(June 26, 2021 at 2:43 pm)Fake Messiah Wrote: Frank Apisa, I have to admit it to you: I believe there are no gods.
There, I said it. I can't prove that my belief is true and I freely admit that I may be wrong. I will change my belief if I'm shown to be wrong. However, based on what I know about the creativity of the human mind and the complete lack of evidence or strong arguments to support claims about gods, I can't help but "believe" that all gods were invented and do not exist. I don't know this and I can't prove it but I do believe it. I just have a hunch that if gods were real somebody would have come up with some evidence or at least a really good argument for them by now. After all, we have discovered three billion-year-old fossils and identified galaxies far beyond our own. Surely we would have found some trace of gods by now if any were there. But we haven't so, reluctantly, I find myself believing in their nonexistence. This silly little belief is not my religion, however. I have none.
Atheism, FM, is most definitely NOT a religion. I see some people proposing that...and I think they are jerks.
But many (not all) atheists claim they are non-believers.
Well, as you mentioned...you are NOT a non-believer. You simply "believe" differently from the people who are called "believers" by atheists. The "believe there is at least one god." You "believe" there are none. They "believe" at least one god exists (the one they worship)...and you "believe" they are nonexistent.
I think the reason you call yourself an atheist is because of those "beliefs" of yours. I don't think you call yourself an atheist because some dictionaries require it of you.
Thanks for your response, FM.
