Yes, but then you cannot call yourself atheist. You choose to not believe, therefore you need something to describe the choice. Their isnt a word for what a baby believes because it is unneeded, a baby is not an athiest.Grey Day for Elcia said:My entire argument from the very first post has been that Atheism is the lack of a choice, not choosing not to believe. You are born with no religious agenda and no beliefs at all. You don't even know what religion is.utopid said:This is the first post ive seen that has called grey out on this. His entire argument is based on a baby having a default blank setting. Which also means that baby must choose to be atheist, therefore we need a word for that choice.Kordie said:Lets throw a wrench in all this... Atheism is the belief that there is no god, theism is the belief that there is a god. A child born has no knowledge of the concept of god. Thus a child born does not believe there is no god, or believe there is one. Untill the concept is introduced he is neither a theist nor an atheist. It is only when the concept is added that one can make a choice and say yes there is, or no there isnt...Ben Sutter said: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.
Think of it as schroedingers baby. he exists in neither and both forms untill the concept is introduced at which point his system collapses and he forms an opinion/belief.