Stephen Roberts
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Yep, that's me! I am the author of the above quote which has become a bit of a popular statement throughout the net (and some in the real world too).
I first used The Quote as a tag line for postings on the newsgroups alt.atheism and talk.atheism at some point before October 1995. I don't remember exactly when I started using it, and unfortunately lost my mailer that would have contained the archive. The earliest records that DejaNews.com have is back to 1995, and by October 1995 it apeared 'widespread' in taglines, so I must have originated it sometime before then. Most likely early 95 or late 94.
The Quote is an original quote that came from an online debate I was having with religious people in the newsgroups. I used the a similar comparison in a debate when my opponent wondered why I ignored the evidence for god, and in return, I wondered why my debate opponent chose to ignore the evidence for Shiva, or Zeus, or any of the other possible gods.
I then slightly refined and shortened it the next day to the 'modern' form it is now to use in a tagline. Within days, The Quote was in use by others in their taglines (I added my name as an attribute a few weeks later when people asked me if it was my original quote).
About a month later, I made another variation of the quote that also appears sometimes: "We are all atheists, some of us just believe in fewer gods than others"... but it never quite got the popularity of the original
Since that time, I've occasionally ego-surfed to see how the quote has moved out around the world.
Interestingly, as the quote moved out, it seemed to become attributed to "other" Stephen Robertses. Its funny sometimes to see who people attribute the quote to.
I've also occasionally been accused of plagarism and stealing the quote from others.
I have no doubt that others have said similar things throughout time (afterall, its not like the general concept of atheism was made up by me). But I didn't know about any of the others when I first penned the quote (remember this was 94-95, there was no wikipedia or google to look things up with).
I just had the luck to put together the phrase right at the dawn of the modern Internet age.
http://freelink.wildlink.com/index.php
Brief history of The Quote...
"I contend we are both atheists, I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours."
Stephen F Roberts
Yep, that's me! I am the author of the above quote which has become a bit of a popular statement throughout the net (and some in the real world too).
I first used The Quote as a tag line for postings on the newsgroups alt.atheism and talk.atheism at some point before October 1995. I don't remember exactly when I started using it, and unfortunately lost my mailer that would have contained the archive. The earliest records that DejaNews.com have is back to 1995, and by October 1995 it apeared 'widespread' in taglines, so I must have originated it sometime before then. Most likely early 95 or late 94.
The Quote is an original quote that came from an online debate I was having with religious people in the newsgroups. I used the a similar comparison in a debate when my opponent wondered why I ignored the evidence for god, and in return, I wondered why my debate opponent chose to ignore the evidence for Shiva, or Zeus, or any of the other possible gods.
I then slightly refined and shortened it the next day to the 'modern' form it is now to use in a tagline. Within days, The Quote was in use by others in their taglines (I added my name as an attribute a few weeks later when people asked me if it was my original quote).
About a month later, I made another variation of the quote that also appears sometimes: "We are all atheists, some of us just believe in fewer gods than others"... but it never quite got the popularity of the original
Since that time, I've occasionally ego-surfed to see how the quote has moved out around the world.
Interestingly, as the quote moved out, it seemed to become attributed to "other" Stephen Robertses. Its funny sometimes to see who people attribute the quote to.
I've also occasionally been accused of plagarism and stealing the quote from others.
I have no doubt that others have said similar things throughout time (afterall, its not like the general concept of atheism was made up by me). But I didn't know about any of the others when I first penned the quote (remember this was 94-95, there was no wikipedia or google to look things up with).
I just had the luck to put together the phrase right at the dawn of the modern Internet age.
I love this quote! It is amazing, and should prove to be useful for everyone!
10:29pm
comment on atheist quote:
I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours
Wonderful quote.
Could you perhaps put up another amazing one?
10:24pm
comment on atheist quote:
I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours
Well.. almost true. The issue with this quote will likely be that the answer is "I do not believe in other gods, since I KNOW I have the right one". This is not the same as "I have no god, since none of them are necessary or logical".
I do see that the answer one would want is "I simply don't believe in them", but it falls short.
I do however think this to be a brilliant quote!
1:36am
comment on atheist quote:
I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours
A TRUE theist is very nearly an atheist.
11:22am
comment on atheist quote:
I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours
Excellent, Puts me in mind of a thought i once had about getting a Christian, Jew & Muslim together and then simply pointing out to them that even if one of them was right, That would still mean that Two of you are completely wrong about everything you believe and hold dear.
7:11pm
comment on atheist quote:
I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours
David, do you honestly believe that? You honestly think that christianity is the only religion with one "true" god? EVERY RELIGION BELIEVES THERE GOD/GODS TO BE THE TRUTH! The truth is rather simple: evolution. There may be a day when you come to terms with that. Upon that day, you will realize that being an atheist is one of the best choices you can make. It is amazing to be free from religion.
3:23am
comment on atheist quote:
I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours
Mr. King: No, Mr. Roberts' quote is not simply aimed at Christianity. It can be aptly applied to all monotheistic religions like those mentioned in your comment. And by implication to all religions everywhere in every era--polytheistic or monotheistic. You are being paranoid.
"Fear maybe?"--of what? A god that doesn't exist or of a religion that is pure sham?
5:31am
comment on atheist quote:
I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours
Why do atheists spend so much of their time and effort attacking Christianity? Your quote is obviously directed at those who believe in one true God and therefore "discount other religions/gods". That means Christianity. Why do I see so little talk from the atheist community about Islam, Buddhism, New Age "gods", Hinduism, etc. etc.? I know the answer, I would just like you to ponder the question and let us know what you think. Fear maybe?
2:24am
comment on atheist quote:
I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours
[Even shorter and punchier and easier to remember:] The same reason you dismiss the other gods and their religions is the same reason I dismiss yours.
3:47am
comment on atheist quote:
I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours
[Better if made shorter?] When you will understand why you dismiss all the world's other religions, you will understand why I dismiss not only yours but all of them.
8:00pm
comment on atheist quote:
I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours