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Is Atheism a belief system? A religion?

Gonzo Rodeo said:
Because you either clearly aren't reading what other people are writing, or you are cognitively challenged.
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...you think I'd deal with you without you figuring out how hypocritical you are because I'm stupid?

hahahahahaha

YOU SAID: A/Gnostic: relating to KNOWLEDGE
A/Theism: relating to possessing a specific BELIEF

THE DEFINITION SAYS: 1ag·nos·tic noun \ag-ˈnäs-tik, əg-\
: a person who does not have a definite BELIEF about whether God exists or not

AND YOU SAID: Definitions are what they are, regardless to how we individually feel about them
 
Paschendale said:
I think that gnosticism is required for theism. Theistic beliefs involve some divine thing revealing itself and telling people to worship it. That kinda requires that such a divine thing be quantitatively provable, since they think it's actually communicating with us. Not only do theists think that such knowledge is available, they think they have it.
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I think that you're likely to find more gnostic theists as a percentage of the theist community than you would find gnostic atheists. But overall, there are agnostic theists who don't claim knowledge of a god, but believe in one.
 
Hey, this is finally moved out of the protected religious zone!!! Good!

Atheism is not a belief system. I understand that the religious want it to be one but it is not.

The basic thing of atheism is that "I do not believe in the existence of God". That's it, that's all.

It is not "I know that God does not exist" or anything else.

The next point that the religious will attack is to say that science is a belief system. This is due to the befuddled mind of a religiously afflicted person not being able to maintain separation of ideas. Science is not atheism. They are different things.

Science is a way of challenging ideas. Any statement is skeptically looked at and is tried to be disproved. Any statement must always have something to back it up, the start point is that the statement is false until there is evidence to support it. The more profound the statement the more it's challenged. It is also a competition to make profound statements which will stand up to scrutiny. By this method we get to understand the world around us a lot more. Science is not a belief system either, it's a method of learning about the world.
 
OldWorldOrder said:
Why do you think I'd deal with you until you can manage this incredibly obvious hypocrisy?

YOU SAID: A/Gnostic: relating to KNOWLEDGE
A/Theism: relating to possessing a specific BELIEF

THE DEFINITION SAYS: 1ag·nos·tic noun \ag-ˈnäs-tik, əg-\
: a person who does not have a definite BELIEF about whether God exists or not

AND YOU SAID: Definitions are what they are, regardless to how we individually feel about them.
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Are there any definitions of 'atheism' or 'agnostic' which you think are invalid?

For example: any of these?

Agnostic:

1. a person who holds that the existence of the ultimate cause, as God, and the essential nature of things are unknown and unknowable, or that human knowledge is limited to experience. Synonyms: disbeliever, nonbeliever, unbeliever; doubter, skeptic, secularist, empiricist; heathen, heretic, infidel, pagan.

2. a person who denies or doubts the possibility of ultimate knowledge in some area of study.

3. a person who holds neither of two opposing positions on a topic​

Gonzo has said that 'Definitions are what they are, regardless to how we individually feel about them.' That doesn't mean "all definitions but my one are false", it means "this one is also valid even if you don't like it". I've just had a quick re-read through the later part of this thread, as I said I would, and - though I may have missed it somewhere - all I can see is Gonzo supporting his definition and you claiming it is false, not the other way around.
 
iangb said:
Are there any definitions of 'atheism' or 'agnostic' which you think are invalid?

For example: any of these?

Agnostic:

1. a person who holds that the existence of the ultimate cause, as God, and the essential nature of things are unknown and unknowable, or that human knowledge is limited to experience. Synonyms: disbeliever, nonbeliever, unbeliever; doubter, skeptic, secularist, empiricist; heathen, heretic, infidel, pagan.

2. a person who denies or doubts the possibility of ultimate knowledge in some area of study.

3. a person who holds neither of two opposing positions on a topic​

Gonzo has said that 'Definitions are what they are, regardless to how we individually feel about them.' That doesn't mean "all definitions but my one are false", it means "this one is also valid even if you don't like it". I've just had a quick re-read through the later part of this thread, as I said I would, and - though I may have missed it somewhere - all I can see is Gonzo supporting his definition and you claiming it is false, not the other way around.
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Not only that, but the definition OWO offered still supports the position I've made, if only OWO would look at the definitions provided for "theist" and "atheist". Sadly, OWO thinks I painted myself into a corner and now thinks the entire debate revolves around this one little point, which is of little consequence to the debate at hand.

My theory is that the definitions and argument provided support our claim that atheism does not represent a belief in a lack but simply a lack of a belief, which makes it not a religious belief, which makes OWO ultimately incorrect from their first contribution to the thread.

Some people cannot handle being incorrect.
 
iangb said:
I've just had a quick re-read through the later part of this thread, as I said I would, and - though I may have missed it somewhere - all I can see is Gonzo supporting his definition and you claiming it is false, not the other way around.
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No surprise: you actually have it exactly backwards.
 
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