Enmos
Valued Senior Member
I don't think arguing with you on this isn't going to make any difference. You are well aware of the different forms of atheism.
What is atheism?
- Thread starter ronan
- Start date
I don't think arguing with you on this isn't going to make any difference. You are well aware of the different forms of atheism.
Any that include a belief in God?
I recommend all "weak" atheists to read this article carefully
http://www.evilbible.com/Definition_of_Atheism_1.htm
Enmos
Valued Senior Member
Any that include a belief in God?
I recommend all "weak" atheists to read this article carefully
http://www.evilbible.com/Definition_of_Atheism_1.htm
Atheism originally meant 'without god' or 'without belief'. There you have it, no need to redefine.
Edit: Ok, supposedly I am stupid for saying that (article).
But then I have to ask you (again): what am I ?
- I do not believe that there are such things as gods.
- I do not believe that there are no such things as gods.
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WHY are you supposedly stupid for saying the truth?
If we start using another term for it, eventually theists will claim that means something it doesn't.
If we start using another term for it, eventually theists will claim that means something it doesn't.
Sam:
An atheist is not something that you so much are. Rather, it's something you are from a theistic perspective. Ultimately the word only says what you're not, that the term "theist" is not applicable to you.
The one, true definition of 'atheist' is 'without god'.
The "a" prefix means lack/without/non/aint got no.
As in....
Asexual=having no sexual organs, without sex organs.(you don't have a belief there are no sex organs, it is quite obvious.)
Asymmetric=not symmetrical, without symmetry.(you don't have a belief there is no symmetry, it is quite obvious)
Atheist=not theist, without god.(you don't have a belief there are no god/gods, it is quite obvious, as the theist, has not shown his claims to be true.)
thats IT. no other assumptions can be made from it.
An atheist is not something that you so much are. Rather, it's something you are from a theistic perspective. Ultimately the word only says what you're not, that the term "theist" is not applicable to you.
The one, true definition of 'atheist' is 'without god'.
The "a" prefix means lack/without/non/aint got no.
As in....
Asexual=having no sexual organs, without sex organs.(you don't have a belief there are no sex organs, it is quite obvious.)
Asymmetric=not symmetrical, without symmetry.(you don't have a belief there is no symmetry, it is quite obvious)
Atheist=not theist, without god.(you don't have a belief there are no god/gods, it is quite obvious, as the theist, has not shown his claims to be true.)
thats IT. no other assumptions can be made from it.
Yes lets, from your post
sam said:
Yes Atheism ... goes back to the Ancient Greek (a — a negative prefix, theos — god), evidencing the antiquity of the outlook of those who saw no presence of God (or gods) in their everyday lives,
It is wrong to identify an atheist as one who denies God, (#2) though this is what the religious usually claim. The prefix a- means denying as elimination. ... I would like to stress that the prefix a- does not mean rejection. It can mean "absence of." For example, "apathy" means "absence of passion." Thus, the concept "atheist" does not mean nihilism.
Dan Barker:
A former fundamentalist preacher who has become an activist for atheism, freethought, and the separation of church and state. He wrote in his 1992 book Losing Faith in Faith: From Preacher to Atheist that,
It turns out that the word atheism means much less than I had thought.
It is merely the lack of theism [...] Basic atheism is not a belief. It is the lack of belief. There is a difference between believing there is no god and not believing there is a god — both are atheistic, though popular usage has ignored the latter.
B.C. Johnson:
The author of The Atheist Debater's Handbook, Johnson explains why the theist has the initial burden of proof in any argument by explaining that, "The atheist, for his part, does not necessarily offer an explanation; he simply does not accept the theist's explanation. Therefore, the atheist need only demonstrate that the theist has failed to justify his position."
Antony G. N. Flew:
An atheist philosopher from Britain, Flew has written quite a lot on the nature of atheism and theism. In his 1984 book God, Freedom and Immortality, he said that
The word 'atheism,' however, has in this contention to be construed unusually. Whereas nowadays the usual meaning of 'atheist' in English is 'someone who asserts there is no such being as God,' I want the word to be understood not positively but negatively. I want the originally Greek prefix 'a' to be read in the same way in 'atheist' as it customarily is read in such other Greco-English words as 'amoral,' 'atypical,' and 'asymmetrical'. In this interpretation an atheist becomes: someone who is simply not a theist. Let us, for future ready reference, introduce the labels 'positive atheist' for the former and 'negative atheist' for the latter.
