(March 4, 2010 at 5:36 am)tackattack Wrote: Really I thought it had more to do with somatization, splitting or denial (or maybe in the best case sublimation). It appears from my perspective to be in effect going from belief A to counter-belief A instead of disregarding the belief and if necessary identifying with belief B. I admit that a few atheists I've met on here are more "I don't believe there is evidence to support your belief in God" but as a whole a lot of the atheists I've spoken with are simply anti-theism.. which seems more reactionary and emotional than rational, IMO.
I agree, and have found that a vast majority of those new to atheism don't full grasp what it means, and to agree with you, do so simply to be the opposite of ideas they found to be unsavory. I can say that I started in that boat, having had a friend turn to young earth creationism and radical judgments of myself and others, and became an atheist as a reaction to that. I eventually, with study and maturity, saw my ideas fully formed into a strong atheism, supported by our understanding of the universe. It takes time to free one's mind from religion, and some will continue their entire lives without settling on a finite decision, but such is the plight of man!
"The absence of fact is not evidence of fiction." -Mark Twain