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Storm
SFN Regular
USA
708 Posts |
 Posted - 04/11/2012 : 19:29:39
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What is a True Believer? One who believes truly in an idea? An answer to a question? I am a believer in ghosts but not in the same way others believe. Are those who do not believe in God True Believers in Atheism? Or is the title just reserved for those who believe in paranormal subjects and religion
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sailingsoul
SFN Addict
2830 Posts |
Posted - 04/11/2012 : 22:46:24 [Permalink]
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| It's very simple. It is possible one can truly believe in what is not true but that does not make what one believes in true. |
There are only two types of religious people, the deceivers and the deceived. SS |
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H. Humbert
SFN Die Hard
USA
4574 Posts |
Posted - 04/12/2012 : 00:16:45 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by Storm
What is a True Believer? |
Someone who continues to believe in an assertion despite it being disproven or implausible. |
"A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true." --Demosthenes
"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself - and you are the easiest person to fool." --Richard P. Feynman
"Face facts with dignity." --found inside a fortune cookie |
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Valiant Dancer
Forum Goalie
USA
4826 Posts |
Posted - 04/12/2012 : 05:22:42 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by Storm
What is a True Believer? One who believes truly in an idea? An answer to a question? I am a believer in ghosts but not in the same way others believe. Are those who do not believe in God True Believers in Atheism? Or is the title just reserved for those who believe in paranormal subjects and religion
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a True Believer is someone who will believe in a particular concept despite strong arguments (and compelling evidence) against those concepts.
It has been used to describe people who
1) believe that the US never went to the moon
2) believe aliens build major structures in antiquity
3) believe that there is evidence for the existence of a diety of some form
4) believe that there is scientific basis for a causal relationship between spirits and electromagnetic radiation
5) believe that Barack Obama is not a US citizen
6) believe that Elvis is still alive
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Cthulhu/Asmodeus when you're tired of voting for the lesser of two evils
Brother Cutlass of Reasoned Discussion |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 04/12/2012 : 06:11:34 [Permalink]
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There's also another definition, which largely overlaps those already given, but emphasizes fanaticism and authoritarianism, which are not always present in true believers, of, say, unicorns.
The True Believer in this sense is a person caught up in an authoritarian movement of any kind, ideological, religious, political. They see the present as a failure, and are willing to sacrifice themselves or others in pursuit of some promised, glorious future. Eric Hoffer wrote the seminal book on the subject.
Yes, Storm, to answer the question you are about to ask: An atheist could be a True Believer, and a very few are. But those are not skeptical atheists. Almost all of us at SFN are skeptics first, and atheists (as an expression of skepticism toward theism) second. Skepticism is diametrically opposed to authoritarianism and the various types of True Belief systems. Very few True Believers here! |
“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
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Dude
SFN Die Hard
USA
6891 Posts |
Posted - 04/12/2012 : 07:14:38 [Permalink]
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A "True Believer", as my carnie friends would say, is just another name for a sucker.
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Ignorance is preferable to error; and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing, than he who believes what is wrong.
-- Thomas Jefferson
"god :: the last refuge of a man with no answers and no argument." - G. Carlin
Hope, n.
The handmaiden of desperation; the opiate of despair; the illegible signpost on the road to perdition. ~~ da filth |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 04/12/2012 : 08:51:53 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by Dude
A "True Believer", as my carnie friends would say, is just another name for a sucker.
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
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True believer
