Am I still an atheist if I believe in a higher being?

[vixene]

I don't actually have any proof that this exists. However, you don't have any proof it doesn't either.

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I have a proof that it doesn't exist. However - I won't show you that proof, because - reasons.
Now, do you have a proof I don't have the proof?

You see - we can be here all day.

Except:
"What can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence." - Christopher Hitchens

I'm not here to discuss proofs though, I just asked if I'm classed as an atheist...

[Homeless Nutter]

I'm not here to discuss proofs though, I just asked if I'm classed as an atheist...

That's fine. I just thought I'd let you know, that shifting the burden of proof is a pretty feeble line of reasoning.

[vixene]

I'm not here to discuss proofs though, I just asked if I'm classed as an atheist...

That's fine. I just thought I'd let you know, that shifting the burden of proof is a pretty feeble line of reasoning.

Ok.

[vodkafan]

I like this kid. I was dismayed to see the way some folks jumped on her rather needlessly- it was only on the second page she got an answer to her simple question. I like the way she doesn't get drawn in to side arguments and kept reiterating her basic intent in asking the question. She obviously has a brain and has already dismissed the idea of personal skydaddy. She will work things out for herself I am sure.
Give her a break guys!

[abaris]

Yup, that's deism, plain and simple. Nothing wrong with it in my book. I was something of a deist for the largest part of my life. Begs the question though, what kind of higher being you think exists. In my case it was mainly nature in it's broadest sense, including the universe. Inspired by neopagan and wiccan ideas. I imagined it to be a totally neutral force, which ultimately led me to the conclusion that there's no point in believing or worshipping something neutral. Unless you believe in magic, which some wiccans do. Well, I'm not and never was among them.

[downbeatplumb]

No.

Thank you. I guess I don't fit in on this forum then.

We have allsorts here, don't leave us so soon.

[Mudhammam]

I'm not here to discuss proofs though, I just asked if I'm classed as an atheist...

At least vixene has the wisdom to refrain from all attempts at rationalizing what is obviously an emotional response to the mystery and wonder of the world - which she unconsciously labels a "higher being" - since we all know how futile and silly such efforts would in the end appear.

[Pyrrho]

So, I'm sorry, but... you're going to dismiss christianity because of, and I quote, "too many logical fallacies," and then you're going to turn around and say, completely without irony, "you can't prove that my higher being doesn't exist!"

Seriously?

...yes

Ok realistically, I don't really think there's a being up there, I just accept that it's a possibility.

Hello and welcome to the forum!

You don't have to tell anyone anything about your particular beliefs if you don't want to.

Now, saying that something is a possibility is different from saying that you believe it is actual.  If you are totally agnostic and have no belief one way or the other, you are a weak atheist.  If you believe that there is such a being, then you are a theist of some type.  

Sometimes, people use the word "theism" in a restrictive sense, and sometimes not; as I have posted about this before, I will simply quote myself:

You can believe in a god, and not be a theist. If you believe in the abrahamic god, you're a theist. If you believe in a deistic god, you aren't.

"Theism" is sometimes used in a restrictive sense which fits with your ideas, but it also is used to just mean the belief in a god.  In that sense, a deist is a theist.  See:

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/theism?s=t

See also:

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/defini...ish/theism

Note that "especially" does not mean "exclusively."

[vixene]

So I'm either a weak atheist or a deist :o

[Pyrrho]

So I'm either a weak atheist or a deist :o

Yes.  As a practical matter, which of those you are may not ever make any difference in your life.  Or it could, depending on what else you might believe.

Also, it may not matter for you whether you are even sure which one applies to you.  When I went from being a devout Christian to eventually becoming a strong atheist, in between at some points I was unsure of what I thought.  But I did not need to label myself anything in particular, and I realized I did not need to have a label for myself.  I did not need to tell anyone exactly what it was that was going on in my mind.

But as a technical matter, if you believe that there is a god that started the universe and then has left it alone ever since, then you are a deist.  If you do not believe in any god, then you are an atheist.  At least a weak atheist.  If you have the belief that there is no god, then you are a strong atheist.

If you are not sure whether you believe in a god or not, then you are not sure whether you are an atheist or not.  But if you lack belief one way or another on the existence of god, then you are a weak atheist.