(March 29, 2013 at 10:35 pm)jstrodel Wrote: Ok, that is what I believe. So what is the significance in saying that atheism is not a belief, atheism is rejecting belief? Isn't the intention to imply that atheism does not require any sense of justification for its rejection of theistic claims?
I'm sure some people use it that way - as a kind of "get out of jail free card"
When I say that atheism isn't a belief; it's for a few reasons.
The primary reason is that I don't know if there's a God, and I'm open to the idea of accepting that there is - but I'm not saying there is no God.
I require justification (from what I mentioned above) but I don't need to provide - and can't provide - any form of 'evidence' because I'm not making a claim. If I said "There is no God." Then I should provide evidence to support that.
I'm sure there are more reasons, but I can't think of them all. Maybe continuance of the discussion will prompt them.
