THIS IS NOT A VS THREAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Seeing as I basically made a duplicate thread I still wanted to espouse more on what an Atheist is and isn't.

So now for some misconceptions on what an Atheist will make you.

1.)Atheism makes you smart and means you are brighter than Theists.

This notion is contrived absurdity brought on by the modern Atheistic movement even alluding to Atheists as "brights" . Atheism neither makes someone smart or more rational than a non-Atheist. Many non-Atheists are very smart ... as are many people of every viewpoint. In short , Atheism doesn't make you smarter than anyone else it just makes you an Atheist.

2.) Atheism is not a belief.

This is hotly debated and rightly so. The sad fact is that Atheism is a belief in the nonexistence of theist deities. To illustrate this fact let us look at some examples on what constitutes a belief.

Belief

–noun
1.
something believed; an opinion or conviction: a belief that the earth is flat.
2.
confidence in the truth or existence of something not immediately susceptible to rigorous proof: a statement unworthy of belief.
3.
confidence; faith; trust: a child's belief in his parents.
4.
a religious tenet or tenets; religious creed or faith: the Christian belief.


Based on the above criteria Atheism is indeed a belief. Atheists often use the argument like "Atheism is the lack of belief." or " IS non-belief in Santa Claus a belief also?" And these are pretty good arguments if you consider erroneous assertions good arguments.

It is right to assert that a deity with a certain irrational framework cannot exist. For example , a deity that is all-loving and omnipotent is a logical paradox given the state of our reality and deductive arguments . Rational and empirical data gathered about the world we live in can assert that this god is impossible. However we are not arguing any specific god or deity.

A deity or god as a metaphysical construct cannot be proven nor disproved in the notion that it exists. The chances for a supernatural being or deity existing are 50/50 as the notion is not bound by any argument , rational , or observation of empirical data in our reality such as the Deist deity. So to assert such a being exists or not requires the same leap of faith. Both possibilities being equal. This is why you never hear an Atheist debate a Deist, there is no rational basis to do so as either assertion is equally correct in terms of possibility and logical coherency.

So unless deductive logic , observational coherence,and solid empirical data absolutely rule out a possibility on a subject , any stance on the unproven subject is by definition a belief.

3.) Atheism is rooted in science.

Science involves testable theories, peer review, and evidence based arguments. That should tell you that Atheism is not rooted in science at all by definition. That is like saying theism is rooted in science and we all know that is bad science.

Stay tuned for part 2 in which I try to explain the error in the top arguments theists use against Atheism. I am an Atheist so do not think any of this is biased . That is why I wrote the problem with Atheism first.




[edit on 30-7-2010 by IamBoon]

I typically wouldn't argue this point because it doesn't matter to me, but I don't see how atheism is not a belief.

From what I understand, atheists believe there is no God because there is no empirical evidence for one, at least no empirical evidence that is a blatant sign post pointing to the existence of one. They figure since there is zero empirical evidence, then the chances of a God existing are slim; so, they conclude that one must not exist or probably doesn't exist. But since no man knows with certainty whether or not God exists (i.e., they do not possess the knowledge), or at least cannot prove that they know with certainty, then all that is left is belief.

Now, whether or not the atheist belief is more reasonable than the theist belief is a completely different story.

[edit on 30-7-2010 by ChickenPie]

why are people so concerned about what atheists believe or do not believe. Why is it so important to define what an atheist is? Every day on ATS there is a new thread claiming Atheism is this or that. The only thing I can conclude is that Religious folks are becoming more insecure. They see how their religion doesn't really fit in the world in which they live so lash out and question the actions and intentions of Atheists.

The majority of the worlds population are believers in some form of religion. If the religions you believe in with all your heart are true, then why does it matter what a small amount of Atheists believe or do not believe? If you believe in your religion surely it is strong enough to stand up to any atheist critique.

Originally posted by woodwardjnr

The majority of the worlds population are believers in some form of religion. If the religions you believe in with all your heart are true, then why does it matter what a small amount of Atheists believe or do not believe? If you believe in your religion surely it is strong enough to stand up to any atheist critique.

Take me for instance... I don't really care about what atheists think. I just like arguing with them for the lulz. They make me laugh.

However, I'm starting to wonder if I have some kind of moral obligation to try and convince people that God exists... hmmm....

Originally posted by IamBoon
So unless deductive logic , observational coherence,and solid empirical data absolutely rule out a possibility on a subject , any stance on the unproven subject is by definition a belief.

How about the stance "because of the lack of evidence there is no reason to believe its true, therefor I don't believe it to be true". I fail to see how not believing is a belief.