If I were an Atheist

[robvalue]

Hatsh: Are you suggesting the forum itself is making claims? I don't get what you mean.

Atheist tends to have two definitions, one of which makes a claim and one which does not. The forum is simply an atheist forum, so it covers people who may make claims or may not. The most common definition of atheism, as used in the atheist community at least, is that the negative claim is not assumed. The mistake is when people assume all atheists make claims. I agree, if you make a claim, you should admit it and be prepared to explain it if you expect it to be taken seriously.

Yes, people suffering while coming out of Mormonism is just one example of the kind of person who would benefit from being here. It certainly is horrific and unbelievable in this day and age.

"Deny" was a poor choice of words, you replied while I was halfway through editing it I've changed the wording. I need to proof read more.

Personally, I cannot even properly assess the claims about gods because I think they are untestable at best and incoherent at worst. That makes me an ignostic. So I can't properly say I believe there are "no gods" when I have no clue what a god is supposed to be. In an informal sense, I'll say I believe there are none of the popular story book gods, because there is no evidence, they are self contradictory and they are ludicrously removed from all reality as we know it. I could claim certainty on logical grounds for internally inconsistent claims.

Adam: You do realize that you are an atheist or a theist, right? Which are you, if you don't mind me asking? Again, refer to my website please if this is not clear. If you have an active belief that there is one or more gods, you're a theist. Otherwise, you're an atheist. There is no middle ground. Some people don't like the labels, which is fine. But by our commonly used definitions, you're one or the other.

As I've been alluding to, you can reject the claim that there is a god and also reject the claim that there are no gods. That makes you a (weak) agnostic atheist. It's the default position. Some people like to call this position "just agnostic", which is fine. They can use words differently if they want. But it's still agnostic atheism.