xian

For this post, when I say "atheists" I am referring to atheists and/or naturalists and/or agnostics

The ONLY thing atheists have in common is a nonbelief in theism. Or so they say.

Atheists claim that they cannot be classified or that they have any common philosophical positions other than the one I cited above.


Yet for some reason, the universe has blessed me with a supernatural ability.

I can identify atheists based upon their answers to questions that do not ask whether or not they possess belief in God.

Only 12% (a VERY liberal estimate) of the US population is atheistic. According to probability, in a double blind test where 100 atheists are in a room and 100 theists are in another room, I should be only able to identify 12 out of 100 people as atheists in the room that contains atheists.

Yet I could identify most likely 90% of them.

In another test, if you passed 20 atheists before me, I could give them a list of statements they will AGREE with that are not questions about whether they believe in the existence of God(s). They will agree with my statements 80% of the time.

I have an uncanny ability to classify, and nail down atheists according to beliefs and/or assertions about things other than knowing their answer to the question of belief in God.

Ironically, when trying to classify Christians based on common beliefs, it is much more challenging. Apart from some general belief that an inspired man named Jesus once existed, there is no unanimous belief common to all professing Christians that I can pin down.

Classifying atheism is a simple task for me. So why is this so?
Why can I so easily identify them out of a mob?

Well there are only 2 answers.

1) Either the atheist claims that "we do not generally have anything in common other than nonbelief in theism" is nothing more than a pseudo-mask of someone trying to be slippery like a bannana peel

OR

2) I have a supernatural ability...magical & mystical.

Now, since we KNOW that #1 cannot be true...that leaves #2 as the only explanation.

James Randi might be interested in this.

Duck!

This sounds interesting. How about you post 'em here and the the posters here respond whether or not they agreee with your statements and whether or not they are religious/non-religious.

I promise not to lie.


Duck!

braces_for_impact

I agree. Lets hear it.

I did think of another possibility to your claims. Assuming your claims are correct, it could merely be demonstrating that atheists are simply more consistent in their beliefs than Christians.

penumbra

"Atheists claim that they cannot be classified or that they have any common philosophical positions other than the one I cited above. "

Your source for this conclusion? Is this supposed to represent a claim made by all atheists, some atheists, most atheists?

Mageth

Only 12% (a VERY liberal estimate) of the US population is atheistic. According to probability, in a double blind test where 100 atheists are in a room and 100 theists are in another room, I should be only able to identify 12 out of 100 people as atheists in the room that contains atheists.

Yet I could identify most likely 90% of them.

Am I missing something here? Why would the fact that 12% of the population is atheistic supposedly limit you to only identifying 12 of the 100 atheists as atheists? It boils down to how you perform the test, and what questions you ask. My guess is that your questions are loaded from the start.

As extreme examples, if you ask "How do you spend your Sunday Mornings?" or "Do you regularly go to church?", that would tend to improve your results, right? If you ask "Are you an atheist?" or "Do you believe in God?", you should be able to achieve 100%.


Well there are only 2 answers.

1) Either the atheist claims that "we do not generally have anything in common other than nonbelief in theism" is nothing more than a pseudo-mask of someone trying to be slippery like a bannana peel

OR

2) I have a supernatural ability...magical & mystical.

I think (hope) you're jesting, but it's obvious that there are more than two answers. A third is that you're bullshitting us (high odds on that one). A fourth is that your test is flawed, but you can't see it (pretty high on that one, too). I could go on...

Amaranth

I'd put $5 on one of these "completely unrelated to atheism" questions being about evolution. "Do you believe things based on faith?" sounds like another reasonable dodge.

Doesn't matter. Atheists don't believe in god. That is it. Anything else is a stereotype.

xian

irrelevant. my goal is identify atheists. if i ask a loaded question and then as a result, I am able to pin you down and say "Bada-Bing! He's an atheist!" and then I am RIGHT about it....well looks like I nailed you. The only criteria is that I cannot ask you whether or not you believe in theism or any question that causes you to state nonbelief in theism.

It is fully irrelevant how many fallacies I commit in the process...so long you never confess atheism...and so long as I pin you down as an atheist....then you have been classified successfully.

This is not about my questions...this is about MY ABILITY

And I am able to identify atheists amongst mobs of people...and do so with ease....easier than I could identify Christians.


Oh my those are horrible!!

1. "How do you spend your Sunday Mornings?"

a terrible question. How would a Buddhist answer? How would a backslidden Christian answer? How would a closet theist answer? This question would not help me.

2. "Do you regularly go to church?"
This might elminate the person as a PRACTICING Christian, but I am infinitely away from atheism.

3. ""Are you an atheist?" Invalid. Confession of atheism is not permitted.

4. "Do you believe in God?". Invalid. Same reasons.

We already know that atheism has this in common : Lack of belief in god(s). Without making any direct appeal to this commonality, I can STILL identify atheists. And do so with ease. And with accuracy.

Mageth

OK, based on the above response, I think my #3 answer is absolutely correct: you're bullshitting us. Geez, I have supernatural bullshit detection powers! Where's Randi?

Edited to add: and Elsewhere detection powers, as I'm 100% convinced that's where this will end up.

xian

well theres another possible explanation:

Atheists have more in common than simply lack of belief in god(s).

xian

doesn't change the fact i can pin you down as an atheist and do so with a much higher degree of accuracy than the percentage of atheists in the population.

i didn't say you had to like it. i'm only saying i can do it.


is this a supernatural ability?