look, i don't hate atheists... I'm just embarrased that I ever called myself one
(media.greatawakening.win)
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I am an atheist and I might be wrong, those aren't mutually exclusive.
Every person who actively holds the belief that there is a god is theist. EVERY other person is an atheist. Whether that's people who lack that belief, or people who believe the opposite, or even people who have no concept of the concept of a god, all "atheist"
If I don't know whether or not there is a god, that makes me an atheist, because I'm a-theist, not-theist.
Agnostic on its own does not make sense, it's not a third category. That's because "theist" means "belief in a god or gods", not "belief in a god or gods, AND knowing it is correct."
Someone can not believe the claim, but also not believe the opposite claim.
If a theist is someone who has a belief in a god or gods
a not-theist is someone who does not have a belief in god or gods, because the a- prefix means "not" so everyone who is not theist is a-theist
It's really not that hard. You have to believe in a god to be theist, and everyone else is atheist. You're born an atheist. People in uncontacted tribes who have no god concept are atheists. People who don't believe there is AND don't believe there is not a god are atheists. People who don't care about whether there is a god or not are atheists.
You're confusing a gnostic atheist for atheists in general. Gnostic atheists don't believe in a god, and they think they know that to be true. Most atheists are not gnostic, they're agnostic, because being gnostic about the god question is foolish, theist or atheist.
I have no desire for them to be "on my side" because "my side" isn't an organized thing. There's no benefit to me for having people on "my side" and I don't care what people believe.
It's just a fact that if you are not theist, that by definition makes you atheist. That's not up for debate, because it's a logical negation of theism. A and Not A
EVERYTHING is either green or not green. EVERYONE is either theist or not theist. That's how logical negations work.
Wondering whether there are ancestors watching over you has nothing to do with theism or atheism. If they don't hold a belief in a god, they are atheist. If they do, they are theist. Your hypothetical doesn't have enough info to tell which they are, because there are theists who don't believe in ghosts, and atheists who do.
Right, and there's so few of those among atheists, because it's foolish to believe that you could possibly know if a god exists or not. 99% of atheists are agnostic atheists. When you talk about atheists as a whole, you should be talking about the majority who are agnostic, and not the tiny fraction that are gnostic.
I put my chips in the "I don't hold a belief in a god, and I don't know for sure" box