Hardships of Being Atheist

[Thorne]

The point is you do not expect to have to respect others's beliefs/ideas etc whatever you wish to call it but you demand all respect yours.

But I do NOT demand that anyone respect me OR my ideas! I only ask that they respect my right to speak about those ideas, just as I respect their right to do the same.

Using sophistry to illogically brand your "brand of atheism" as somehow something different than what it is to avoid having to admit to your hypocrisy requires one to change the rules of logic and the English language from what they are into some thing else.

I'm neither using sophistry nor changing the rules of logic. I'm stating the truth as I understand it: there is no valid evidence for the existence of gods, therefore I accept the idea that the gods probably do not exist. A simple statement.

Categorically your still saying the same thing...its your concept (ie atheism) vs theism and that concept is rooted in no more validity or provability than the other and hence deserving of the same respect, no matter which way you try to white wash it.

No, they are not comparable. The idea of atheism, AS IT APPLIES TO ME, is based on a perfectly valid, proven concept that there is no valid evidence for the existence of gods! Granted, there may be some atheists who claim that they do not believe in gods because their is no evidence. They make a statement of belief. But even there, the absolute LACK of evidence for gods provides SOME validation for the belief.

And this conversation rightfully belongs in the other thread, so I'll not continue it here.

To Switch John: congratulations on your escape from religious tyranny, and good luck in your ongoing search for the truth. Try not to engage in any arguments with theists unless you can first get them to admit that NOT believing in God does not require faith!

Sorry to have hijacked your thread.