hezekiah jones

So is asymmetry symmetry too?

Amos

Would that not depend on your concept of "much?"

A great God has a great mind, don't you think?

Arvel Joffi

For a perfect being, the term "great" is a woeful misunderstatement. A perfect being would be perfectly capable of making his/her rules clear and immutable.

Arvel Joffi

No, it's the opposite of symmetry. What point are you trying to make?

Thieving Magpie

I believe atheism requires just as much faith as theism, and perhaps even more so.

Though some may scoff at the remark 'Proof there is no deity: none.' It is largely accurate, though what a deity is or is not seems to be the real basis of this discussion. There is proof that SOME deities do not exist, but there is not proof that ALL deities do not exist.

It is important to note that if there was no reason for people to believe in God, then we would not be aware that such a being could exist. This doesn't mean that God must exist, but it does raise some interesting questions.

hezekiah jones

That atheism doesn't require faith. In fact, atheism refers to the absence of faith. And the absence of faith is not faith. Just as the absence of symmetry is not symmetry.

Slavik91

Not believing in a deity requires the same amount of faith as not beliveing in invisible men who swipe my socks in the dryer.

Thieving Magpie

Pish posh! Symmetry is a mathematical term that was designed to only have one alternative.

Faith is a more philosophical term with more than one alternative, namely, 'no faith,' and 'non-faith.' Non-faith can be no faith, but it does not have to be. People can lack faith in something if they are not even aware of the POSSIBLE existence of such a thing - for example, if someone has no POSSIBLE idea of what a 'God' or 'Goddess' could POSSIBLY be, then they would not have faith that such a thing could or could not exist. They would be, by default, agnostic. Meanwhile an atheist must first have an idea of what God is before they can say 'I don't believe in that.'

Thieving Magpie

That assumes that invisible men might not only exist, but 'swipe socks in the dryer.' God does not necessarily do anything of this nature, or anything similar.

beastmaster

Let's see:

I don't pray.
I don't go to church.
I don't do things to please invisible people.

Nope, no faith required to accomplish any of those non-actions.