Religious people on the reasonable faith forum are so fucking stupid...

[MindForgedManacle]

I actually think that defining atheism as a "lack of belief" is silly. In terms of content, "lacking belief" is really just disbelief. However, when atheists phrase it that way, it gives a clear impression that atheists are actively trying to avoid any possible burden of proof. After all, why go out of one's way to define a position such that one does not have supposedly have to defend holding it? Worse, "lack of belief" can only really reasonably apply to those who haven't heard of god concepts before, or have been newly introduced to them. However, once one has been introduced to said concepts one either has good reasons for their resulting position or they do not. At that point, claiming you don't have the burden of proof is a complete non sequitur.

I used to throw this around too, but it is really silly when you think about it. If it were the case, then pretty much no atheist alive who once held to theism is not reasonable, or they did not reach their atheism by reason. And it also raises the question as to why atheists who use that quote EVER try to debate theists. After all, they're supposed to be immune to being reasoned out of their religious beliefs, right?