Michael Martin:
The author of one of the most extensive and detailed books on the philosophy of atheism. He states in Atheism: A Philosophical Introduction that,
If you look up 'atheism' in the dictionary, you will probably find it defined as the belief that there is no God. Certainly many people understand atheism in this way. Yet many atheists do not, and this is not what the term means if one considers it from the point of view of its Greek roots. In Greek 'a' means 'without' or 'not' and 'theos' means 'god.' From this standpoint an atheist would simply be someone without a belief in God, not necessarily someone who believes that God does not exist. According to its Greek roots, then, atheism is a negative veiew, characterized by the absence of belief in God.
George Smith:
The author of one of the most popular books about atheism, Atheism: The Case Against God, stated in a speech:
Atheism, properly considered, is simply the absence or lack of theistic belief.
In other words, to the question, "Do you believe in God?", if you answer, "No," for whatever reason, you are an atheist. You will often hear it said that an atheist actually denies the existence of a god or gods. This is true; many atheists do but not all. This kind of overt denial of the existence of a god or gods is a sub-category of a broader kind of approach which should in a general sense be known as atheism. This gets quite complex to go into all of the reasons why some atheists would not wish to deny that any gods exist.
In his aforementioned book, Smith wrote:
Atheism in its basic form is not a belief: it is the absence of belief. An atheist is not primarily a person who believes that god does not exist; rather, he does not believe in the existence of a god.
Gordon Stein:
A prolific writer on atheism, humanism, freethought, and philosophy, who described atheism in his An Anthology of Atheism and Rationalism:
The average theologian (there are exceptions, of course) uses 'atheist' to mean a person who denies the existence of a God. Even an atheist would agree that some atheists (a small minority) would fit this definition. However, most atheists would stongly dispute the adequacy of this definition. Rather, they would hold that an atheist is a person without a belief in God. The distinction is small but important. Denying something means that you have knowledge of what it is that you are being asked to affirm, but that you have rejected that particular concept. To be without a belief in God merely means that the term 'god' has no importance or possibly no meaning to you. Belief in God is not a factor in your life. Surely this is quite different from denying the existence of God. Atheism is not a belief as such. It is the lack of belief.
When we examine the components of the word 'atheism,' we can see this distinction more clearly. The word is made up of 'a-' and '-theism.' Theism, we will all agree, is a belief in a God or gods. The prefix 'a-' can mean 'not' (or 'no') or 'without.' If it means 'not,' then we have as an atheist someone who is not a theist (i.e., someone who does not have a belief in a God or gods). If it means 'without,' then an atheist is someone without theism, or without a belief in God.
Therefore; we can safely say, you are wrong, in your redefined meaning of the word.
Enmos
Valued Senior Member
You mean YOUR meaning of atheist is one who denies God.
Personally, I'm more interested in how atheists define atheism.
Yes. Rather.
Many atheists distinguish between "weak" and "strong" atheism. Most atheists, as it happens, are weak atheists.
Your blindspot is that you have an inability to recognise the category of weak atheist - those who do not believe in God but who do not claim that it is impossible that God exists.
You know what I do, SAM? I ask you what "theism" means to you. Then I acknowledge your meaning of the term. I do not call you an idiot for not holding to my idea of what a theist ought to be.
It's a basic matter of courtesy.
Right:
Atheism is the belief that there is no God. Atheism is not simply a lack of a belief. There is no such thing as weak or strong atheism. These concepts come from misunderstanding of what a belief is.
What prey tell is having a belief?
What prey tell is not having a belief?
I believe I'll have some Black Velvet.
oh man you keep saying the same thing over and over..the fact of the matter is -if played well- that everything is myth and superstitions,including your senses.. a blind man lives in a colorful world..now he can be an athiest and deny that there are colors, or accept that it's beyond his grasp...you guys are like children who can't get the definition of electricity till you put a fork in a plug...except with god, it's if you were proven wrong, it's eternal hell for you.. with electrecity you might get a second chance and live to belive in myths and superstitions..
We should not dumb things down for some one who is purposefully stupid for political reasons.
You seem to be quoting some one else here.
When something doesn't exist then there is nothing to know about it - hence a lack of knowledge.
Atheists who claim to know there is no god usually do so based on theist descriptions of god being catagorically impossible. While this is obviously the case, I feel it is both a weaker position and unnecessary.
What's this thing you keep calling "god" that you so desperately need others to deny or reject?
why god is who created you and all this world:bugeye: