Atheism does not exist. Atheism is ... the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atheism And that is Anti-theism, not A-theism. When I ask a self-professed atheist if s/he believes in possibility of the existence of a deity, they all say they do. This means they are Agnostics. Atheism is a movement that became known in the 18th century. Happened very recently. (same link as above). A-theism in reality is Anti-theism. Atheism does not exist.
I accept the possibility of a deity. Sure. Why not? But I don't accept the possibility that your particular deity is real because, in my opinion, every religion I've encountered so far is clearly a product of the imagination. I see no reason to equate "possibility of a deity's existence" with the deity of your religion. Why do you say "atheism does not exist"? I bet we're both atheistic about Thor.
Atheism means rejection of a belief in any deity. If you believe there is a possibility any deity might exist, then you are an agnostic.
Except for the fact you can reject belief in something while still admitting its possibility . If I shuffle a deck of cards and you write down the exact order in which they will appear when flipped over, I reject the belief that you are right. Yes, it is still a possibility, but the odds are infinitesimal. It is possible that you are right, but I do not believe that you are right. That goes for the cards and the existence of God.
So by that rational...there's no such thing as ...disbelief in the Tooth Fairy? There are just believers and "Tooth Fairy agnostics"?
It gets so frustrating explaining this same thing over and over. Atheism is simply the denial of a particular deity. We're both atheists concerning Zeus. The early Christians were called atheists for denying the Roman pantheon. I also happen to be atheistic about Yahweh. I'm not agnostic about Yahweh; I'm certain he's a fiction. I am agnostic about the "possibility" of a god, but I see absolutely no evidence and I don't equate this hypotherical deity with Yahweh. I'm agnostic about the possibility of a real deity, and atheistic about the silly character in the Bible. Do you understand now? If there is a higher power, it's not going to be your Yahweh because Yahweh is just an ANE nationalistic deity whose evolution can be traced--just like all the rest of the national deities. All these nations' deities had animal sacrifice and temple worship and prophets. What makes Yahweh any different? Yahweh is a fluke who survived into the modern age. Why do religious people have a tendency to treat their god as the "default," as if theirs is somehow more believable than any other god? The ancient greeks believed as firmly in their gods as you do in yours. The Greek philosophers were atheists for rejecting Zeus just like I am towards Yahweh, yet they still considered a deity a possibility just as I do, even though this hypothetical deity has nothing to do with their Zeus or our Yahweh or whatever deities our descendants will worship.
I reject the supernatural claims of theists, it follows that I don't believe in gods. But if there was convincing evidence of the truth of said claims, of course I'd change my mind. Any reasonable person would. But do I believe in gods today? No. I'm an atheist. I consider the probability of gods equal to that of the Easter Bunny. I think you have your argument backwards. Do agnostics believe in gods? No. Sounds like they're atheists, to me.
I actually do believe in Zeus, alongside the existence of any other god ever popularly worshipped. So I suppose that makes me a theist. In any case, this is a dispute over semantics, and I don't really see any value in it.
The letter "A" in front of a word means without. So atheism means without theism, or without a belief in deities.
Easter bunny character was never defined to be real, so one may not believe in the reality of it. One may know Easter bunny is not real because it was always claimed to be a fictitious character. Agnostics accept the possibility that God or gods as defined by cultures might indeed exist. If you are saying that God does not exist you are an Anti-theist, since you cannot prove other life does not exist. A-theism means no god. You don't know that, hence you are an agnostic. You insist on that statement, hence you are anti-theist. In either case, atheism does not exist.
Neither then does Christianity. You don't know that God exists. It's only your belief. Prove that God exists. Atheism doesn't mean there is no God. It means one does not believe in God. To be an Anti-theist means that you are against God. Anti means 'against' something. You can't be against something that you don't believe exists. You can on be against the idea.
Correct. However the wikipedia link I provided it basically says it is a rejection of a belief in God. Rejection is "anti, against" not "a, without". I was born in USSR and brought up under Communist regime till 15. They taught us - there is no God. Period. They did not even accept a possibility of the existence of God. OK. Fair enough. In that case they are anti-theists. The Western atheists accept the possibility there might be God. OK. Fair enough. In that case they are agnostics. Atheism is a hoax. Does not exist.
I am certain there may be all types of characters in human history that believe whatever. The Wikipedia link I provided in OP says atheist came in 18th century.
Then you should read back further in History and read your Wiki through; From the same source: And these religions are far earlier than the 18th century.
The logic is off. One believes there is God. Some, even know there is God. These are Christians that have the Spirit of God in them. It is a subjective proof. Atheism means one rejects belief in God. That is Anti, not A. Anti-theist means one is against the belief in God ... same as reject. Atheism does not exist. A hoax. Unreasonable. There is Anti-theism or Agnosticism, but not Atheism.
Why? Wikipedia, the pro-atheist article I linked to states that atheism as a view held by others came to be in 18th century. I am sure there were selected individuals hundreds of years ago who also did not believe in spiritual beings.
This means you are an agnostic. Atheism means a rejection of the belief in God. Rejection means, you do not really care even of there is a possibility that God exists. You reject the whole thing. Rejection means Anti ... not A. Atheism in it's pure form means Anti-theism. Atheism the way you describe means Agnosticism. Atheism does not exist.
] And that is fine. Then call yourself Anti-Christian and Agnostic in cases of other deities. That is who you are. Concerning Zeus. I do not reject existence of Zeus. If Zeus was claimed to be a real deity, why should I reject it's existence.
Atheism and anti-theism so often occur together at the same time and in the same person that it's understandable if many people fail to realize that they aren't the same. Making note of the difference is important, however, because not every atheist is anti-theistic and even those who are, aren't anti-theistic all the time. Atheism is simply the absence of belief in gods; anti-theism is a conscious and deliberate opposition to theism. Many atheists are also anti-theists, but not all. When defined broadly as simply the absence of belief in gods, atheism covers territory that isn't quite compatible with anti-theism. People who are indifferent to the existence of alleged gods are atheists because they don't believe in the existence of any gods, but at the same time this indifference prevents them from being anti-theists as well. To a degree, this describes many if not most atheists because there are plenty of alleged gods they simply don't care about and, therefore, also don't care enough to attack belief in such gods. Austin Cline. Agnostics and Atheism expert.
We can't be 'even', since you do not know God or gods do not exist. Yet we know Atheism does not exist. There is Anti theism or Agnosticism.
You're confusing belief with knowledge. Theism and atheism deal with belief. Do I believe gods exist? No. Gnosticism and agnosticism deal with knowledge. Do I know for certain they do or don't? No. No one does. Everyone is agnostic IMO.
Very good definition. Probably the best definition I have read from atheist leadership. However, that indifference (belief or unbelief) towards the existence of God cannot make a person an atheist. If that person is pressed to respond, s/he would probably say they cannot know for certain God does not exist, hence they are Agnostics. As a former atheist myself, I find there are 2 groups. Anti-theists - people who have a personal dislike, a bias, against the idea of God. I found a lot of them to be ex-Catholics, ex-Baptists ... they had some unpleasant experience in life that came from Christian sources. They reject God, or gods. Then there are Agnostics. They accept a possibility there is God, or gods. They accept possibility there are aliens, or other life forms, etc. But Atheism does not exist ... it is a made-up term to soften the sound of Anti-theism that most of the Western atheists are, in my opinion. And to give it more validity they mix in the Agnostics in their mix.
