What Do 'You' Define Atheism As? (Poll)

Where's the option for "two of the above"? :P Atheism is the state in which one does not believe in God, and presumably that would carry with it a rejection in any particular religious doctrine, too.

I would not call it a conscious decision; there is nothing conscious about reaching a philosophical conclusion. People will believe what appears to make sense and will not believe what doesn't; a person does not wake up in the morning and say, "Today, I am going to not believe in God."

I hope it was just Lansdowne who voted for number two because that answer seems like a bit of an attempt to pull the "atheists know that God exists they are just in rebellion" or whatever.

For me it's

weak atheism=I don't believe that God exists. ie the lack of a positive belief

strong atheism=I believe that God doesn't exist. ie the positive belief about the lack of God

By definition it could be either of the first two.

a·the·ist   var interfaceflash = new LEXICOFlashObject ( "http://cache.lexico.com/d/g/speaker.swf", "speaker", "17", "15", "", "6"); interfaceflash.addParam("loop", "false"); interfaceflash.addParam("quality", "high"); interfaceflash.addParam("menu", "false"); interfaceflash.addParam("salign", "t"); interfaceflash.addParam("FlashVars", "soundUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fcache.lexico.com%2Fdictionary%2Faudio%2Fahd4%2FA%2FA0495300.mp3"); interfaceflash.write();

I personally just use the first option, because the second option is also already included by it.  Restating it is pleonasm.  Even though I completely agree with the explanation above me that a person really can't choose to just believe or not believe.  There are obviously some people, like many of us and certainly myself, that do put the extra time into it and treat it as an important subject.  I think that does make me a bit different from the atheist that just never really cared to delve into it, but ultimately I think we fall under the same umbrella.

By definition it could be either of the first two.Sitri_

I would agree were it not for the presence of the word "conscious" in the second option. I don't believe that there's anything conscious about one's religious beliefs; that's like saying that one chooses one's beliefs as one chooses one's clothes to wear for the day.

I would agree were it not for the presence of the word "conscious" in the second option. I don't believe that there's anything conscious about one's religious beliefs; that's like saying that one chooses one's beliefs as one chooses one's clothes to wear for the day.

GabuEx

Yeah I tried to edit out all that extra crap on my post but edit and delete isn't an option for me for that post.........

I don't think that conscious is a good word either, but I do think there is some difference between someone who really looks into and cares about the subject and someone who doesn't care or give it thought.  I thought that difference was what the OP was getting at.

I'd say the first one, lack of belief in a god. Actually, I probably should have picked "none of the above," since atheism in its broadest sense (and the one I use it in) is lack of belief in any god, whereas Lans typed "God," referring to the Abrahamic god.

I actually have a couple of questions of my own regarding the topic. I believe that there is no evidence to indicate the existence of any god, nor any reason to believe in one. However, not being omniscient, I'm not going to go out and say "there are no gods." I'd say there probably aren't, but I won't go all the way. Therefore, I'd describe myself as a weak atheist.

My questions are:

Am I correct in classifying myself this way, or would one use a different term to describe my beliefs?

What's the difference between weak atheism and agnosticism? I've explained it to some of my friends who care more about school work and Gears of War than outside intellectual pursuits (IE "normal" teenagers) as "weak atheism is no reason or evidence to believe in any god, but takes a "we'll wait and see" stance toward the actual truth. Agnosticism is 50/50." I'm not entirely sure that I wasn't misleading them.

Also, agnostic means undecided in a more general sense too, right? (As far as choosing a college goes, I'm totally agnostic) If not, I've been misusing it quite a bit :P

What's the difference between weak atheism and agnosticism? I've explained it to some of my friends who care more about school work and Gears of War than outside intellectual pursuits (IE "normal" teenagers) as "weak atheism is no reason or evidence to believe in any god, but takes a "we'll wait and see" stance toward the actual truth. Agnosticism is 50/50." I'm not entirely sure that I wasn't misleading them.

Also, agnostic means undecided in a more general sense too, right? (As far as choosing a college goes, I'm totally agnostic) If not, I've been misusing it quite a bit :P

AlternatingCaps

The dictionary defines "agnostic" as follows:

"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."

So, basically, a weak atheist is someone who thinks there probably isn't a God, but is not certain of that, whereas a pure agnostic is someone who believes that the existence of God is ultimately simply unknowable, and will refuse to commit either way, as a result.

That said, however, if "agnostic" is used as an adjective rather than as a noun, a "weak atheist" could also be referred to as an "agnostic atheist" - that is, an atheist who also asserts the uncertainty of his or her claim of atheism.

Though I am not an Athiest, I picked the Second Option.ShowStopper102

Why don't you think the first one works?

The dictionary defines "agnostic" as follows:

"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."

So, basically, a weak atheist is someone who thinks there probably isn't a God, but is not certain of that, whereas a pure agnostic is someone who believes that the existence of God is ultimately simply unknowable, and will refuse to commit either way, as a result.

That said, however, if "agnostic" is used as an adjective rather than as a noun, a "weak atheist" could also be referred to as an "agnostic atheist" - that is, an atheist who also asserts the uncertainty of his or her claim of atheism.

GabuEx

Ah, thanks. That cleared it up quite a bit. So, I guess I am right in describing myself as a "probably not" weak atheist.

That's a shame about the agnostic thing though. Here I was thinking I was so smart tossing that word around. I'll do that a lot though, use a word in an unusual context with a friend. Then he'll doubt me and I'll pull out my iPhone. About 80% of the time I'll end up being correct or not far off. For instance, I once told him that I speak French with more 'facility' than the most of the rest of my class.

Why don't you think the first one works?

Sitri_

This has come up before.  The Bible basically says that everyone actually believes in God; it's just that some people reject him out of spite.  Thus, people tend to approach non-Christians not as non-believers, but as people who believe in God but hate him.

To be honest it's easily one of the most annoying things ever. :P

Technically, the first answer is correct. The concious decision to not believe in god is what I would say is the definition of Atheism.helium_flash

That's the second answer.

[QUOTE="Sitri_"]

Why don't you think the first one works?

GabuEx

This has come up before.  The Bible basically says that everyone actually believes in God; it's just that some people reject him out of spite.  Thus, people tend to approach non-Christians not as non-believers, but as people who believe in God but hate him.

To be honest it's easily one of the most annoying things ever. :P

. . . . that answer seems like a bit of an attempt to pull the "atheists know that God exists they are just in rebellion" or whatever . . . .

domatron23

Nope. It really wasn't. :) 

[QUOTE="helium_flash"]Technically, the first answer is correct. The concious decision to not believe in god is what I would say is the definition of Atheism.domatron23

That's the second answer.

[QUOTE="GabuEx"][QUOTE="Sitri_"]

Why don't you think the first one works?

Funky_Llama

This has come up before.  The Bible basically says that everyone actually believes in God; it's just that some people reject him out of spite.  Thus, people tend to approach non-Christians not as non-believers, but as people who believe in God but hate him.

To be honest it's easily one of the most annoying things ever. :P

It proves that religion isn't as natural as we thought. Once supplied concrete info (such as evolution, big bang theory, ect), they didn't even have to ask about "Does God exist?", because the answer was obvious to them.