Do you agree with this quote (atheism/religion)?

[Anonymous]

"It takes faith to believe in atheism and that God doesn’t exist—just as it takes faith to believe in God and religion—since neither can be 100% proven. That’s the neutral perspective, but personally, I do believe there is proof for God, and that one religion is true."

[Effably]

Of course not. Not to insult whoever said it, but that is just idiocy.

You do not need faith to look at something and say "This has no evidence or basis". It is not a matter of faith at all. The burden of proving something does exist by far outweighs any burden to prove it does not. This is as silly as me demanding you prove you did not telepathically kill children in Taiwan yesterday and then sentencing you to prison for life for being unable to prove you did not.

It is fine to believe. By all means do if it brings you something you value. But evidence and belief are firmly different things.

[strateguy632]

Wrong, @Effably something that lacks evidence is possible maybe in contrast Atheists claim god is not real. Reject god. But can't be sure. But say they are certain, that is faith in... no basis.

[Effably]

I see what your argument is and strictly speaking the correct stance is "There is no proof and om the abscence of proof I do not believe it", a sentiment shared by Agnostics and Aethists both. A lack of faith is not faith. An unwillingness to communicate is not a debating skill.

If aethists based their lack of belief on nothing it would be faith. I do not believe the poster, or you, are a telepathic massmurderer. This is not faith but a highly accurate assumption. I do not have evidence for this but that does not make the alternatives equal.

[slatyb]

No, I don't. Atheism is not a faith anymore than non-belief in dragons or leprechauns or Thor or Zeus is a faith. There are thousands of Gods that you don't believe in. Do you think "Non-belief in Zeus" is a faith?

[Anonymous]

I always hate when people try to make atheism a form of faith and/or religion.

It does not take faith to be an athiest, because atheism is thelack of faith. How does it make any sense to suggest that someone has faith in their lack of belief? It doesn't.

I'm an atheist specifically because I have no faith, and don't believe.

[TwoToTooTutu2]

Athiesm is the full faith that there is no god/gods. You are thinking about Agnostic

[strateguy632]

Even the name ism atheism is an ism. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ism
In contrast if dragon is not real i am kit "adragism" but atheism is ism. And baseless.

[slatyb]

@TwoToTooTutu2 Atheism is a way of living, not a belief. Atheism is living without religious belief or practice. Most atheists are agnostic -- they don't claim there is no God, but rather that the question cannot be answered.

[TwoToTooTutu2]

Those athiests are not atheist then. Only Agnostic

[slatyb]

@TwoToTooTutu2 from dictionary. com:

Are you Humpty-Dumpty? Do words mean what you want them to mean?

atheist
noun
1. a person who does not believe in the existence of a supreme being or beings.

Not believing due to lack of evidence is not the same as asserting that there are none.

https://www.dictionary.com/browse/atheist

[TwoToTooTutu2]

It is exactly the same. If you don't believe Santa is real. You must believe he is not real. There is no magical i between. It is binary. Existence is not a spectrum.

[slatyb]

@TwoToTooTutu2 False dichotomy. There is a third alternative: I don't know. I don't know if there is a God or not. Neither does anyone else. I don't believe it's possible to know, as any hypothetical God is outside the universe and hence unobservable. That's agnosticism. Most atheists are agnostic. They don't claim there is no God, just that there's no evidence that there is.

[TwoToTooTutu2]

Yes that is Agnostic. Agnostic =/= Athiest. They are not the same

[slatyb]

@TwoToTooTutu2 No, they are not the same. Almost all atheists are also agnostic. There are very few "strong atheists" who assert that there definitely are no gods. You don't get to define atheism to suit yourself.

[TwoToTooTutu2]

Athiests aren't Agnostic. Agnostics are Agnostic. Athiests are Athiest. 2 mutually exclusive things.

I'm not defining it any way other than as it is intended

"Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities." This is taken from Wikipedia.

[slatyb]

@TwoToTooTutu2 Yes, absolutely you are. An absence of belief is not an assertion that something is not true, it's an assertion that there is no supporting evidence. Did you skip the part about "in and even narrower sense?" I'm telling you the beliefs of all the atheists I know.

[TwoToTooTutu2]

The Athiests you know are not Athiest. They're Agnostic if this is what they believe.

[Ariesman81]

Yeah, it's funny how atheists think they hate religion. Like bro... you got one.

[slatyb]

Is "off" a TV channel?

[Ariesman81]

@slatyb

It doesn't matter if the TV is off or on CNN... there's a TV in your house.

[slatyb]

There isn't.

[jshm2]

That's not a good argument.

[strateguy632]

I agree

[TwoToTooTutu2]

Yes.

[Anonymous]

I dont agree