Though Stephen is taking the atheism topic off line,
this noted clarified for me the real audience "in
jeopardy" in the ID/evolution discussion.  

I looked up atheist to verify that David's dictionary
was not lying to him.  That was followed by a
reverifcation of the term polytheist.  Finally, that
triggered a query into the term agnostic.  

It would seem to me that the audience most apt to be
swayed in one direction or the other is actually the
agnostics of this world.  The proponents of ID will be
adamant that God did it all.  The proponents of
evolution will say that science is the ultimate
creator.  But the audience of greatest impact, those
yet to have made up their minds in one direction or
another--of which I believe there are many--includes
the agnostics of this world, and it is for them that
the evidence in either direction needs to be most
compelling.

From http://yourdictionary.com :

ag·nos·tic  Listen: [ g-nstk ]
n. 


a. One who believes that it is impossible to know
whether there is a God. b. One who is skeptical about
the existence of God but does not profess true
atheism. 

One who is doubtful or noncommittal about something. 
adj. 


Relating to or being an agnostic. 

Doubtful or noncommittal: "Though I am agnostic on
what terms to use, I have no doubt that human infants
come with an enormous 'acquisitiveness' for
discovering patterns" (William H. Calvin). 


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[ a-1 + Gnostic.]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 ag·nosti·cal·ly adv. 

Word History: An agnostic does not deny the existence
of God and heaven but holds that one cannot know for
certain whether or not they exist. The term agnostic
was fittingly coined by the 19th-century British
scientist Thomas H. Huxley, who believed that only
material phenomena were objects of exact knowledge. He
made up the word from the prefix a-, meaning "without,
not," as in amoral, and the noun Gnostic. Gnostic is
related to the Greek word gnsis, "knowledge," which
was used by early Christian writers to mean "higher,
esoteric knowledge of spiritual things"; hence,
Gnostic referred to those with such knowledge. In
coining the term agnostic, Huxley was considering as
"Gnostics" a group of his fellow intellectuals"ists,"
as he called them who had eagerly embraced various
doctrines or theories that explained the world to
their satisfaction. Because he was a "man without a
rag of a label to cover himself with," Huxley coined
the term agnostic for himself, its first published use
being in 1870.



--- Stephen Nowlin <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Thank you for that, David.  This could make for a
> most interesting discussion, but I fear I've started
> something that strays too far from the topics of
> museum-l.  
> 
> Therefore I've introduced the same subject on
> another, more appropriate forum should anyone care
> to continue on.  Under the subject "Christian
> Atheists" you can find it at FACTS (Forum for Active
> Critical Thinking and Skepticism):
> 
> http://www.factsforum.org
> 
> No registration is required, just jump in at will!
> 
> /stephen
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From:	Museum discussion list on behalf of David E.
> Haberstich
> Sent:	Wed 6/8/2005 10:50 PM
> To:	[log in to unmask]
> Cc:	
> Subject:	Re: Tulsa Zoo and Creationism
> 
> 
> Sorry, but I don't think this is a useful
> explanation or perspective.  As far 
> as my dictionary and I can see, an atheist is one
> who believes in no gods 
> whatsoever, not one who denies some gods while
> believing in another or others.  
> Atheism is absolute, not comparative or relative. 
> When the Romans called 
> Christians atheists because they did not accept the
> Roman pantheon, they were being 
> sloppy with their terminology.  You're searching for
> a word to describe 
> someone who believes in the "wrong" gods, and I
> don't know what that word 
> is--although Christians usually call people who
> believe in the "wrong" gods "pagans," 
> not atheists.  Incidentally, educated Hindus often
> claim that they are 
> monotheists, not polytheists, and that the many gods
> of the Hindu pantheon are simply 
> mythical manifestations of the one God; many Hindus
> would agree that their god 
> is essentially the same as the God of Judaism,
> Christianity, and Islam.  
> Atheists deny the existence of any god, including,
> presumably, Mammon.
> 
> David Haberstich
> 
>
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> 
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Indigo Nights
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