Home Archives Random Quotes Latest Comments Top 100 Submit Quote Search Log In Forums

Quote# 85256

Lao Tzu, no human is born an "atheist" in any meaningful sense of the word. When a human is born, he has not yet heard of God, so he has not yet asked himself whether God exists or not.

Therefore, no one is born either believing that God does not exist, or believing that he can not know whether God exists or not, or even simply believing that he should not yet decide.

Yes, "atheism" can mean "without belief in a god". But then you could call a rat an atheist, because a rat has never heard of God either. Both a newborn baby and a rat have never heard of God. But it is ridiculous to refer to either as an "atheist".

However, it is correct to refer to an atheist as a "rat". A rat can not be an "atheist", but an atheist can be a "rat".

The Beast of Revelation, Amazon.com forums 75 Comments [12/18/2011 9:33:36 AM]
Fundie Index: 56
Submitted By: emau99
WTF?! || meh
Username:
Comment:



1 2 3
#1358722
derpmaster

"Therefore, no one is born either believing that God does not exist, or believing that he can not know whether God exists or not, or even simply believing that he should not yet decide."

When you are born, you do not have a belief in God. Therefore you are an atheist. Shitting it up with a bunch of qualifiers doesn't change anything.

12/18/2011 9:37:00 AM
#1358723
Phoenix

RATS RULE!

12/18/2011 9:37:08 AM
#1358726
derpmaster

Rats have been observed helping to release other caged rats in lab experiments:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/13/science/observatory-rats-have-empathy-study-finds.html

Therefore we can safely conclude that all of society is based on rat morals

12/18/2011 9:40:03 AM
#1358729
Atheissimo

'But then you could call a rat an atheist, because a rat has never heard of God either'

Yes, that's right. Because 'atheist' is just a descriptive word, not a creed or religion like you seem intent on believing. It's what we've been trying to tell you.

A cat is an atheist, because it doesn't believe in god. So are horses, as well as anything with the capacity for thought that doesn't believe in God.

12/18/2011 9:43:47 AM
#1358732
Anon-e-moose

"When a human is born, he has not yet heard of God, so he has not yet asked himself whether God exists or not."

But when he does...:



(emphasis added):

'Properly read, the Bible is the most potent force for Atheism ever conceived.'

-Isaac Asimov

I've read the Bible. Cover to cover. Properly. It made me the Atheist I am today. Therefore...:

'Know your enemy and know yourself, and you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles.

-Sun Tzu, "The Art of War"

It is more than justified to call a fundie an inferior subhuman. A Christian may not be a fundie, but a fundie is an inferior subhuman.

12/18/2011 9:49:43 AM
#1358737
MK

Rats are atheists. As are mice, whales, lizards, dogs, cats, ants, bees etc. (Except for wasps. :D)

They all lack a belief in god.

12/18/2011 9:54:08 AM
#1358750
Giardano Bruno

Apart from the last sentence this makes sense. Not fundie.

12/18/2011 10:04:28 AM
#1358752
tranz2deep

@derpmaster

Babies do not DISbelieve in God, either. Therefore, they are agnostic.

12/18/2011 10:09:56 AM
#1358754
Anon

You know, this was going so well [as a rational argument] until the last line...

12/18/2011 10:12:18 AM
#1358765
gravematter

Just a pointless semantic argument. Depends on your definition of "atheist".

12/18/2011 10:33:20 AM
#1358773
OhJohnNo

@Anon: I was thinking the same thing. And when I saw the username (he's been quotes on here before) I realised it was a fluke.

12/18/2011 10:46:28 AM
#1358785
clockworkgirl21

Saying people are born as atheists is just as stupid as saying babies are Christian from birth.

Babies are born knowing nothing whatsoever about anything, including religion. An atheist believes there is no god. A baby doesn't have the slightest clue what a god is.

They have no opinion or knowledge on the issue at all.

