You are no less self-righteous and hypocritical than the ones you condemn!
2007-01-16 02:39:18 · 18 answers · asked by THE NEXT LEVEL 5 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
semantic parsing
2007-01-16 02:43:45 · answer #1 · answered by mullah robertson 4 · 4⤊ 0⤋
A more accurate definition of the (a) prefix would be "absence of", as this definition fits better with the general use of the prefix in the english language (see other examples like apathy, abiotic, etc).
This also clarifies the technical definition of the two terms you're drawing into question: Atheism is absence of belief in divinity, Agnosticism is absence of divine knowledge (from gnostikos).
The beauty is that this clarification only makes your point more valid. The terms "athiest" and "agnostic" are widely misused. Most true agnostics wouldn't even bother to identify themselves as such, and most athiests would fit more comfortably under the definition of antitheist. The use of the latter term has been staunchly opposed on the grounds that an "athiest" does not oppose a God that they do not believe exists, but this objection misses a key syntactical point: "theos" is not god, but the belief in god. As such, an antitheist is one opposed to belief in god. That seems a good definition both in theory and in practice.
Speaking more to the real heart of your question, though: yes, self-righteousness is a human trait that transcends any boundaries of belief or culture. Every behavior a staunch "athiest" may oppose is evident in the general body of atheists, much as the objections of the religious community to atheist behavior also often apply to them. To me this is strong evidence that most people interact with external ideas not as an influence on their thinking, but a justification: if two completely different bodies of thought produce the same behavior, then the people evidencing that behavior are likely not TRULY basing their behavior on that body of thought.
There are religious hypocrites, and their are irreligious hypocrites. There are people who quote Christ while stomping on what he stood for, and there are people who quote Vonnegut while stomping on what he stood for.
2007-01-16 02:59:32 · answer #2 · answered by Benjamin C 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I don't condemn. I refute.
If a religious person was to give me a sane reason to think his beliefs were not nonsense, I would admit it to him.
They, however, will not do the same for me. But I digress... :)
(Edit - to What is Truth - Oh, I can't ignore this one... Think hard about what you just said. Surely, if you think hard enough, you can see that the Pharisees are, in fact, the modern Christian church in this country... I mean, SURELY you can see the similarities!)
2007-01-16 02:49:13 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 0⤋
It's time(7th yr of 3rd day = 7th day when counting: let him that hath understanding count)... time to finish 'probating' the "will of God", as the BIG Meltdown has already gone exponential;
http://www.godshew.org/BigMeltdown.htm
So stop the Childish Hatfields vs McCoys sh-t whereby even the McCoys feud amongst them-selves ("oppose them-selves" with law vs law) over who's a real McCoy, and go on to perfection, by get on with 'Probating' the will of God: "I will have mercy, and not sacrifice".
Do note the "not" part of "I will have mercy, and not sacrifice" is not then, not now, not ever with God NEVER desired sacrifice for sin, NOR ever took pleasure in such law<->law going to<->fro: Psalms 40:6; Psalms 51:16; Hosea 6:6; Matthew 9:13; Matthew 12:7; Hebrews 10:all.
Pst: doing the will of God precedes receive-ing the promise; So no inheritance to any till the will of God gets probated: "settled".
http://www.godshew.org/GodShew4.htm
The GRACE of our Lord Jesus Christ with you all. Amen.
2007-01-16 02:59:29 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
In the Creek language, "a-" before words means "without". That is why it is called "alpha to steritiko" ("alpha the privative/negative").
So in Greek, "a-theos" (from which the word "atheist" derives) means "without God" (oxymoron as it may sound that a creature denies the Creator)
Edit:
"Theos" means "God" and it is used in complex words such as "theocracy", "theological" etc.
2007-01-16 02:56:10 · answer #5 · answered by Dimitris-Greece 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Incorrect. It's a suffix that derives from greek words that use it to mean "without". In this case "atheos" means without gods while "theos" would mean of gods.
By your reasoning, asexual would mean indifferent to sexual, which doesn't make sense given that it means without sex.
2007-01-16 02:50:28 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Reread the definition of Atheist
2007-01-16 02:46:40 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 0⤋
So "atypical" means "indifferent to the typical"? And "abiotic" means "indifferent to life"? I think your etymology is a little screwy.
2007-01-16 02:43:19 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 5⤊ 0⤋
Did you know that you're a tool, skippy?
"a-" means "not".
There is no prefix for "indifferent".
"atheist" comes from the greek "atheos", "without god".
"agnostic" means "without knowledge".
2007-01-16 02:43:27 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 7⤊ 0⤋
actualyl it doesn't it means "not". And the way we use it is in that term. If we called ourselves cows it would still mean we don't believe in God, a name is a name.
2007-01-16 02:49:02 · answer #10 · answered by jleslie4585 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
'indifferent'? Where did you learn that? 'Amoral' means 'indifferent to morality', maybe, but 'indifferent to god or gods' is 'non-theism'. 'Atheism' _is_ a belief (or rather two different beliefs).
Anyway, what's your point?
2007-01-16 02:43:47 · answer #11 · answered by XYZ 7 · 4⤊ 0⤋