What is an Atheist?

Originally posted by rwingett
As for myself, I am not necessarily anti-Christian. I am anti-conservative, and it seems that Christianity and conservatism are becoming more and more synonymous these days. But I have nothing against liberal Christians, such as Martin Luther King, Jr., for example. The fact that someone believes in god in and of itself is of no concern to me. It only becom ...[text shortened]... s a concern when they try to use their religious beliefs as a vehicle for conservative politics.

I certainly don't disagree with you on this point.

Originally posted by twhitehead

Websters is a good place to start, and you can't really expect any constructive dialog if you throw definitions out the window.
Websters on "Atheism":
a : a disbelief in the existence of deity
b : the doctrine that there is no deity

.

I was merely trying to say I already have an understanding of what Webster's says, i wanted to save a few keystrokes for somebody by explaining it. I am more interested in hearing from the folks here rather than a dictionary on what a atheist is.

-K

Originally posted by kd2acz
I was merely trying to say I already have an understanding of what Webster's says, i wanted to save a few keystrokes for somebody by explaining it. I am more interested in hearing from the folks here rather than a dictionary on what a atheist is.

-K

So what makes you a theist?
I could have a stab at it, but I'd rather you tell me.
Maybe then we could flesh out why people become/are atheists. (I did say 'maybe' 🙂 )


edit: BTW I am not an atheist, but for all intensive purposes I may as well be as I tend to agree with most -not all -atheists view on things...as far as this forum is concerned anyway

Originally posted by karoly aczel
So what makes you a theist?
I could have a stab at it, but I'd rather you tell me.
Maybe then we could flesh out why people become/are atheists. (I did say 'maybe' 🙂 )


edit: BTW I am not an atheist, but for all intensive purposes I may as well be as I tend to agree with most -not all -atheists view on things...as far as this forum is concerned anyway

Ahhhh, have me pull me finger out of thee ole dike, you would ay. Perhaps there should be a thread specific to the idea?

-K

Originally posted by kd2acz
Ahhhh, have me pull me finger out of thee ole dike, you would ay. Perhaps there should be a thread specific to the idea?

-K

Umm...No. I was trying to help you with this thread. I thought if you could simply answer why you are a theist then we MIGHT be able to determine why some become atheists.
If you think that's not a good idea then just say so ... a bit more eruditely please 🙂

Originally posted by karoly aczel
Umm...No. I was trying to help you with this thread. I thought if you could simply answer why you are a theist then we MIGHT be able to determine why some become atheists.
If you think that's not a good idea then just say so ... a bit more eruditely please 🙂

I fail to understand why answering the question 'What is an Atheist' would depend on me answering the question 'Why I am a theist'. It reminds me of car shopping and the salesman asking me what I would like to spend and having me bid against myself to get something I am not interested in.

I was merely suggesting a new thread topic so as to not do what so often happens... and that is to go down the rabbit trail because that question alone would spark numerous replies. I was not intending to be rude, my apologies if taken that way.

I am just interested in gaining an understanding of 'What is an Atheist?' and why one would call themselve one. I could tell you why I am theist, but I would think that is not neccessary to explain 'What is an Atheist?'.

-K

Originally posted by kd2acz
I fail to understand why answering the question 'What is an Atheist' would depend on me answering the question 'Why I am a theist'. It reminds me of car shopping and the salesman asking me what I would like to spend and having me bid against myself to get something I am not interested in.

I was merely suggesting a new thread topic so as to not do what so ...[text shortened]... theist, but I would think that is not neccessary to explain 'What is an Atheist?'.

-K

I was just trying to see how your thought process works in determining that you are a theist.
It MAY give insight (and an easier approach to what you are trying to garner here), into how your thoughts work and thus shed some light on how you want this question answered.
(You received many straightforward answers on page 1 which seems not to impress you very much)

Anyway , it's all good. If you don't want to tell me, I don't care.

Originally posted by kd2acz
I could tell you why I am theist, but I would think that is not neccessary to explain 'What is an Atheist?'.

