• Welcome to Religious Forums, a friendly forum to discuss all religions in a friendly surrounding.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Our modern chat room. No add-ons or extensions required, just login and start chatting!
    • Access to private conversations with other members.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

Atheism doesn't exist?:)

Catchy title. A-theism means something like No theism. And it's rare maybe almost impossible that somebody would not believe in God 100%. Not even a 0.01% that maybe God created this world.
And if he/she thinks that there is a very small percentage so, than it's not atheism; and still he/she will call himself an atheist.
BTW, a famous said or wrote something like that.
 

dianaiad

Well-Known Member
Everybody is an atheist. Do you believe in Zeus, Brahma, Manituo or The Big Joujou Up The Mountain? Atheists just go one god further.

catchy...but wrong. "One god less than you do' Still means that anybody who believes in any god is NOT an a (against/not) theist (believer in some 'higher power/deity"

The thing that I find, however, is that many atheists aren't truly atheist...they are just mad at Him.
 

Twilight Hue

Twilight, not bright nor dark, good nor bad.
Catchy title. A-theism means something like No theism. And it's rare maybe almost impossible that somebody would not believe in God 100%. Not even a 0.01% that maybe God created this world.
And if he/she thinks that there is a very small percentage so, than it's not atheism; and still he/she will call himself an atheist.
BTW, a famous said or wrote something like that.
Your right.

There is no such thing as atheism no more or less then there is such a thing called theism.
 

PureX

Veteran Member
Catchy title. A-theism means something like No theism. And it's rare maybe almost impossible that somebody would not believe in God 100%. Not even a 0.01% that maybe God created this world.
And if he/she thinks that there is a very small percentage so, than it's not atheism; and still he/she will call himself an atheist.
BTW, a famous said or wrote something like that.
Atheism is not a person, so it does not exist as a relative, dynamic, opinion. It exists as an abstract absolute: as the absolute proposition that god(s) do not exist. The degree of conviction with which a person may hold this position is relative to them, and subject to them, and does not change or mitigate the absolute position referred to as "atheism".
 

Heyo

Veteran Member
catchy...but wrong. "One god less than you do' Still means that anybody who believes in any god is NOT an a (against/not) theist (believer in some 'higher power/deity"

The thing that I find, however, is that many atheists aren't truly atheist...they are just mad at Him.
I was hinting at the unproportionallity of the OP. He declares anyone who has the slightest doubt a god might exist a theist. I did the same from the other side to show how such a view is not helpful. With the same logic I can show that you are a chimpanzee because the similarities overwhelm the differences.
 

Mock Turtle

Oh my, did I say that!
Premium Member
Catchy title. A-theism means something like No theism. And it's rare maybe almost impossible that somebody would not believe in God 100%. Not even a 0.01% that maybe God created this world.
And if he/she thinks that there is a very small percentage so, than it's not atheism; and still he/she will call himself an atheist.
BTW, a famous said or wrote something like that.

Taken a poll to find out how many - otherwise you are just speculating. I'll leave the door ajar a tiny bit for some creative force but that hardly means I have any more respect for all the man-made religions, which is all they are in my view. Can't all be right can they - what with various beliefs concerning any afterlife, Heaven and Hell, etc. But yours is right of course. :rolleyes:
 

Windwalker

Veteran Member
Premium Member
Catchy title. A-theism means something like No theism. And it's rare maybe almost impossible that somebody would not believe in God 100%. Not even a 0.01% that maybe God created this world.
And if he/she thinks that there is a very small percentage so, than it's not atheism; and still he/she will call himself an atheist.
BTW, a famous said or wrote something like that.
Atheism is on the spectrum of beliefs about God, which by definition is a theological position. If the question is about God, then it is a theological question. Atheism is a theological position about the existence and nature of God.

Therefore, what you say is partially correct. Since those who claim atheism as their view on God are addressing a theological question, that automatically places them on that theological spectrum. God enters into the question in their minds. God is in their minds and thoughts, right in that moment, even if it is a view through that particular theological lens, which typically sees God in mythic-literal terms. The question of God is not absent in them.

