Is Atheism a myth?

[Guest]

Although I don't support any organised religion, I have to say Atheism is not much better than the rest. Blind denial of any god or spirituality is just as ignorant as claiming that you know the answer to questions that cannot possibly be answered.

I maintain the view that atheism is just another religion that requires it's members to have faith in something they cannot prove and therefore cannot be taken seriously. It's an equal and opposite to theism.

 

[Deep Thought]

Although I don't support any organised religion, I have to say Atheism is not much better than the rest. Blind denial of any god or spirituality is just as ignorant as claiming that you know the answer to questions that cannot possibly be answered.

I maintain the view that atheism is just another religion that requires it's members to have faith in something they cannot prove and therefore cannot be taken seriously. It's an equal and opposite to theism.

As discussed in another thread, your definition of atheism certainly isn't the definition most people use. A lack of belief in something certainly can't be considered to be a faith and the old argument about atheism being another religion falls down on pretty much every definition of religion.

The following definitions of religion are taken from the American Heritage Dictionary

re·li·gion
n.

1.
1. Belief in and reverence for a supernatural power or powers regarded as creator and governor of the universe.
2. A personal or institutionalized system grounded in such belief and worship.
2. The life or condition of a person in a religious order.
3. A set of beliefs, values, and practices based on the teachings of a spiritual leader.
4. A cause, principle, or activity pursued with zeal or conscientious devotion.

 

[VaultZero4Me]

The strawman for atheism is stating that it is the belief that there is no diety. This is of course an impossible position to hold. Just like it is impossible to say that there are no aliens.

But it is possible to say you do not believe there is any evidence for the existence of aliens.

Atheists believe that there is no evidence for the existence of any diety.

To say that there is no such thing as atheism, will make you logically conclude that there can be no one that doesn't believe that aliens, frogmen, bigfoot, unicorns, talking dragons, fountain of youth, zeus, etc exist.

Also, any one religious person has to conclude that it is possible for all dieties ever spoken or taught on to exist with their diety as well. You can't say that you find evidence for yours to be greater over zeus, therefore you believe in yours over zeus. Since you can't rule out zeus you have to conclude that there is a possiblity that he and your diety exist together. As well as Shiva, Mars, and Hercules.

If you don't allow for one to rule out all, you can't allow anyone to rule out any. That creates a mess.

 

[Guest]

As discussed in another thread, your definition of atheism certainly isn't the definition most people use. A lack of belief in something certainly can't be considered to be a faith and the old argument about atheism being another religion falls down on pretty much every definition of religion.

The following definitions of religion are taken from the American Heritage Dictionary

re·li·gion
n.

1.
1. Belief in and reverence for a supernatural power or powers regarded as creator and governor of the universe.
2. A personal or institutionalized system grounded in such belief and worship.
2. The life or condition of a person in a religious order.
3. A set of beliefs, values, and practices based on the teachings of a spiritual leader.
4. A cause, principle, or activity pursued with zeal or conscientious devotion.

Having read through the Wikipedia article you linked me in the other post, I would concede that the definition of Atheism that I have been using is applicable only to the "Strong Atheism" sect and extend my apologies to anyone who is not within that particular group.

This group claims that there is explicitly no god. This I believe IS a matter of faith and hence my argument must be directed only at them. If Atheism is to extend to anyone who does not claim to conform to any religion (thus encompassing agnosticism etc) then it would be unfair to judge these others by this yardstick. It seems that my mistake is somewhat common however:

While agnosticism can be seen as a form of weak atheism,[38] most agnostics see their view as distinct from atheism, which they may consider no more justified than theism, or requires an equal conviction. The supposed unattainability of knowledge for or against the existence of gods is sometimes seen as indication that atheism requires a leap of faith.

I believe this was where I was coming from. I would still oppose strong atheism, but some form of weak atheism is probably where I fit in.

My apologies to those under the sub category of weak atheism.