12/18/2011 11:14:44 AM
#1358794
Brendan Rizzo

So much for the Christian argument that everyone is born knowing in their hearts that God exists, meaning that atheists have no excuse for their unbelief. Also, very subtle implying that women and atheists aren't human there, scumbag.

12/18/2011 11:28:57 AM
#1358810
NoXion

The point is that while people have born with superstitious tendencies, knowledge of specific entities as well as theological concepts such as sin etc are culturally acquired.

12/18/2011 12:07:41 PM
#1358812
Osiris

A theist is a person who believes in a personal deity. An atheist, as the prefix "a" denotes the lack or opposite of the suffix, is someone who does not believe in a personal deity. It has come to be known more commonly as a person who does not believe in any deity, personal or distant, poly or mono. It does not mean someone who believes there is no god.
This may seem like semantics but it's very important in defining the argument.

12/18/2011 12:11:03 PM
#1358817
Papabear

I am a "rat" because I do not share your particular delusions?

12/18/2011 12:16:50 PM
#1358823


@Atheissimo:

A cat isn't an atheist -- cats think THEY'RE gods.

12/18/2011 12:32:36 PM
#1358826
Iel

I still call troll here. The name, guys. Why would a fundie use 'The Beast of Revelation' as a handle.

12/18/2011 12:45:08 PM
#1358837
farpadokly

The difference between a baby and a rat is that the baby is a human. Depending on the culture it is born into, it may or may not be subjected to the idea of a deity, and may or may not have to make a decision about its own belief. That never happens to a rat. The point is that this belief in a deity is not natural and inherent, it is inculcated by the social environment, and differs very widely in time and place, which weakens the theist argument in favour of the universality of their particular God.
By the way, the comments reminded me of this: "But if horses or oxen or lions had hands
or could draw with their hands and accomplish such works as men,
horses would draw the figures of the gods as similar to horses,
and the oxen as similar to oxen,
and they would make the bodies of the sort which each of them had."
—Xenophanes of Colophon, Fragments

12/18/2011 1:12:33 PM
#1358838
DinosaurRidinJeebus

It is not fair to call morons fundies...because all fundies are worse than morons.

A moron cannot be a fundy but a fundy can be a moron.

Seriously though. You are fucking stupid.

12/18/2011 1:13:43 PM
#1358842
Doubting Thomas

@clockworkgirl21:

You claim that an atheist believes in no gods, however atheism is just being without belief in any gods. So a baby can be an atheist, and will become an atheist adult unless brainwashed by religious parents or by someone else later on in life.

And isn't it funny how Christian babies are born to Christian parents, while Muslim babies are born to Muslim parents, Jewish babies born to Jewish parents, and Hindu babies are born to Hindu parents? It's as if the kids have absolutely no idea about religion until indoctrinated by their parents.

12/18/2011 1:20:52 PM
#1358848
John

no human is born an "atheist" in any meaningful sense of the word.

True, if you take "atheist" to mean belief that God doesn't exist. And no human is born a "theist" in any meaningful sense of the word, either. That's why people in Italy grow up to be Roman Catholics, people in India grow up to be Hindus and people in Saudi Arabia grow up to be Muslims.

12/18/2011 1:31:08 PM
#1358851
KZN02

Was anything thinking that "Lao Tzu" meant "rat" in Chinese?

12/18/2011 1:39:54 PM
#1358865
whoanelly

Babies, rats and all other animals are agnostic, dipshit. They have neither belief or disbelief in a god or gods. Ergo....agnostic!

In a perfect world everyone would be agnostic. We'd live our lives with no notion of a higher power(s), and trust me, everything would be better. However, atheists have to identify as atheists (or agnostics, or deists) to distance ourselves from the stupid shit bronze age rulers made up to keep the peasants in line.

12/18/2011 2:05:19 PM
#1358869
Old Viking

Juvenile blather. Well, got to go. It's my nap time.

12/18/2011 2:13:38 PM
1 2 3