Weak atheist - one who chooses to withhold a belief in God until sufficient unequivocal evidence is presented.
Strong atheist - one who asserts that there is no God, and that it is unreasonable to believe in one (i.e. Richard Dawkins).
2007-12-08 08:02:41 · 33 answers · asked by Alex H 5 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
I ask this because almost every religious person seems to assume that all atheists are strong atheists, which they declare as an unreasonable position itself.
2007-12-08 08:04:03 · update #1
I can't think of anything at all that would make it unreasonable to assert that there is no God.
I'm willing to say "there is no polka-dotted chimpanzee dancing on my head", and the evidential status of that claim is about the same as that of the existence of God. I'm certainly not going to say "I'm withholding judgment about polka-dotted chimpanzees until sufficient unequivocal evidence is presented". That's just plain silly.
A "strong atheist" (by your definition) is simply someone who is willing to be openminded about the issues even when that openmindedness requires him or her to reject basic cultural beliefs. The "weak athiest" (by your definition) seems to close his or her mind down when the balance of the evidence leads him or her to draw a conclusion that challenges cultural norms.
2007-12-08 08:05:42 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 8⤊ 0⤋
Even though I must admit that most of the time I sound like a "strong" atheist, at moments in which I am not so "full of myself", I relax and admit that, while I will never accept certain descriptions of God in that they are irrational and egoistic, there may be more to the whole argument. For example, maybe "God" is a state of consciousness, a sense of connectedness, some mystical experience that I have not had. At these moments, I suppose I am more of a weak atheist. I do not want to make the same mistake as fundamental religious people; to insist I am right about something I cannot know for sure. It seems highly unlikely that, in a world filled with such arbitrary cruelty and senseless pain, that there is an all-powerful deity looking over and caring for billions of people. However, just because that notion of God in not valid doesn't mean all of them are
2016-05-22 05:05:55 · answer #2 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I am a weak atheist, or agnostic, because I don't believe there is sufficient evidence or reason to believe in a God - currently. I also strongly believe that no such evidence will ever appear...
...however I am not a strong atheist because I don't claim to know what did or did not happen at the start of time.
2007-12-08 08:13:30 · answer #3 · answered by deekun 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i think two degrees of atheism doesnt do much justice when your trying to classify a persons views on religion/spirituality. by your definition i am not a weak atheist because i am not an atheist because of a lack of evidence. i am also not a strong atheist because i do not think a belief in one (or more) is unreasonable. i like to say, atheism out of ignorance and atheism out of knowledge. one is similar to people who were raised to believe something and have never gotten out of their bubble to see other view points. the other is when (even if you were raised in an atheist family) you took the initiative to learn about other faiths in an attempt to find truth. i took the latter of the two and i find truth in atheism. some one else might find truth in catholicism or judiasm.
2007-12-08 08:11:19 · answer #4 · answered by god_of_the_accursed 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I am a strong atheist.
I leave a very slight chance for a deist idea of a god. But for all practical purposes that is no different than atheism.
2007-12-08 08:09:39 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
what you believe is meaningful only inasmuch as it informs your actions.
there is no practical difference between a strong atheist, a weak atheist, and most kinds of agnostic - all will behave in exactly the same way in the majority of situations.
counting angels on pinheads is an activity for medieval theologians.
and other pinheads.
2007-12-08 08:07:02 · answer #6 · answered by synopsis 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Very strong Atheist.
2007-12-08 08:06:27 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Strong.
2007-12-08 09:15:35 · answer #8 · answered by Michael M 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Strong atheist, given your definition. Generally just think of myself as an atheist, despite their best attempts to indoctrinate me as a Roman Catholic.
Weak atheist is just another word for agnostic.
2007-12-08 08:12:16 · answer #9 · answered by mavster 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I don't know... I think the existence of a God/Gods, at least the way humans imagine is extremely unlikely. If some kind of supernatural event were to occur, I;d believe myself insane before I believe in God. So what does that make me?
2007-12-08 08:13:22 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