a non-belief is still a belief.?

Question

i believe in God/ you don't believe in God... both are beliefs are they not? atheism is therefor a faith.

my logic is fine. this hinges on belief as in God or apart from God. and if free will is a gift of God then all belief stems from God, and attests to God.

Answer 1

only if you truly believe in your heart that you dont believe

Answer 2

After all this time it has become clear to me that many -- nay, MOST -- atheists believe that the word "faith" is an attack, a curse, an expletive, an INSULT! Why are atheists afraid of this word?

Nadine writes, in part --
"2. belief that is not based on proof: He had faith that the hypothesis would be substantiated by fact."

If You are driving and come to a hill, You go on over it with the faith that the road does not suddenly stop past the point where You can observe it. What if someone came running at You with the message that the road DOES stop just over the hill? Even if he carries a chunk of broken concrete or a mangled car, this is not conclusive proof, but does that really make a difference? Whether You believe that the road is unsafe or don't believe that the road is safe, does this make a difference in how fast You throw on the brakes?

BUT! Do You have faith that Your brakes will work? Only a hundred times a day.

Answer 3

Atheism is the belief that there is nothing like God to believe in, so yes: it is a belief.

Agnosticism is one of 2 things: 1) the belief that it is impossible to know whether or not there is a God, so in that mode, it is a belief or 2) the uncertainty about whether or not there is a God. In that mode it isn't a belief, it's a lack of belief one way or another.

Answer 4

Radiocarbon dating was developed on the basis of two assumptions (not established facts). In the first place, Libby assumed that the carbon 14 content is consistent in the carbon dioxide which is absorbed by the organism while it is living. In the second place, Libby believed that cosmic rays which produce carbon 14 have remained constant in our atmosphere. Dr. David Hurst Thomas of the American Museum of Natural History addressed the problems of these assumptions when he wrote:

Radiocarbon dating relies on a number of key assumptions, perhaps the most important being that the radiocarbon level — that is, the ratio between carbon 12 and carbon 14 — has remained constant in the earth’s atmosphere. Libby assumed this when developing the method, but we now know that this assumption is not valid. That is, levels of atmospheric carbon 14 have shifted somewhat over the past millennia.

Answer 5

Atheism is a faith as there is no proof there is no God. Science is competent to answer questions about how matter behaves according to the laws of nature, but science is not competent to answer the question of whether or not the laws of nature have a Lawgiver!

I find those "a level of maturity and intelligence that requires a higher level of logic, reason, and proof to accept something," answers interesting. Lets see where this 'high level' leads us:

With out God we are saying:

Nothing produces everything

Non life produces life

Randomness produces fine tuning

Chaos produces information

Unconsciousness produces consciousness

Non-reason produces reason

None of which makes sense!

Answer 6

Just as, not making a decision, is a decision of itself.

Atheism IS absolutely a faith system. Call it Humanism, Science, Naturalism, whatever. The lack of belief in God is the belief in other faith systems. Humans can not function without belief, it is part of innate socialization of our mind in relations to our environment.

We believe by nature, not by choice.

Answer 7

Amazing! Not believing is the same as believing. I don't believe in the Greek Gods; so according to you, my belief is that I don't believe. That is tortured logic. Here's the definition of the word faith:
1. confidence or trust in a person or thing: faith in another's ability.
2. belief that is not based on proof: He had faith that the hypothesis would be substantiated by fact.
3. belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion: the firm faith of the Pilgrims.
4. belief in anything, as a code of ethics, standards of merit, etc.: to be of the same faith with someone concerning honesty.
5. a system of religious belief: the Christian faith; the Jewish faith.
6. the obligation of loyalty or fidelity to a person, promise, engagement, etc.: Failure to appear would be breaking faith.
7. the observance of this obligation; fidelity to one's promise, oath, allegiance, etc.: He was the only one who proved his faith during our recent troubles.
8. Christian Theology. the trust in God and in His promises as made through Christ and the Scriptures by which humans are justified or saved.

Which one of these definitions apply to atheists?

Answer 8

You sound so incredibly insecure. Does it really bother you so much that there are people who don't willingly accept the existence of an unobservable, "supernatural" world?

Atheists do not believe God's throne is empty. They don't believe there's a throne at all.

Answer 9

You can keep repeating it, but it's still not true. The lack of belief in fairy tales is not a belief, rather a level of maturity and intelligence that requires a higher level of logic, reason, and proof to accept something.


You're basing your 'logic' on an assumption, which dimishes it to what you want to believe is true, not what actually is.

Answer 10

No, yours is a faith because you believe despite a total lack of evidence in the existence of god. Atheism is not a faith because it is derived logically from that same total lack of evidence in the existence of god.

Answer 11

Atheism is the lack of belief, the lack of faith. Since you believe in the existence of one more thing than I do, and claim that it exists, the burden of evidence rests with you. Since you have failed to meet that burden of evidence, I am justified an rejecting your claim out of hand. It requires no faith whatsoever to reject an unsubstantiated claim.