Quote:
Originally Posted by ~Emily~
Atheism is exactly what the name says. A- means a lack of something, and theism is the belief in one or multiple deities.
It's not really a, "belief of nothing" as others have stated. It's that they believe that there are no deities. That is the essence of any religion. If they don't have that, they aren't a religion.
Seems pretty simple to me?
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Religion isn't exclusive in a belief of a deity as numerous people seem to hastily conclude. It ofttimes embraces a deity, but is not limited to in order define a religion.
Also, not to get picky but you contradicted yourself. You say, "It's not a 'belief of nothing,' as other have stated." However, you continue by claiming that it is a belief there is no deity. In essence you gave the same explanation as the definition "others have stated."
You might say it is unbelief of a deity, but they cannot prove there is no deity so it is still a belief. For example, one either believes in Nessy or one does not believe in Nessy. You can consider the one who does not believe in Nessy to be unbeliever of Nessy, or simply to have a lack of belief. However, they cannot prove it, so their BELIEF is simply that there is no Nessy. Either way you are still embracing a belief in belief or a belief in unbelief (I don't know how to better explain this, but if you don't understand I'll try).
I'll rephrase it this way: the person who believes Nessy is real has an unbelief in the unbelief of Nessy. They don't believe that Nessy is a myth. Therefore even someone who is adopting a belief still has an disbelief or unbelief in something else, namely that which is opposed to their belief.
A Christian has a unbelief that God doesn't exist, but a belief that God does exist. An Atheist has an unbelief that God does exist, but a belief that God doesn't exist. A Christian does not believe that God doesn't exist, rather they believe God does exist. An Atheist does not believe that God does exist, rather they believe that God does not exist. They're both reliant on faith (though one may require more faith than the other -- the Atheist will argue the Christian does, the Christian will argue the Atheist does, but this is besides the point) because neither can prove for 100% certainty to the other that God is real or not.