Atheism

–noun 1. the doctrine or belief that there is no God.

Okay. So if one thinks that they are merely the sum total of all that they have experienced through their senses, then their life is scripted.

If ones' life is only scripted, then that one has their head in a box, so to speak.

If ones' head is in a box, then one cannot think outside the box.

How can a scripted mind think outside the box, if there is nothing outside the box?

Since there is nothing more to think about except that which is experienced through the senses, the atheist is unable to think outside that box; because his or her thinking is limited by a finite number of experiences.

Originally posted by josephw
–noun 1. the doctrine or belief that there is no God.

Okay. So if one thinks that they are merely the sum total of all that they have experienced through their senses, then their life is scripted.

If ones' life is only scripted, then that one has their head in a box, so to speak.

If ones' head is in a box, then one cannot think outside the box.

...[text shortened]... nk outside that box; because his or her thinking is limited by a finite number of experiences.

Originally posted by rwingett
Did you get that off of a bubble gum card or a chick tract? I could easily say the same thing about theists. If there is an omnipotent and omniscient creator, then their life is scripted.

I don't agree with your definition of atheism. Or I think that it's incomplete at least. If you want a one sentence definition, I would say:

atheism: Disbelief in or denial of the existence of God or gods.

Originally posted by josephw
Our lives are meaningless and purposeless if the end is nothingness.

Originally posted by PsychoPawn
Not true at all.

Quote

"I can't fathom the idea of nonexistence...."

So invent a God - that's what everyone else has been doing.

Originally posted by josephw
Not in that sense it isn't.

But within the context of the point I'm trying to make it is true.

I can't fathom the idea of nonexistence. It is hollow. It has no meaning. It is cruel.

Atheism is thinking inside the box.

Originally posted by josephw
–noun 1. the doctrine or belief that there is no God.

Okay. So if one thinks that they are merely the sum total of all that they have experienced through their senses, then their life is scripted.

If ones' life is only scripted, then that one has their head in a box, so to speak.

If ones' head is in a box, then one cannot think outside the box.

...[text shortened]... nk outside that box; because his or her thinking is limited by a finite number of experiences.

Originally posted by josephw
No no no. You are missing it.
If the universe is empty, i.e. no creator, then we are just dust.
Our lives are meaningless and purposeless if the end is nothingness.
That places us in a box. We cannot think outside the box of our sensory experiences if all we are is destined to nothingness.
If there is nothing beyond our sensory experience, then there is nothing more to think about than what we experience.
That puts our thinking in a box!

*points up* All very good questions.

You see, whether one is an athiest or a thiest, one cannot avoid the philosophical possibilities inherent in each position. One is not a heretic just because one questions religious belief. One is not a godless nonbeliever just because one questions the existence of a God.

What is important to me is what I sense and how it relates to me. I care not a whit that other believe the same as I; they are entitled to their positions. What's more, their positions may be quite sound, and that's fine and dandy to me.

Originally posted by twhitehead
There are a couple of things you seem to be choosing to ignore or misrepresent in your logic.
Lets break it down. There are two possibilities:
1. There is a God. Everyone can think outside the box.
2. There is no God. If this is the case, then according to you, nobody whether atheist or Christian can think outside the box.
Do you see that whether or n ...[text shortened]... tined for nothingness? If it is infinite, then there is no end, and what is its purpose again?

Originally posted by josephw
–noun 1. the doctrine or belief that there is no God.

Okay. So if one thinks that they are merely the sum total of all that they have experienced through their senses, then their life is scripted.

If ones' life is only scripted, then that one has their head in a box, so to speak.

If ones' head is in a box, then one cannot think outside the box.

...[text shortened]... nk outside that box; because his or her thinking is limited by a finite number of experiences.

Originally posted by josephw
No no no. You are missing it.

If the universe is empty, i.e. no creator, then we are just dust.

Our lives are meaningless and purposeless if the end is nothingness.

That places us in a box. We cannot think outside the box of our sensory experiences if all we are is destined to nothingness.

If there is nothing beyond our sensory experience, then t ...[text shortened]... ere is nothing more to think about than what we experience.

That puts our thinking in a box!

Okay. So I'm not getting through. I'll try another tact.

Atheism denies the existence of a creator. So, it's twin, evolution, fills the void.

If either is true, then perception of reality resides only in what one knows through the senses.

That being the case, things such as law and morality are merely inventions of humans and is therefore subject to speculation.

One is then free to exercise they're will in any way they choose, and when all is said and done it won't matter one wit.

As a matter of fact we could just as easily exterminate the human race and wait for another 500,000 years to pass and see if nature can create a better species. What difference does it make. We're all dead just the same.

In a box.