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trogdor
Skeptic Friend
198 Posts |
 Posted - 02/25/2006 : 12:22:11
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Although I don't agree with everything written here it is an okay idea. I would love your imput.
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all eyes were on Ford Prefect. some of them were on stalks.
-Douglas Adams |
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marfknox
SFN Die Hard
USA
3739 Posts |
Posted - 02/25/2006 : 12:37:35 [Permalink]
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He sort of contradicts himself in the last paragraph with mention of a possible natural conscious entity playing a role in the creation of human beings. The rest of his essay explains that such a being is not required, and so by adding it as a possiblity, he goes against what he's been espousing the whole essay about applying the most simple and logical explanation.
The rest of it was pretty decent philosophy as far as I could tell. I liked how he admitted right up front that there are holes and leaps of logic in his beliefs (as there are in all beliefs. Even if everyone knew and understood all known scientific discoveries and theories right now, we still don't have enough information to know the answers. He was quite intellectually honest for admitting that this was his belief. |
"Too much certainty and clarity could lead to cruel intolerance" -Karen Armstrong
Check out my art store: http://www.marfknox.etsy.com
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ascott
New Member
USA
3 Posts |
Posted - 03/09/2006 : 02:31:50 [Permalink]
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Well... I can see where marfknox is getting that. It's a matter of emphasis, maybe, more than a straight-out contradiction. See, I wrote the thing as an explanation of what I think happened - of an explication of mechanism, starting from first principles. The atheism kinda just falls out of that as a consequence, rather than being the point of the essay, and when I back away from that at the end I see it as more of a qualifier to something that might have been too dogmatic than a denial of all that went before.
But if you read the essay as being an attempt at disproof of the existence of Gawd-as-He-is-wrote, with evolution as nothing more than the means to that end, then the ending I wrote seems like a repudiation of that. Which it would be, if that's what I'd meant.
See, there's a commonly-quoted retort when someone claims to be an atheist: "Oh, yeah? Which god don't you believe in?" I don't deny the existence of all and any possible gods; that's far too dogmatic for me. I'm definitely atheistic about some specific claims about God, though: creator of everything? Nope. Omniscient, or omnipotent? Nope, not a chance. Exactly as portrayed in the (King James Version of the) Bible? A suitable subject for fiction (http://www.pacifier.com/~ascott/fictions/jehovah.htm, if I may toot a bit), perhaps, but laughable as a claim about reality.
But when you get down to more limited and plausible claims, such as: could there have been an external-to-Earth intelligent creator or seeder of all life on Earth; was someone else the creator of human beings by modification of existing apes; is there a pervasive, benevolent, wiser guiding spirit of some sort, who influences rather than commands - well, I still very much doubt it, but I can't bring myself to deny the possibility altogether.
Which, I guess, makes me something other than an atheist. |
"See that the humans remain entertained until the end."
- a Cylon, on _Battlestar Galactica_ |
| Edited by - ascott on 03/10/2006 00:34:25 |
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ascott
New Member
USA
3 Posts |
Posted - 03/09/2006 : 03:12:59 [Permalink]
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| Crap - that URL I just posted doesn't seem to work as-is - it's got a comma after it that's being included as part of the address. Sorry! Try http://www.pacifier.com/~ascott/fictions/jehovah.htm instead, if you're interested. "Megiddo" is the one most folks seem to've liked. |
"See that the humans remain entertained until the end."
- a Cylon, on _Battlestar Galactica_ |
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Dr. Mabuse
Septic Fiend
Sweden
9687 Posts |
Posted - 03/09/2006 : 12:21:37 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by ascott
Crap - that URL I just posted doesn't seem to work as-is - it's got a comma after it that's being included as part of the address. Sorry! Try http://www.pacifier.com/~ascott/fictions/jehovah.htm instead, if you're interested. "Megiddo" is the one most folks seem to've liked.
It's the comma at the end of the link that screws up the link.
You can, if you like, edit your post and fix the link thusly:
Either type
[url="http://www.pacifier.com/~ascott/fictions/jehovah.htm"]http://www.pacifier.com/~ascott/fictions/jehovah.htm[/url]
or you can type
[url="http://www.pacifier.com/~ascott/fictions/jehovah.htm"]This link to jehova.htm[/url]
In both ways you can add the comma right after the bolded text without it affecting the link.
Or you can use any of the text-formatting forum tags to separate the link and the comma.
[i]http://www.pacifier.com/~ascott/fictions/jehovah.htm[/i],
And by the way... welcome to Skeptic Friends Network, ascott. |
Dr. Mabuse - "When the going gets tough, the tough get Duct-tape..."
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"Equivocation is not just a job, for a creationist it's a way of life..." Dr. Mabuse
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Send them unarmed civilians for target practice..
Collateralmurder. |
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trogdor
Skeptic Friend
198 Posts |
Posted - 03/09/2006 : 18:33:00 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by ascott
Crap - that URL I just posted doesn't seem to work as-is - it's got a comma after it that's being included as part of the address. Sorry! Try http://www.pacifier.com/~ascott/fictions/jehovah.htm instead, if you're interested. "Megiddo" is the one most folks seem to've liked.
and, as a matter of fact, it has been posted herebefore.
ha ha... that's two people I've brought to SFNinadvertently. |
all eyes were on Ford Prefect. some of them were on stalks.
-Douglas Adams |
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ascott
New Member
USA
3 Posts |
Posted - 03/10/2006 : 00:42:43 [Permalink]
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Trogdor - I don't know how I missed your link to "Megiddo" before... thanks!
Dr. Mabuse - many thanks for the pointers on post editing; I've fixed it now.
Y'know, for a bunch of cold hard skeptics y'all seem to be a pretty warm and fuzzy bunch... |
"See that the humans remain entertained until the end."
- a Cylon, on _Battlestar Galactica_ |
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26020 Posts |
Posted - 03/10/2006 : 07:20:10 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by ascott
Y'know, for a bunch of cold hard skeptics y'all seem to be a pretty warm and fuzzy bunch...
Don't mistake us for cynics, that really pisses us off.  |
- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too. |
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