-K

Simple.

Whatever it is you believe that makes you a theist, an atheist does not.

Originally posted by kd2acz
I fail to understand why answering the question 'What is an Atheist' would depend on me answering the question 'Why I am a theist'. It reminds me of car shopping and the salesman asking me what I would like to spend and having me bid against myself to get something I am not interested in.

I was merely suggesting a new thread topic so as to not do what so ...[text shortened]... theist, but I would think that is not neccessary to explain 'What is an Atheist?'.

-K

Most of those that I know have claimed to be atheists on here have not responded to your post. Perhaps they are busy with other things. 😏

Originally posted by kd2acz
With spirituality being synonymous with God or a god, I find it interesting that as one poster stated, half of the posters in this forum are atheists, why is tht?

I originally came here after posting a complaint in 'debates' about the movement in the US to try to get 'intelligent design' taught in the science class. I was told to take it to spirituality.
I stayed because I found debate to be interesting and educational (on occasion). I have become more anti-religious over time largely because of the opinions of theist debaters on this forum, and partly because of a book I read on recommendation by this forum (The God Delusion).
I have come to realise that although many theists are very nice people and generally harmless, their delusions can lead to many problems - and because of the nature of belief and faith it is often next to impossible to persuade them with reason that they are wrong. However, some posters have admitted to changing their beliefs as a result of interaction on this forum, so I continue to hold out hope that there may be some positive results to our discussions here.

Does one become atheist because of an upbringing, because of a distaste of how a religion or faith acts and one chooses to distant themselves from it, or as another poster stated... because of intellectuality and liberalism.
I am curious as to why or how one choses to become an atheist.
As others have said, it is not a choice. It is also different for different people. In my case, I was brought up by Anglican church going parents and believed in the existence of God till about the age of 13. One day it just came to me that it might not be true and the more I thought about it the more convinced I was. Since then, I have occasionally wanted to believe in a God (when going through major difficulties), but have never been able to convince myself of his existence. I have also come understand science and psychology better and it has become more and more clear that theism is a delusion and that there are no good reasons for believing in a God.

Originally posted by kd2acz
I fail to understand why answering the question 'What is an Atheist' would depend on me answering the question 'Why I am a theist'. It reminds me of car shopping and the salesman asking me what I would like to spend and having me bid against myself to get something I am not interested in.

I was merely suggesting a new thread topic so as to not do what so ...[text shortened]... theist, but I would think that is not neccessary to explain 'What is an Atheist?'.

-K

"I am just interested in gaining an understanding of 'What is an Atheist?' and why one would call themselve one."

This is a new wrinkle. Did you ask why an atheist would call his or her self one? -- is that something you asked earlier and I missed?

Are you sure you are being clear on your reasons to ask the questions you are asking?

Originally posted by JS357
"I am just interested in gaining an understanding of 'What is an Atheist?' and why one would call themselve one."

This is a new wrinkle. Did you ask why an atheist would call his or her self one? -- is that something you asked earlier and I missed?

Are you sure you are being clear on your reasons to ask the questions you are asking?

I think twhitehead just gave the kind of answer he was looking for.

Originally posted by RJHinds
I think twhitehead just gave the kind of answer he was looking for.

Are you suggesting his question was rhetorical?

Originally posted by JS357
Are you suggesting his question was rhetorical?

No. Absoluely not. I think he wanted an explanation from atheists about their beliefs about atheism and why they call themselves atheists, something like what twhitehead did. He seems to be the only one intelligent enough to figure that out so far.

Originally posted by rwingett
An atheist is someone who does not believe in any gods. Sorry, but there's not much else to say about it.

Atheism is not a belief, nor does it contain any beliefs. Someone who is an atheist may believe any number of things, none of which have anything to do with his status as an atheist.

But would'nt some sort of belief system/reason lead one to believe in no gods or God? It is that thing, the thing the would drive one to not believe in a God or gods, if there is such a thing.

-K