My point is that the question of belief or nonbelief in God is a theological question, and therefore both the theist and atheist are at point or another along that same spectrum. They are not opposites or outside of each other, but degrees of amplitude of the same thing. And I do not believe anyone, is at absolute zero on that spectrum. They aren't, because they are asking the question itself. The question is there, and it is a theological question, and therefore it exists in their psyches. God is not "non-existent" in the atheist. The fact they claim the label is proof of that alone.

Final thought, I am coming to understand how that we as children of this world, before language sets in and begins to restrict how we see the world into terms of this and that, we are incredible sponges of information coming into us in a fully encompassing way. This is for every bit of information coming in, both negative and positive. It is not until language becomes more readily available to us to try to create a "map" of what that experience is like to us, that we truly form how we see things in our later belief structures.

The question of God very much enters into all of our spaces in one way or another, because we as children experienced the very question of the nature of our existence itself by virtue of having been a child living in a preverbal reality, where signs and symbols later take over. The question still exists, regarding the why of our own being, at whatever level or depth of soul our understandings can reach into. Theological questions are ways to view that reality which transcends our verbal world, where the child touches its own existence without words. That is what the theological question is about.
 

9-10ths_Penguin

1/10 Subway Stalinist
Premium Member
Catchy title. A-theism means something like No theism. And it's rare maybe almost impossible that somebody would not believe in God 100%. Not even a 0.01% that maybe God created this world.
And if he/she thinks that there is a very small percentage so, than it's not atheism; and still he/she will call himself an atheist.
BTW, a famous said or wrote something like that.
Gee, thank you for stepping into a group you don't belong to and try to define its parameters for them.

Next, I get to define Judaism for you, right?
 

It Aint Necessarily So

Veteran Member
Premium Member
A-theism means something like No theism. And it's rare maybe almost impossible that somebody would not believe in God 100%. Not even a 0.01% that maybe God created this world.

Atheism means a "no" answer to the question of whether one believes in a god or gods. Theism is the "yes" answer. No other definition is as useful in this matter.

I am an atheist who is happy to say that he does not claim to know that gods do not exist. That makes me an agnostic atheist.

It's a non-issue to me that has been resolved pending the arrival of new relevant evidence, meaning that I feel that I've likely reached my final position on the matter, and have stopped wondering about gods.

And if he/she thinks that there is a very small percentage so, than it's not atheism; and still he/she will call himself an atheist.

It's atheism as long as one is not a believer in gods. That small chance makes it agnostic atheism.
 

dianaiad

Well-Known Member
I was hinting at the unproportionallity of the OP. He declares anyone who has the slightest doubt a god might exist a theist. I did the same from the other side to show how such a view is not helpful. With the same logic I can show that you are a chimpanzee because the similarities overwhelm the differences.

Well, I DO share 99% of my DNA with chimps, but that 1% is rather important, it seems. ;)
 

Heyo

Veteran Member
Atheism is on the spectrum of beliefs about God, which by definition is a theological position. If the question is about God, then it is a theological question. Atheism is a theological position about the existence and nature of God.
I disagree. Questions about god are theological. Questions about the belief in god are psychological.
And therein lie all the misunderstandings. Believers can't fathom that someone doesn't believe in god and atheists/Agnostics don't understand how someone can believe in something without any evidence or often against all evidence.
 

icehorse

......unaffiliated...... anti-dogmatist
Premium Member
Catchy title. A-theism means something like No theism. And it's rare maybe almost impossible that somebody would not believe in God 100%. Not even a 0.01% that maybe God created this world.
And if he/she thinks that there is a very small percentage so, than it's not atheism; and still he/she will call himself an atheist.
BTW, a famous said or wrote something like that.

