Quote:
Originally Posted by Mightyboosh
Atheists often want to define 'Atheism' as 'lacking a belief in gods'. That the Atheist isn't necessarily making the opposite claim, that there are no gods, or necessarily holding a belief that there are no gods.
Or are they?
Depends on the person. Areligionism comes in different flavors depending on what your mind was filled up with
Some atheists are merely rebelling against a religious society or religious indoctrination.
Some atheists were indoctrinated and have come to view the God story is ridiculous/implausible
Some atheists have had little contact with God ideas and don't find them relevant to their life; they're atheists from boredom and disinterest with the idea of God, which isn't the same as holding a position.
Some atheists have delved into the philosophy and rationale of it all and have come to the intellectual view that God specifically is highly improbable
Some atheists are materialists who lump all supernatural claims together, and reject them; they don't specifically reject God so much as broken ways of thinking that lead to God (and leprechauns, and Zeus).
Some atheists deny that God is a meaningful concept; calling it a feeling salad and mental association salad with no relationship to anything real (this is a valid view whether or not you think a supreme being exists).
It's a bit like Christian's atheism toward Allah and Islam.
Some Christians reject the truth of Islam because if conflicts with their existing beliefs
Some Christians reject the truth of Islam because they know little about it
Some Christians feel happy with what they have, and don't really consider much else, and thus are de facto atheists toward Allah.
Some Christians reject Islam because it doesn't fit with their values
Most Christians reject Islam because they were never indoctrinated into it (religious claims are bizarre and hilarious if you're not fed them with your mother's milk).
Most Christians reject Islam because the society around them isn't Islamic, and people are predisposed to take cues to truth from other people and those they trust.
It's not either/or for something as conceptually complex/undefined as God, as God isn't a single claim or attached to a single feeling. You can squash the categories of belief/disbelie into "rejects" or "doesn't reject" or even a trinary scale with "unknowable", but I don't think you're capturing what's really going on in people's heads when you do.
So you can certainly be an atheist by "lack of belief"" without taking a strong position.
Last edited by ToothSayer; 06-04-2017 at 07:20 AM.