Sense of the Atheism

[questfortruth]

DEFINITION
"Atheism is in the broadest sense an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities." (Wikipedia 2021 with references).

MAKING SENSE OF THE DEFINITION
I think, it is an unnecessary complication, which was absent just some 30 years ago. Why? Because the atheists admire Evolution, then their doctrine has undergone severe evolution from simplicity into a complication.

Let us translate into common sense what the phrase "Atheism is in the broadest sense an absence of belief in the existence of deities." means. Any phrase, if it has meaning, has consequences. You simply say: atheism is not theism.

This can mean three things:

A. Certainty and conviction, that the True God does not exist (gnostic atheism).

B. Assumption, that there is no True God, but without knowledge of it (agnostic atheism).

C. Religious Indifference.

In all these cases, it is the rejection of being the theist, rejection of the God-notion (shortly: the rejection of God).

 

[Revoltingest]

In both cases, it is the rejection of being the theist, rejection of the God-idea. From the viewpoint of theists (who know that their God exists), it is the denial of God.

The underlined portion doesn't apply well to weak atheism.

 

[Brickjectivity]

DEFINITION
"Atheism is in the broadest sense an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities." (Wikipedia 2021 with references).

MAKING SENSE OF THE DEFINITION
I think, it is an unnecessary complication, which was absent just some 30 years ago. Why? Because the atheists admire Evolution, then their doctrine has undergone severe evolution from simplicity into a complication.

Let us translate into common sense what the phrase "Atheism is in the broadest sense an absence of belief in the existence of deities." means.

This can mean two things:

A. Certainty and conviction, that the True God does not exist (gnostic atheism).

B. Assumption, that there is no True God, but without knowledge of it (agnostic atheism).

In both cases, it is the rejection of being the theist, rejection of the God-idea. From the viewpoint of theists (who know that their God exists), it is the denial of God.

Love is I think more important than belief, and I think faith is more important than belief. An atheist can be faithful and can love just as a catholic can. Is God limited by the boundaries we set?

 

[mikkel_the_dane]

DEFINITION
"Atheism is in the broadest sense an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities." (Wikipedia 2021 with references).

MAKING SENSE OF THE DEFINITION
I think, it is an unnecessary complication, which was absent just some 30 years ago. Why? Because the atheists admire Evolution, then their doctrine has undergone severe evolution from simplicity into a complication.

Let us translate into common sense what the phrase "Atheism is in the broadest sense an absence of belief in the existence of deities." means.

This can mean two things:

A. Certainty and conviction, that the True God does not exist (gnostic atheism).

B. Assumption, that there is no True God, but without knowledge of it (agnostic atheism).

In both cases, it is the rejection of being the theist, rejection of the God-idea. From the viewpoint of theists (who know that their God exists), it is the denial of God.

Well, you do find agnostic theists. But don't let that stop you. And you left out deists. So so much for truth.

 

[questfortruth]

The underlined portion doesn't apply well to weak atheism.

Please explain, please clarify. What is strong atheism? What is weak atheism? What is normal atheism?

 

[lewisnotmiller]

DEFINITION
"Atheism is in the broadest sense an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities." (Wikipedia 2021 with references).

MAKING SENSE OF THE DEFINITION
I think, it is an unnecessary complication, which was absent just some 30 years ago. Why? Because the atheists admire Evolution, then their doctrine has undergone severe evolution from simplicity into a complication.

Let us translate into common sense what the phrase "Atheism is in the broadest sense an absence of belief in the existence of deities." means.

This can mean two things:

A. Certainty and conviction, that the True God does not exist (gnostic atheism).

B. Assumption, that there is no True God, but without knowledge of it (agnostic atheism).

In both cases, it is the rejection of being the theist, rejection of the God-idea. From the viewpoint of theists (who know that their God exists), it is the denial of God.

You seem to be setting up a dichotomy between atheism and the 'True God'. This ignores other beliefs such as polytheism, pantheism, panentheism and deism.
Hence, atheism is an absence of belief in the existence of deities (as you put it) rather than necessarily an explicit rejection. There are plenty of God-beliefs I am not even aware of.

 

[questfortruth]

You seem to be setting up a dichotomy between atheism and the 'True God'.

If there were even 10 000 True Gods, I am right that atheists reject True God.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

DEFINITION
"Atheism is in the broadest sense an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities." (Wikipedia 2021 with references).

MAKING SENSE OF THE DEFINITION
I think, it is an unnecessary complication, which was absent just some 30 years ago. Why? Because the atheists admire Evolution, then their doctrine has undergone severe evolution from simplicity into a complication.

Let us translate into common sense what the phrase "Atheism is in the broadest sense an absence of belief in the existence of deities." means.

This can mean two things:

A. Certainty and conviction, that the True God does not exist (gnostic atheism).

B. Assumption, that there is no True God, but without knowledge of it (agnostic atheism).

In both cases, it is the rejection of being the theist, rejection of the God-idea. From the viewpoint of theists (who know that their God exists), it is the denial of God.

I think you're reading too much into this.

"Atheism is in the broadest sense an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities." (Wikipedia 2021 with references).

Simply: Atheism is the absent of belief in the existence in deities.

