I don't get it. They're unsure of their own beliefs, but they refuse to be open to others' beliefs?

Queue quizzical dog pic.

EWreckedSean: We just except the possibility that either could be true.

Are you sure?

I know I'll never know if God exists (at least in this life). That is not being unsure in your beliefs.

Agnostics are perfectly capable of being sure of their beliefs. It's one thing to say "I don't know the nature of God".

Quite another thing to say "I don't know the nature of God, and neither do any of you idiots."

Actually, I'm very firm in what I believe. I just don't care if there is a God or not even though I'm on the side of there not being one. I am open to the idea that one could exist though.

Alan Watts could give a lot of you some valuable insight if you have an open mind.

Yup: those mullahs running Iran are one open-minded cabal.

There are only two things I hate, intolerance and the Dutch.

How is this ironic? Isn't that obvious?

I am not certain that I have all the answers, but I am convinced that you do not.

-btf

scseth: There are only two things I hate, intolerance and the Dutch midgets.

FTFM

The people I know who brag about how open-minded they are are some of the most closed-minded bastards I know.

/and religion doesnt' even come into it

I am just as satisfied living in my well-designed house as I am living in this well-designed world.

UberDave: Very good point. But some would claim that Wittgenstein was a beery swine who was just as schloshed as Schlegel....

There's nothing Nietzsche couldn't teach ya 'bout the raisin' of the wrist. Socrates himself was permanently pissed.

After reading the article I think it actually says that the reason religious nutjobs are so nutty is because they aren't really sure about what they believe in.


Not really anything to do with agnostics.

dewihafta: The people I know who brag about how open-minded they are are some of the most closed-minded bastards I know.

This?

Pocket Ninja: It's interesting how the words used in this headline manage to complete misdirect the actual point of the studies while still being technically accurate.

Thursday already?

UberDave: Very good point. But some would claim that Wittgenstein was a beery swine who was just as schloshed as Schlegel....

One of my majors was Philosophy, and we had an exam where our professor offered bonus credit for each line of that song we could remember.

It is better to be unsure, than to be so certain that you think it is your duty to impose your views on those around you by going door to door pissing people off. In the end I'd rather have an open mind than a closed incorrect one. You end up annoy your fellow man, and looking like a dumbass.

KaponoFor3: Exactly. They are the exact opposite side of the same coin that they abhor.

Except for the fact that they usually have reality on their side, whereas religious fundies usually don't.

I actively seek those whose views differ from mine. That way I have someone with whom to argue.
/that way it feels like I'm at home

No shiat.

Had a conversation with a creationist, and got him to finally admimt that the reason he was a creationist was this:

God making the world is less unbelievable than someone rising from the dead, being the Son of God, going to Hell for 3 days, etc. If he were to accept that Genesis was not, literally, word-for-word true, then he'd have to seriously question the divinity of Jesus.

His entire closed-mindedness on the subject was based on his insecurities in his own faith.

He was a pretty nice guy, actually, it wasn't like we were screaming obscenities at each other. I give him full credit for being honest enough to acknowledge the real reason that he believed in creationism.

"The findings, which are based on a review of more than 90 studies..."

Cool. I can't wait to delve into these studies and analyze how "the findings" came to be processed. OK, so let's just click the links for these citations... OK, must be at the bottom of the page, maybe? Nope...all right, keep on looking... I know they must be here somewhere. After all, would a reputable news source like Yahoo make a statement like this without citing their source on the studies? Come on!

What do you call someone who is undecided about the existence of a creator but is absolutely sure everybody else is wrong?

Just don't be so certain and open-minded that your brain falls out..

sigdiamond2000: GilRuiz1: How can you have been on FARK for seven years and yet missed all of those stories?

All one of them?

How many does it take before it's considered not ok? The debaptisms? Some of the antagonistic billboards?

I tend to side more with the atheists than anyone else, but there are plenty of hard lining atheists out there that are, indeed, on the opposite side of the same coin of the fundamentalist christians.

farkMcFark: Actually, I'm very firm in what I believe. I just don't care if there is a God or not even though I'm on the side of there not being one. I am open to the idea that one could exist though.

Ah, the apatheist. Good man.

GurneyHalleck: Anyone who says they're sure of their beliefs has closed their mind.

I'm always sure of my beliefs. And I'm sure I'll change them when new information comes to my attention requiring my beliefs to change. It's happened before - it will happen again.

IMO, not being sure of one's beliefs means that one really hasn't thought about them very much.

GilRuiz1: How can you have been on FARK for seven years and yet missed all of those stories?

So one insane atheist vs how many theists?

maxspeed: What do you call someone who is undecided about the existence of a creator but is absolutely sure everybody else is wrong?

Your average Christian.

being open minded doesn't mean you're unsure of what you believe in, it means that if some kind of "evidence" comes along that shows what you believe to be true is in fact not true, you change your beliefs. Your beliefs are not "cast in stone".

