Opinion on this Creed

[Longhorn]

Oh, yay. Stat's back /sarcasm.

Stat, if the definition of atheism doesn't describe my lack of belief in deities, what is the word that does?

^This^

We're not desperately trying to hang on to a label. What word in your opinion would fit our views, if not atheism?

[Kingpin]

Quick question, if you define atheism as:

A lack of belief in any God.

Would it be fair to also state it as:

A belief there are no Gods.

[rexbeccarox]

Quick question, if you define atheism as:

A lack of belief in any God.

Would it be fair to also state it as:

A belief there are no Gods.

Sure; that's one of the definitions.

[Longhorn]

No, if you mean to say they're are equivalent.

I don't believe there is a god =/= I believe there is no god.

It's the difference in certainty. Most atheistsc will not claim to know there isn't a god, so they will not make claims there isn't one. They will just refuse to accept the claim as true because of lack of evidence.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negative...ve_atheism

If you mean to say that both positions are atheism, then yes.

[Kingpin]

Interesting that one of you finds the definitions synonymous and the other does not. If you espouse something as false aren't you proposing the opposite to be true? I've had some atheists tell me that atheism is not a belief system. But you believe it don't you?

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No, if you mean to say they're are equivalent.

I don't believe there is a god =/= I believe there is no god.

It's the difference in certainty. Most atheistsc will not claim to know there isn't a god, so they will not make claims there isn't one. They will just refuse to accept the claim as true because of lack of evidence.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negative...ve_atheism

If you mean to say that both positions are atheism, then yes.

If they make such a claim, they are not atheists, they are agnostic.

[rexbeccarox]

Interesting that one of you finds the definitions synonymous and the other does not.  If you espouse something as false aren't you proposing the opposite to be true?  I've had some atheists tell me that atheism is not a belief system.  But you believe it don't you?

If you read Vic's reply more closely, you'll see we don't actually disagree at all.

[rexbeccarox]

If they make such a claim, they are not atheists, they are agnostic.

The two terms aren't mutually exclusive. Most atheists, myself included, are agnostic atheists.

A/gnosticism has to do with knowledge.
A/ theism has to do with belief.

[pocaracas]

Others have put this in chart form so we don't need to think too much about it...

[Longhorn]

Atheism and agnosticism are not mutually exclusive. The former refers to belief, the latter to knowledge. Please inform yourself on the subject and refrain from telling us what we believe.

Now if I had a penny every fucking time somebody got that wrong.....

[Jenny A]

The terms gnostic atheist and agnostic atheist are becoming more common.    Thus:




Additionally you can be an apatheist, meaning someone who doesn't think the question of whether there is a god is useful or relevant to their lives.   Theoretically an apatheist could fall anywhere on the chart.

Most atheists are agnostic atheists, though most of us don't think the god possibility is remotely probable.

[Edit: I see pocaracus beat me to it]