Comrades, Pick me Apart

[Drake Tungsten]

Oh... I didn't realize this had already been debated to death.

Consider yourself lucky.

My bad... let's just like this get back on topic, I'm sure Uber is pissed enough as it is.

Sounds like a good plan. It would be kinda ****ty of us to threadjack a serious thread of his into oblivion.

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by Drake Tungsten
Give it up, Boris. Usage dictates definition. Being a pedant won't turn back time and make "agnostic" mean what you want it to.

Right, so if a bunch of people start using the word "Hindu" and ascribing to it the tenets of Satanism, or Islam, then Hindus should just accept the mass misrepresentation of their beliefs, sure.

The core of the argument isn't about "agnostic," it's about the misrepresentation of Atheists as believing there is no god, when the majority of athiests merely just do not believe God exists.

[Drake Tungsten]

Right, so if a bunch of people start using the word "Hindu" and ascribing to it the tenets of Satanism, or Islam, then Hindus should just accept the mass misrepresentation of their beliefs, sure.

You didn't really mean to write that, did you? You have more sense than that.

[Tuberski]

Originally posted by Boris Godunov

The core of the argument isn't about "agnostic," it's about the misrepresentation of Atheists as believing there is no god, when the majority of athiests merely just do not believe God exists.

So you are saying that atheism is an "absence of belief", whereas most people think of it as a "belief of absence"?

ACK!

[Imran Siddiqui]

Duh, grey is non-black

No, grey is also black and non-black at the same time. It is a mixture of black and white. I can't put it into a catagory.

What's neither theist nor not theist?

Those questions all have the same answer: nothing, there are no in-betweens.

The problem is that you think that not theist means atheist, which it doesn't anymore. Not theist encompases atheist AND agnosticism, and that is how the word is used.

so if a bunch of people start using the word "Hindu" and ascribing to it the tenets of Satanism, or Islam, then Hindus should just accept the mass misrepresentation of their beliefs, sure.

If the majority of the world define the combination of letters 'H-i-n-d-u' to be Satanism, then it is.

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by Tuberski
So you are saying that atheism is an "absence of belief", whereas most people think of it as a "belief of absence"?

ACK!

Exactly. Although, Atheism covers both of these sets of beliefs. It encompasses anything that isn't belief in god.

[Tuberski]

Originally posted by Boris Godunov


Exactly. Although, Atheism covers both of these sets of beliefs. It encompasses anything that isn't belief in god.

Witchcraft and wiccan, druids?

ACK!

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui

Duh, grey is non-black

No, grey is also black and non-black at the same time. It is a mixture of black and white. I can't put it into a catagory.

This is so painfully wrong it's funny!

Imran, grey is NOT black. Black is black. When you mix black with white and get grey, it's no longer black! It's not-black! It can be put into a category: not black!

The problem is that you think that not theist means atheist, which it doesn't anymore. Not theist encompases atheist AND agnosticism, and that is how the word is used.

Imran, not theist DOES mean athiest. Athiest encompasses anything not theist! Look at the word! A- = Not. Not Theist. Music that isn't tonal is Atonal. Something that isn't symmetrical is asymmetrical. Someone who isn't Theist is Atheist. As I said, simply entemology

If the majority of the world define the combination of letters 'H-i-n-d-u' to be Satanism, then it is.

yet once again you've painted yourself into a corner of saying something so patently absurd, it's unbelievable. I'm just sorry loinburger hasn't seen this one yet. We'll add it to 2+2=5.

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by Tuberski
Witchcraft and wiccan, druids?

ACK!

I'm not sure of the details of these beliefs, but in order to be "theistic" they must believe in a god or gods. Do these groups believe in any supernatural beings or forces that are responsible for how the universe works? If so, they are theists.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Athiest encompasses anything not theist! Look at the word! A- = Not.

NOT ANYMORE! In this day and age, not theist is divided into agnostic or atheist.

Btw, Tuberki's point is good. What about Wiccans and Druids? Atheists?

yet once again you've painted yourself into a corner of saying something so patently absurd, it's unbelievable.

Why is it? Usage determines defintion. If the majority of the people believed Hindu means Satanism, then that is what it is. The minority Hindus may not like it, but if the majority decides that's the true meaning... well, little they can do about it.

There are many words in English that mean totally different things in other languages. However, if the majority of English speakers believe the word to mean one thing, then that is what it means, even if to someone else it means something entirely different.

For example, the word: Indian as refering to natives of the Americas. Totally wrong word, but since the majority believes it refers to Native Americans, it does.

How do you think words change meaning? Because the majority of the people choose to redefine them. What is so silly about that?

[Velociryx]

Let me try!

Someone who is not the brightest crayon in the box can be described as either:

a- moron

or

a- dumba$$

Anyone who believes that detailed, done-to-death semantics discussions have particular relavance to Uber's otherwise thought-provoking thread surely fall into this category....

-=Vel=-
$0.02

[Tuberski]

Originally posted by Velociryx


Let me try!

Someone who is not the brightest crayon in the box can be described as either:

a- moron

or

a- dumba$$

Anyone who believes that detailed, done-to-death semantics discussions have particular relavance to Uber's otherwise thought-provoking thread surely fall into this category....

-=Vel=-
$0.02

I prefer to be known as an Amoron or an Adumba$$, thank you very much.....



ACK!

[Velociryx]

-=Vel=-

[Velociryx]

And thank you for taking that in the spirit in which it was intended. Nobody here is either of those things, however, clearly it (the semantics discussion) has got BEANS to do with the topic Uber was hoping to see discussed.

-=Vel=-

[Tuberski]

I agree with that about 90%.

It was one of the many topics he discussed. So it is relevant......to a point.

ACK!