Why do you need to know my “religion” in order to try and make a coherent case for “atheism” not being a belief system?
You asserted something as true, I asked for evidence. How do you know that every baby has no beliefs in anything? I simply asked for supporting arguments or evidence. If you have none, that’s fine, it’s then just a belief you have, no big deal, what are you worried about?
Asking for evidence for a claim is not deflection Sheldon, if it is, then perhaps I too can leverage that sham of an excuse next time you demand evidence for God?
I must pour myself a Belgian libation now and attend to things more stimulating, so have nice evening.
Would you accept I believe I have the choice to have non-belief in claims not warranted for belief? It’s part of my self-delusion of “free will” regardless of determinism.
I think therefore I am, until I’m under anesthesia
Its 2pm here. Just finished grocery shopping and am going to nap. Enjoy your evening.
Because atheism responds to the claim that god(s) exist. Theists make that claim. You, as a theist, are making that claim and must define your beliefs. We don’t do that. But you won’t.
When I say I am identified as atheist, I am saying that I do not believe the god claims presented to me.
Presenting us with your god claim is up to you. If you continue to choose not to do so, okay, but that doesn’t give you license to discriminate against our stand that the god claims with which we are familiar is bupkus.
You don’t need it as you’ve never come close to doing so without it as an excuse.
In response to your question yes.
I already answered this? Did you not read the post you responded to? Current research suggest we start to store memories a lot earlier than previously believed, but it is still in infancy, ispos facto we cannot hold beliefs if we cannot store memories.
I already supplied both, and again a belief can also be factual, so I am not sure why insist on implying otherwise? Are you claiming you were born with beliefs? Also for context the other example was someone never confronted with the concept of a deity, they would be an atheist but make no choice.
Why is Sherlock here? Does he only seek to antagonize for its own sake?
Simple answer, no.
Several features or necessities characterise religion, none of which are duplicated in atheism. For example, atheism holds no belief in non-demonstrable deities; it requires no prayer or worship; it has no places of worship; no holy books or scriptures; no religious authorities; no supernatural beliefs; no acceptance of the miraculous; no belief in an afterlife; no history of holy wars fought in its name; no post life reward or punishment (Heaven/Hell); no lifestyle restrictions; no belief without or in-spite of evidence; no belief in supernatural origins; no fundamentalism; no need to convert; no view of others as sinful, unclean or heretical; no claim to being the chosen of any [supernatural] being; no comfort blanket (the belief they go to a better place) and, perhaps most important of all, a reliance on themselves for their moral compass.
From this, clearly atheism fulfils none of the normally accepted necessities (absurdities) to be considered a religion. Indeed, I’d suggest it is linguistically wrong to call atheism any kind of “ism” since it carries no philosophical aspects.
Atheism is not a religion.
2 Likes
I disagree.
Atheism requires that we have faith in the idea that it is best to perceive the Universe as it is rather than believe that the Universe is what we wish it to be.
With all due respect, @Kevin_Levites, I disagree with you. I would ask you, how was this requirement decided upon and who did so on all atheists’ behalf?
1 Like
No one. I mentioned earlier that I believe that there are different ways to approach atheism.
These are not the only options. There are more, including but not limited to:
- Those who do not believe in a god because they don’t find compelling reasons or evidence to believe
- Those who have believed, but lost their belief for whatever reason
- Those who are unable to believe because they lack the mental abilities or are in a vegetative state
- Those who have, for some reason, not been exposed to religious belief systems and the idea of a god
- Those who just don’t care whether there is a god or not
There probably are more, but the point is that your list above is not exhaustive.
4 Likes
Kewl…then I’d suggest you note that you are speaking for yourself when saying things like that. 
That was fucking hilarious…but I have had a bottle of wine…
1 Like
Do you really not see the irony of refusing to define what you believe, while demanding those who don’t share the belief define it?
The dictionary and a basic grasp of language does that. Atheism is neither a belief nor a belief system, though atheists can have both.
3 Likes
Yikes. I wonder what he smells like.
The worst odor that I have ever smelled was a homeless schizophrenic man who went off of his meds, and lived on the streets for about 2 years in the Florida heat without bathing or changing his clothes.
When we Baker Acted him and tied him up in the hospital decontamination room and cut his clothes off . . . I felt guilty because we destroyed an entire tropical ecosystem. He had such a large variety and quantity of insects on him that I could have opened up a bait shop.
His odor permeated the entire emergency room, and several patients started vomiting . . . which, of course, set up a chain reaction.
I still have nightmares about it.
3 Likes
You really believe newborn babies are sentient enough right after being pushed out of a vagina to comprehend belief in any kind of god let alone know what one is? 
4 Likes
You cannot prove objectively there is a ‘mind.’ A mind is what we call the function of the brain. It can be demonstrated that a brain can be thoughtless. Coma patients prove it every day. If there is a lack of retroactivity, there are no thoughts. Essentially all neuroscientists believe that thoughts are purely an effect of firing neurons. A newborn is born without 90% of its neurons connected. These connect between birth and 3 yoa. The other 10% develop by age 6. A brain can be thoughtless and therefore ‘Atheist’ (without a belief in god.) All evidence supports this claim.
6 Likes