“Atheism” is a lack of belief in gods, whether one or many. An “atheist”, therefore, is someone to who has with him this disbelief.

The term atheism is limited strictly to this domain of knowledge: It doesn’t claim anything with regard to ethics or politics, for example, except so far as to say that no god(s) is/are behind either ethics or politics since one does not believe in any god(s).

However, one can be an atheist and think that the idea of god should be in ethics or morality (arguments which I find wanting); one can be an atheist and believe in life after death (for example, one can believe past-life testimonies); an atheist can believe in astrology, Tarot reading, and all manner of superstition.

Being atheist does not necessarily mean being a materialist or naturalist or a skeptic.

There are two important things to remember when it comes to atheism:

(1) It is not a deliberate disbelief or refusal to believe in only the monotheistic god (the god of Christianity, Judaism and Islam) but all gods. There is nothing special about the Christian god that disbelief in him is so much more worthy of concern than, say, the disbelief in Zeus. Yahweh is, to us atheists, simply another deity amongst many others who has similar attributes attached to him as many others; but more importantly is equally nonexistent or lacking in rational argument or evidence for his existence.

(2) Some might claim everyone is in fact an atheist. If you believe in Yahweh, then you (more than likely) disbelieve in Poseidon. This means you are an atheist when it comes to Poseidon. The way most people today feel about Poseidon is similar to how many — if not most — atheists feel toward Yahweh or Allah.

When someone lays down a challenge for atheism, as is often seen on this and other websites, it is difficult not to simply thrust back the same arguments using other deities, like Poseidon or Zeus. For example, when religious people claim there can be no morality without (their) god, we must ask why their atheism (in Poseidon, Zeus, and every single god they disbelieve in) doesn’t appear to reduce them to immoral beings. Their atheism, doesn’t mean their bad people, either. The point is, as we noted, Yahweh is no more special than the other deities. Why is disbelieving in this one particular deity tantamount to relinquishing yourself from the moral sphere?

Until such time as the monotheists can answer why believing in their particular deity amounts to being a good, stable, smart, etc. person, above believing all manner of other deities, then we have little reason to consider their arguments completely legitimate. Notice, however, that this still tells us nothing about what counts as good or bad moral systems, political systems, whether there is life after death, etc. All that is being claimed with atheism is that there is no good evidence to believe any gods exist; and taking it to the logical conclusion of not believing in the latest trend in the god business.

Posted: March 11th 2011

See all questions answered by Tauriq Moosa

An atheist is someone who does not believe in a god or gods.

And the people who really hate the world and don’t value life are those who claim that, without belief in God, neither of them would be worth a fig. It won’t take you long to work out that it’s the religious who make that claim, not we atheists!

Posted: March 11th 2011

See all questions answered by Paula Kirby

Most atheists will tell you that an atheist is a person who doesn’t believe in god. That’d make you an atheist. Whether you wish to “label” yourself as “atheist” is up to you. Many atheists prefer to call themselves “freethinkers” or “humanists” to emphasize the positive side of their beliefs as opposed to rejection implicit in the word “atheism”, not to mention the negative stereotypes you mention.

Atheists don’t hate the world, we don’t hope for death, and we don’t eat babies. (If anyone hopes for death, it’s the theist awaiting his eternal reward.) We’re just normal people, going about or daily lives, trying to do the best we can.

Posted: March 11th 2011

See all questions answered by George Locke