When Someone Says "I Don't Believe"

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Here is a very interesting discussion and something that will surely be talked about because of its sensitivity. I guess I am among those that question the realities and the truth about all things. I believe I will remain skeptical unless strong evidence is presented to me.

I am not like anybody else who just accept things as they are just to fit in. I try to find and study the facts behind something especially if its a mass perception.

I would not nod just to get on with it. I will challenge you until I have proven a point, or becomes so busy to even bother to waste my precious time with trivial things.



"As someone who is very obsessed with grammar, I prefer the statement "I don't believe that there is a God" or "I don't believe that God exists" over "I don't believe in God."

To me, the first statements clearly claim the non-existence of God. The last statement, however, implies that there is a God but only that I don't believe in Him or don't trust Him or don't believe in what He says.

Any input about this?"

Latter statement implies existence but relative incompetence/unreliability/indifference of God (so more along the lines of the Gnostic Demiurge or a Deistic conception of God).

When you're talking to theists or religious people,  you should always say "I don't believe in God" because I think that's less offensive to them rather than saying "I don't believe that god exists".

"I don't believe in any God" should also help break monotheistic bias.
 "I don't believe in God" --- Rejection of a claim. It makes no assertions whatsoever. Same goes to "I don't believe that there is a God" or "I don't believe that god exists".

"I BELIEVE that there is no God" --- Declaration of a claim. It asserts a statement of knowledge, and this should follow a rational justification.

I prefer the former. By the way, the first statement is for agnostic/weak atheists  - ."weak" is held to be a negative term so please refrain from calling agnostics as weak atheists...they just hold an open view of the world that if and when a time comes where proof and evidence is presented, that they can bow their heads and admit their mistakes.. -  while the second is for gnostic/strong atheists. - Just had a sudden mental image of what a "strong" atheist would be:

"Yeah, I mean. There used to be a god. Pretty sure he doesn't exist now, because I roundhouse-kicked him to death."

THIS NEEDS A COMIC BOOK.

All kidding aside. I think the two sets of statements ("I don't believe in" vs "I don't believe that there is") are going to get roughly the same reaction from most parties. That's just the way humans parse language. If you want to be hyper-clear though, yes "I don't believe that God exists" / "I don't believe that any gods exist" is basically perfect.
As an atheist, this is bullshit. I don't believe in your intelligence, or as you would prefer; I don't believe in the existence of your intelligence.