[extropy-chat] Atheists launch inquisition...

[Fred C. Moulton]

On Thu, 2004-11-25 at 20:55, Mike Lorrey wrote:
> --- Technotranscendence <neptune at superlink.net> wrote:
> 
> > I'm forced to make some comments on this thread.  Atheism per se is
> > not a religion.  It's merely the lack of a belief in God/gods. 
> That's
> > it. Ditto for theism.  Theism is not a religion either.  It's merely
> a
> > presence of a belief in God/gods.
> 
> "Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence." Atheism is as much a
> matter of faith as theism.

Part of the problem in this discussion is that the word faith has
multiple uses.  The Merriam-Webster online dictionary may not be the
world's best but since the online OED requires a subscription I will
take the definition found at:
http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=faith&x=0&y=0
Dropping the derivation info we have left:
1. 1 a : allegiance to duty or a person : LOYALTY b (1) : fidelity to
one's promises (2) : sincerity of intentions
2 a (1) : belief and trust in and loyalty to God (2) : belief in the
traditional doctrines of a religion b (1) : firm belief in something for
which there is no proof (2) : complete trust
3 : something that is believed especially with strong conviction;
especially : a system of religious beliefs
synonym see BELIEF
- in faith : without doubt or question : VERILY

So lets examine these:

Definition number 1 refers to "allegiance" and "fidelity to one's
promises" and "sincerity of intentions".  I do not see how being an
Atheist necessarily implies any of the aspects of definition 1.

Definition 2 seems to be dealing with religious matters but here again
there is nothing which logically links Atheism with faith.  For example
you can be an Atheist without having a "firm belief in something for
which there is no proof".

Definition 3 also fails because Atheism is not something that is
believed such as a system of religious beliefs.

As has already been mentioned the works of George H. Smith on Atheism
provide clear and very readable discussions of these matters.  Also see
the book The Retreat to Commitment by W. W. Bartley.  Familiarity with
the work of Smith and Bartley should clear up the confusion.

Thus it seems to me that anyone who wants to make the statement that
"Atheism is as much a matter of faith as theism" needs to provide some
further argument than to merely repeat what I think I and several others
have demonstrated is an incorrect statement.

Fred

Disclaimer:  George H. Smith is a friend of mine.  So, yes I am
recommending books by a friend however he is one of the top authors on
this subject.