What is Atheism?

zdave · 03-06-2011, 06:04 AM

There are a lot of theists who come on the forum to post. That's great, please keep doing so. I'd like to tidy up a piece of business though for those who wish to post, please post with an understanding of what atheism is. Here it is, it's very cut and dry:

Atheism is a negative response to the claim that there is a god.

It's a funny word. We don't often give terms to negative responses. It would be like having a special word for 'not owning a dog' or a different term which is specifically for people who don't wear hats.

It's a response to the claim. If you're going to claim there is a god, I'm not telling you there isn't... I'm responding to your claim. This is usually done by asking a series of a questions which will trap you (the theist) into a logical corner, at which time you will probably get angry and lash out at the atheist.

There you have it, the definition is all cleared up. Please stop referring to atheism as a religion, as a positive assertion or anything else which isn't stipulated within the definition above. Being atheist doesn't make us humanists, marxist, socialist etc. etc. It's simply a response to your claim.

Thanks,
zdave

ILOVEJESUS · 03-06-2011, 08:53 AM

Atheism is a non belief in God(s). Simple and basic as that. In my case it also means a beautiful guy with smashing bits n bobs.

West491 · 03-06-2011, 02:31 PM

I'll give it a week until we get a theist who comes and do these very things.

"Well, where's your evidence to show that god doesn't exist."

Sternwallow · 03-06-2011, 02:55 PM

Well, you prove that God doesn't not exist.

zdave · 03-06-2011, 07:48 PM

Quote:

Sternwallow wrote

Well, you prove that God doesn't not exist.

Bravo word ninja... bravo.

HermesvV · 06-19-2011, 12:29 PM

I think its important to stress that word belief because to many people think that atheists hold such a position with 100% conviction when most of them make the qualification that they are not 100% sure about god(s)'s existence. They just think its probably not true.

Sternwallow · 06-19-2011, 12:57 PM

I am pretty damned certain that faith and belief are simply bad ideas; they lead almost invariably to unsupportable positions and too often to evil behaviors.

Eternal · 06-19-2011, 02:00 PM

I find the presumption that atheists must be negative twisted people, devoid of love and compassion, because we are devoid of faith in their god, very annoying.

Whilst it's nothing to do with the definition, I would like to point out to any theists that come across this thread, that atheism has given me a new freedom and appreciation for life, including morals and compassion, and I am now seeing the impact of my choices for what they are, not deferring to an imaginary friend for help, this makes me more thoughtful in my treatment of myself and others. I can't fully explain it yet, as it is a personal evolution, my mind is opening and I'm learning at a tremendous.

Sternwallow · 06-19-2011, 05:43 PM

Religious morality is essentially lazy, preferring to bow to what someone else (usually with a hidden agenda) says are moral precepts, rather than exercise their own judgement.

The joke is on them, of course, because, since there really is no author of the moral code they claim to accept wholly, they really do use their own selection criteria to cherry pick and otherwise augment the words in their damned sacred books. So most religious people manage to still be pretty good people most of the time.