What does it mean to be an Atheist ( not a mocking thread)

[Spirit of Light]

Suppose you don’t know whether you have a beer bottle in refrigerator. Would you say “I lack belief in existence of beer” or would you say “I do not know whether there is beer in refrigerator?”

Peace. Peace. Peace.

In my case i know i dont have a beer in fridgerator
But The second option you gave would be my answer

 

[charlie sc]

Hmmm...... you might be posh and with a diamond collar, but you're rubbish underground. And for heaven's sake (oops) don't pick a fight with a badger...... they're quite 'orrible. Over here criminals still hunt badgers with specially bred fighting dogs and after a few fights underground such dogs have no noses left..

But, obviously, Oldbadgers would sooner be tickled on a sweet lady's lap. I'm now a retired lap dog.

Yawn

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Hello .....

But...... no.
I am not a Theist.
I am a non-Theist.
I am A-theist

The fact that my Deist/Atheist Crreed differs from yours is fine. Look at Christianity which has thousands of varying Creeds and Doctrines.

It's perfectly normal for humans to sub-divide within their own groups, calling all the other groups impostors.

The new Atrheist call is..... 'They are not Atheists!'

You'll be a religion soon.

The fact that you aren't an atheist doesn't mean that atheism is a religion.

That being said, I've never seen an atheist group who would kick out someone just for believing in a deity.

 

[Curious George]

According to the American Atheists website they state this

Atheism is one thing: A lack of belief in gods.
Atheism is not an affirmative belief that there is no god nor does it answer any other question about what a person believes. It is simply a rejection of the assertion that there are gods. Atheism is too often defined incorrectly as a belief system. To be clear: Atheism is not a disbelief in gods or a denial of gods; it is a lack of belief in gods.
What is Atheism? | American Atheists

But in many discussions in this forum with many good Atheists i come across many ways to describe what atheism is.

Could i get some more info from Atheists in this forum? What is Atheism to you?

Lol, this thread again.

Well, imo an atheist is a person who believes no god exists.

I disagree with your cited definition and disagree with a great many other posters. If we were to define atheism as merely not theism we would run into a great many issues.

A person believes the statement at least one god exists is either true or false. Something that lacks belief, then, believes that the statements are equally likely, or has never considered the question. I would suggest the term theist or atheist is not applicable to anything that has not considered the question.

It is silly to equate my position-no gods exist-with that of someone who has never considered the question or even someone who believes a god existing is equally likely as no god existing.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Well, imo an atheist is a person who believes no god exists.

Just the one?

 

[We Never Know]

Just the one?

As an atheist, every time I see someone post your response I laugh. I'm an atheist because of the god of the bible. Are you an atheist because of Zeus, Apollo, Thor, Athena, etc. or because of the god of the bible?

 

[Revoltingest]

People lie to themselves all the time.

Do you believe yourself immune?

 

[Revoltingest]

I'll bite.....
What on earth is KY?

Spoiler: You're going to regret asking.

 

[atanu]

Suppose you don’t know whether you have a beer bottle in refrigerator. Would you say “I lack belief in existence of beer” or would you say “I do not know whether there is beer in refrigerator”?

Peace. Peace. Peace.
(Prays fervently)

In my case i know i dont have a beer in fridgerator
But The second option you gave would be my answer

But suppose that you fancied fancy language and instead of saying "I do not know whether I have beer in refrigerator" you say "I lack belief that there is beer in refrigerator".

In this case too, a knowledge of what beer is is warranted ... I think.

Peace.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

As an atheist, every time I see someone post your response I laugh. I'm an atheist because of the god of the bible. Are you an atheist because of Zeus, Apollo, Thor, Athena, etc. or because of the god of the bible?

I think you missed my point. I'm an atheist, too.

What I was getting at is that it's pretty common for theists to say that a theist is someone who believes no gods exist, but when you pay attention to how they use language, it becomes obvious that they're using a two-tier approach: as long as someone rejects that theist's particular god, they're fine with slapping the label of "atheist" on someone who hasn't even given other gods a second thought, never mind actually rejecting them.

For these people, when they say that atheism is a rejection of gods, they don't actually mean "all gods;" they mean "the gods *I* think matter... as long as the person doesn't accept any of those 'lesser' gods."

@Curious George seemed to be hinting at this two-tier approach.

 

[PureX]

Do you believe yourself immune?

We all do, or our lies wouldn't work on ourselves.

 

[oldbadger]

That is a form of an Argument From Ignorance. It indicates a lack of understanding of what is and what is not evidence.

Have that back.
For a Deist who perceives God in all, everything and force, then God is not only all around, but all within.
Your ideas about ignorance and themselves very poor.

 

[oldbadger]

I explained why it was a failed analogy. Did you not see it?

Go back to your original analogy and we can go over it again.

It was a fine analogy, because it shows two different mindsets, split in to many sub groups both pointing and dismissing within themselves.
A perfect example, and offering the proposal that atheism is a form of religion, this propped up well because some atheists belong to religions.
You lost that one, for sure.

 

[oldbadger]

The fact that you aren't an atheist doesn't mean that atheism is a religion.

That being said, I've never seen an atheist group who would kick out someone just for believing in a deity.

Yeah?
I'm filled with hope.....

 

[oldbadger]

Spoiler: You're going to regret asking.

@Subduction Zone already told me.
What's up with you guys?
I know you're old but..........

 

[oldbadger]

Yawn

Ahhhhh.... you're sleepy?

 

[Subduction Zone]

Have that back.
For a Deist who perceives God in all, everything and force, then God is not only all around, but all within.
Your ideas about ignorance and themselves very poor.

Nope, you do not understand the term at best. Your perception only sounds like you fooling yourself. It is not reliable evidence. An argument made with no evidence, which is what you did, is an argument from ignorance.

 

[Subduction Zone]

It was a fine analogy, because it shows two different mindsets, split in to many sub groups both pointing and dismissing within themselves.
A perfect example, and offering the proposal that atheism is a form of religion, this propped up well because some atheists belong to religions.
You lost that one, for sure.

No, it did not represent the situation at all. If anything it was bass ackwards. And you need to learn what a religion is. Atheism does not fit into the requirements.

 

[Subduction Zone]

Spoiler: You're going to regret asking.

it was a good thing I checked out the context. I was going to tell him Kentucky, hmm come to think of it not terribly wrong.

 

[Revoltingest]

We all do, or our lies wouldn't work on ourselves.

So then it could be that you're not being honest with
yourself about atheistic thoughts, eh.
Yet another reason to not accuse others of dishonesty.