(November 1, 2010 at 3:17 pm)Existentialist Wrote: The definition of atheism specifically identifies the belief that there is no god as being a legitimate definition,That's not the current-working definition of atheism, addressing the definition of god is ignosticism.
Quote:the definition itself does not wrap that up with people who 'simply' have lack of belief,Do you believe in Xiuhtecuhtli? If you didn't even know about Aztec mythology then guess what? You're an atheist by default because of your lack of belief in the concept.
Quote:The distinction is important because the idea of a definition is to define something better, not to blur the reality, which I'm afraid saying atheism is 'purely a lack of belief by definition' does.You don't get to have your own definition of atheism, the word already has a label and an associated meaning, in what context it’s used depends on whether you are addressing the conceptions of gods inclusively or exclusively. Theism also means all kinds of things as well - just because one is a theist it would be fallacious to assume they only believe in one deity. Are you going to contest that its definition is also severely lacking?
