Question from Neil:
Why do atheists mostly dismiss the existence of an intelligent creator of any kind?
I see no firm evidence of any god being especially the Old Testament one, he doesn’t seem to be aware the Earth moves among many other things!
But I accept the possibility that one could exist and may have caused the Big Bang.
Until we discover what did cause the Big Bang it seems arrogant to dismiss the possibility.
Athiests are accused of being arrogant (mainly by arrogant religious people). I wonder if they’re right or are most atheists really agnostics?
Answer by SmartLX:
It all depends, heavily, on the atheist.
Like you I acknowledge the possibility, however remote, that there is or was a creator god or equivalent entity. To know for a fact that there wasn’t one would take more information than the human race as access to at the moment. I’m still an atheist because I don’t think or believe that there was a creator, but I accept that there’s a chance I’m wrong simply because I don’t know. That makes me an agnostic atheist, same as Dawkins, same as Dennett and same as many other prominent atheists who spell out their positions in public. I think most or at least a lot of atheists are agnostic but statistics on that are hard to come by.
Those who claim to know there’s no god are gnostic atheists and when I discuss gods with them, like you I ask them how they think they know.