I hate it when people say athiests don't believe in anything. We BELIEVE there is no god. We are NOT agnostic!!

That's basicaly all that it is. Lack of beleif in a god... but then again, everyone in their own right is an atheist. Christans do not beleive in Thor, or Zeus, or Osiris, or any other gods - only God. The Ancient Greeks didn't beleive in God, did they? Atheists only take their lack of beleif one god futher.

Atheists don't have a total lack of belief in everything but a rejection of theism. Therefore atheists lack a religion. Atheists are irreligious. They don't pertain to any religion.

I don't think that you could define atheism as having a lack of beliefs. I believe, from having spoken to a number of atheists on AB, that they have strong beliefs, just not in any divine being.

atheism, is the not the "lack" of beliefs, nor is it a "lack" of morals, or equal to paganism or satanism. To be atheist means that one does not believe there is a god or gods.

They don't believe in God, big "g", but they do often make other things their god, like power, their job, medicine, money, sports stars, their stomachs, or nothing. They could worship themselves or their ideals. But they do not worship a god because they don't believe he exists. An agnostic thinks there might be something there but doesn't know for sue and thus doesn't worship god. Atheists can believe in gravity, TV, cell phones, science, a myriad of things. Just because they don't believe that god exists doesn't mean they don't hold other beliefs. And just because someone believes in the existence of something, doesn't mean they agree with it or worship it. In the bible it says that the demons believe in god but little good that does.

Atheism is NOT a religion, but it IS a belief- it is NOT the lack of belief. Atheism is the belief that there are no God(s). Materialism is the belief that all there is is what we see- there is no supernatural. Agnosticism is the lack of belief in Gods. Not all Atheists or Agnostics are Materialists. An Atheist can believe in souls, ghosts, reincarnation, karma, etc and still be an Atheist. As long as there is no God, it's all up for grabs. Atheism and Materialism are both faith-based positions, even though some people arrive at those conclusions through reason. While it takes a HUGE leap of faith to believe there definitely IS a God, it still takes a tiny leap of faith to believe there definitely is NO God. Agnostics have the only truly logical position- We just don't know, so there is no point in acting as if there was a God; because if there is a God, it has not been clear in any way what to do in our lives about it.

Atheism is defined by a lack of belief in a deity. Such belief is simply, entirely absent in an atheist. It may or may not be replaced by logic or skepticism or rationality or the like. However, an atheist may believe in any number of other things. They may believe in the sanctity of life in and of itself, for example. They may believe strongly in a cause, like peace, or protecting children, or rescuing animals. They may have all sorts of political beliefs from any end of the spectrum. They could believe in space aliens, even, or ghosts, or ESP. So atheism is not the lack of ALL beliefs, just the lack of belief in any supreme being. This might be what you meant in your question, but a lot of people assume that an atheist just goes around being cynical of everything and with no beliefs at all, so I wanted to clarify.

It could be a lack of understanding. Understanding religion. If you dont get the concept you won't believe it. I'd say Atheism isn't really the belief of no beliefs, It's the belief of different or personal beliefs. Like, You can believe stealing is wrong without having to believe that it's wrong because God said we "Shalt Not" do it.

Atheists have lots of beliefs; in ethics, values, morals, patriotism, nationalism, just not the ones about miracles, and heaven/hell and second comings and Hindu deities, etc.

No, I don't think that Atheism is a lack of Beliefs. Its just that An Atheist doesn't believe in any religion or Gods. (Additionally - I relish the change here - Normally, I get rated down for my atheistic answers, but I doubt that will be the case in this question.)

If you are not an atheist, picture how you feel about other religions...That's how atheists feel , except include yours too.

Atheism is a very powerful belief system in the absence of God rather than the existance!

I think it is a lack of belief in God or gods. But atheism isn't a complete lack of beliefs that's just no possible. We all have things we believe.

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It is humanly impossible to be entirely lacking in beliefs. Atheism is the lack of belief in God, atheists can still believe very strongly in other things. Speaking as an atheist myself, I believe that there is no "God", no "Higher Power" with a persona or a human sense of self-awareness. But that doesn't mean that I have no wonder or no love in my world, that doesn't mean I see life as some desolate lonesome affair because it lacks "God's Love", I believe very strongly that the love, compassion, and general capacity of human nature and of life in general is more wonderful and more powerful than any "God" could ever be. So as you can see, at least some of us atheists carry our beliefs very strongly, we just don;t centralise them around any personafied deity/deities in the same way that religious people do.

atheism, spelled correctly, is from the Greek A-THEOS, denies there is a God (agnostic A-GNOSIS. no knowledge says there may be a God but we have no knowledge). We have a built-in desire to communciate with the Infinite/Transcendent which takes all sorts of forms, so folks who are atheist must find something absulute/infinite to replace that, perhaps filing suits and arguing against any public or private recognition of God, as The Bard says, "he /she doth protest too much"!

