Let's settle this for once and for all...... is atheism a belief, a non-belief or an anti-belief?

Quillsky

My opinion is that atheism is not a belief. It is a belief in no belief.

Copernic

Do you believe in Popokaotas ?

You don't know what does it mean "Popokaotas"? You are embarassed ?

It's the same for me when you ask "do you believe in God ? " . I don't know what does it mean "God". God of the sacred books, of Spinoza, of the 38 000 different christian confessions, God like Anthony Flew, God the name given by my wife when she's seeing my beautiful (censored).... ?

Conclusion : No good definition, no need to ask if it's a belief or not.

SixofNine

This isn't that hard.

The truism that's been floating around recently "everyone is an atheist, I simply believe in one less god than you" is all anyone needs to understand atheism. The phrase would mean the exact same thing if it was expressed as "I simply don't believe in your particular god, and I agree with you that all the others don't exist"; it would just be a more clunky way to say it.

What the believer wants to extract from you in this argument is "faith". He knows he's a very silly boy for believing in things without having evidence, and he wants to argue that "see?, everyone believes by faith, even the atheist".

This is untrue, but you have to understand that what the believer doesn't "get" is agnosticism, not atheism. They understand atheism just fine. What they don't understand is someone who is so comfortable with reality that they don't try to shape reality by faith. IOW, someone who just wants facts, not beliefs.

Jesus is real? Cool, show me the evidence. God "created" mankind and everything else in the world? Neat, that should leave behind literally mountains of evidence; let's have at it!

Quillsky

Speaking only for myself....

You are embarassed ?

I wouldn't be embarrassed if I didn't know what someone was rambling on about. I'd say "No, I have no belief in or knowledge of this entity".

Quillsky

What the believer wants to extract from you in this argument is "faith". He knows he's a very silly boy for believing in things without having evidence, and he wants to argue that "see?, everyone believes by faith, even the atheist".

So is the ultimate issue not whether god exists, but whether belief, in whatever, is futile or not?

notverylikely

I think it depends on the person. I atheism can be summed up as SixofNine said, "we are both atheist, I just beleive in one less god than you". It's not so much faith that the Judeo-Christian god doesn't exists, but rather non-belief in ANY god or spirits or supernatural being based on lack of evidence. A god or supernatural creature could always choose to provide me with the evidence that would convice me.

tec

Atheist - no belief in God (creator of universe)

Theist - belief in God (creator of universe)

I don't know why this is so hard? Except perhaps that if you don't believe God created the universe, you believe something else (scientific) did?

So is the ultimate issue not whether god exists, but whether belief, in whatever, is futile or not?

I don't understand your question. "Ultimate" in what respect?

Also, how do you get from a specific (X god does/does not exist) belief (or lack of belief, it matters not) to belief (or lack of belief) in "whatever"?

Let's settle this for once and for all...... is atheism a belief, a non-belief or an anti-belief?

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