Bill Maher: Atheism is not religion

Originally posted by sonhouse
Well one thing I will say about you, you are no Romney, no flip flopping about, one story and you stick with it.

However, given that that 'story' is wrong and dangerous...

This is not a good thing.

Originally posted by sumydid
I said "verifiably prove," which rules out things like "very unlikely." I have heard many Atheists in my lifetime respond to Christians who say, "Oh yeah, PROVE that God doesn't exist!" -- by saying it is an unfair requirement because a negative cannot be proven.

Now, if you disagree with them all and insist that this particular negative can be ve ...[text shortened]... evil. That one shouldn't last long at all. Then we can go to your other points.

Sorry, knowledge doesn't require epistemic certainty. If it did, you wouldn't know your name, address, or anything else that is contingently true. So....

Maybe take an epistemology class and get back to me?

Originally posted by bbarr
Sorry, knowledge doesn't require epistemic certainty. If it did, you wouldn't know your name, address, or anything else that is contingently true. So....

Maybe take an epistemology class and get back to me?

Indeed.

If you had to be absolutely certain about something for it to be knowledge.
Then it would be impossible to know anything about the world. (due to the problem of strong solipsism).

The only things it would be possible to have knowledge of would be logic and mathematics.

This renders 'knowledge' as an almost meaningless concept.

If you do allow knowledge about the world, then it must be probabilistic in nature.

So a knowledge claim is something that has a probability of being wrong/false that is so small that it's
no longer reasonable to consider it anything but true.

You can then get into discussions of what constitutes "beyond reasonable doubt" and whether some
claims have different requirements from others ect ect.

But the fundamental principle remains that all knowledge claims about reality, as opposed to logic/mathematics,
Are, and must be, probabilistic in nature.

Originally posted by googlefudge
But the fundamental principle remains that all knowledge claims about reality, as opposed to logic/mathematics,
Are, and must be, probabilistic in nature.

Except where the knowledge claim involves logic/mathematics and can be shown to be illogical or mathematically false.

Originally posted by googlefudge
Indeed.

If you had to be absolutely certain about something for it to be knowledge.
Then it would be impossible to know anything about the world. (due to the problem of strong solipsism).

The only things it would be possible to have knowledge of would be logic and mathematics.

This renders 'knowledge' as an almost meaningless concept.

If you ...[text shortened]... bout reality, as opposed to logic/mathematics,
Are, and must be, probabilistic in nature.

The Holy Bible provides answers to our existence that we can not find on our own. It keeps us pointed toward truth so we will not be deceived by our illusions. It explains things that we could only make guesses about otherwise. To ignore the Holy Bible is equivalent to turning to our own imaginations for answers. We would have no knowledge of our purpose on Earth without the Holy Bible. 😏

HalleluYah !!! Praise the Lord! Holy! Holy! Holy!

Originally posted by googlefudge
However, given that that 'story' is wrong and dangerous...

This is not a good thing.

Clearly but I was commenting on the stance.

I am Atheist, and I am not religious about anything except fishing, whiskey and chess.

Originally posted by shiloh
I am Atheist, and I am not religious about anything except fishing, whiskey and chess.

Well do you believe in spirituality, like a soul that lives on after the body dies,etc.?

Spiritual : having a mind or emotions of a high and delicately refined quality.

I acknowledge the possibility.