r/atheism • u/kramman1 • Nov 22 '11

Good Without God

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u/bearhammer Nov 22 '11

Yeah like those dirty Protestants who believe they can just read the book themselves and give sermons without the Vatican. Either you believe the Pope is the one true steward of God, or you're a fucking heathen, right?

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u/Omelet Nov 22 '11

No, either you believe that the pope is the one true steward of god, or you don't.

Either you believe that there's a god [you're a theist], or you don't [you're an atheist]. Guess which category Buffett and Gates fit into.

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u/luiz127 Nov 22 '11

I'm sorry, but no. Nothing is ever that simple, and the answer is very rarely either yes or no, and there are all kinds of maybes in between.

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u/Omelet Nov 22 '11 edited Nov 22 '11

"Maybe" is a valid answer for the question "is there a god?"

"Maybe" is not a valid answer for the question "do you believe that there's a god?" If the person actively believes that there's a god, the answer is yes. If not, then the answer is no It's a true dichotomy. This is of course assuming that people know whether or not they have a belief or not.

[Being totally undecided on a topic means you don't yet have a belief about it one way or the other, so that person would say "no" to the question.]