to have, and can lead people to be quite destructive both to others and oneself. Therefore, it is important that religion provides an absolute answer to this: yes we have free will.

Now I must say I don’t believe in a physical entity of god, but I believe in the metaphorical figurehead for a set of values which is called god.

@MrMonnyPenny Thanks, good job He does exist then!!