Quote:You're making a lot of stuff up, here.
I never claimed that if someone says, "I believe there's a god and I'm killing you for your wallet", then their beliefs entail the necessity of murder for money. That's pretty clearly false--why would murder be the only way of getting money??
The question is whether they justify their actions with some sort of theistic belief or with an atheistic one--by which I mean, a belief (or set of beliefs) that does not include or imply "At least one god exists".
You should have pointed that out, then. Because you did not. And if it was instead hidden in that needlessly convoluted precursor that I did not understand, then perhaps instead of dancing around and trying to sound clever you should have just said what you just said, which is a lot more coherent and much less abstract.
Quote:Hmm. That seems like a thoroughly secular desire, yes? Shouldn't we hang their crimes on the neck of Secularism?
I mean, if their motivation was thoroughly sacred--i.e., theistic--then you'd feel justified hanging their crimes on the neck of Theism, yes?
No, that's a totalitarian desire. Secularism is where all religions are given no preferential treatment or consideration. Hence why I hang the blame on the neck of totalitarianism, because totalitarianism is to blame.
Quote:"Unbelief"? It's easier for me to think of it in terms of beliefs you affirm. Either the set of beliefs you affirm includes "There exists at least one god", or it doesn't. I don't see the need to set up a set of 'un-beliefs'.
Unbelief = I do not believe. It's not a matter of "I believe no god exists," it's a matter of "I do not believe the claims of god are reasonable enough to consider." A common error the religious tend to make is that they see it through the assumption that there MUST be a belief there is no god, but that simply is not the case. The claims do not make the religious, the religious make the claims.
Quote:What a really nice, tired cliche that contributes nothing to the discussion.
Nice, tired STEREOTYPE you mean. XD Still holds true. It was also an addendum to my statement that atheism is a default position which attaches to the point that theism makes the claim and atheism is simply not believing that claim, and the most basic of reasons WHY the claim is not followed by atheism. It ties in, albeit loosely.
