Is Atheism a belief or an absence of belief?

Question

As an Agnostic, I believe we don't know if there is a god.

Answer 1

It's an absence of belief in any god or gods.

Answer 2

I'm an agnostic too. I think of atheism as an active belief in the absence of any deity, not just a passive absence of any belief, but atheists? Is this correct?

Perhaps the two are close enough that the difference makes not much difference to an atheist. However, I think that it is more like an active belief in absence, rather than an absence of belief.

Blessings
Lady Morgana 00(

Answer 3

Hi....

Atheism is an absence in the belief of religion and the 'god' principle, but is still a belief, in its own right!!

The Atheist, is still 'believing' something, science, evolution etc and the 'belief' that 'god' does 'not' exist!!

Still a belief!


I am Agnostic.

Answer 4

I gave this answer to another question.

http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AuWWB5qZCpZCL3dJmzGKo1UhBgx.;_ylv=3?qid=20070914110828AAqsUoa&show=7#profile-info-RsXV2FAmaa


No. Think clearly.
You said this:
"According to my understanding, an atheist is a person who has no religious convictions. "

That is correct. An ABSENCE of a belief in god. Not a belief that god does not exist, but NOT having a belief that he/she does.

This is wrong:
"Likewise the atheist has a belief that requires faith, that being :
to believe that there is no God."

It does not take any faith NOT to believe in something. I do NOT believe because I do NOT have a reason to believe.

Faith means...belief or trust: belief in, devotion to, or trust in somebody or something, especially without logical proof.

To say an atheist requires faith (a belief without logical proof) to NOT believe in something for which he/she thinks there is not a logical proof, is a form of reasoning that twists thinking and logic until it disappears up it's own black hole.

As proof of this, see child of god 2 posts down.
That is rubbish. I am accused of a lack of mental capacity from someone who says that unbelief is a belief.

I honestly do not think I can explain to you how wrong you are.

And you call it irony.......

Answer 5

You are correct in your tag Agnostic. You have the right to believe or not.
From the Greek
(a=without) (gnostic = knowledge)

The tag Atheist is not used correctly by the majority of those that call themselves by this name.
The link shown is a collection of the meanings of these words as taken from various dictionaries.
You may check this. However you should check many as it is used wrong in some dictionaries also.

Stay with the ones with the closest translation to the Greek as these are the most accurate

Answer 6

Atheism is the absence of any beliefs in any god/s.

Answer 7

Atheist-agnostic: Absence of belief (in a god or gods).
Atheist-gnostic: Belief that there is no god.

Most atheists are not gnostic.

Answer 8

I believe Atheism is accepting a belief in self (man, i.e. a false god).

Answer 9

I answered this before when someone asked what atheists thought "god" was...
Is this god??

They describe "god" as this being that has always existed, needs no food to survive, created everything, is everywhere, is all-knowing and all-powerful, cares deeply about everything and everyone everywhere, yet is going to cast those he created into an eternal damnation for doubting that he exists, because he so obviously does as proven in the book he "ghost-wrote" 6000 years ago. He's not just one being, but actually three, but actually one, one of whom sacrifice himself, but didn't actually die, to save us from the divine torment that his father/he created, and he's coming back soon to destroy the earth he created and the "demons" that he created, only to establish a new earth.
Am I wrong here???

What utter nonsense.

Answer 10

It can be either...

Strong atheist - belief that their is no God.

Weak atheist - no belief in God.


Most agnostics are at least functionally "weak atheists."