When an Atheist says that Atheism isn't a belief system, how can you back that up? Even believing in nothing is believing in something.
Please, none of your typical smart aleck comments that avoid the question, I would like some serious answers, please.
2007-06-22 01:54:14 · 27 answers · asked by THE HUMAN GALAXY 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
"Even believing in nothing is believing in something."
An atheist isn't a person who "believes in nothing". An atheist is a person who doesn't believe in gods.
Atheism isn't "a belief system" because there's no common set of beliefs held by atheists. Of course each individual atheist has a belief system of his/her own, as do we all.
2007-06-22 01:58:39 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 8⤊ 0⤋
You don't believe in god its not that you don't believe in nothing. Atheism isn't a belief system because there are no set guidelines to be an atheist. You don't have to get baptized or any other traditions like that. You don't have to give money to a church you don't get together with other atheists once a week at talk about your beliefs.
2007-06-22 09:02:08 · answer #2 · answered by joe d 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Until there is evidence for the existence of something, no belief is required.
Consider all the ideas you have never had about what "could" exist - things you've never even thought of, for which there is no evidence.
Does the fact that you don't believe in those infinite number of ideas mean you actually DO have a belief? Hardly.
This is the same principle, only applied to an idea we have thought about and considered. No evidence, no belief.
Pretty simple. I know, though... took me a while to get it when I was still a theist, too. Really.
2007-06-22 09:01:50 · answer #3 · answered by Snark 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Atheism is simply being without a belief in a god or gods. How is that a belief "system?" We have no atheist "bible" that tells us what to believe. We have no "leaders" who tell us what we are and are not allowed to do. Where's the "system?"
Atheists do believe things. We believe things for which there is good evidence. If there were good evidence for the existence of a god or gods, there probably wouldn't be any atheists. For instance, I don't know anyone who says clouds don't exist.
2007-06-22 09:04:12 · answer #4 · answered by YY4Me 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Atheism is defined as a lack of belief in gods.
I would define a belief system as a set of beliefs.
Since atheism does not define a set of beliefs and all atheists do not share common beliefs ( at least beliefs not also held by all theists ) it makes no sense to call atheism a belief system.
2007-06-22 09:02:23 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
The difference is probably a matter of semantics...
When you use the term "belief system" I'm inclined to think less of an absence of "belief" in a supreme deity, but rather the absence of a structured, regimented "system" with its own commonly accepted dogma, ceremonies and generally a hierarchical chain.
So saying "believing in nothing is believing in something" over-simplifies matters by addressing only the "belief" portion of the question not the "system" portion... Does that help?
2007-06-22 09:25:10 · answer #6 · answered by elars1989 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Atheism is one belief, not a system of beliefs.
Atheism is the belief that god does not exist. That's it, nothing more.
Perhaps you should have looked up the definition of atheism before asking this question.
2007-06-22 09:01:10 · answer #7 · answered by timthinks 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Let's put it this way. A child, growing up in the Christian west is apt to believe in Father Christmas, or Pere Noel, or Santa Claus. At some point the belief in this figure ceases. The maturing individual no longer believes in Father Christmas, or Pere Noel, or Santa Claus. There is an absence of belief, a void. This absence of belief is not a system.
It is much the same with atheism. It is an absence of belief in God.
2007-06-22 08:58:52 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 7⤊ 0⤋
It is the lack of belief in any god. That is it. No "system", no rules, no dogma.
I believe in lots of things, but atheism really has little influence on most of them. Heck atheists really don't agree on anything else. It is hard for someone that has never attended a meeting of atheists to really get how different we are.
2007-06-22 09:05:55 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
The only thing linking one atheist to another is not having a belief in any gods. Everything else, politics, ect. can be totally different. It's not as though we have a set of beliefs, a doctrine or a creed.
2007-06-22 09:02:19 · answer #10 · answered by Julia Sugarbaker 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