(07-21-2013, 05:42 AM)EnforcedNo Wrote: [ -> ]if i think about what you just said for too long i get a headache
I'm sorry :haha: I have the tendency to use fancy words to desperately try to seem educated :haha:
But basically what I meant is that I question everything in the universe. I'm ignorant as to what "is" and what "is not", and I can be skeptical to the point that I start to consider truly bizarre worldviews such as solipsism, Last Thursdayism (yes, that's a real thing), or living in the Matrix. It sounds funny but it drives me absolutely nuts.
(07-21-2013, 06:36 AM)BobSacamano Wrote: [ -> ]I don't know what all the details of these terms are so I'm not sure. But apatheist sounds accurate after looking it up. I mean, it's not like I wouldn't care if he did exist but I wouldn't change my ways at all.
What's it called when you believe in God but you don't worship him out of curiosity?
I don't think there's an accurate term for that, although deists believe in God, but not in divine intervention. As such, they are generally irreligious (not believing in miracles, or functionality of prayer, etc. There are even "Christian deists" who practice biblical laws because they believe them to be morally good, but don't believe in the divinity of Jesus), but can have varying beliefs beyond that. Some deists (such as Gottfried Leibniz) believe in an afterlife on par with Christian belief (retribution or damnation), whereas others (such as Anthony Flew) may believe that only God could have created the universe, but is indifferent to our existence, and as such, there is no afterlife. Like with pantheists, beliefs can vary a lot.
Another interesting point is that the Sadducees, a Jewish sect dating from before Jesus' time (and during it), believed in God, worshiped him and practiced Jewish rites, but also believed that the sin of Adam and Eve was so great that humanity did not deserve an afterlife, and therefore believed that everyone died and that's it. No redemption
nor punishment.
(07-21-2013, 05:45 AM)BobSacamano Wrote: [ -> ]I've never even heard of that :o
I remember talking to Grungie about that and he said exactly the same thing :haha:
Trent we haven't Facebook chatted in ages brah
(07-21-2013, 05:45 AM)BobSacamano Wrote: [ -> ]It's really not a contradiction though. It's just I accept that it's a possibility but I think it's really unlikely. Maybe I said that badly.
I see. I think Bertrand Russell thought the same way (and I think Richard Dawkins as well; see reply to Grungie below).
It's odd. I think belief in a deity really boils down to
opinion, because if you ask an atheist, he'll tell you he believes it's more likely for God not to exist, but if you ask a theist, he says exactly the contrary.
Personally, I've always thought existence of a creator deity was more
likely (maybe I'm biased though, considering I grew up in a Roman Catholic family), but the more I study and philosophize, the more ambiguous it gets and the more I feel like I'm in the center of a tug of war between many different beliefs and ideologies.
(07-21-2013, 05:50 AM)Grungie Wrote: [ -> ]Bob, wouldn't that make you an agnostic atheist?
It would. You could also say he's a "weak" atheist, or a 6 on the Dawkins belief scale, with 1 being "I believe with 100% conviction that God exists", 4 being "I have no particular leaning or interest on this matter", and 7 being "I believe with 100% conviction that God doesn't exist", with Dawkins himself identifying as a "6.9".