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How do you define "Atheist"?

As I understand it . . .

Original meaning - Denial or rejection of God.
Modern meaning - No belief in a god.
The meaning I prefer and use - Non-acceptance of claims that a god exists.
 
IIIClovisIII said:
According to the most common definition, atheism is the belief that God does not exist.

Atheism = There is no god
Agnosticism = I don't know
Theism = There is a god
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Totally wrong.....

Atheism is the LACK OF BELIEF that there is a god or gods.​
There is a BIG difference between the two definitions.....think about it.


Atheist = I have not seen any evidence for any gods and in fact I have plenty of evidence for the non-existence of any of the gods postulated by the religions that are in circulation and until one is produced I will take the only intelligent course of action and conclude that there are none. But I am open to changing my opinion according to scientific principles once evidence is produced.

Agnostic = I do not have the integrity to make up my mind one way or the other. I cannot get over my desire for an afterlife and my wishful thinking is too powerful for me to let go of the desire for a sky daddy to tuck me in at the end of the day. However, I am not sufficiently irrational or deluded to LIE to myself about it and fabricate evidence in my imagination and still believe it as reality.

Theist = I am sufficiently deluded to believe anything despite the lack of any evidence for it. In fact my wishful thinking and cognitive dissonance are sufficient for me to fabricate evidence in my irrational brain and believe it as reality.
 
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It seems we got another "hit and run" troll. Just ignore this waste of time of a thread and move on.
 
IIIClovisIII said:
According to the most common definition, atheism is the belief that God does not exist.

Atheism = There is no god
Agnosticism = I don't know
Theism = There is a god
Click to expand...


Gnostic Atheist = I know for certain God does not exist.
Agnostic Atheist = I don't believe God exists, but there's no way to be sure.
Agnostic Theist = I do believe God exists, but there's no way to be sure.
Gnostic Atheist = I know for certain God does exist.

Agnosticism is a position on whether or not it's possible to know if God does or does not exist. Atheism is a position on whether or not a person believes in God's existence. But the term "agnostic" is commonly used as a shorthand for "agnostic passive atheist".
 
joolz said:
I know. I am one. I also posted the definition of it above so I'm not sure why you are replying to me with this?
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@joolz. I was replying to the OP, but seem to have quoted your post by mistake. Sorry.

:confused::o
 
From Psalm 14:1: The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
 
We could probably stop having these silly threads about what atheism means if all you guys would join me in theological non-cognitivism.
 
While I generally agree that a person who does not believe in any gods is an atheist, we do go round and round on this subject. Here's a long thread that discusses "Are newborn babies atheist?"

So I like to add to my definition, "An atheist is someone who is aware of the concepts of gods and deities and does not believe in them." To me the whole atheist-by-default thing is misleading.
 
Tricky said:
While I generally agree that a person who does not believe in any gods is an atheist, we do go round and round on this subject. Here's a long thread that discusses "Are newborn babies atheist?"

So I like to add to my definition, "An atheist is someone who is aware of the concepts of gods and deities and does not accept or believe in them." To me the whole atheist-by-default thing is misleading.
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I agree but I would add the bolded words to your definition. Atheism should have some connection with theism and represent what people do, do rather than what they don‘t do. That’s why I prefer atheism to mean a person that doesn’t accept the “god actually exists” claim of theists. Atheism is a reaction to theism.
 
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Nothing thus far has convinced me that maybe, just maybe, there could be a god.

Pithy answer; anyone that's read the bible.
 
ynot said:
I agree but I would add the bolded words to your definition. Atheism should have some connection with theism and represent what people do, do rather than what they don‘t do. That’s why I prefer atheism to mean a person that doesn’t accept the “god actually exists” claim of theists. Atheism is a reaction to theism.
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In it's purest definition you could be right, however, I'm of the opinion that theism is foisted upon most of us while we're still young enough to swallow it. A few reject the notion at a peculiarly young age and remain at the 'default' atheist position. The later 'atendees to the party' have examined the theist claims and found them to be lacking.
 
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welshdean said:
In it's purest definition you could be right, however, I'm of the opinion that theism is foisted upon most of us while we're still young enough to swallow it. A few reject the notion at a peculiarly young age and remain at the 'default' atheist position. The later 'atendees to the party' have examined the theist claims and found them to be lacking.
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Are you saying that it's more that theism is a reaction to theism?
 
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