The nature of it: how broad and common it is and the justifications behind it doesn't change the overall heading "absent of belief in the existence of deities." If we put exceptions to justify every word to our biases, we'd be sitting with the full dictionary night and day trying to make it (or Wiki) our own bible.

A. Absence of belief in the existence in deities could be lack of certainty and conviction. Though, I wouldn't say lack of certainty. For example, if anyone told me I had a million dollars in my account and I know from what I spent, my expenses, and work, I could not make that amount overnight, I would not believe them. I'd have absence of belief that there is money in my account. Why would certainty and conviction be a factor in such an oddball statement. You can have conviction that you don't believe god exists but most people including myself find holding strong convictions religiously unnecessary.

B. Absence of belief in the existence of deities makes no assumption of a "true" god and has no knowledge of what a "true" god is. It just says deities (Egyptian, Hebrew, African, Greek, whatever). No one has claims to the true deity.

 

[Revoltingest]

Please explain, please clarify. What is strong atheism? What is weak atheism? What is normal atheism?

Weak atheism = Don't believe in gods, but they could possibly exist.
Loopy though the idea of them is, I can't prove they don't exist.

 

[PureX]

"Atheism is in the broadest sense an absence of belief in the existence of deities..."

A "defined absence" is logically incoherent. It's gibberish.

 

[questfortruth]

Weak atheism = Don't believe in gods, but they could possibly exist.

Thank you for the discussion. I have modified this part of the thread, please reread.

 

[questfortruth]

Absence of belief in the existence of deities makes no assumption of a "true" god and has no knowledge of what a "true" god is. It just says deities (Egyptian, Hebrew, African, Greek, whatever). No one has claims to the true deity.

Nobody can argue, that these gods are present on our Earth. Are you saying, that they are somehow false ones?

 

[darkskies]

This can mean two things:

It can also mean simply disbelief as the definition states. No assumption or conviction required.

 

[Kfox]

DEFINITION
"Atheism is in the broadest sense an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities." (Wikipedia 2021 with references).

MAKING SENSE OF THE DEFINITION
I think, it is an unnecessary complication, which was absent just some 30 years ago. Why? Because the atheists admire Evolution, then their doctrine has undergone severe evolution from simplicity into a complication.

Let us translate into common sense what the phrase "Atheism is in the broadest sense an absence of belief in the existence of deities." means.

This can mean two things:

A. Certainty and conviction, that the True God does not exist (gnostic atheism).

B. Assumption, that there is no True God, but without knowledge of it (agnostic atheism).

In both cases, it is the rejection of being the theist, rejection of the God-idea
(shortly: the rejection of God).

Something else it could mean; the rejection of the claims theists make concerning whatever it is they choose to call God; having nothing to do with whether it exists or not.
BTW What do you mean by “True God”? And how is this different than God?

 

[questfortruth]

BTW What do you mean by “True God”? And how is this different than God?

Nobody can argue, that these gods (Egyptian, Hebrew, African, Greek, whatever) are present on our Earth. Are you saying, that they are somehow false ones?

 

[questfortruth]

Hence, atheism is an absence of belief in the existence of deities (as you put it) rather than necessarily an explicit rejection. There are plenty of God-beliefs I am not even aware of.

This can mean three things:

A.

B.

C. Religious Indifference.

In all these cases, it is the rejection of being the theist, rejection of the God-idea (shortly: the rejection of God).

 

[Unveiled Artist]

Nobody can argue, that these gods are present on our Earth. Are you saying, that they are somehow false ones?

They are myths (or a: collection of stories, especially one belonging to a particular religious or cultural tradition). These deities, Jehovah included, are described in so many different ways that the only thing one can reject or disbelieve is the "idea or conception" of their existence (if one is an atheist). They had their presence on earth as stories that built up and/or the core of religious traditions all around the world-excluding Eastern concepts of deities).

I wouldn't know if the mythological gods were true or false because I have no basis of comparison. But like the million dollars in my account overnight scenario, if these deities are splitting seas, throwing thunderbolts, and fighting Xena, I'd definitely wouldn't take it into consideration that they are even remotely true.

So, for me it can't be A... that I lack belief in gods because of lack of certainty and conviction. I have no reason to question whether or not there is a million in my account or a deity parted the read sea. There's nothing I can think of that would make me wonder why my conclusions would be doubtful given their bizarre claims. B.... I wouldn't say assumption there is no true god. When there is no reason to draw other conclusions, the nature of that conclusion-true/false/weak/strong-etc are irrelevant.

Did you add the last part of your OP recently?

 

[Kfox]

Nobody can argue, that these gods (Egyptian, Hebrew, African, Greek, whatever) are present on our Earth.

Actually such an argument can be made.

Are you saying, that they are somehow false ones?

I am skeptical of the claims theists make concerning anything they choose to call God

 

[questfortruth]

I wouldn't know if the mythological gods were true or false because I have no basis of comparison. But like the million dollars in my account overnight scenario, if these deities are splitting seas, throwing thunderbolts, and fighting Xena, I'd definitely wouldn't take it into consideration that they are even remotely true.

That because my paper about Dark Matter is not published.
Dark Matter as Simulation of E.Musk

Did you add the last part of your OP recently?

Yes, please read.

 

[PureX]

I am skeptical of the claims theists make concerning anything they choose to call God

Skepticism is both reasonable and healthy. But it's not atheism. Many theists are also skeptical.