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On posting to alt.atheism
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Subject: On posting to alt.atheism
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From: Charles Fiterman <cef@geodesic.com>
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Date: Mon, 20 Feb 1995 14:52:21 GMT
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Apparently-To: alt-hindu@ncar.ucar.edu
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From news@bluebird.uchicago.edu Mon Feb 20 09: 43:28 1995
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Newsgroups: alt.atheism, alt.hindu, soc.religion.islam, soc.religion.shamanism, soc.religion.christian, soc.religion.eastern, talk.religion.newage, alt.religion.scientology, alt.religion.kibology, soc.religion.bahai, soc.religion.quaker, alt.religion.christian, alt.religion.mormon, alt.religion.zoroastrianism, alt.religion.buddhism.tibetan, soc.religion.gnosis
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Organization: Geodesic Systems
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Sender: news@midway.uchicago.edu (News Administrator)
We often get postings from religious people on alt.atheism and most of us
like them. I think our best threads were started by religious people. Without
you alt.atheism would be a very dull place.
Most of our religious posters are Christians and I hope we could see more
variety, it would be good all around. But a few guidelines.
We really do exist and most of us have given some thought to our opinions.
Questioning that existence is not polite. Imagine if we did it to you.
Assume we know Pascal's argument and can see through the first mover
argument no matter how it is disguised.
Remember, if we believed in your holy book, or books we could hardly be
atheists so there is no point in arguing from them.
Don't be shocked when some of the replies look like flames. We have all types.
Please add your home newsgroup to the list of newsgroups so the people there
can see the answers. Also we like to see who we are talking to. If you fail
to do this you will make a post and twenty people will jump on you and no
dialog will result.
To find our FAQ go to
http://www.mantis.co.uk/atheism/
http://bigdipper.umd.edu/atheism/
ftp.mantis.co.uk/pub/alt.athesim/faqs
But briefly we come in three flavors.
Those who claim "No gods exist" called strong atheists.
Those who say "There is no good evidence gods exist." called weak atheists.
Those who only say "I have no gods." which is the oldest meaning of atheist.
We would like comments on questions like what do the terms god, God, and
religion mean? Are there commonly accepted meanings? Another good question
is this. "Do any of the above definitions of atheist fit people who would
rather not be called atheists?" That is do some of your say "I fit
definition three but would rather be called a Buddhist."? I think a good
definition should include those who want to be included and exclude those
who want to be excluded, or at least it should come close. In the absence
of holy books and doctrine we must use such methods to define ourselves.
Thanks for your patience.
