dartagnan wrote:Dart, I specifically asked what was the meaning to each of our lives and how that may differ from atheists to theists since theists often tell atheists there is no meaning to their life without a belief in a deity. So the answers were appropriate.
You thought that was rude?
If that was the distinction in your question then it is even less philosophical than the one I proposed, and yet it still produced boring, unimaginative responses. Nothing to debate or discuss ... maybe that's because there were no theists around who were willing to take the bait and fight back.
Well, I never said it was really philosophical and spoke to my attempts to pose questions in a rather straight forward uncomplicated manner... :)
I didn't bait that thread and I was eager for theists to pipe up and tell me how God belief gave them meaning. I wanted to know and asked with complete sincerity! Huckleberry participated and he's a theist, GIMR participated and she's a theist, Nehor participated (yet, do you want him on your team -- no offense hopefully, Nehor:), and I took the answers they gave and didn't try to trap them or do an "aha gotcha" type of move.
Like I said before, someone else that could pose a more philosophically challenging question could probably get a better conversation going. I'm happy with the lala threads I have where people feel free to participate. I think you're really quite negative.
Negative how? It is a simple fact that atheists tend to be less philosophical and more scientific. I think it was Einstein who said a scientist makes for a horrible philosopher. That is why he didn't really feel qualified to get into it. But he never rejected philosophy as meaningless, as some atheists here have in the past.
Well you apparently seem to think we have to debate all the time between theists and atheists. I just don't see it that way, at all.
I thought, for the most part, the thread wasn't attacking theism and was rather cordial.
That's because the few theists who were there, didn't bother to pick up the rocks that were pelting them in the head, and hurl them back.
Well, I had a rock hurled at me when I was told there was no meaning to my life, yet did I hurt back? No, dart. It's not necessary to do so. Instead of being nasty I wanted to understand the sentiments of those that say there is no meaning to atheists life -- I invited them in to tell me and discuss it and perhaps so we could learn where each other was coming from. I didn't deny theists have meaning to their life (yet, I wanted them to elaborate on that) it is atheists that are told there is no meaning to their lives.