From: se24+@andrew.cmu.edu (Scott F. Earnest)
Newsgroups: alt.atheism
Subject: Benevolent Rebuttal
Date: 29 Sep 92 03:22:43 GMT
Organization: Freshman, H&SS general, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA


    How can so little be so misconstrued?!!!!!!
    By stating that God exists, I _do not_ in any way, shape, or form
mean that God (i.e. the Christian, or any other form of theistic god)
exists.  I was trying to show that this word "God" is really a hollow
label.  What matters is not that such a God exists; what matters is that
each person has a conscience that can be held as existing.  I *don't*
believe that it exists.  This is why I am an atheist (and very proud of
it, not meaning to brag).
    Also, in the final paragraph some other statement was misstated,
also leading to confusion.

>    Finally, for the record, it is my belief that the one true greatest
>sin is self-righteousness.  Denial of something as true means an
>unwillingness to accept that you are wrong, which is a problem central
>to close-mindedness and ignorance.

Saying "Denial of something as true" is indeed a poor way to try to get
a point across.  What would probably make more sense would be to say
that unshakable faith in something means denying that everyone else can
be right.  I mean, words should not be taken just at face value, as
seems to be the unfortunate case here.

    Now I would like to interject a few generalized repsonses to others
who have responded to my original post, and to those who shared their
thoughts.  I apologize for not quoting specific passages, but there's
something about my mail interface that I can't seem to make it work. 
Anyway. . . .  First, about the ham sandwiches thing:  maybe the above
will clarify.  I was not comparing the term God to anything physical,
thus calling a ham sandwich "God" is pretty much the same as comparing
apples to oranges.  Second, someone stated that I am not a real atheist.
 The fact is, I am, and I take the matter very seriously; this may in
part explain why the joking deification of certain persons surprised me.
 My whole purpose of this post was to raise some key arguments that
center around atheism and try to get people to think about what they're
believing, though not necessarily making them question it.  Again, I
hope my above statement helps to show that I am an atheist.  Finally,
I'd like to mention something about courtesy of arguments.  I cannot
speak for anyone except myself, but I can not take seriously anyone's
rebuttal which makes pointless comments about a statement, such as
calling it "crap", "crapola", "shit", "garbage", or what have you. 
Personally, it makes that person's argument seem more flimsy to me,
since it draws away from hard fact.  Don't get me wrong; this isn't a
personal attack at anyone, and I am certainly no prude, but I just don't
think these have a place being in used in this type of subject matter. 
Of course, you're always welcome to give me the ol' "Fuck you very
much!" and keep on doing it!  :)  I can't stop you; I can only ignore
you.
    And just one brief comment to a limited audience:  If any of you are
CMU students and are interested in atheistic existentialism, there is a
relatively new bboard I have begun called graffiti.SOFT, on which I'd
like to start a few arguments on various matters!  But I need
subscribers first!  Thanx!
    But, as always, I *could* be wrong.  (and this is what matters to me)



               - Me, Myself, and I
                 a.k.a. "Phydeaux"
Newsgroups: alt.atheism