What do we need a deity for? (Introduction)

by broken_cynic , Friday, August 05, 2011, 00:32 (4860 days ago) @ dhw

Well, so long as you insist on a (false) dichotomy of being unable to judge anything in the absence of complete knowledge, you will die on that fence. I'm sure that prospect doesn't bother you, but I'm not at all sure I see the value in it, for you or anyone else. -> However, you cannot expect even those who occupy the middle ground simply to cave in when you claim that although we don't know and may never know the answers to the big questions, you yourself believe that they will prove to be material.-I have neither expected, nor claimed anything of the sort. I realize I'm going about answering your posts from today a bit backwards, but eventually I'm going to get tired of answering to this damn straw man. I can see why atheists might not stick around here if you insist on arguing not with them, but a set of beliefs you assign to them.->I have not said that the story of Yahweh is untouchable. Yahweh, as you say, is simply the Jewish name for God (call him/her/it Jehovah, or Allah, or a UI, or whatever you like), and although I do not believe in him/her/it, unlike yourself I do not KNOW whether some such God exists or not. -Why are you comfortable saying you know that about Thor and FSM, but not Yahweh/Jehovah/Allah/etc...? What is the difference you see? -> And since I have no answers of my own to the big questions, I respect those who think they have, so long as they show the same respect to others who do not share their beliefs.-Agreed, but I don't necessarily extend that respect to their beliefs.