Until such evidence shows up though, you are as sure as sure can be about your beliefs.

The problem with fundy type beliefs is that they're not based on evidence and therefore can't really be changed by evidence. They're based on faith - believing in something in the absence of evidence - or even in spite of it. I have a hard time seeing someone with faith-based beliefs being open minded. But I'm willing to let evidence to the contrary change my mind!

I'm pretty sure I don't believe in anything.

EWreckedSean: Agnostics aren't unsure in their beliefs. They are just really sure that god might exist, and he might not. We just except the possibility that either could be true.

What about leprechauns? Are you agnostic about them too?

What's less open minded? I don't believe in a higher and I don't care if you do.

Transubstantive: I know I'll never know if God exists (at least in this life). That is not being unsure in your beliefs.

So you think the odds are 50/50?

Came here for philosoraptor. Leaving disappointed.

Believing in things is a nasty road to go down. You inevitably find yourself doing something you don't care for.

A foolish consistency . . . and all that.

I'm looking at a chair. My belief is... it is a chair. What exactly is a chair anyway? What makes it a 'chair'? Is it because I sit on it? Well, I can sit on a log --- then is not the log also a 'chair'? I can sit on a guard rail, too. I sit on the toilet (a whole other conversation)...... wait, it's no longer a chair, it's a 'throne'. I can't sit on my thumbs....they're not chairs...or they're not 'capable chairs', no feckin' armrest. Dammit, how does one 'sit on their arse'? What makes a chair a 'chair'? If I believe it's a chair, does that make it a chair? If so, who said? Who was the first one that said "I'll call this a 'chair'?" What, 'noodle' didn't sound right?
Damn this thread!

Oh, and for you fellow agnostics out there, I submit to you: The Universal Church Triumphant of the Apathetic Agnostic (new window) "We don't know, and we don't care"

Calendar events for this month:

July

* 11 July: Thomas Bowdler Day; Support Free Speech & Oppose Censorship - birth date of the man who bowdlerized Shakespeare and the Old Testament. On this day we express our support for free speech and our opposition to censorship. (Meditation 78) (new window)

FlyingPig: This is news? I see self-righteous agnostics on Fark claiming that "Atheists are no different from fundies" all the time.

Nothing's more annoying than an Internet Agnostic pulling the "I'm more rational than thou" schtick, especially because the vast majority of them are usually religious apologists.

xenomorpheus: I'm pretty sure I don't believe in anything.

I'm pretty sure you actually do believe in nothing.

Most of the people whom I've heard describe themselves as "open-minded" are bisexual or just came out of the closet.

/NTTAWWT

GilRuiz1: all of those stories

Wouldn't that statement imply more than a single story?

The Muslim Taliban, Christian Taliban, and the various Hindu, Jewish, etc fanatics are all very confident in their beliefs. A little too confident, as they automatically determine those who believe differently than they do are heathens/infidels who will all go to Hell. And some of them try to make them go right away.

Anybody willing to kill and/or die for a religion seems to me to be very sure of what they believe.

Huck Chaser: Socrates himself was permanently pissed

Sands, Hourglass, Dude!

Mr.Z: My belief is... it is a chair. What exactly is a chair anyway? What makes it a 'chair'? Is it because I sit on it?

My argument would be: it exists as a chair because you perceive it as a chair. Your brain is evolved to organize the world in terms of objects. Objects exist, not in the world, but in your brain. The collection of matter you refer to as a chair isn't a chair, except insofar as you perceive it that way. It's just a blob of matter.

Sybarite: KaponoFor3: devildog123: Not all Atheists, just the ones that are insanely arrogant and obnoxious about it, and believe that they are right, and everyone else is a stupid, ignorant, and wrong. They sound like religious fundies to me.

Exactly. They are the exact opposite side of the same coin that they abhor.


That's why you see so many of them burning religious books, protesting at events they disagree with while screaming that the people there are not going anywhere when they die, publicly proclaiming that people with faith can't possibly be real Americans, going to poor third world countries to convert the local animists to atheism, leaving copies of Richard Dawkins books in hotel rooms, and knocking on your door to tell you the good news about materialism. Yep, exactly the same.

It hurts right here. Not so much here or here. But more right here. Are you sure there isn't a mark Richard?

/this, this, an octazillion times this + 1 this

MightyPez: Some of the antagonistic billboards?

How come one billboard with an atheistic message is antagonistic, but the thousands of religious billboards aren't?

After reading the article, the term 'unsure' doesn't seem to be right. More like 'insecure'

I've always believed that the universe is just too large and complex not be created by a supreme being. Who or what that supreme being is, I will never know. So, I just try to take the good from all religions and live my life like that.

Am I perfect, no, but I try to attain perfection everyday.

When I die maybe I'll be rewarded. Maybe there is nothing after death. But at least I know I lived my life the right way.