Date/Time 26 Dec 2014 11:01:37pm
Yes well I know that the terminology and labelling do get mixed up and thought myself that Dawkins argued against agnosticism at one point. The point where we agree about things is that the absence of proof isn't the same as the presence of disproof. Sure it may be asking a lot to prove a negative but I don't think that you presume certainty without evidence either way. I can read a lot of modern Christian, Jewish or Muslim philosophy looking for the messages and ignoring the metaphysics entirely to find all of us broadly in basic agreement. What I was trying to say to others here is that I'd disagree violently with Nihilists, Fascists and Satanists because I can and do have an ethical basis for doing so. But when your own teaching proscribes fraud and sexual abuse but it takes an Atheist to point our the hypocrisy in shrinking from that then that's pretty bad. I think religious people who struggle with breaking a cultural, familial tradition or aren't committed enough to challenge bad behaviour in their churches face a struggle with their faith which I don't envy them.