How can atheists not believe in God, when they have to acknowledge He exists in order for them not to believe?

Answer 1

Well, then, I guess you believe in Thor, because in order to state your non-belief, you have to acknowledge he exists.

Get real! Using a word or names (like tooth fairy, Santa Claus, or the Easter Bunny) doesn't mean anything other than acknowledging the myths.

Answer 2

So you believe unicorns exist? Or Pagan Gods?

This really did not make much sense. You do not have to acknowledge something exists in order to say you don't believe in them. You just have to acknowledge that other people believe they exist.

Answer 3

First off, you can't have belief without disbelief. These two concepts balance each other. Without belief, then we can't have disbelief. Without disbelief, we can't have belief. Period.

Secondly, you're working with what I like to call a "paradox trap". I'm sure there's a more technical term for what your question's saying, but I don't know it and it doesn't matter to me anyways. It's a paradox, plain and simple, meant to trick nonbelievers into admitting that we secretly believe when we don't. You're conveniently leaving off the rest of that statement for that exact purpose.

To believe or accept something, then in the same breath deny something, one must acknowledge the existance of something. This something must be tangible or have concrete existence.

Seeing as how God is intangible and invisible, it doesn't count, therefore, just because an atheist says they don't believe in God, doesn't mean they're acknowledging an existence of God and are just "in denial". Atheists acknowledge that people believe in God, but that doesn't mean they secretly believe and are rebelling or in denial. Just another one of our myriad of human differences.

As far as people thinking I or any other atheist is in denial, to be in denial of something we know to be real is to be in denial. To deny something that is a matter of faith, whether it's God or the Easter Bunny, is simply a matter of opinion. Period.

But if that arguement isn't enough for you, then just go back to my opening statement in my answer. It is impossible to have belief without disbelief, therefore, we will always have believers and disbelievers, end of story.

Answer 4

I don't believe in a unicorn. Does that mean a unicorn exist? This same question also affects believers as well. Do you say that Allah actually exist in order for Christians not to believe its existence. People talk about Santa Claus every Christmas; that doesn't mean he climbs down the chimney and leaves us all presents. Players of fantasy games discuss all kinds of strange creatures, from orcs and goblins to titans and minotaurs. They don't exist either.


It really doesn't follow that A exist in order to say A is not true. Let say A = I have wings and I can fly. You can say A is not true. That doesn't mean A is not true because I have A?

Answer 5

That type of thinking is called circular logic. It's like saying: I don't believe in the Easter Bunny, but since I have to acknowledge the Easter Bunny in order to deny a belief then he must exist.

Atheists only say "god" because its the most easily understood/commonly used term. A more correct way of defining atheism would be to say: an atheist does not place faith in any type of "higher power" good or evil.

Answer 6

Flawed logic.
You are confused about the meaning of two words 'acknowledgement' and 'believe'

These words are not synonyms of each other.

Here is a simple statement that may clear it up for you:

Atheist acknowledge or know that some people believe in God, but Atheist do not have the same belief.

Answer 7

I really hate the debate on is there a God or is there not a God? How could you not breathe and think that you have took the breath on your own. I really feel that most atheists tend to believe there is not a God because they are mad at the world and they want to fight with anyone to get attention. Dont get me wrong I dont understand a lot of things about Our Creator but I do know I will see Him someday and I do believe in Him..

Answer 8

That's not true I think you are a bit confused. First of all they may acknowledge there is a god but choose not to worship him. Second they don't have to acknowledge his existence to not believe he exists. I think you are a bored stay at home mother who heard something on the radio this morning when you were dropping your army brats at school and you thought you would ask it on this forum but you fu.c.k.ed it and now you look stupid goodbye your done see ya later.

Answer 9

It's not that atheists are acknowledging that god exists, it's that they're acknowledging that Christians exist and that in many Western nations where atheism is prevelant, Christianity is the majority religion.

Answer 10

They can acknowledge that some people have the idea of a supreme being, a god, or whatever. They never have to believe it exists.

Answer 11

Oh no, the old circular reference problem! How can one deny the existence of something when they MUST know he exists in order for them to deny his existence?

Well, here's the simple answer: atheists don't believe that God exists anymore than they believe Odin or Zeus exist. They know of the characters in mythology but they don't believe them to be real in any way.

Oh my god, the amount of people that agree with this tripe is unbelievable. You people have definately been taken your stupid pills today.