Atheism Shouldn't Exist

[Grey Day for Elcia]

Ahh, yeah, as much as anything can be proven outside the realm of mathematics.

Ah. So you are saying you can't prove there is a god within demonstrable science? You can say some words and ask me to imagine some things, but you can't actually prove anything?

I don't believe you haven't shown proof. I know you haven't.

 

[Grey Day for Elcia]

To clarify, what i am saying is that [...] not believing is just a theological choice and [cannot be proven] as it is a faith.

That is what you just said. You said believing or not believing is a faith and cannot be proven. You actually said not believing something cannot be proven. Take a second and think about that. "Not believing cannot be proven."

Yeah...

I'll remind you: we aren't saying there is no god. We are saying you can't prove there is--and you CAN'T. Go ahead, try. I'll read it.

 

[Shamanic Rhythm]

If your discussion is about the idea that atheism should basically be a hypernym in semantic constructions, then you're as bigoted as some of the religious folks I know. And I say that as an atheist.

Lol. Get down off your chair. Atheism is the default state of mind--there's no bigotry in it and it isn't a belief. Babies are born blank slates, void of any beliefs at all and completely outside of the context. They later grow up and CHOOSE to take on certain beliefs. If not believing is the default (and it has to be, as babies cannot physically believe anything), why would we need a word to describe it? Not sky-diving is the default and people who decide to engage in it are therefore sky-divers. You don't call yourself a not-sky-diver, do you?

Like I said. If you're going to insist in this kind of innate belief that all people are naturally atheists and therefore it should not require any kind of labelling, you're as bad as any fundamentalist. Atheism is not the default state of mind any more than heterosexuality is the default state of mind.

 

[Johndo]

You can keep on defending yourself, or, you can propose something. Cause I can try to read this whole forum post but it just keeps falling down to you correcting people. This thread is really going nowhere. If it was, than imagine what other discussions that could be made.

What do you propose we should do? If we don't use the word atheism, we should just say to others if we are asked that we just don't believe in God(s)?

 

[Grey Day for Elcia]

Atheism is not the default state of mind.

Go ahead and show me a baby born with a complex belief system such as Christianity. Just one. Go on. Right now. Show me just ONE baby that was born with a system of belief such as a religion. Try. I dare you.

I'll wait right here.

You can't? Yes. I know. Because you cannot physically be born with an opinion on the existence or of a god and what is the absence of belief regarding a god? ATHEISM!

 

[DasDestroyer]

As much as I agree that Atheism is the default position that people are born in, and since people who do not skydive aren't called skydivers because not doing it is the default, for the longest time religious was the absolute norm, and even now in countries like the USA there are more people who are religious than those who are not, so socially speaking, the default position is religious.

 

[chadachada123]

I imagine this has already been said, but seeing as the word "dark" means nothing except the absence of light, and "cold" means the absence of heat/energy...

 

[Ben Sutter]

This is kind of a silly thread. Atheism is a word that describes the natural state of a human being; we're all born atheists. Saying that the word "atheist" shouldn't exist is like saying the word "exist" shouldn't exist... it's a self-defeating line of reasoning. Seriously, it's a word, just a damned word.

 

[Oirish_Martin]

The fact that you can define it that clearly, means it's still a belief system.

Nope, clarity of definition has nothing to do with it whether a set of claims is a belief system or not.

Ultimately, it depends on what form of atheism you're talking about. If you're talking about something like weak-atheism, then that doesn't hinge on belief, it hinges on the absence of a belief. Lack of a belief =/= belief.

 

[Grey Day for Elcia]

Also, Sam Harris is a pretentious fool.

A fool? The man is an award winning author, neuroscientist and widely praised intellectual who attended Stanford.

You seriously going to call a neuro-fucking-scientist that graduated from one of the most esteemed universities in the world a fool?