10 and 15 year old sent home from school for wearing a shirt that said the wrong things

[Cakes]

Agnosticism is the lack of a belief. Atheism is the belief that God does not exist.

The Agnostic says "We can't know either way"
The Atheist says "There's no reason to believe in a God, so I don't acknowledge any". It's not a belief at all; it's choosing not to acknowledge a God, thus a "lack of belief". Agnosticism is also a "lack of belief".

Agnostics neither believe nor disbelieve in God. Atheists disbelieve in God.

Right-o.

There is a difference between someone who neither believes in String Theory or disbelieves in it,(keeping a totally open mind until they have conclusive evidence one way or the other,) and someone who vehemently believes it is wrong.

Except the part that most Atheists never "vehemently believe it is wrong", because it's not a belief, as I've said several times now. Also, atheism can range anywhere from Weak (There's probably no God, so I don't acknowledge one) and Strong (There is absolutely no God, since there's no evidence for it). You seem to want to class us all as Strong Atheists, which is wrong.

There is a difference between somebody who neither believes nor disbelieves that aliens are at work on our planet abducting people, and someone who strongly believes it isn't true.

I'm not sure you're aware of how "belief" works. Saying "there is absolutely no evidence for this, so it's bullshit" is not a statement of belief. If there were alien-abductions, as in this example of yours, the burden of proof lies with the affirmative (there are aliens going 'round abducting people), and since they can't provide any evidence, saying it's bullshit is not a statement of belief.

That is the difference between an Agnostic and an Atheist.

Except you still seem to think Atheism is a belief, which is wrong.

Secondly, I didn't say that all religions believe people will go to hell for following the lie,

You said "most religions", but whatever.

just that all religions tend to percieve themselves as the one true path, and other paths as being a lie.

As I said, this is mostly true only of Abrahamic Religions (Christianity, Judaism, Islam) who have the "we're right everyone else burns" rule. This concept is mostly unique to those three, but since they're the most high-profile religions in much of the world, I can see how you'd think this is true of most religions.

The one exception to this that I can think of is Buddhism, where Buddha himself admitted there were probably other paths to achieving Nirvana than he mentioned in his teachings.

Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Confucianism (if you want to call it a religion, sometimes classed as a philosophy), Jainism, Sikhism. Those are some major ones I can think of off the top of my head who have the "other religions are cool" philosophy.

 

[awesomeemosewa]

So, they were sent home for a shirt that said wrong things...

Hmm...

Excuse me, I have to work on my knitting skills.

dont be cheap make me one to!

 

[Twilightruler]

Child missionaries...*sigh* what next...

 

[XJ-0461]

Seems fairly clear that their Dad is a huge influence on their views.

But regarding the shirt, I think it's past the line, at least in a school setting. The wording of it just seems as if it's trying to incite hatred.

 

[MClardizzle]

Sounds like a crazy religious racist redneck family to me.

 

[RelexCryo]

Agnosticism is the lack of a belief. Atheism is the belief that God does not exist.

The Agnostic says "We can't know either way"
The Atheist says "There's no reason to believe in a God, so I don't acknowledge any". It's not a belief at all; it's choosing not to acknowledge a God, thus a "lack of belief". Agnosticism is also a "lack of belief".

Agnostics neither believe nor disbelieve in God. Atheists disbelieve in God.

Right-o.

There is a difference between someone who neither believes in String Theory or disbelieves in it,(keeping a totally open mind until they have conclusive evidence one way or the other,) and someone who vehemently believes it is wrong.

Except the part that most Atheists never "vehemently believe it is wrong", because it's not a belief, as I've said several times now. Also, atheism can range anywhere from Weak (There's probably no God, so I don't acknowledge one) and Strong (There is absolutely no God, since there's no evidence for it). You seem to want to class us all as Strong Atheists, which is wrong.

There is a difference between somebody who neither believes nor disbelieves that aliens are at work on our planet abducting people, and someone who strongly believes it isn't true.

I'm not sure you're aware of how "belief" works. Saying "there is absolutely no evidence for this, so it's bullshit" is not a statement of belief. If there were alien-abductions, as in this example of yours, the burden of proof lies with the affirmative (there are aliens going 'round abducting people), and since they can't provide any evidence, saying it's bullshit is not a statement of belief.

That is the difference between an Agnostic and an Atheist.

Except you still seem to think Atheism is a belief, which is wrong.

Secondly, I didn't say that all religions believe people will go to hell for following the lie,

You said "most religions", but whatever.

just that all religions tend to percieve themselves as the one true path, and other paths as being a lie.

As I said, this is mostly true only of Abrahamic Religions (Christianity, Judaism, Islam) who have the "we're right everyone else burns" rule. This concept is mostly unique to those three, but since they're the most high-profile religions in much of the world, I can see how you'd think this is true of most religions.

The one exception to this that I can think of is Buddhism, where Buddha himself admitted there were probably other paths to achieving Nirvana than he mentioned in his teachings.

Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Confucianism (if you want to call it a religion, sometimes classed as a philosophy), Jainism, Sikhism. Those are some major ones I can think of off the top of my head who have the "other religions are cool" philosophy.

I'm not sure you're aware of how "belief" works. Saying "there is absolutely no evidence for this, so it's bullshit" is not a statement of belief. If there were alien-abductions, as in this example of yours, the burden of proof lies with the affirmative (there are aliens going 'round abducting people), and since they can't provide any evidence, saying it's bullshit is not a statement of belief.

-you

Saying it is bullshit is a statement of belief. Belief is not defined by the faith that things EXIST. Belief is simply a faith or an assumption towards any potential aspect of reality, be it existence or nonexistence.

Saying something is bullshit because there is no evidence is a statement of your beliefs on the subject. Stating that something is bullshit because there is no evidence to support it is in istelf an act of faith.

You are basically saying, "there is no evidence, therefore I choose to believe this does not exist." That is an act of faith. Faith can be either the belief that things exist or do not exist. For example, it is part of the Christian faith that there is nothing in the universe stronger than God. It is part of the Christian faith that God has no flaws. The faith that certain things do not exist is part of the Christian faith.

Faith in something or against something existing are both equally acts of faith. Assuming there is no conclusive evidence either way, the proper scientific path is Agnosticism, and Atheism and Christianity are both equally unscientific.

Lastly, I admit I can't speak on Taoism, Jainism, or Sikhism, not really knowing much about those. But Hindus do tend to get REALLY upset when you kill and eat their Holy Cows. They apparently don't believe that all views on religion are equally good when you do that. As a matter of fact, I believe that the rumour that British soldiers used beef in some of their products that they issued to Hindu's was used to incite riots against Britian in India during British Control.

Far as I can tell, some Hindu's seem to believe that their cows are inherently sacred, period, and anyone who disagrees is wrong.

 

[Void(null)]

They're a bunch of Red-Neck Fucktards. It's a huge joke. The punchline is their dad.

Welcome to the South, 75% are confederates (sp).

That's quite an accomplishment, considering the Confederacy was abolished over 130 years ago.

Haven't you heard? The South will rise again... allegedly.

 

[Booze Zombie]

Sounds like a good excuse to take a day off school...

But seriously, sounds like a paranoid parent.