Atheism is the absence of beliefs in gods, and is not a belief in it self.
like not collecting poststamps is not a hobby, sure some religious people like Ziggurat for example, will never get that in their head.
But I don't believe in evolution. I accept the scientific findings that support evolution.
Either (A) you're right and Webster is wrong, or (B) Webster is right and you're wrong. No offense, but I think I have to go with Webster.
Perhaps.
But I don't believe in evolution. I accept the scientific findings that support evolution.
Perhaps that is why most Philosophy majors are familiar with the McDonaldsian theory of "would you like fries with that?".
It doesn't? What's the difference between belief and knowledge, then?
Please, tell me: What rational rule may I apply, to separate what I believe from what I know?
What makes you think I'm religious?
Well, if you accept the words of Mr. Wikipedia, "Belief is the psychological state in which an individual holds a proposition or premise to be true."
I believe that is a good definition. I also believe that when you accept the scientific findings that support evolution this is because you, well... believe them. Is there any way in which you can show me that accepting the findings doesn't entail believing them?
If not then all I can say is, "Want fries with that pwnage?"
Well, here's a good example, "A false belief is not considered to be knowledge, even if it is sincere. A sincere believer in the flat earth theory does not know that the Earth is flat."
The answer then is that not all beliefs are knowledge. How do you know if your belief is knowledge or not? Well, I suggest the best rational rule would be to read some science books, test your ideas, apply logic... fairly prosaic things really.
You're fond of appealing to Webster, so let's check:
Definition of BELIEF
1
: a state or habit of mind in which trust or confidence is placed in some person or thing
2
: something believed; especially : a tenet or body of tenets held by a group
3
: conviction of the truth of some statement or the reality of some being or phenomenon especially when based on examination of evidence
Oops.




Your astonishing ignorance.
Are you honestly going to try and pretend that you are not a believer when you have not the slightest clue about agnosticism and atheism?
Disbelief in something is the same as belief in its converse.
And non-religious people can't be ignorant?
That claim itself is ignorant. It's meta-ignorance. Quite the accomplishment, actually. Do you have to try hard, or does it just come naturally?
Are you honestly going to try to tell me what I believe about religion?
Yes, apparently you are. But then, you're special.
Then what distinguishes an atheist from an agnostic? An agnostic doesn't have a belief in god, but atheism is not synonymous with agnosticism. So clearly that is insufficient to describe an atheist.
Umm really?
Soooo no one in the Soviet Union during Stalins time was ever persecuted for holding religious beliefs?
What makes you think I'm religious?
So whenever I beat senseless facebookers who think "Athiests start wars, too you know", they always come up with Hitler, Stalin, Mao, and Che
I assume the answer is no, but is there any way these people started their conflicts due to athiesm?
To me it seems like a massively stupid question but I've been known to be wrong before so I just want to ensure that none of the above dolts were Athiest, and if they were, they didn't start wars because of it....
Stalin started out as a seminary student so in Catholic terms he was a "spoiled priest".
As someone has stated here, communism is, itself, a belief system, one that saw religion as competitors.
Everything was better after Stalin.