Atheism is a lack of beleif in a deity, yes. As an atheist though, I do belevie in some things - just none of them are supernatural though.

ughh thats exactly what atheism is, a lack in a belief of a higher power.

call it what you want, but it's a deception, it's ignorance, and total disreguard for the One that created the heavens and earth...and one day EVERYONE will know who that is....THAT, my friend, IS the bottom line!

No. 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. I do not have enough faith to be an Atheist. With love in Christ.

Atheism is not a belief. I do not believe in God. No belief. But I do not believe there is NO god. I think it is likely there is no god but not in the way a believer would claim they believe. SO there is no belief. You could say this is agnosticism but not really. I am without belief in god which is the literal meaning of atheism. Theism - belief in God(s), prefix "a-", the negation, gives No Belief in God(s). However I am not agnostic I think I do have knowledge regarding God: I think it is very unlikely. But being "gnostic" (having knowledge) does not equate to having certainty. Being agnostic means there is no evidence either way I do not agree with that position. I can't prove a negative but I can judge how likely that negative is and I judge it is likely there is no god. But this is no "belief" that I would cling to, merely an opinion: show me evidence and I will change my position accordingly.

Quite the contrary, it’s a very strong belief that there is no God. Perhaps the following offers a good illustration of the three positions, that of the Atheist, the Agnostic and the believer: A gathering where all are present and a competition is announced. Whoever believes something is depicted behind the curtain on the stage should pay to enter the competition and line up behind a placard. The placards are many and include rivers of hangover-free wine, perpetual youth, luxury etc. etc The curtain will be raised after entry has been closed and everyone has made final adjustment as to which placard group they want to join. The Atheist is convinced that nothing is depicted behind the curtain and it’s all one big fraud because there is no evidence that anything is there. He thinks it makes perfect sense to walk out and anyone who doesn’t join him in doing so doesn’t make sense. The believers range from convinced to hopeful that something must be depicted behind the curtain because they are all in a setting (the gathering, the announcement, the stage, the curtain) telling them that the curtain will be raised to show that something is there. They think it makes perfect sense to pay their dues and line up behind their chosen placard and anyone who doesn’t join them in doing so doesn’t make sense (he’s denying himself the possibility of winning). The Agnostic is unsure, uncertain whether or not anything is depicted behind the curtain because there is no conclusive evidence that there is something there and there is no conclusive evidence that there is nothing there. He thinks it makes perfect sense to do nothing (until there is conclusive evidence one way or the other) and anyone who doesn’t join him in doing nothing doesn’t make sense.

No. Just different beliefs.

Atheism is disbelief in god. Disbelief is not belief or faith.

A-symmetrical = without symmetry. A-moral = without morals a-typical = not typical. a-theist = without theism. It is simply no belief in gods rather than belief in gods. All christians, for example, are atheistic about Allah, Zeus, Ahura Mazda and all other gods but theirs. They don't believe they exist. An atheist just goes one step further...

I don't think it is a lack of beliefs, I just think the beliefs are usually not from brainwashing and just blindly following

Atheism is the lack of belief in a god or gods. Nothing more and nothing less. Some atheists will say "There is no god" and some will say "I don't believe in any of the gods I've ever heard of or thought of". Just to add, don't get it confused with agnosticism. Agnostics think that if a god exists it is unknowable. That is much different than unknown. They make a huge claim.

It is not a lack of beliefs but an indifference of beliefs. Your perspective determines your way of thought.

I may not believe in god, but I do believe in life, happiness and love.

No, not at all. Just different ones.

Pertaining to gods, yes. Gods are atheism's jurisdiction.

I can call myself an athiest who can think rational. I believe in God and spiritual too.

I wish you folks would at least learn to spell ATHEISM, before trying to stir the pot yet again.

"Our belief is not a belief. Our principles are not a faith. We do not rely solely upon science and reason, because these are necessary rather than sufficient factors, but we distrust anything that contradicts science or outrages reason." --Christopher Hitchens

Not at all. Atheists have many beliefs, they just don't have a particular one. It is that single belief that they do not hold that they are one of the most mistrusted groups in the world.

I don't believe in little green men - without "really understanding" them either . It's the religious folks who are busy killing each other in wars re religion. Try this: How and what do you think about other religions that you do not believe in? ...... That's how atheists feel about yours (and all the rest). It's really that simple.

"Atheist" = "A Theo" = "NO GOD" That is ALL "atheist" means.

Only a lack of belief in gods. Atheism doesn't have anything to do with belief in: human goodness. the Republican party. anal probing aliens. oneself. global warming. etc... etc... and so forth. +5

Atheism is not a lack of beliefs. There are a lot of misconceptions about what atheism actually is. Let's look at the word itself. The prefix a- means "absence of, without, or no" The suffix theist or theism means "belief in a God, or gods" Therefore, atheism means "without belief in God." It doesn't mean that someone is without morals, ethics, or beliefs in anything. It does not mean that atheism is a religion of it's own. It simply means that someone does not believe in a God, gods, or any of the paranormal figures associated with them.