Are newborn babies atheist?

[Mister Agenda]

Except the prefix 'a-' is just a negation. If you're not a theist, you're a-theist. It does not require being capable of any kind of '-ist.'

The prefix 'a-' is a negation of the word 'theism', as in atheism. Atheist is to atheism as theist is to theism. The '-ist' suffix is being applied to 'athe-'; the 'a-' prefix isn't being applied to '-theist'.

Origin:
1565–75; < Greek áthe ( os ) godless + -ist

As I mentioned, I came to this conclusion reluctantly, there's an attraction to defining atheists as 'not theists'. It's simple, easier to explain, and it doesn't bug me that a rock is not a theist either.

I suddenly find myself with an appreciation for the term 'nontheist', which I've previously dismissed as just another way of saying 'atheist'; but since it was coined by joining 'non-' and '-theist', it really does just mean 'not a theist'.

Of course, that means babies and rocks are nontheists...but they're also non-atheists.

 

[Tricky]

The prefix 'a-' is a negation of the word 'theism', as in atheism. Atheist is to atheism as theist is to theism. The '-ist' suffix is being applied to 'athe-'; the 'a-' prefix isn't being applied to '-theist'.

Origin:
1565–75; < Greek áthe ( os ) godless + -ist

As I mentioned, I came to this conclusion reluctantly, there's an attraction to defining atheists as 'not theists'. It's simple, easier to explain, and it doesn't bug me that a rock is not a theist either.

I suddenly find myself with an appreciation for the term 'nontheist', which I've previously dismissed as just another way of saying 'atheist'; but since it was coined by joining 'non-' and '-theist', it really does just mean 'not a theist'.

Of course, that means babies and rocks are nontheists...but they're also non-atheists.

I would agree with this, though it's unlikely to occur. A non-theist could be a baby, a rock, a bacterium, or just a person who has absolutely no interest in religion, pro or con. That would distinguish them from people/entities which have actively thought about the many concepts for gods and rejected them. I think that is an important distinction.

Interestingly, some sects don't baptize babies because they consider it meaningless unless the individual is actively accepting the church.

 

[CWL]

Well, that's all settled then. It all boils down to how you define "atheist". Case/thread closed.

(BTW Tricky, have you ever considered that you are made of atoms?)

 

[Sideroxylon]

Technically correct but semantically useless. It implies that there is no difference in the philosophy of Richard Dawkins versus a hunk of quartz.

Of course, a hunk of quartz is much less abrasive.

 

[Tricky]

Well, that's all settled then. It all boils down to how you define "atheist". Case/thread closed.

(BTW Tricky, have you ever considered that you are made of atoms?)

LOL. Every time I see a religion thread with LDS in the title, my first thought is Logical DeiSm.

 

[CWL]

LSD in the title would do the same for me.

 

[Soapy Sam]

Newborn babies recapitulate a state of grace. Then women feed them and they get to know the secrets of good and evil . Took me about five minutes , I'm told.