Atheism

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There is a logical distinction. "I do not believe in God" is a much weaker statement than "I believe there is no God". In the former statement, there is no commitment to the question of existence, whereas in the latter there is.

Newborn children are 'weak' atheists - the have no belief in god because god does not exist to them. They can't be 'strong' atheists until they learn what a god is in order to deny it.

I'm an atheist because I've never come across any religion that distinguishes itself from every other religion on the planet in terms of evidence, efficacity, or believable metaphysics. Every single one shows the signs of having been made up in order to suit some agenda or another.

There are serious distinctions between the two. The former does not make an existential claim, the latter does. Also, there are practical differences- adherents of the latter view tend to be your obnoxious evangelical atheists, while those who simply lack a belief in God without actively denying His existence are comfortable with letting others believe as they wish.

And by the way, the evangelical atheists are even more annoying than Jehovah's Witnesses.

Really? They knock on your door during dinner time and try to convert you? Can't say I've ever had an atheist try to 'convert' me, but maybe you live in a more atheistically active area.

Atheists are more active on the Internet, and I've had several atheists attempt to convert me here on WP. Only once have JW ever come to my door, and they were too timid to do anything other than hand me an anti-evolutionist pamphlet and leave. Atheists don't typically evangelize outside of the Internet, but I have run into more hassle from atheists from JW's even in real life.

To me, the question of whether or not god(s) exist is binary: either you believe in god(s) or you do not. There can be no third option. People who believe in god are theists, people who do not are atheists. It is of course possible to make various distinctions amond different atheists and theists but none of these distinctions change what they fundamentally have in common. Everyone who is alive is either atheist or theist.

Who's trying to convert people around here? And bah, in my town I only get 2-4 JWs each year on average coming to my door so it's not that bad, it's only annoying when I'm expecting someone else and they're there instead. I also rarely see Atheists 'converting' people on the internet or anywhere, what I do see is they maybe debating or arguing with people who might say something they disagree with and feel they can back up their points to prove them. But no I don't see any Atheists doing anything out of the ordinary in my opinion. Neither do I see religious people unless you count those few JWs knocking on my door who thankfully just accept "I'm not interested".

I am an atheist simply because I see no reason to believe in any god, there being no evidence any of them exist.

The religion you're looking for does not exist.

That's my point. Every single one claims that all of the others are foolish or even evil; I have simply chosen to believe them all as far as that, but no further.

well, I think ightheism (ignosticism) makes more sense about babies for those who need to label them, although some would find it to resemble both weak atheism and agnosticism, doesn't seem to be exactly the case. Also, theological noncognitivism, seem to fit better in that aspect.


Technically, given all the positions related to the belief and understanding the concept and meaning of a god, more like, they couldn't be called plain atheists until then.

well, It looks to me that atheism is not the exception of this.


Any fundamentalist is annoying, so yeah, fundamentalist atheists are annoying too

First response was lost due to site being down.
Wrt. the Dawkins quote: I like Dawkins, but he isn't a priest. The comment about labeling a child 'atheist' is accurate as far as strong atheism goes - a child cannot make claims about the world, and strong atheism makes the claim that no gods exist. However, weak atheism is simply the lack of belief in gods, and by that definition a child is a weak atheist.

To put it another way, you are and always have been atheistic wrt the Rain God Shane, since you never heard of Him until just now.

Atheism is not a religion.




http://apnews.myway.com/article/20081201/D94Q4D4O0.html
What is a fundamentalist atheist?
One who says that they do not believe in gods, and that they frankly find your religion silly?
One who bombs abortion clinics? Oh, wait - atheists don't do that.
One who blows themself up in order to kill as many members of a competing religion as possible? Oh, wait- atheists don't do that.
One who flies planes into buildings in order to kill as many people associated with a competing ideology as possible? Oh, wait - atheists don't do that.

One who goes door to door trying to convince others to believe in what they believe in?
One who tells others that they will suffer eternally if they do not convert?
One who claims that normal biological impulses are 'sinful' and will be punished with hellfire?
No, atheists do none of those things.
A "Fundamentalist Atheist" is apparently someone who has the audacity to say, "I don't believe that your god exists; in fact, I find the idea preposterous, and I think that you should examine the data. I refuse to 'respect' your ideas any more than I respect the idea of cold fusion. Furthermore, the data suggests that belief in an unconfirmable deity giving one instructions from on high leads to very negative consequences in real life."

It is a complete abuse of the term "fundamentalist." Atheism is not by any means a cohesive, unified belief system. There is no holy writ central to atheism to be taken literaly so "fundamantalist atheist" makes absolutely no sense. Apparently, people nowadays are using the word fundamentalist to describe anyone who isn't a post-modern relativist.

Atheism has no fundamental doctrines.

As an atheist from birth I have had no religious doctrines at all, fundamentalist or otherwise. I am no more religious than I am a nuclear physicist.