(December 5, 2018 at 11:06 am)T0 Th3 M4X Wrote:(December 5, 2018 at 10:56 am)Cherub786 Wrote: So what it's immaterial
Bingo! It's not a determining factor. They could all be chickens, and it wouldn't hold any relevance because the study of cosmology isn't bound by their religion (or being a farm animal), and neither are their findings. Atheism is an opinion and a religion, nothing more.
How can, not being convinced of unsupported theistic assertions, be a religion?
Quote:I can believe its constructs for whatever reason I choose and call myself an "atheist" or not believe them at all, and still be considered an "atheist." At the end of the day, it's just an opinion about "god(s) vs no god."
No, it's an opinion concerning the case FOR the existence of gods made by theists, not meeting its burden of proof.
Atheism is not necessarily the claim (or even the opinion) that gods do not exist. It is the position of not being convinced that gods exist. SOME atheists may go a step further and claim that no gods exist, but that is not requirement to hold the atheist position.
You'd believe if you just opened your heart" is a terrible argument for religion. It's basically saying, "If you bias yourself enough, you can convince yourself that this is true." If religion were true, people wouldn't need faith to believe it -- it would be supported by good evidence.