On Athiesm- a definition

[socratic]

Go look in a dictionary. Hell, go define: atheism into google.

Athiesm:
"lack of belief in the existence of God or gods"
wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

"This word comes from two Greek words, a the negator, and theos, God. Atheism teaches that there is no God of any kind, anywhere, anytime. Some atheists claim to "Excercise no belief in a god" the same way they would exercise no belief in pink unicorns."
www.godweb.org/dictionary/dic_a-b.htm

"a (“without”) the (“deity”, or “god”). Atheism is a lack of belief in a god or gods."
www.strongatheism.net/intro/lexicon/

Therefore: Atheists do not prosletyze, as they have no belief in the supernatural. They are not making an assertion. Theists make an assertion that a supernatural entity exists (or force, or anything supernatural for that matter) whereas atheists do not make this assertion. Therefore atheists are not hypocritical for criticising the prosletyzing of theists.

A whole bunch of other ideas arise as a result of this basic definition, but people seem to be unable most often to grasp this most basic tenent of atheism. The LACK of belief in the supernatural, or God, or Gods, if you prefer.

Hell, there's been two threads about this already, and I'm sure some of the other more aware atheists in this community are probably starting to get sick of repeating themselves every time someone thinks they've got an original complaint.

[neon]

Close enough.

[Beka]

I have started a thread similar to this one. In that one i pointed out the fact that (at least for me, that english is not my first language) the sufix -ism makes people feel the opposite that you say... For example the word in spanish is "ateo" instead of "ateista" like "monoteista" (monotheist)

[Rolloffle]

Just because you don't believe doesn't mean you don't proselytize.

Secondly, atheism isn't nessecarily no belief in the "super natural". It's just no belief in any deities.

By your logic, I could say "Christians don't believe in Allah therefore we don't proselytize".

[Obbe]

Yes, everyone who claims to be an atheist completely understands that definition and adheres to it.

Just like everyone who claims to be a Christian goes to church every Sunday, will not ever masturbate, and believes homosexuality should be a crime.

Right?

[KikoSanchez]

Originally Posted by Obbe

Yes, everyone who claims to be an atheist completely understands that definition and adheres to it.

Just like everyone who claims to be a Christian goes to church every Sunday, will not ever masturbate, and believes homosexuality should be a crime.

Right?

The definition of a Christian is not one who does all those things, simply one who believes Christ is their saviour and son of god. After that, the actions and beliefs of the people who consider themselves christians differ greatly.

[FreedomHippie]

Following that, atheists deff make an assertion (that there is in fact no god). One of those defintions says "Atheism teaches that there is no God of any kind, anywhere, anytime" which I thought was funny because it doesnt teach anything.

Atheism can mean that they specifically deny the existance of god but that is more like anti-theism. When i hear atheism people are usually refering to that they just simply don't agree with the believers or nonbelievers.

Atheists, in my mind anyway, think more along the lines of "I don't know that there is a god anymore than i know there isn't."

[socratic]

Originally Posted by Rolloffle

Just because you don't believe doesn't mean you don't proselytize.

Secondly, atheism isn't nessecarily no belief in the "super natural". It's just no belief in any deities.

By your logic, I could say "Christians don't believe in Allah therefore we don't proselytize".

Deities = supernatural entities. Deities as in all dieties. Therefore all supernatural entities.

Your comparison fu is broken. You can't speak of your beliefs if you have none. Atheists can't properly prosletyze supernatural or religious beliefs, as they HAVE NO beliefs in the supernatural. Also, Christians can't prosletyze following the definition of the word the Islamic faith, but they can the Christian faith.

Originally Posted by Obbe

Yes, everyone who claims to be an atheist completely understands that definition and adheres to it.



Just like everyone who claims to be a Christian goes to church every Sunday, will not ever masturbate, and believes homosexuality should be a crime.

Right?

That's irrelevant. If one argues against Atheism they argue against the definition of atheism, otherwise it's a strawman.

Originally Posted by FreedomHippie

Following that, atheists deff make an assertion (that there is in fact no god). One of those defintions says "Atheism teaches that there is no God of any kind, anywhere, anytime" which I thought was funny because it doesnt teach anything.

Atheism can mean that they specifically deny the existance of god but that is more like anti-theism. When i hear atheism people are usually refering to that they just simply don't agree with the believers or nonbelievers.

Atheists, in my mind anyway, think more along the lines of "I don't know that there is a god anymore than i know there isn't."

"Atheism teaches" is a bit ambiguous, I'll admit, but you're right, it doesn't TEACH anything specifically. Those kinds of definitions you could consider a 'dumbed down' approach to atheism, and not true atheism, because they don't understand the WHY in the atheist argument (or importantly, lack thereof.)

Everyone of course has their own personal definitions, but it's completely unfair to expect atheists at large to adhere to your own personal definition (which is in other words a strawman of the actual definition of atheism) for purpose of debate. So, I decided I'd spell it out, for purpose of further arguments, because apparently I'm having the male equivalent of PMS and getting fucking irritated at people repeating the same mistake, thread after thread after thread.

And Breka, that's a very good point. Sorry if I've stolen your thunder.

[Kazz]

You're absolutely right...

However, and I've mentioned this frequently, while atheists are not held together by atheism... most of us are definitely held together and united under what we DO believe in, which tends to be quite similar... perhaps because of our freedom from a deity?

For example. I don't believe the church should be tax exempt. If somebody sees the church just like any other corporation out there... then they're likely to feel the same way. The same goes for separation of church and state. If I believe the church is a bunch of empty phony bullshit, then I don't want them impacting the laws and government that affects me. Other atheists are more than likely going to feel the same way.

We are not united by atheism. I have often stated what a joke it is, to see all these angsty teen atheists waving the atheist flag and fighting for their atheism. In reality atheism is nothing to fight for, or stand up for. Its not something to wave a flag for, or lead a charge for. However we are united by a common belief in ideas such as secularism, humanism, etc.

[Rolloffle]

Originally Posted by socratic

Deities = supernatural entities. Deities as in all dieties. Therefore all supernatural entities.

Your comparison fu is broken. You can't speak of your beliefs if you have none. Atheists can't properly prosletyze supernatural or religious beliefs, as they HAVE NO beliefs in the supernatural. Also, Christians can't prosletyze following the definition of the word the Islamic faith, but they can the Christian faith.

A deity is a bit different from a "supernatural entity" and regardless there are "super natural beliefs" which are atheistic, such as Buddhism, Raelism, and Scientology.

Buddhists are technically atheists, even though most people would consider their beliefs to be "super natural" and "religious".

Furthermore, the term "super natural" is highly subjective. I would consider the belief held by most evolutionists that life can spontaneously appear from abiotic matter (abiogenesis) to not only be laughable but also "super natural" (life comming from non-living matter has yet to be observed).

Finally, you should look up what proseltyze means before you falsely claim that atheists can't/don't proseltyze.