Where does the Atheism line get drawn?

Question

So many athiests out there today who really have no clue about what Athiesm is. Where do we draw the line? These people have been hurting our perception by the public for years, by being completely ignorant to what they actually beleive.

How does a Christian defend his relegion without knowledge of Christianity?

Its the same with Atheism. How do you defend your right to not follow something you don't beleive when you don't even know what your trying to say.

People do not take athiests seriously because of foolish children and young adults who use it as an excuse to get out of church and temple.

Where do we draw the line and say "Listen, get your facts straight before saying that you are atheist."

What I was trying to hit on was not athiests themselves, but those who claim to be athiests merely because it is fashionable or gets them out of church. These people do not actually believe there is no God, more so that it is the cool thing to believe right now.

Answer 1

I know what you're saying, but I think you're trying to put too many rules and stipulations into being an atheist. Atheists are not an organized group. It simply means you don't believe in Gods and Goddesses. I think the best thing to do is let people define themselves as whatever, and then distance yourself from the ones that give the rest a bad rap.

Answer 2

Meh... imagine what you like but don't try selling it as 'truth'... "I've been cruising this planet for over 60 years. IF God existed he would know what sort of evidence would convince me of his existence… if he wanted me to know it ;) So far? Nothing; nada; zilch." I suppose HE either doesn't care about ME in any way whatsoever… OR God is imaginary... I'm going with the latter. I’m 100% certain god is imaginary. If he really existed he would have found a way to convince me he exists. Obviously he hasn't cos just as obviously he doesn't. If you wanted to convince someone you existed, what lengths would you go to? Would you drop a few seriously ambiguous ‘clues’... OR, introduce yourself. Seriously - this has SCAM written all over it. And-Or Pretend you were some place and you were invisible – let’s say 50% of the inhabitants “knew” and “loved” you – let’s say you wanted the other 50% of the inhabitants to “know” and “love” you too… cos you really do love them all soooo unconditionally… What lengths would you go to convince them? Seriously - this has BOOLSHYT written all over it. And-OR “If you have "substantial" evidence supporting your god, lay it out - but be aware that the way you feel when you look at puppies or sunsets, or conversations you had with yourself, or your inability to explain something any other way do not constitute evidence.” “Understand that: Dreams are not evidence. Wishful thinking is not evidence. Logical fallacies are not evidence. Personal revelation is not evidence. Illogical conclusions are not evidence. Disproved statements are not evidence. Unsubstantiated claims are not evidence. Hallucinations/delusions are not evidence. Information that is ambiguous is not evidence. The Universe doesn't care what you believe in. Data that requires a certain belief is not evidence. Information that cannot be verified is not evidence. Information that cannot be falsified is not evidence. Experiments with inconclusive results are not evidence. Information that is only knowable by a privileged few is not evidence. Experiments that are not and cannot be duplicated by others are not evidence. The wonderful thing about science is that it doesn't ask for your faith, only your eyes.” [[edit]] I forgot to answer the Q. The line between belief and non belief in invisible space men is the same line as the line between belief and non belief in Pixie or Elf, etc, ad nauseam. Y'either believe or you don't. ~

Answer 3

I know what I'm trying to say. I like the term humanist as opposed to athiest. Here.

Humanism is a philosophy of life inspired by humanity and guided by reason. It provides the basis for a fulfilling and ethical life without religion.

Humanists make sense of the world using reason, experience and shared human values.
Humanists see no convincing evidence for gods, the supernatural, or life after death.
Humanists believe that moral values are properly founded on human empathy and scientific understanding.
Humanists believe we must live this life on the basis that it is the only life we'll have -- that, therefore, we must make the most of it for ourselves, each other, and our world.
Humanist philosophies have arisen separately in many different cultures over many thousands of years. Whether or not they use the term humanism, tens of millions of Americans and hundreds of millions of people around the world agree with the humanist philosophy of living a happy and productive life based on reason and compassion.

Answer 4

Spirit Wanderer pretty much nailed it.
Atheism comes from the greek ATHEOS, meaning "godless" or "without gods". By that classic definition even Agnostics and Deists{some} are a form of Atheist.
However, because in modern times the term has had the additional "without BELIEF IN gods", in order to more clearly distinguish itself from gthe other two non-theisms{not to metnion that "non-theism" has come into use as well, which is more broad- kinda the CLASSIC "atheos"}; so then it now means either "godless/without a god/s" AND/OR in the modern sense= "without belief in god/s"; and that is the logical place where to draw the line. As Spirit Wanderer said, one could believe in reincarnation, spirits, supernatural or paranormal phenomena,afterlife, etc, and STILL under either case be an "Atheist", one could even be a symbolic religionist of some sort; there are other philosophical terms to describe whether one is in denial of paranormal or metaphysical ideas,etc, and I believe that centers on "materialism"- HOWEVER, even in that case, and hell ebvn in the case of "rationalism" one could be tither of those, an athiest, AND believe there is some merit to some claims of the paranormal,etc.; and as far as "rationalist" goes, it simple means not believing something without evidence and sound reasons, which is why Even Deists fit rationalist and materialist if they want, and to some degree even 'some" forms or degrees of pantheism{allthough I'd say more likely PanDeism, than PanTheism}.
So, yeah, as Spirit Wanderer said, it simple means either/or "godless/without gods"{classic} and/or in modern sense "without BELIEF IN god/s".
That simple.
In Reason:
Bill "Iconoclastithon" Bake

Answer 5

Atheism is not an organized group! Its not a secret society!
Atheism means that one does not believe in God or any entities. That's it. Theres nothing else to discuss, because they do not believe in ANYTHING. But themselves, of course! Its the same way in religion, there are plenty of fakes and hypocrites out there, but I doubt anyone is faking atheism. For one, that person would have to believe in God to be a faker, and the fear of God would not allow them to deny him so easily.

Answer 6

When they say that they don't believe in their God..that's all what Atheism is as far as I know...that's what wiki and answers.com and everywhere else I go to says...other than that there is nothing else that holds Atheists together...we can be as different as Christians and Buddhists and still be considered Atheists because of our non-belief of God...we can believe in an afterlife, reincarnation, spirits, whatever, as long as there is no higher power (god(s) ) So I hope this helped you out some...

Answer 7

I reckon the seven degrees of atheism would help here without require exclusivity. People will fall between the extremes of absolute religious fanaticism and ultra-hard atheism.

I expect that at each level you'll find people who feel that those on either side of them are too weak and too strong respectively. It would help cohesion if we could recognise that even atheism is not consistent among atheists.

Ultra-extreme, Bible-burning, anti-theistas like me are the only 'true' atheists, of course....

CD

Answer 8

draw the line for what atheism is not a religion
to be an atheist all you have to do is not believe in gods nothing more

Answer 9

You need to use your spell checker. You have branded yourself as one of the church people, just by the way you spell.

Question: How come church folks always manage to misspell ATHEIST somewhere in their question or answer?

(Do the spell-check thing on your question, and see how many words pop up.)

Answer 10

This is a strange question.

I could say the same about christians - so many out there say they are then don't behave in a christian way.

People can say they are whatever they want, it's their actions that define them in the end.