Yes, of course, faith that there is no creator, for sure. Otherwise you're an agnostic.

No, it but it does take your wallet.

Sure. You believe there is no God. It's an act of faith you won't get struck by lightning, though!

NO, just considerable unfaith.To thing that the no-god story, while weird, is a lot less weird than all the god stories. Basically, to have less disbelief in that than in anything else.

Yes, it requires immense faith in yourself.

I think atheism is a belief system. a belief there is no creator. And all belief systems require faith.

Faith is belief without reason, and I have no reason to believe there is a creator deity. Atheism does not require faith for that very reason: faith is destructive. Faith is what dictators thrive on, what suffering thrives on, and it tries to deconstruct critical thinking skills. It's nothing but dangerous. But, I do like what the above person said about having faith in yourself. When you lose that crutch people call God, it's amazing how life changes for the better.

Yes, you need faith, you just don't need to beleive that there is a "God".

It takes faith to believe anything. Atheists are often scared of it but it is true all the same.

Anyone who makes a truth claim ultimately does so on faith, i.e. uncertain foundations. It is better to think not in terms of "knowledge about reality" or "truth" / "certainty" but in terms of the usefulness and practical explanatory and predictive power of our models of the phenomena we observe. I don't "believe" in anything in the traditional sense - when I say "believe", I mean my mental model fits the facts I've observed, given the assumptions I'm forced to make for purely practical reasons (assumptions like the conscious of others, existence of the external world, all of which are to be assumed simply because they either are good theories or they can't be practically avoided). My "belief" that there is no "god" or gods is not based on faith, you see. It is simply based on everything I've observed, and what I assume others have observed and written about. The theory that the universe does not have a creator and is effectively mindless and indifferent to human concerns fits the facts, so, until new facts come to light, I'll stick with it. And any new facts would have to be extraordinary, since for the most part the "god" hypothesis raises more questions than it answers (none, seemingly).

No, that's theism. Atheism means the LACK of beleif in the supernatural. Religion means beleif IN the super natural.

I am going to revisit this one. If one is an atheist because one simply has an absence of belief in a deity and does not care whether or not one exists but does not assert knowledge of such an absence, no real faith is required. This is different from agnosticism where one does not really believe but retains some wonder, whether detached or active. That would be where there was an absence of faith. A passive atheist might not be certain either, would have no knowledge, but would neither give it much thought or feel that it would matter. The passive atheist is actually avoiding the issue of faith by detachment. If one is sure, as an atheist, that there is a void of divinity or absolute absence anywhere in the universe of any spiritual power or sovereign guiding force, it would take faith in ones knowledge of unknowns to make that as an absolute assertion and defend it. One would be saying, "I have thoroughly examined the universe or at least considered it and have come to the conclusion that no such entity can exist. I say this with conviction." That is a bit of a faith statement - faith in one's own idea.

If you ask me, my personal belief and conviction on the matter, it takes more faith to be an atheist and say 'there is no God'(an absolute statement) than to be a Christian(or any sort of theist) and say 'there is a God'(also an absolute statement). The one who really has no faith whatsoever I suppose would be the agnostic. I hope that this is helpful. -In the service of the Master. Thank you and God bless you!

No way. Faith is belief without proof. I disbelieve because of no evidence. That's not called faith. It is called skepticism.

I personally think Atheists are people of great faith. They believe the entire wonderful universe came into being all by itself from the smallest subatomic particle to the most immense galaxy and from the amazing complexity of the human mind to the love between a mother and child. I find it much easier to believe that an all powerful and all loving God is behind it all. "To be an atheist requires an indefinitely greater measure of faith than to recieve all the great truths which atheism would deny." (Joseph Addison) I do not have enough faith to be an Atheist. With love in Christ.

Should we distinguish between atheism and non-theism?

Way to create a false dilemma. The simple fact is that unless you're an animal or so enlightened that your past and future exist in a complete state of quantum non-being, then you have faith regardless of what you believe. I'm an atheist because my faith is grounded on the conviction that rationality, skepticism, and objective thought give me what I believe to be a set of facts that's as close to the truth as possible. Anyone, atheist or not, that says anything's the truth is both a fool and a liar!!!

Sort of. I think you have to have a lot of faith in humanity in order to not need a god.

Nope, this whole argument is the result of someone of faith (IE a fundie) saying it takes faith to be an atheist, trying to discredit anything he/she does not believe.

