Interesting, May May. I can’t recall encountering an agnostic who was very antitheist. In my experience, non-believers will refer to themselves as “agnostics” for five main reasons:

1) older generations who think that atheism is synonymous with communism;
2) those who think that atheists must necessarily be strident, angry, or dogmatically certain;
3) those who are still emerging from their indoctrination and are not yet comfortable with the term ‘atheist’;
4) those who are ultra-polite and afraid of offending believers by applying to themselves a label that effectively says, “I think your whole life is a lie.” (this may be a result of the special, protected status that religious belief still enjoys);
5) elitist snobs who think it’s clever to ask atheists (and often only atheists), “Ah, but how can you know?!”

I have sympathy for 3. I was once at that stage myself. The one’s I can’t stand (and was referring to before) are 6. They’ll entertain the idea of a god but will then, in a grand display of intellectual inconsistency, happily disregard other equally unjustified beliefs without a second thought. They seem to feel so clever when they ask how others can KNOW, completely unaware that their entire position, from which they feel so smugly superior to everyone else, is based on some very basic errors and fallacies.

From my encounters with them, I suspect that many of the sixers were indoctrinated by very strict religious parents and are sitting on the fence in some sort of an ‘Agnostic’s Wager’ because they cannot get the thought of hell out of their heads, and feel that whatever god is up there will at least be forgiving of their non-committal stance, should they exist. But this doesn’t explain why they display so much emotional investment in what might exist but probably doesn’t. What kind of a weirdo does that?

Theists love agnostics, of course, because they feel like there’s a group out there who have at least met them halfway.

The atheist who is absolutely certain of their position is a red herring and probably doesn’t exist.

Foxy: Mr Thwackum, a character in Henry Fielding's novel, "Tom Jones,"
declares:

"When I mention religion, I mean the Christian religion; and not only the Chrisitan religion, but the Protestant relgion; and not only the Protestant religion, but the Church of England."

Most people are like Mr Thwackum when they mention religion, they have their own in mind.

I think Thwackum, to my understanding of Christian Religious Denominations. I would have put the Church of England in as a variation of Catholic.

As it goes RC, C of E & OPD's

Foxy: The religions we are familiar with have been biased by ethnocentric Judeo-Christian ideas about religion.

I would have emphasised "Western" Judeo-Christian Religions. I really don't think the average Australians, in general, know much about Eastern Religions or Islam. If you asked someone about Hinduism & Sikhism they would say that they have got lots of strange Gods, but that's about all they know. Oh, Hari Khrisna. "Oh they dance around a lot & have really good food." If you asked about Buddhism they would say, "Oh they worship Buddha." which is, of course, wrong. Now-a-days If you asked the Average Australian about Islam they would say, Oh, they blow people up & cut their heads off." That's about all most people know, or even bother to know.

As for Atheists, I think most people probably think, UFO's. It's only the anti people on both sides bother to discuss the Subject. I think most Atheist just don't give a $#it one way or the other what anyone thinks.

May May any word on what type of Nun your sister was, or is she a pretend Sister, sister.

Ooops... '6' and 'sixers' should read '5' and 'fivers'.

I merged a couple because I didn't think they warranted categories of their own.

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Dear AJ Philips,

.

Many thanks for your observations and web links on atheism.

You wrote:

« Theism and atheism are logical absolutes … »

My understanding is that primeval man invented the supernatural and god concept as an explanation of powerful natural phenomena which instilled so much fear and awe in him. The concept allowed him to develop a strategy for survival based on it. He did everything he could to try to placate his conceptual gods’ anger through worship, docility, obedience and servitude as well as by offering them gifts and sacrifices, including human sacrifices.

That was a process which had its beginnings about five to seven million years ago when, according to present day palaeontologists, we human beings branched off from our common ancestor with the chimpanzees.

I am inclined to think that prior to primeval man’s invention of the supernatural and god concept, there were no such “logical absolutes” as you suggest. If they now exist, it must be because they are the consequence of the invention of the supernatural and god concept of primeval man five to seven million years ago.

I consider that concept to be archaic and no longer valid as an explanation of natural phenomena. Nor do I attribute any value to the strategy of survival developed by our primeval ancestors.

I guess that places me back in the position we human beings occupied before we branched off from our common ancestor with the chimpanzees. I return to the world view we commonly held “prior” to or “anterior” to the imposition of the “logical absolutes” of theism and atheism.

In this sense, my return to animality is a form of emancipation. I find it quite exhilarating to step back into humanity with a clean slate and the prospect of reinventing the world.

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Jayb, are you saying my sister was pretending to be a nun? Weird. How would you know anything personally about her? The Dominicans of St. Cecilia have been established in Sydney and thereabouts mainly, for quite a long time time now. My sister is deceased.

One thing I can say about the Atheist Religion is that their priests are very unlikely to sexually interfere with children. The latest being some scum bucket from that mob of money making happy clappers 'Hillsong' Church. Fortunately the old man at the head of this mob, the rock spider himself Frank Houston, is now dead.

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/hillsong-church-leader-blamed-victim-for-sex-abuse-royal-commission-told-20141007-10rd6m.html