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Why in 2024 do people still believe in religion? (serious) (lemmy.world)

submitted 5 months ago by return2ozma@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

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[–] geneva_convenience@lemmy.ml 1 points 4 months ago (1 children)

https://www.dictionary.com/e/atheism-agnosticism/

There is a key distinction between these terms. An atheist doesn’t believe in the existence of a god or divine being. The word atheist originates with the Greek atheos, which is built from the roots a- (“without”) and theos (“a god”). Atheism is the doctrine or belief that there is no god.

In contrast, the word agnostic refers to a person who neither believes nor disbelieves in a god or religious doctrine. Agnostics assert that it’s impossible to know how the universe was created and whether or not divine beings exist.

[–] A_Very_Big_Fan@lemmy.world 1 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Ask literally any atheist here if they claim "god does not exist"

[–] geneva_convenience@lemmy.ml 1 points 4 months ago (1 children)

They seem quite confident as they proclaim their superiority over religious people and cannot comprehend why anyone would be religious.

[–] A_Very_Big_Fan@lemmy.world 1 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Sure. And nobody claimed "God doesn't exist." Two people now have told you that you're mistaken, but you insist.

From our perspective it seems like you're imposing a baseless claim onto us so you can feel better about your own baseless claims. Only theists say atheism is a claim.

[–] geneva_convenience@lemmy.ml 1 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

There is no baseless claim it is the only reasonable claim from our current understanding of physics.

Claiming that the universe magically came out of nothing is not an answer to some. It contradicts all of science especially the first and second laws of thermodynamics.

Nonetheless you are still conflating Atheism and Agnosticism. These words exist for a reason they mean different things.

[–] A_Very_Big_Fan@lemmy.world 1 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

These words exist for a reason they mean different things.

Correct, and you're still misusing them according to the people who actually identify with these labels. Atheism is the answer to what you believe, and agnosticism is the answer to what you know.

I don't believe God exists and I don't know if God exists, so I'm an agnostic atheist. For you to assume atheists are gnostic by default is like me assuming Christians are Mormons by default. It'd be even more ridiculous for me to go on and argue with Christians that "Christian" means "Mormon."