I count myself as a "6" on this widely used spectrum. I think "6" is a very common place for us atheists to be:

Spectrum of theistic probability - Wikipedia

From the article, a 6 means:
De facto atheist. Very low probability, but short of zero. "I don't know for certain but I think God is very improbable, and I live my life on the assumption that he is not there."
 

Heyo

Veteran Member
Well, I DO share 99% of my DNA with chimps, but that 1% is rather important, it seems. ;)
So we do agree that someone says she doesn't believe in god is rather important in deciding the question whether she's an atheist?
 

Evangelicalhumanist

"Truth" isn't a thing...
Premium Member
Atheism is on the spectrum of beliefs about God, which by definition is a theological position. If the question is about God, then it is a theological question. Atheism is a theological position about the existence and nature of God.

Therefore, what you say is partially correct. Since those who claim atheism as their view on God are addressing a theological question, that automatically places them on that theological spectrum. God enters into the question in their minds. God is in their minds and thoughts, right in that moment, even if it is a view through that particular theological lens, which typically sees God in mythic-literal terms. The question of God is not absent in them.

My point is that the question of belief or nonbelief in God is a theological question, and therefore both the theist and atheist are at point or another along that same spectrum. They are not opposites or outside of each other, but degrees of amplitude of the same thing. And I do not believe anyone, is at absolute zero on that spectrum. They aren't, because they are asking the question itself. The question is there, and it is a theological question, and therefore it exists in their psyches. God is not "non-existent" in the atheist. The fact they claim the label is proof of that alone.

Final thought, I am coming to understand how that we as children of this world, before language sets in and begins to restrict how we see the world into terms of this and that, we are incredible sponges of information coming into us in a fully encompassing way. This is for every bit of information coming in, both negative and positive. It is not until language becomes more readily available to us to try to create a "map" of what that experience is like to us, that we truly form how we see things in our later belief structures.

The question of God very much enters into all of our spaces in one way or another, because we as children experienced the very question of the nature of our existence itself by virtue of having been a child living in a preverbal reality, where signs and symbols later take over. The question still exists, regarding the why of our own being, at whatever level or depth of soul our understandings can reach into. Theological questions are ways to view that reality which transcends our verbal world, where the child touches its own existence without words. That is what the theological question is about.
I disagree. The question of the existence of a god or gods is a philosophical one. Once the answer to that question is "yes," then theology takes over and tries to discern the nature of god or gods. If the answer, however, is "no," nothing more needs to be done.

For me (I can't speak for all atheists), there is so much information and understanding of the natural world and its workings -- without a single indication of something supernatural going on -- that the philosophical question is answered "No." As Pierre-Simon Laplace remarked to Napoleon, "I had no need for that hypothesis (Je n'avais pas besoin de cette hypothèse-là)." And then our contemplation continues with natural philosophy.
 

Left Coast

This Is Water
Staff member
Premium Member
Catchy title. A-theism means something like No theism. And it's rare maybe almost impossible that somebody would not believe in God 100%. Not even a 0.01% that maybe God created this world.
And if he/she thinks that there is a very small percentage so, than it's not atheism; and still he/she will call himself an atheist.
BTW, a famous said or wrote something like that.

Gotta love the semantic games theists play about what atheists should call themselves instead of getting to the actual point and demonstrating their god actually exists or does anything. :rolleyes:
 

Evangelicalhumanist

"Truth" isn't a thing...
Premium Member
I count myself as a "6" on this widely used spectrum. I think "6" is a very common place for us atheists to be:

Spectrum of theistic probability - Wikipedia

From the article, a 6 means:
It's fun to consider the question of the possibility of aliens coming to take over our planet as a food source. It is very, very hard to assume with absolute certainty that no other life evolved in the entire universe, and that some of that might have evolved long prior to us and be that much more advanced than us.

But the chances seem pretty slim -- despite the plethora of sci-fi stories and films to the contrary -- and we humans trundle merrily along without bothering to build planetary defense systems against invasion. It's not that we know we'll never be invaded. It's just that the possibility is miniscule enough that we can safely ignore it. And so we do.
 
Top