Quote Originally Posted by Rhabbi View Post
The only overlap between an atheist and an agnostic comes because the atheist does not believe what he says. I have often said that I never met an honest atheist, and I still hold to that. There is no way you can prove there is no God, because it is impossible to prove a negative. If you are honest you have to call yourself agnostic.
Well that's your opinion. In logic that's actually called argument from ignorance. It's a logical fallacy and I'd be happy to prove it for you if you don't believe me.

The whole problem with the philosophies regarding religion is that they all spring from a basis where they define their position in relation to existing religious beliefs. It quickly becomes polarised. Polarisation can only occur if there are two sides. I deny this is the case.

Apatheism, which I sort myself under, does strictly speaking count as both atheism and agnosticism. It's also known as practical atheism/agnosticism. It's the belief that we should work with what evidence we've got.

Since no supernatural religion has any verifiable proof to relate to, we're still at square one. We can only talk about the merits of the Christian theory of supernatural if we somehow can distinguish it from the Greek Pantheon, Norse myths or any other fantasy theory I just made up now. If we can't, then what's the point? Based on what we have to work with we still have no reason to treat the Christian view of the world as anything but fantasy.

That's why I call myself Atheist. I don't deny that the Christians could be right, but we haven't reached a point where we've got reason to even consider any of it, have we?

The Christian says, "I believe I'll go to heaven"
The Atheist says, "...and this belief is based on what?"
...and so it goes.

If we're to have a theological discussion, we need something to work with, don't we? Something we know is true. A starting point. Since its inception Christian theology is still only at a "what-if" stage. It's a pretty futile project. What if my cock really is a rocket and will go into space when I die? The reaction from anybody is at best a smile. But nobody will take it seriously until they see it happen, will they? Just like with the Flying Spaghetti Monster. This is still where Christianity is at today.

I understand that a Christian community can be a great and supportive and give lots of comfort and fill many social needs. It can provide a great framework for living ones life. The commandments include all the basic human values we share. Those are great to stick to. Why not just keep it at that? Why cling to ancient theories we should have moved on from long ago? What possible good can it do?