ATHEISTS: You Believe in God Pt II?

Question

Why do you all not do your homework before electing a label?

...The indictment and prosecution of Greek philosophers is a circumstance which is familiar to us all. Several philosophers, one after another, were indicted by the Athenian Government, on the common charge of introducing strange divinities. Anaxagoras, Socrates, and Aristotle received similiar indictments for a similiar offence. The most famous of these was against Socrates which reads as follows. " Socrates commits a crime by not believing in the gods of the city, and by introducing other new divinities. He also commits a crime by corrupting the youth." THEN, Socrates is declared by Meletus to be an atheist and to corrupt the religion of the young. Taken from "Stolen Legacy pg 29" and Socrates's Defense. The overall meaning being whoever does not believe as we do are Atheists. Also, the Greeks functioned on more levels that you all do, for A = 1 and Theist = God, therefore An Atheist is a monotheist! Peace

Answer 1

Few points:

Socrates was accused of introducing strange Gods, and being an Atheist, this is true. But if you actually read the Apology, Socrates points out the inherent contradiction in that in the first place! This isn't a finer point, he blatently calls out Meletus on this point, as the first part of his speech. That you missed that makes me think you didn't read the Apology and just read someone's critique of it.

Second point. The prefix "A" does not mean "one." It means "Not" or "No." It's of greek origin, meaning "No Gods" (A-theos). This is also seen in words like atypical. That does not mean there is one thing that is typified, it means that it is not usual (typical here meaning of a type, normal).

Had you bothered to read or actually formulate your point, you wouldn't have made these glaring and damaging mistakes. Please, before you criticize someone's (or more appropriately, an entire group of people's) intelligence, do some research of your own.

Answer 2

You make a valid point, as far as the origin of the word "atheist" is concerned. Of course, that was what the word meant 2500 years ago, in a culture that no longer exists. In our own times, in our own culture, "atheist" has the commonly accepted meaning you read here, in the R&S forum.

The twisted logic of your final sentence is stunning. Do you seriously suggest that, because A is the first letter of the alphabet, atheism is a monotheistic faith? Do you then imagine all theists are equivalent to gods?

Since the modern English definition of "atheist" is one who denies the existence of all gods, wouldn't Atheist = 0? ...and therefore an atheist is a non-theist!

Answer 3

Just because a word may have had a certain meaning at its origin, doesn't mean the meaning is still the same today. Come on, use some common sense here. The dictionary term for atheist in the english (not greek thousands of years ago) language is "a person who denies or disbelieves the existence of a supreme being or beings."

Answer 4

(((Olgie))))) LOL. Thanks. Sadly if these people are really still hypothesising right and left hemisphere differences they need to go back to year 1 neuroscience! Also the writer clearly does not know how to read scientific journals. They got the hypotheses totally wrong. Statistically you always test that there will be no significant difference between A and B. It is how stats works. You test the null hypothesis it does not mean you believe that is the result you will get. I will say nothing of the journal this is written in. I have never come across it and neither has a Prof of Cgnitive Neuroscience that I just phoned. She is an authority on emotional processing! Thanks again, Olgs. Enjoyed that one!

Answer 5

Did you bump your head this morning. Nice little history lesson. What the ancient Greeks said has no relevance to the fact that in 2007, atheist means someone who lacks a belief in god. I've heard of "lost in the 50's" but man,at least get the right century

Answer 6

I didn't choose that label.......It was thrust upon me by people such as yourself. I don't believe in your fairy tales.......call me what you will.

You might also consider learning a little bit more about language and how it EVOLVES over time. A lot of words don't mean the same thing they did 2000 (Jupiter meant something a lot different then) or even 200 years ago. Calling someone a "ornery rascal" 150 years ago could have gotten you shot, today you would just be laughed at.

Answer 7

So an agnostic is one who knows only one thing (gnostic=knowledge)? Don't be so pseudo-clever, even a lot of medical terms use an 'a' as an denying preposition (aplasia, apnoe, apathy...). Many terms are not used by their original meanings (or double-meanings), but it's a describtion for something. If I don't believe in a god, I say, I'm an atheist, not vice versa!

Answer 8

I don't think you have any right to tell anyone what they do or do not believe. It dosnt matter what the word Atheist may or may have not meant long ago, it is used now to mean people who don't believe in any god. Words change over time. Get used to it.

Answer 9

rofl.... great someone that can't speak english.

No honey, "A" when attached to a word, does not mean 1. It means "not". Go back to school.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
var. of an-1 before a consonant, meaning “not,” “without”: amoral; atonal; achromatic.

American Heritage Dictionary a- 1 or an-
pref. Without; not: amoral.

http://www.dictionary.com

Answer 10

Words chamge meaning over time. Gay 50 years ago meant happy