Sigh.
Technically, "atheism" is a privative. i.e. the lack of a quality, in this case, belief in a god. Or gods/deities/spirits/ceilingcat/whatever.
Being an atheist does not preclude belief in astrology/tarot/ghosts/ESP/insert your crankery du jour here.
When I ditched religion decades ago, I actually did the magic tour of all manner of wingnuttery. I was not content to simply read others opinions of any of it, good or bad. I made it my business to actually learn in detail how to practice such things.
So as a result I can...
Determine your natal birth astrological chart and interpret it.
Read your Tarot cards.
Read your palm.
Dowse.
Operate a ouija board correctly.
Balance you chakras.
Read your aura.
Prescribe Bach flower remedies correctly.
Prescribe your homeopathic medicine.
Scry using ink in water or crystal ball.
Practice numerology.
Analyse bible codes.
And many more.
And on that journey I discovered something. They all have something in common.
All of them are great steaming piles of bovine fecal matter with no basis in reality whatsoever.
Now the obvious question would be, "Do I regret the time and money invested in those obvious crank delusions?"
My answer is "No. Not at all". Because I do not merely dismiss them all as superstitious nonsense, I know they are superstitious nonsense. And secondly, I can step up to the woo-peddlers on the basis of direct knowledge. They don't much like that.
So. I cannot say that atheists believe in nothing. Atheists believe in all manner of things. God just happens to not be in that mix. Sure, I put atheist in my profile, It was the easiest option. Hard materialist would simply invite too many queries even though it would be more accurate for me.
Technically, "atheism" is a privative. i.e. the lack of a quality, in this case, belief in a god. Or gods/deities/spirits/ceilingcat/whatever.
Being an atheist does not preclude belief in astrology/tarot/ghosts/ESP/insert your crankery du jour here.
When I ditched religion decades ago, I actually did the magic tour of all manner of wingnuttery. I was not content to simply read others opinions of any of it, good or bad. I made it my business to actually learn in detail how to practice such things.
So as a result I can...
Determine your natal birth astrological chart and interpret it.
Read your Tarot cards.
Read your palm.
Dowse.
Operate a ouija board correctly.
Balance you chakras.
Read your aura.
Prescribe Bach flower remedies correctly.
Prescribe your homeopathic medicine.
Scry using ink in water or crystal ball.
Practice numerology.
Analyse bible codes.
And many more.
And on that journey I discovered something. They all have something in common.
All of them are great steaming piles of bovine fecal matter with no basis in reality whatsoever.
Now the obvious question would be, "Do I regret the time and money invested in those obvious crank delusions?"
My answer is "No. Not at all". Because I do not merely dismiss them all as superstitious nonsense, I know they are superstitious nonsense. And secondly, I can step up to the woo-peddlers on the basis of direct knowledge. They don't much like that.
So. I cannot say that atheists believe in nothing. Atheists believe in all manner of things. God just happens to not be in that mix. Sure, I put atheist in my profile, It was the easiest option. Hard materialist would simply invite too many queries even though it would be more accurate for me.