Ah this hoary old chestnut again lol :) To answer the question you need to define terminology. (N.B. these are my definitions but I think they hold true) Theist - One that has faith that God(s) exists. Atheist - The contrapositive of Theism i.e. One that has no faith that God(s) exist. Note that this definition of Atheism does not mean faith that God does not exist. I cannot prove that. But I consider it highly unlikely so I have no faith in the positive position that god(s) do exist. Note this says nothing about my gnostic position. You can have varying degrees of gnoticism which does not affect you theist position. I do not have full knowledge but a good deal of evidence, or lack thereof. So I do not believe there is no god but I do not have any faith that god(s) exist for this reason as I would have to open myself up to believing a huge number of unfalsifiable things which I consider highly unlikely.

isn't faith the exact contradiction of an atheist's thoughts?

No. The exact opposite.

Even not believing is believing in something, ironically enough. So yes.

Yes and no. Atheism requires extreme credulity since faith requires at least some evidence.

No. Because we've studied the aspect of God, and asked questions. God appears to either A) ignore us, or B) not exist. If God chooses to ignore us, then logically, he/she/it doesn't exist.

I don't think faith has to pertain to God only, so you have faith that God doesn't exist, you have to have it. In fact the definition is to believe in someone's ability, not to believe in God.

Not in the old meaning of the word faith, ie to believe in something beyond our own experience and senses. However the meaning of faith is used in different ways now a days. There is a belief system in play though amongst atheists and non-atheists. Atheists do not believe in a God and non-atheists do.

As a matter of fact a lot. It takes a lot faith to believe it's worth living and having any moral standards if nobody is forcing You to it and Your only prize will be this: http://images.encyclopediadramatica.com/images/5/56/Atheist_reward.jpg :)

Yes. Christians and atheists deal in the realm of probability rather than absolute certainty. Christians believe by faith that God exists. Now when all of the evidence (history, science, astronomy, etc) is examined, the atheist has to summon up a lot more faith not to believe in a God than the Christian does to believe in God. The less evidence for your position, the more faith you need to believe it. As I see it, it turns out that atheists have bigger gaps in their knowledge because they have far less evidence for their beliefs than Christians have for theirs. The scientific evidence overwhelmingly confirms that the universe exploded into being out of nothing. Either someone created something out of nothing as the Christians believe, or no one created something out of nothing which is the atheistic view. Now I have to ask, which view is more reasonable? The Christian view is. Which view requires more faith? The atheistic view. Every worldview, including atheism, requires some degree of faith. Even skeptics have faith. They have faith that skepticism is true. Likewise, agnostics and atheists have faith that agnosticism and atheism are true.

No, it does not. Lets not forget that most atheists are not forwarding a claim, they are simply rejecting someone elses claim. There is a subtle difference between, "I don't believe in god," and, "I believe there is no god."

I guess it does to some extend. When some foaming theist comes at you and tells you that you are going to burn in hell forever and ever, you need some faith in your own conclusions not to be affected. regards JakobA

It can take faith if you were an ex believer until you have cleaned out your mind of past beliefs, but once that part is over, it doesn't take faith to be an atheist but instead common sense.

Yes. The same faith that is needed to not believe in the Tooth Fairy or Santa Clause.

No, but it does require credulity.

Faith has nothing to do with it! All it takes is using REASON and COMMON SENSE. THINK! Be OBJECTIVE when analyzing others' ideas and the world. There is absolutely no faith needed to know that any notion of a god or gods is a complete absurdity. Faith is wishful thinking based on zero evidence that rests entirely on subjective "feelings". Knowledge about anything that actually exists can only rest on OBJECTIVE, VERIFIABLE FACTS!

It's disappointing to see this many supposedly intelligent people chose to be duped into letting you try hawking your childish idiocy to them, putting them on trial for not being brainwashed just like you. let me ask you: do you guys have meetings, to decide what stupid questions to keep posting like this? Are you part of a church that considers this activity as "witnessing"? And do you REALLY think I should phrase myself more kindly, when youre loading the place up with nothing less than SPAM?

5-12-2017 People assume that a person who does not believe in God believes nothing. That is not so. A person who does not believe in God will believe anything.

I don't think so I believe it's just a choice.

It takes more faith to be an atheist than it does to be a theist or polytheist. But, just like burglary cannot be an "occupation". So the position of "atheist" isn't really a valid position. You can only be a theist, agnostic or in denial.

Being an atheist is the absence of faith. Are you finished taking cheap shots at atheists yet?

