Question for "Hard Atheists" - Do You Oppose Religion In General?
May 30, 2012 at 9:32 pm
(This post was last modified: May 30, 2012 at 9:35 pm by kingdavid8.)
Hi, there.
I'm currently in a discussion on another message board regarding the definition of "atheist" with a lady who is saying that those we call "hard atheists" (who believe no God(s) exist) shouldn't be called atheists at all, but are really "anti-theists". She is essentially arguing that the word "atheist" refers only to "soft atheists" (those who don't believe God(s) exists, but don't positively believe God(s) do not exist).
When I pointed out the phrase "anti-theist" already refers to those who actively oppose theism, she responded that there's no real difference between them, that "hard atheists" are (in her own words) "precisely against God belief and oppose it very aggressively", and thus are already anti-theists, thus there's no problem merging the two groups under a single definition.
I bet her that I could find at least a dozen "hard atheists" who don't aggressively oppose belief in God, but who view belief in God a little like adults generally view a child's belief in Santa - believe he doesn't exist, but don't aggressively oppose such belief in others.
What I'm wondering is if there are any "hard atheists" here that fit that bill, who don't aggressively oppose belief in God. While "soft atheists" can of course put in their two cents, I'm mostly interested in hearing from the "hard" ones, and, please, only "hard atheists" for the poll itself. Thanks.
I'm currently in a discussion on another message board regarding the definition of "atheist" with a lady who is saying that those we call "hard atheists" (who believe no God(s) exist) shouldn't be called atheists at all, but are really "anti-theists". She is essentially arguing that the word "atheist" refers only to "soft atheists" (those who don't believe God(s) exists, but don't positively believe God(s) do not exist).
When I pointed out the phrase "anti-theist" already refers to those who actively oppose theism, she responded that there's no real difference between them, that "hard atheists" are (in her own words) "precisely against God belief and oppose it very aggressively", and thus are already anti-theists, thus there's no problem merging the two groups under a single definition.
I bet her that I could find at least a dozen "hard atheists" who don't aggressively oppose belief in God, but who view belief in God a little like adults generally view a child's belief in Santa - believe he doesn't exist, but don't aggressively oppose such belief in others.
What I'm wondering is if there are any "hard atheists" here that fit that bill, who don't aggressively oppose belief in God. While "soft atheists" can of course put in their two cents, I'm mostly interested in hearing from the "hard" ones, and, please, only "hard atheists" for the poll itself. Thanks.
