Is atheism a belief?

[bennyboy]

I asked you to start with some example of something that -was- a lack of belief because I strongly suspect that you're working with semantics under which there is no such thing, and if that's the case, if there are no states of belief described by not possessing the belief, then it would be unsurprising for you to think that atheism was not a nonexistent state.  However, by semantics that don't allow for such states of belief, you'll have made it impossible to be an atheist.

Like above.  Atheists aren't atheists - they don't like religions and they think talking about it is a waste of time.  Atheism, you posit, isn't about god belief.

Really?

Religious guy: "Let me tell you about God X." (describes God X)
Atheist: "Oh. . . I think God X is probably not a real thing, as I've seen no evidence which would show it to be one. Sorry."

Religious guy: "Well. . . do you believe in any kind of God?"
Atheist: "No. . . of the definitions I've heard, I would say that I believe none of them is likely to represent truth. Given no evidence to prove they exist, I'm going to have to say I think they are probably mythological stories or outright frauds."

I just don't see any semantic use in identifying a position against an "-ism," and then just pretending than you lack the "-ism." If I believed there were no gods, I'd declare as atheist. If I believed there were gods, I'd declare as theist. I'm not sure if there are gods or not, so I declare as agnostic. This stuff about beliefs not being connected to a sense of knowledge is kind of pointless-- if you don't have sufficient knowledge to support a view (pro or anti-), then why say you believe anything at all?

Let's say I'm a Christian. I'll say, "I know enough about science to know that cosmogony is beyond it, and I have enough evidence to believe that will always be the case. If this is so, then something necessarily stands above nature, and I will declare myself a theist."

Let's say I'm an atheist. I'll say, "I've heard many definitions of the God idea, and I know enough about the world and about people to identify those ideas as anthropomorphic myths. I will therefore declare myself an atheist."

Let's say I'm an agnostic, as I am. I'll say, "I know enough about science to know that it answers most questions better than religious traditions, but that it leaves some very important questions unanswered. I've heard enough God ideas to suspect that they are all myths and therefore not representative of real beings, but I also find it plausible that some intelligence is responsible for the Universe and the order in it. I cannot collect enough information to determine whether some kind of God exists or not, so I will declare as agnostic."

In all cases, I consider what I know in forming a belief. It never happens that I'm walking down the street and just suddenly start believing in something for no reason at all: "Never heard of God before, have no knowledge of God ideas or of the world. . . but for some reason I'm hearing this word in my head: a. . . theist." Sounds like a nice word!