Why atheism beats agnosticism (Was: Re: Contacting God)

From: neosapient@geocities.com
Date: Wed Apr 22 1998 - 17:02:18 MDT


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> From: ChuckKuecker <ckuecker@mcs.net>

>>>And don't forget the agnostics, who either say "we don't know" or >>"we *cannot* know" when questioned about the supernaturals.
> >
> >The problem is that if you don't have any information about > >something, it does not exist. We don't have any information about > >supernaturals -- all speculation is irrelevant & leads to nothing.

> From some public statements made by atheists around here, I would be > tempted to define atheism as a fervent belief in the NON existence of > a supreme being...

Indeed, atheism is (often) more than just saying "it's extremely
unlikely that god exists", but also "it is not _desirable_ that god
exists". It's about understanding that, certainly for a transhumanist,
the existence of god is _not_ "neutral", but very, VERY bad. All our
efforts would be futile. After all, don't we want to become gods
ourselves? No such luck if the job has already been taken...(remember:
if god existed he would _not_ be "nice", just look at this deathist
planet and universe. Being omnipotent = being responsible for all that
happens.
 
> I shall continue as a quite vocal agnostic until I find sufficient > evidence to change..

And I shall continue as a quite vocal atheist until someone can present
sufficient evidence of god's existence and/or that this would not be a
disaster for humanity and transhumanists in particular.



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