Atheist

[hackenslash]

I've noted before that there are those who want atheism to be an arrived-at position, because it makes them feel superior. In other places that I and others here have frequented in the past, this discussion comes up with some regularity, and you can set your watch by the emergence of these people.

The one thing they can never do is defend their position.

[Svadifari]

Wow! I certainly don't want to be superior, and if I did I don't think these forume are the place to try and get away with it.
I just seems to me atheism is a thing because theism is a thing.
Imagine, in a galaxy far, far away, an advanced civilization.
The concept of a deity never occurred to them.
If we should meet, and label them as atheist, they'd probably be more than a little puzzled.

[hackenslash]

I just seems to me atheism is a thing because theism is a thing.
Imagine, in a galaxy far, far away, an advanced civilization.
The concept of a deity never occurred to them.
If we should meet, and label them as atheist, they'd probably be more than a little puzzled.

I agree, and again this comes back to the point about bald bricks. It only makes no sense to talk about bricks being bald because there are no hairy bricks. It wouldn't make any sense to have a term for somebody who doesn't have a deity except for the fact that there are people who believe it.

In short, atheist isn't something I am, it's something I'm not.

[Loki]

We wouldn't be talking about hairy bricks if certain people stopped claiming hairy bricks exist and will torture us forever if we don't cut the end off our todger.

I suspect that's the nub of the matter.

[hackenslash]

Exactly, but that would make for a really fucking short blog post!

Oh, and you misspelled 'knob'.

[cravingescape]

Am I alone in being an Athiest from birth...i see this is a site for the converted. It is still early and i need to look around

You are not alone, I know there are others here. However just by numbers based on age, most adults over the age of 40 born in Australia would have had parents who identified as belonging to some kind of religion. Indeed, most people born in Australia today still would.

Were your parents religious Col? Or were you a brought up atheist?
I am interested as I am still startled to realise that I am one of the few people in my circle who are bringing up atheist children. Our discussions around death, birth, morality and mortality are all very different to what I experienced growing up.

[142857]

Standard definitions of atheism vary.

The one I use, and the one that most AFA members appear to use, is that atheism is simply the lack of belief in God or Gods.

Does a cooking pot believe in God? No: therefore it is atheist.

If you are working off a slightly different definition of atheism then this analogy doesn't work as well.

[hackenslash]

Speaking as somebody who's known thousands of people over the years who'd describe themselves as atheist, your definition seems prevalent.

[142857]

Speaking as somebody who's known thousands of people over the years who'd describe themselves as atheist, your definition seems prevalent.

Prevalent among atheists.

Far less prevalent among theists.

[hackenslash]

That's a useful point, certainly.