Why do atheists have so much faith?

harvey1 · Post by **harvey1** » Wed Aug 31, 2005 3:59 pm

It's shocking to me to see so many atheists have as much faith as they do. They are so close to the agnostic in terms of what they believe, however the agnostic has the least amount of faith while the typical atheist shows more faith than most theists. What can account for this huge difference between an agnostic and atheist?

My own thought is that an atheist is so committed to their worldview that they cannot step outside of that worldview, hence many atheists have great faith because of their inability to see that they can be wrong. Many agnostics, on the other hand, are so uncommitted to a worldview that they have lost touch with what faith is. Another possibility is that atheists mostly come from religious fundamentalist religions, and they are more likely to carryover their fundamentalist beliefs to their new religion. Whereas agnostics are composed of mainly the secular populace who don't have a history of strong belief in fundamental beliefs. Any ideas?

bernee51 · Post by **bernee51** » Thu Sep 01, 2005 9:51 pm

Diana Holberg wrote:
bernee51 wrote:
Diana Holberg wrote: What does Person unto Himself mean exactly?
A Creator distinct from His creation.
So the creator is independent of his creation and the creation independent of the creator.

Diana Holberg · Post by **Diana Holberg** » Thu Sep 01, 2005 10:13 pm

bernee51 wrote:So the creator is independent of his creation and the creation independent of the creator.

Distinct is not the same as independent, as you well know.

bernee51 · Post by **bernee51** » Thu Sep 01, 2005 10:35 pm

Diana Holberg wrote:
bernee51 wrote:So the creator is independent of his creation and the creation independent of the creator.
Distinct is not the same as independent, as you well know.

True - a wrong choice of words.

Is - the creator is readily distinguishable from of his creation and the creation readily distinguishable from of the creator - better?

Diana Holberg · Post by **Diana Holberg** » Fri Sep 02, 2005 10:13 am

bernee51 wrote:Is - the creator is readily distinguishable from of his creation and the creation readily distinguishable from of the creator - better?

No, I wouldn't go that far. If the distinction was readily apparent to everyone I don't suppose there would be need for discussion.

As an analogy, I would use cinnamon. When cinnamon is used in food, it does not dissolve like salt or sugar -- it remains distinct. One familiar with cinnamon will recognize its flavor immediately; others just say the food tastes "strange" and, if the taste is unpleasant to them, will avoid the food rather than the spice out of ignorance. If the taste is pleasant, they may likely attribute what they like to the food itself rather than to the spice.

So cinnamon is not readily distinguishable except to those familiar with it, but that makes it no less distinct from the other ingredients in the food.

Meanwhile, cinnamon is actually the bark of a tree. So it is much different than it seems to be. (Can you tell I'm a Dune fan?)

bernee51 · Post by **bernee51** » Fri Sep 02, 2005 10:53 pm

Diana Holberg wrote:.
So cinnamon is not readily distinguishable except to those familiar with it, but that makes it no less distinct from the other ingredients in the food.

Meanwhile, cinnamon is actually the bark of a tree. So it is much different than it seems to be. (Can you tell I'm a Dune fan?)

I get the picture - and it is a long, long time since I read Dune

If we are into analogies I'll share one with you.

Your idea of god could be seen as the ocean, that part of your god which exists in all of us is a drop of that ocean. In order to know the taste of the ocean you don't have to drink it in it's entirety (sp) - all you need do is taste the drop.

This is known as 'self enquiry'.

Diana Holberg · Post by **Diana Holberg** » Sat Sep 03, 2005 8:36 am

Yes, I'm familiar with that one. Jesus taught using water analogies too. Mostly to convey the importance of faith and obedience.