Valid Reasons for Atheism? Whether they have observed the hypocrisy of religion or not, many atheists simply cannot reconcile belief in God with the suffering in the world. Simone de Beauvoir once said: “It was easier for me to think of a world without a creator than of a creator loaded with all the contradictions of the world.” Do the world’s injustices—including those instigated by hypocritical religionists—prove that there is no God? Consider: If a knife is used to threaten, injure, or even murder an innocent person, does this prove that the knife had no designer? Does it not rather show that the object was put to a wrong use? Likewise, much of human grief gives evidence that humans are misusing their God-given abilities as well as the earth itself. Some, however, feel that it is illogical to believe in God, since we cannot see him. But what about air, sound waves, and odors? We cannot see any of these things, yet we know they exist. Our lungs, ears, and noses tell us so. Surely, we believe in what cannot be seen if we have evidence. After contemplating the physical evidence—including electrons, protons, atoms, amino acids, and the complex brain—natural scientist Irving William Knobloch was moved to say: “I believe in God because to me His Divine existence is the only logical explanation for things as they are.” (Compare Psalm 104:24.) Similarly, physiologist Marlin Books Kreider states: “Both as an ordinary human being, and also as a man devoting his life to scientific study and research, I have no doubt at all about the existence of God.” These men are not alone. According to physics professor Henry Margenau, “if you take the top-notch scientists, you find very few atheists among them.” Neither the advances of science nor the failure of religion need force us to abandon belief in a Creator.

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Atheists are the most hypocritical pieces of God's clay. They actually spend more time and energy on religious subjects than believers do. By definition, faith is based on belief. Therefore, it takes belief to rail on something that does not exist.

Faith is a belief in something...Atheists are the opposite...they do NOT believe [ in Jehovah God ] (Psalm 53:1) The foolish one says in his heart:

i dont think so

Ask a bunch!

No, it just takes critical thinking.

Faith has no evidence, so it is blind. We atheists look at the evidence and perceive that there is no convincing evidence that any gods exist. We have no faith, beliefs, gods, priests, sacred books, rites, offerings, churches, sermons, etc. that are trappings of religion.

No, atheism is absence of faith, beliefs, gods, priests, holy books, etc.!

I never considered myself as an atheist but I used to not believe. To the point of dreading God's word. Since the Spirit gave me faith while drawing me to Him. I have believed. And with that faith I confessed I was a sinner without Jesus and asked Him in. At that moment I was born again by the blood of Jesus.

i dont think so

Actually, atheists have more faith than religious people. They spend an enormous amount of time and energy trying to convince themselves that there is no God.

No. There's nothing to believe in so there's nothing faith is needed for.

Well...since it's rather difficult to PROVE that no deities exist... then IN A SENSE the answer is, "Yes, because the atheist BELIEVES that no deities exist"...but it's a rather simple and singular belief. That is: it doesn't require any more faith than does the statement "I don't believe in Leprechauns." Believing that something does NOT exist doesn't require much faith.

No. It takes common sense and logical thinking to be an atheist by dismissing religious delusions.

No. Atheist literally means a person who disbelieves in God. It takes zero amount of faith to disbelieve something you cannot see, hear, smell, nor taste.

Absolutely not. Does it take faith for you not to believe in vampires? How about not believing in Osiris and Quatzlcvoatl?

No, none at all. Does it take faith not to believe in fairies or Santa? Of course not. "I don't have enough faith to be an atheist" is a mindless bumper sticker slogan which has no foundation in truth.

no, it takes no faith to recognize reality and scientific processes, why do you guys continue to not understand this, you all are the ones who need faith to believe in things that are not and can not be proven, we have no such beliefs, therefore faith is not something we need

Comparing religious beliefs in the supernatural forces to proven scientific knowledge should tell you that it does not require any faith to be an atheist.😍

No. It takes logical thinking, being sensible, being realistic and having an open mind to be an atheist. Religious nut jobs fail to understand this because they are brainwashed into religious delusions. Religious faith is for delusional people who are involved in their subconscious mind and can’t prove their point

No. It takes a lack of faith. Atheism is not a religion. It represents the absence of religion.

Yes, they have to have faith that what they are being told is true, and in the people telling them. For example if a theorem is the closest explanation a scientist can have for something then they believe it, right up until the whole premise from where the scientist was thinking was wrong, and so is proven to be untrue. I mention science because atheists usually spurt out the old line "We just don't believe in a God," but that's rubbish, they then go on to use scientific reasoning to disprove God (I was an atheist, in fact I didn't just believe there was no God, I said that I "knew" there was no God). . Lets face it when it comes to quantum you are talking about things you cannot see, but can only calculate, i.e. math. In this way, the atheist can be just as gullible as they accuse the theist. They can tell you everything they know about religion, but nothing about the scientists, or writers who's ideas they swallow. Atheists believe merely in the material, no ghost in the machine, and yet they refer to themselves as "free thinkers," now there's an oxymoron.