Can you have "faith" in atheism?

[meowmeow]

I think I have to explain my question. I started to analyze some of my beliefs after having read the thread “rational/irrational discussion”. I believe in some facts because I have been given enough evidence, and some just seem plausible (no afterlife…), but some other, including this last one, seem to carry a high emotional charge (can you say that in English?, I use that expression a lot at work (child psychiatry)) and I just “can’t help myself”! (for example the belief there’s no intelligent design, no immortal soul…)
- I’ve been an atheist as long as I can remember, based on my experiences of the world around me at first, reasoning and reading when I grew up.
- my first book on atheism was Michel Onfray “Traité d’athéologie” (I think it has been translated in English it’s really an excellent book !). I liked it so much I used to carry it with me for some time as a talisman (I was a lonely atheist in my teens…), and I got the same feeling with “the God delusion”, I just finished reading, and “the miracle of life” a book by Albert Jaccard (a biologist) I read when I was a teenager.
- Some of the arguments of theses books convinced me but some other parts left me with an awe-like feeling and I just “felt” : this must be true !
- I know how emotion can guide and transform our interpretation of facts and events. And I suspect I agree with some ideas based on the fact that given my personality, I « like » them. As if I « liked believing » in them for emotional, esthetical, or other complex reasons.
- So I must have a masochistic trait and a melodramatic one because I find the idea of several billions of humans trapped on the surface of a carbon-etc sphere in the great emptiness of space struggling with trivial miseries of life and great metaphysical questions but with the same emotional density, so beautiful and moving... Tragi-comical sometimes, but awfully touching…

So am I not different than the deists apart for the fact that given my psychological structure and my personality I don’t “like” the same ideas that they do? Is atheism my “religion” and my “ideology”?

Not for all the proven facts of course but all the other ones?


Meow?

[Oldandeasilyconfused]

Is atheism my “religion” and my “ideology”?

Only you can answer that. In the literal sense ,atheism has one meaning only" no God". Many atheists accept that as meaning "the lack of belief in god(s)", which is my position.NOTHING ELSE is implied or may be inferred from this position. My atheism is is NOT a religion,an ideology,a philosophy,a moral code,a path or world view.

My position is called agnostic atheism. I make no claims of any kind,which includes no comment about the truth of my non belief. The agnostic atheist has no burden of proof;having made no claims,he is obliged to prove/disprove nothing.

Many other atheists assert:"there is no god" and/or " I believe there is no god" . Some will assert "I'm certain there is no god". THAT is a different situation entirely.Such people DO have a burden of proof,as they have made positive claims.Without supporting evidence,such claims remain assertions with little (if any) more credibility than the most bizarre claims of the average theist.

Whether your atheism is a religion to YOU depends on your own perceptions. However, I can't think of any atheist I know who accepts the propositions that atheism is a religion or an ideology..

[Tiberius]

Likewise, I am an agnostic atheist, although I developed my own scale on my blog: http://atheistblogger.com/2008/12/23/sca...certainty/ where I come in at #6, a strong agnostic atheist.

I don't think you can call atheism a religion, nor an ideology, but I would say it is an idea that lead towards my current view of life.

[Kyuuketsuki]

Can one have faith in "atheism"? Answer, I've no idea.

Up until very recently (yesterday in fact) I would have said atheism wasn't an ideology and I still don't think "atheist" is (it's just a label that says whether you do or don't believe in deity) but making it "atheism" changes that ... I suppose what I'm saying is that by the simple means of calling it an "ism" it becomes an ideology, a philosophy with all the associated baggage.

I don't like this realisation one little bit but whether I like it or not is irrelevant and I really hope someone can persuade me my deliberations/conclusions are wrong because until they do, whilst I can say I am an "atheist", I cannot say I embrace "atheism" as it wasn't what made me an "atheist" and I don't see how I can adopt it as a philosophy.

Kyu

[Darwinian]

I've never really liked the term atheist. I think it's very strange to give someone a title because they don't believe in something.

I don't believe in the Great Green Arkleseezure either, so is there a special name for that as well?

[meowmeow]

Likewise, I am an agnostic atheist, although I developed my own scale on my blog: http://atheistblogger.com/2008/12/23/sca...certainty/ where I come in at #6, a strong agnostic atheist.

I don't think you can call atheism a religion, nor an ideology, but I would say it is an idea that lead towards my current view of life.

I checked your scale I feel comfortable with category 6 too! Thank you!


Now I can start to sort out my "beliefs"

1. "scientific facts I know"

2. "gut feelings I live with until or if proven otherwise" (sometimes shows some personal stuff, so important anyway, if not provable)

3. "personal not very strong beliefs just for the fun" (you never get a parking ticket twice in the same week! ... usually wrong but lessens the guilt of not paying the parking)

4. "beliefs that usually change depending on mood and weather" (who cares... )

It will help me sort out what I’m talking about and not mix everything up!