Atheists.
Out of context: Reply #105
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- gramme0
Here's the crux of the matter tommyo, and know that I hear, understand and respect your opinions on these matters. I especially appreciate your civility and self-control.
I don't believe that belief and truth are interchangeable words. I don't believe that truth requires one's belief to ratify it's existence.
If, as in your definition, truth and belief are synonymous, then truth must be eliminated altogether in favor of subjective preference or opinion. If truth is not a certain set of fixed points, i.e. if I have no North star outside of my own perception, then really the only concrete statement of truth one can make is that we each create our own truth. If we each create our own truths, then we are each gods—because no regular human is capable of truth-creation ex nihilo.
And that, my friend, is a horribly depressing paradigm. If I am a god, I am the lousiest of deities with my finite understanding, my imperfections, my sect of one. If I am a god who creates his own truth, then existence outside of my personal experience does not matter, because there is no truth but that which I concoct. Physical evidence and historical records become meaningless when everything is relative. I believe based on what I see in the world, that this world is in fact concrete, whether I am here to witness it and ratify its existence or not.
To put oneself, or any other person, on such a pedestal is the ultimate in self-righteousness.
- belief and truth are definitely not interchangeable.sputnik2