Quote (balrog66 @ Oct 12 2011 04:03pm)

@ Bold: Please enlighten me, oh omniscient one! What do you see in the future, great visionary? Which of the secrets of the universe shall never be uncovered?

On the rest, you are basically arguing semantics. The whole point is moot if people have different definitions on the term ''atheism''. Translated from Greek it means 'without god'. So if you take a literal definition, your explanation still fits with the term atheism.

Quote (balrog66 @ Oct 12 2011 04:03pm)

@ Bold: Please enlighten me, oh omniscient one! What do you see in the future, great visionary? Which of the secrets of the universe shall never be uncovered?

On the rest, you are basically arguing semantics. The whole point is moot if people have different definitions on the term ''atheism''. Translated from Greek it means 'without god'. So if you take a literal definition, your explanation still fits with the term atheism.

Quote (AEtheric @ Oct 12 2011 04:46pm)

Jesus Christ I've seen this argument so many times.

Atheism is not a religion, because sitting still is not a mode of moving.

Atheism is not a lack of belief unless you cannot comprehend the notion of god existing.

Atheism  is the active denial of belief in god, and, therefore, it is a belief.

Quote (AEtheric @ Oct 12 2011 04:46pm)

Jesus Christ I've seen this argument so many times.

Atheism is not a religion, because sitting still is not a mode of moving.

Atheism is not a lack of belief unless you cannot comprehend the notion of god existing.

Atheism  is the active denial of belief in god, and, therefore, it is a belief.

Quote (Harmonium @ Oct 12 2011 03:58pm)

Claiming that there is no God is an outrageous claim with no evidence to back it up. What's your point? Everything atheists say about theists could be said to them as well. Hypocrisy much?
When you claim that God doesn't exist, it's on the same the same level that when a theist claim that God exists.

Quote

To say "I do not believe that there is a god" is agnostic, because you accept that your own truth might not be the universal truth. It is not atheist. Atheism is claiming that God doesn't exist, theism is claiming that God does exist. If you say that you THINK that God exists/does not exist, because you are not claiming to everyone that what you think is the truth is the real truth, because you are not 100% sure about your beleif,  you are agnostic, not atheist. HOWEVER, when you say "there is no God", you claim what you think is truth as the universal truth, which is the same thing as when a theist says that "God exists" because he assumes that what he thinks is the truth is the absoluth truth.

Quote (AEtheric @ Oct 12 2011 05:46pm)

Jesus Christ I've seen this argument so many times.

Atheism is not a religion, because sitting still is not a mode of moving.

Atheism is not a lack of belief unless you cannot comprehend the notion of god existing.

Atheism  is the active denial of belief in god, and, therefore, it is a belief.

Quote (bentherdonethat @ Oct 12 2011 05:55pm)

"God" is an extraordinary answer. It's fantastical. It's outrageous. It requires extraordinary, fantastic, and outrageous evidence to logically justify belief. Similarly, physics predicts extraordinary, fantastical, and outrageous things. It would be ridiculous to believe that an electron has an imprecise position until you look at it. It doesn't even make sense that light can simultaneously exist as a wave and a particle. It wouldn't even make sense to believe these claims without consistent experimental validation of these predictions.

So no, it is not an outrageous claim to NOT accept the outrageous claim of the existence of a god.


Repeatedly asserting an incorrect definition of atheism does not make you correct. You should really learn what words mean before you try using them. I'm going to make this easy for you.

http://i.imgur.com/iEbCc.png

Keep in mind that the definition of atheism does include extraordinary claims like religions that do not include a god (e.g. Buddhism), and cults that believe in powerful aliens that have visited Earth and will take them away from this planet in the future (e.g. Raelians). It also includes any agnostic that does not believe in god.

Gnosticism is a claim that you know that a god exists or that a god does not exist. Agnosticism is a claim that you do not have that knowledge, and that that knowledge is unobtainable.
Theism is a claim that you believe a god exists. It does not require knowledge of a god or gods' existence. Atheism is not theism. It does NOT claim that a god or gods exist. That's what it means. It's not a belief claim.

This is why it is a perfectly valid comparison to say that if you think atheism is a religion then you MUST also hold not smoking to be a habit, not stamp collecting to be a hobby, and not getting a tatto to be a form of body art.

Quote (bentherdonethat @ Oct 12 2011 04:55pm)

"God" is an extraordinary answer. It's fantastical. It's outrageous. It requires extraordinary, fantastic, and outrageous evidence to logically justify belief. Similarly, physics predicts extraordinary, fantastical, and outrageous things. It would be ridiculous to believe that an electron has an imprecise position until you look at it. It doesn't even make sense that light can simultaneously exist as a wave and a particle. It wouldn't even make sense to believe these claims without consistent experimental validation of these predictions.

So no, it is not an outrageous claim to NOT accept the outrageous claim of the existence of a god.


Repeatedly asserting an incorrect definition of atheism does not make you correct. You should really learn what words mean before you try using them. I'm going to make this easy for you.

http://i.imgur.com/iEbCc.png

Keep in mind that the definition of atheism does include extraordinary claims like religions that do not include a god (e.g. Buddhism), and cults that believe in powerful aliens that have visited Earth and will take them away from this planet in the future (e.g. Raelians). It also includes any agnostic that does not believe in god.

Gnosticism is a claim that you know that a god exists or that a god does not exist. Agnosticism is a claim that you do not have that knowledge, and that that knowledge is unobtainable.
Theism is a claim that you believe a god exists. It does not require knowledge of a god or gods' existence. Atheism is not theism. It does NOT claim that a god or gods exist. That's what it means. It's not a belief claim.

This is why it is a perfectly valid comparison to say that if you think atheism is a religion then you MUST also hold not smoking to be a habit, not stamp collecting to be a hobby, and not getting a tatto to be a form of body art.