Atheist Forum

Hey guys i m a young guy looking for some assistance .My mother and father are theist and they strictly follow the religion thing.

I have started to explore the world and thencame across many reasons all prompting me to believe that the "GOD" doesnt exist .

So i became an atheist ......after I started in not believing "GOD" I felt that i somewhat similar to those who believe in "GOD" because both theist and atheist they do the same thing that is they believe in something one in existence of god and other in opposite.

please answer this question of mine and forgive me if i hurt someones feeling (its not intensional).

Welcome to the forums sammy009.

Theism and atheism are indeed very similar. They are opposite sides of the same coin (the belief in God coin) just as gnosticism and agnosticism are opposite sides of the "knowledge of God" coin. Theism is simply the belief in god(s), and atheism the disbelief in gods. Of course, you can also do a reversal and say that theism is the disbelief in "no gods" and atheism is the belief in "no gods". Disbeliefs are by nature, beliefs in the opposite.

So yes, in a way theism and atheism are quite similar. However atheism is not a religion, so there is a massive difference between atheists and theist based religions (like Christianity). This is very important to remember.

Another important facet of atheism is that it is often linked to the idea that one only believes in what is provable and testable- scientific method, basically. In religion, it can be true that belief, in the face of evidence which goes against dogma, is a valued trait. For this reason, I would say that atheism and theism are very dissimilar, although they have been viewed as opposite sides of the same coin. I find it hard myself to think of them as opposites though, beyond the technical "one means belief in god/gods and one does not" definition. They ARE both belief systems, but religions based on theism are wide-spread and varied in many ways, whereas atheism is a fairly singular idea. For example, you can belive in Jesus, or Allah, or Shiva, or that world was created from ant droppings, or you can believe that the universe came about by natural means, which cancels out supernatural beliefs of all kinds. There is no particular kind of atheism for each particular religion or theistic belief. So I'd definitely agree with Adrian stressing that atheism is not a religion- it's more of a mind-set, to me. Further, what I am trying to say, through my jumble of sentences here, is that to me atheism and theism are completely different views of the world, really only overlapping in the belief or disbelief of god(s) area.

hi Lukec,
My understanding is that Atheism is not a belief system. The only common factor between Atheists is the lack of belief in a God. That wouldn't constitute a 'belief system' in my book, and my understanding of belief systems (admittedly limited) is that they must constitute a number of tenets, dogma, and practices. To my knowledge Atheism does not contain any of these.
That's not to say that you and many others Atheists don't have belief systems, but I think it's a mistake to say that Atheism itself is a belief system.

I'm sure somebody who knows a bit more on this particular definition will step up to the podium

I disagree with that statement. The word "lack" implies that belief in God is the norm and is correct. A car with three wheels "lacks" a tire. A one legged human "lacks" a leg. Atheism, in the broadest sense, is the belief that there is no god. It can also be referred to as the "disbelief in gods", but a disbelief in something is the same as believing it doesn't exist.

As for atheism being a belief system, you are quite correct in saying it isn't one.

Thanks guys- no, you're right, I just didn't at the time come up with a better way to encompass them both, I guess.

You have a point, I should have used my words more carefully. However isn't the belief in a God the norm? (That's not rhetorical). And isn't a 'norm' defined by what 'most' people believe in? Couldn't you then say, that if most people have a belief in God, then it is indeed the 'norm', and the fact that I use the word 'lack' is relative in the situation of most people having a belief in God.

With that pontification out of the way, I know and agree with what you're saying Adrian - the word 'lack' has negative implications that probably should be avoided.

I think it is fair to say Christianity is the norm. Well in this great nation anyway.

But in the future it could very well become one. Maybe not in the same way as other world religions but certainly generate enough interest where those who shared the same perspective (no belief in god(s)) could congregate and discuss their views - like atheist forums. Eventually, someone will have to take the lead in defining atheism or else there would be all these self-proclaimed atheist giving their own distorted definition. That already happens consistently.

People already line up to listen to Richard Dawkins. That in itself is similar to Christians reserving tickets to hear Billy Graham.

Atheism is not a religion and I can give you an idea on why - The flying spaghetti monster - You do not believe in such a thing, so does that automaticly give you a religion? If so then you and I have many thousands of religions! Because we both don't believe in the god thor, or ra, or even the god apollo. Over 5 thousand differant kinds of gods and if what you say is correct then we have over at lest 5 thousand religions.

Doesn't make much sense does it? So atheism is lack of belief. It is not a religion.