A discourse on Atheism (not a religious debate)

[Paulclem]

This is old hat. The purpose of filosophy in ancient Greece was to produce an environ directed by the areopagus to generate ancient theology to finish with pagan mythology. Some of the philosophies that started with Thales and many of his friends already had marked bits of theology.

Yeah? Tell Paul Tillich - oh no sorry. He's dead.

[russellb]

Some people are atheists because they cannot get round the problem of evil. Then again some theists argue that we cannot spiritually develop in a universe without evil. Some atheists say there is no evidence. To which a theist might reply 'what more evidence do you want?' The question that occurs to me is do atheists and theists have, on a certain level, differently structured minds that determine how they think on the matter. One point of reply might be that a person or mind is not a monolithic entity and a person might continually slip from atheism to theism and back again. Or does this mean that conflicting structures may inhere in the same psyche?

[russellb]

Would like to add that if atheism is a mental structure there may be varieties that express the different ways in which an atheist can think. Of course they would share a fundamental feature ie non belief in God

[russellb]

Some people are atheists because they cannot get round the problem of evil. Then again some theists argue that we cannot spiritually develop in a universe without evil. Some atheists say there is no evidence. To which a theist might reply 'what more evidence do you want?' The question that occurs to me is do atheists and theists have, on a certain level, differently structured minds that determine how they think on the matter. One point of reply might be that a person or mind is not a monolithic entity and a person might continually slip from atheism to theism and back again. Or does this mean that conflicting structures may inhere in the same psyche?

[Varenne Rodin]

Russell, I'm an atheist. I will never be a theist.