• 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 is not a belief, so why would anyone lie that it is?

Do you accept atheism is not a belief, or do you lie it is?

  • Yes I accept the fact that atheism is not a belief.

    Votes: 25 80.6%

  • No, I lie that atheism is a belief.

    Votes: 6 19.4%
  • Total voters
    31
Sheldon

Sheldon

Veteran Member
Clearly atheism is not a belief, one has only to look it up in any dictionary to see this. So lets see if anyone wants to misrepresent it as a belief in this poll.
 
Sheldon

Sheldon

Veteran Member
Revoltingest said:
Strong atheism is a belief.
Weak atheism is not.
Click to expand...

Words change their meanings or have nuanced meanings when used in tandem with other words of course, so accepting those definitions do define nuanced positions, we are only dealing with just the primary definition of atheism in the poll. However anyone is free to extend the discussion in whatever direction they feel will be edifying. :cool:
 
Revoltingest

Revoltingest

Pragmatic Libertarian
Premium Member
Sheldon said:
Words change their meanings or have nuanced meanings when used in tandem with other words of course, so accepting those definitions do define nuanced positions, we are only dealing with just the primary definition of atheism in the poll. However anyone is free to extend the discussion in whatever direction they feel will be edifying. :cool:
Click to expand...
Might wanna make that clearer in the OP.
 
U

Unveiled Artist

Veteran Member
This atheism is a belief always made me wonder. I think people would look at me odd if I said I have a belief that I lack belief (I'm a theistic atheist?). I believe in a belief I don't have, I guess.

Which, now that I think of it, I know why people say atheist have belief just as theist. If you state your belief "I believe in god" and an atheist says "I believe there is no god" then these are statements of belief whether there is a god or not. But saying that lack of belief in god is a religious position opposing belief in god is totally different than just stating a belief you don't have as an atheist. Statement vs. religious position, I guess.
 
Sheldon

Sheldon

Veteran Member
Revoltingest said:
Might wanna make that clearer in the OP.
Click to expand...

Well that's why I used atheism only, and didn't qualify it, and why the poll is constructed as it is. If someone says they're an atheist it's clear people make assumptions, I'd like to see how many disregard the primary dictionary definition, and then we can perhaps discuss why they do this?
 
A Vestigial Mote

A Vestigial Mote

Well-Known Member
John53 said:
Why does it matter? You need a "who cares" option in the poll.
Click to expand...
I've seen it mischaracterized far too many times to simply label it as "doesn't matter."

As the poll implies, there are people out there willing to propagate lies even AFTER being told the exact way in which they are incorrect when pretending that atheism (alone) is the positive assertion that "God does not exist."

And these liars even ignore simple, logical examples that demonstrate this FACT (as in, something that cannot be denied without lying once one is given the knowledge). Like the following, super-simple example: If simply lacking belief in God is a "belief" in and of itself, then it is also a "belief" to decide not to believe people who say that Bigfoot or vampires or fairies or Cthulu are real. I'm not saying those things aren't real... and the person who doesn't outright believe fanciful claims like those doesn't have to say that either. They just withhold belief until the person making the claim ponies up the evidence.

Until then, I can tell you precisely what "doesn't matter" in these types of cases specifically, where absolutely nothing can be demonstrated to be "on the line": their claims.
 
L

Lain

Well-Known Member
Sheldon said:
Clearly atheism is not a belief, one has only to look it up in any dictionary to see this. So lets see if anyone wants to misrepresent it as a belief in this poll.
Click to expand...

Depends on the definition of "atheism" and "belief," and which dictionary one is using to define them, and which definition in said dictionary, and maybe even what counts as a dictionary (do philosophical articles detailing/defining the positions of different atheisms count as something towards that?). So my response is: I have no idea, no vote.
 
Sheldon

Sheldon

Veteran Member
Snow White said:
It's not a religious belief, but there's still arguing whether a disbelief is a belief that something isn't real or true.
Click to expand...

Well to be honest that very claim prompted me to start the thread.

disbelief
noun
  1. inability or refusal to accept that something is true or real.
Now I don't see anything in the definition there that suggests a belief to me? Parenthetically I am an atheist, because I don't believe in any deity or deities, thus I disbelieve in any extant deity, I do not hold a belief no deity exists, as I understand in its broadest sense the concept of a deity seems unfalsifiable to me, and I cannot meet the burden of proof for such a belief. I disbelieve all unfalsifiable claims, and I remain agnostic about them, as I must.

That seem sound rationale to me, maybe someone else disagrees?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top