Thread: I am an Athiest

I am an athiest.

What does that mean? I was raised in a moderately religious family- I went to church and Sunday school- but it never made any sense to me. I just don't believe in God.

What i have is a 'lack of faith'. Part of me envies my friends who have faith in their god- but that isn't an option for me.

I respect my friends faith. I respect my others friends lack of faith.

I am not responsible for the actions of others who do not believe in God. Nor do I think that my Christian friends are responsible for the actions of those who claim to be Christian.

I am an atheist. I have nothing to apologize for, nor do I have anything to justify. I am what I am and to anyone who can't respect that- well that is your loss.

Originally Posted by SFJEFF

I am an athiest.

What does that mean? I was raised in a moderately religious family- I went to church and Sunday school- but it never made any sense to me. I just don't believe in God.

What i have is a 'lack of faith'. Part of me envies my friends who have faith in their god- but that isn't an option for me.

I respect my friends faith. I respect my others friends lack of faith.

I am not responsible for the actions of others who do not believe in God. Nor do I think that my Christian friends are responsible for the actions of those who claim to be Christian.

I am an atheist. I have nothing to apologize for, nor do I have anything to justify. I am what I am and to anyone who can't respect that- well that is your loss.

Cultist!!

Originally Posted by SFJEFF

I am an athiest.

What does that mean? I was raised in a moderately religious family- I went to church and Sunday school- but it never made any sense to me. I just don't believe in God.

What i have is a 'lack of faith'. Part of me envies my friends who have faith in their god- but that isn't an option for me.

I respect my friends faith. I respect my others friends lack of faith.

I am not responsible for the actions of others who do not believe in God. Nor do I think that my Christian friends are responsible for the actions of those who claim to be Christian.

I am an atheist. I have nothing to apologize for, nor do I have anything to justify. I am what I am and to anyone who can't respect that- well that is your loss.

The problem is that your parents were only moderately religious. Had they been serious about Christ, they would have raised you better to prevent you from wandering away from the flock.

Originally Posted by MAYTAG

The problem is that your parents were only moderately religious. Had they been serious about Christ, they would have raised you better to prevent you from wandering away from the flock.

My parents were serious about religion and I'm still an atheist. I've been one since I was about 9. I just could not reconcile the logical inconsistencies in the Bible.

Originally Posted by Questerr

My parents were serious about religion and I'm still an atheist. I've been one since I was about 9. I just could not reconcile the logical inconsistencies in the Bible.

They don't sound very serious. Types with kids running around denying Christ are run out of my church.

Originally Posted by MAYTAG

They don't sound very serious. Types with kids running around denying Christ are run out of my church.

I don't go to church. I stopped right around the same time I stopped believing in God.

Originally Posted by SFJEFF

I am an athiest....What i have is a 'lack of faith'.

you're not an atheist until you deny gods existence. lacking faith means you admit that you do not know the truth about the nature of the universe. join the club, 6.5 billion and growing. unfortunately some of those 6.5 billion lie to themselves and, through wishful thinking, claim that god either does or does not exist.

claiming that he does exist makes you religious. claiming that he doesn't exist makes you an atheist. claiming neither makes you agnostic.

Agnosticism is the view that the truth values of certain claims—especially regarding the existence or non-existence of deities as well as other religious and metaphysical claims—are unknown and (so far as can be judged) unknowable.

sorry to burst your bubble, but no, according to what you have written, you are not an atheist.

Originally Posted by Objectivism

you're not an atheist until you deny gods existence. lacking faith means you admit that you do not know the truth about the nature of the universe. join the club, 6.5 billion and growing. unfortunately some of those 6.5 billion lie to themselves and, through wishful thinking, claim that god either does or does not exist.

claiming that he does exist makes you religious. claiming that he doesn't exist makes you an atheist. claiming neither makes you agnostic.

Agnosticism is the view that the truth values of certain claims—especially regarding the existence or non-existence of deities as well as other religious and metaphysical claims—are unknown and (so far as can be judged) unknowable.

sorry to burst your bubble, but no, according to what you have written, you are not an atheist.

This is false. Atheism and agnosticism are not mutually exclusive. Atheism is about belief, agnosticism is about knowledge.

A person, me for instance, can be an agnostic atheist. That means I don't know if there is a god or not, but I don't believe in one.

Originally Posted by Questerr

This is false. Atheism and agnosticism are not mutually exclusive. Atheism is about belief, agnosticism is about knowledge.

A person, me for instance, can be an agnostic atheist. That means I don't know if there is a god or not, but I don't believe in one.

my interpretation of atheism leaves no question, no room for doubt, thereby making the two classifications mutually exclusive.

the only possible sub-class of agnostic would be an agnostic theist, someone who believes there is a god, but doesnt know which one it is. but that in itself should be in its own classification, because to be agnostic is simply to acknowledge that you do not know, and to be in a place of indecision.

if you look at the definition of agnostic however, you will see that it fits entirely into your definition of atheist, which of course i disagree with.

by definition, you are agnostic.

someone who is atheist is just as sure of themselves as a 'believer' in god...a purely irrational conclusion just the same.

look the two terms up, there is no room for similarity

to the left is certainty of no god. to the right is certainty of a specific god. just right of center is certainty of a non-specific god (rare indeed, but a possibility)

and in the center is intelligent people who admit they dont yet know the truth

Originally Posted by Objectivism

my interpretation of atheism leaves no question, no room for doubt, thereby making the two classifications mutually exclusive.

I think all definitions identify active disbelief with atheism, but most also identify the lack of belief with atheism. If you are undecided, if you acknowledge the possibility of a god, you can still be an atheist in the sense that you don't have a belief, even if you're open to the possibility of getting one (or that gods can exist without your belief).

It's equivalent to "Is there a beer in the fridge?" "I don't think so, but maybe, have a look".

But this all hinges on the differences in our interpretations/classifications/definitions. If you define only active disbelief as atheism, you are correct, but you should know that you're not discussing the same concept as the OP.