tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3621026.post7152436105708695462..comments2024-03-29T06:05:04.162+01:00Comments on Robert's Stochastic thoughts: God Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14455788499385673507noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3621026.post-11089270581779446542017-02-19T17:53:41.157+01:002017-02-19T17:53:41.157+01:00In Christian theology, is Satan a theist or an ath...In Christian theology, is Satan a theist or an atheist?Arunhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03451666670728177970noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3621026.post-872046529457847592017-02-17T17:53:20.185+01:002017-02-17T17:53:20.185+01:00Manichean or Zoroastrian?Manichean or Zoroastrian?bradhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04548019979157668776noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3621026.post-51092886084512708762016-12-08T04:18:38.109+01:002016-12-08T04:18:38.109+01:00P.S. I see from Pew exit-polling results that the ...P.S. I see from Pew exit-polling results that the strong majority of white Christians voted for Trump, without which he would not have been elected. This fact does tend to lessen my agnosticism to a negligible amount, at least as far as Christianity is concerned.JimVhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10198704789965278981noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3621026.post-42699841000003285642016-12-08T04:11:53.494+01:002016-12-08T04:11:53.494+01:00I like PZM's definition, given above. It is al...I like PZM's definition, given above. It is also one of three possible definitions given in Wikipedia, and seems the most linguistically sensible to me: a-theist should mean not a theist (just as asymmetry means not having symmetry), and a theist is someone who believes in a personal god, so an atheist is soemone who does not have a belief in a personal god.<br /><br />It seems to me the notion of a god, such as the Christian god who supposed can read the minds of all 7+ billion human beings simultaneously and all the time, in violation of known physics, would require that this universe be a simulation, and the god a hacker who can hex-edit the data of the simulation to produce conditions (miracles) which the code of the simulation could never produce by itself. I can concede this as some sort of implausible, remote possibility, despite being an atheist. Can you not? I grant that such a simulation is also impossible under the laws and resources of this universe, so I have to postulate a higher-order universe with different laws to run the simulation in. This is not something I believe in (hence my continued atheism) but I can't completely rule it out. Anyway, thanks for the post. And forgivist thou my typos as I forgive your typos.JimVhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10198704789965278981noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3621026.post-89466435546525962732016-11-21T15:11:25.122+01:002016-11-21T15:11:25.122+01:00P.S. PZ Myers defines atheism as not believing in ...P.S. PZ Myers defines atheism as not believing in any God, which is not the same thing as believing there are not any Gods. This means of course that it is possible to be both an atheist and an agnostic (meaning not claiming to know) at the same time. reasonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06594313655855683716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3621026.post-16743334365968899552016-11-18T19:44:38.040+01:002016-11-18T19:44:38.040+01:00I have a friend whose birthday was on November 9. ...I have a friend whose birthday was on November 9. I wished him happy birthday and told him that drink was appropriate for all sorts of reasons.<br /><br />We need to turn our attention to practicing random (and not so random) acts of resistance. <br /><br />I know you and I have similar views of Bill Clinton's signing into law the demise of welfare. That was almost nothing compared to what's coming.<br /><br />I was not raised to believe in god. I did not raise my daughter to believe in god, but I did send her to a Jewish school through 8th grade as an alternative to religious-dominated public schools where we live (Salt Lake City). I don't know how anyone who believes in god could have voted for Trump. But many who profess to did.TAHartmannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3621026.post-59504220722643701722016-11-18T14:51:04.341+01:002016-11-18T14:51:04.341+01:00As for there being no micro-managing creator (whic...As for there being no micro-managing creator (which seems to be what religionists are arguing for) I always regard the existence of mosquitos as being adequate proof.reasonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06594313655855683716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3621026.post-5418367132970732282016-11-18T14:40:36.078+01:002016-11-18T14:40:36.078+01:00Your definition of atheist and agnostic is quite d...Your definition of atheist and agnostic is quite different from that of say PZ Myers. I have no horse in this race (what the correct definition is) but having different definitions does make communication difficult.reasonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06594313655855683716noreply@blogger.com