Poll: How do you as an Atheist Define Atheism?

[beam me up scottie]

17 votes, 1 pass | Time left: Unlimited
	A lack of belief in gods (agnostic atheism)
	13 (76%)
	A belief that there are no gods (gnostic atheism)
	3 (18%)
	None of your business, enjoy hell, you god rejecting infidel!
	0 (0%)
	Why do theists think they get to define atheism? Don't they have anything better to do?
	0 (0%)
	I missed your polls, bmus
	0 (0%)
	I really missed your polls, bmus
	1 (6%)
	I like polls
	0 (0%)
	I like pie
	0 (0%)
	Other (explain)
	0 (0%)
	1 DU member did not wish to select any of the options provided.
Show usernames Disclaimer: This is an Internet poll

[Jonny Appleseed]

1. Everyone is born an atheist

[beam me up scottie]

2. This is true.

[JNelson6563]

29. Exactly.

[mountain grammy]

36. Yes, we are!

[infidelsavant]

3. A belief that there are no gods

That is what I chose.

[beam me up scottie]

6. A gnostic atheist, thanks for voting!

[Kimchijeon]

4. lack of belief

[beam me up scottie]

7. Yes that's the same position I take.

I don't believe in any gods because I have seen no evidence that they exist. Since it's impossible to know or even conceive of all possible forms gods might take I cannot say with 100% certainty that none do. If someone can prove that a deity or deities exist I'll reconsider.

I'm an agnostic atheist who leans towards gnostic atheism.

[Binkie The Clown]

5. I guess I'm more of an Apathist. RE: god; Don't know, don't care.

My only truly strong belief is that Christianity and the Bible are steaming piles of human-created nonsense and corruption.

[beam me up scottie]

8. Yes on the second part, definitely!

I used to be an apathetic atheist. Then I moved to the bible belt.

[Binkie The Clown]

11. I guess that I believe that the religions I know something about are B.S.

From that I speculate that all religions are probably B.S.

[beam me up scottie]

12. That sounds like agnostic atheism leaning towards gnostic atheism.

That's my position as well.

Do any gods exist? Probably not.

Does the Christian God exist? Using their definitions almost certainly not. It's completely illogical.

But I'm uncomfortable making the claim that I can be 100% certain.

And that's as far as I care to speculate. If someone wants to bring me evidence I'll consider it.

[Binkie The Clown]

14. My fondest fantasy requires the existance of a god...

I have this fantasy where one or another of the many ultra-conservative religious right people dies and goes to heaven to meet god only to find out that she's a liberal. So she sends him to "conservative Heaven" (otherwise known as hell.)

[beam me up scottie]

16. That would make me believe in divine justice.

[mountain grammy]

37. You had me at don't know don't care..

but the rest is good too.

[Warren DeMontague]

9. I find many Theists either have some ludicrous definition of "the Deity" (i.e. fundamentalists)

or else they punt and refuse to actually define the thing.

12 Steppers are great at that. "It doesn't matter if God is a doorknob or the universe or a guy named Ralph, the important thing is that you believe in him"

..uh, okay. Yes, pledge obsequience to a concept that can't even be bothered to actually be defined. Great.


Me, personally? My attitude towards "God" (as per the Western Monotheisms, because that's pretty much all 99% of religious people really mean, when they engage in these conversations) is the exact same as my attitude towards King Kong, the Wolfman, the Easter Bunny or the lost Continent of Atlantis. Interesting story, but I'll believe it when I see it. (by "see it" I mean, come in contact with objective validating evidence)


ps BMUS

[beam me up scottie]

10. Asking for a definition of God can be good sport.

I wouldn't go out of my way to address a believer who's minding their own business but if they want to bring the subject up - it's on.

If they can't even define something how can I possibly reject it? Vague Hand Wavy Creator Dude isn't a definition, it's a cop out.

Hi, Warren!

[True Dough]

13. I wavered on this

but not on my lack of belief in god.

I'm an atheist. I realize the poll question is philosophical but it's also a matter of semantics, to some degree.

I am comfortable saying, "I do not believe in any gods."

However, I am equally comfortable saying, "I believe there are no gods."

Therefore I voted "A belief that there are no gods." Also, the first option, "A lack of belief in gods," leaves the door open to gods existing, so I inherently reject that notion.

[beam me up scottie]

15. It would be better if we could rate ourselves on a spectrum but all we have are polls.

This is my position:

* I cannot say without a doubt that no gods exist anywhere in the universe. That makes me an agnostic atheist.

* I strongly believe there are no gods but I can't be sure. That means I lean towards gnostic atheism.

So I went with the first option.

[Solly Mack]

17. I'm currently sitting on a chair.

I have no "belief" the chair exists. There's no "belief" involved. I know it exists. My ass is squarely planted on it.

I can't say the same about a god or gods.

I think there is no god (or gods), but I'm open to accepting anything I can sit my ass on.

If that makes any sense.

Good to see you, BMUS.

[beam me up scottie]

19. Perfect! I like that analogy.

Hiya, Solly. I hope you and yours are well.

[aidbo]

18. Good to have you back bmus.

[beam me up scottie]

20. Good to be back, aidbo. :)

[Curmudgeoness]

21. I wanted to vote differently than I did,

but I really did miss your polls. A lot.

My vote really should have been "why do theists ..."

[beam me up scottie]

22. I should post more of them.

We'll have to remedy that.

[LakeArenal]

23. Watch" Ricky Gervais and Stephen Colbert debate religion

The says it well for me..

http://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/video/ricky-gervais-and-stephen-go-head-to-head-on-religion/vi-AAmwO7V

[beam me up scottie]

26. I loved that debate.

Ricky is one of my favourites, I follow him on social media.

[defacto7]

24. As long as we're using the word belief

in the definition, I can't go there in this context. I neither belive nor have faith in anything. I trust much. My trust changes with the facts. Faith by definition cannot coexist with facts or it's not faith. Belief is such a loosely defined word it's fairly meaningless and tends toward faith simply because of its empty value and can be easily manipulated in the communication.

Ignostic atheist is a reasonable term to me. Give me a logical fact based definition of "god" and I'll think about it. If not, there's no need to continue a discussion on undefined nonsense. IOW, What do you mean by "god"? I have no idea what it means.

But just for definition sake, I'm definitely not a member of the Atheist Church so I can't be an Atheist. I am atheist as long as there's no data or definition suitable for the subject matter just like I'm abatmanist.

[beam me up scottie]

27. Yeah the 'atheism is a religion' talking point is used by fundamentalists of all stripes.

They try to reframe our lack of faith in gods as a belief and/or religion because if they were to admit our position is the logical choice that would open the door to DOUBT. And they can't have that.

I'm with you, if someone wants me to consider their god they need to first define it and then we'll go from there. Until I see some evidence they all go in the bin.

[defacto7]

30. nt

[progressoid]

25. I had to choose "other"

I like the first one. But I also really like pie.

BUT, mostly I'm happy to see you and your little skipping Cthulhu again!

[beam me up scottie]

28. Hey you!!!

I'm happy to see you too, I've missed you.

[Exultant Democracy]

31. Can't really wrap my head around the concept of gnostic atheism.

Seems pretty convoluted, like is it a belief that unicorns and leprechauns aren't real either?

[beam me up scottie]

32. Gnostic relates to knowledge.

So I guess you technically could have a gnostic belief that unicorns and leprechauns don't exist. Personally I don't consider deities any different than any other mythological creature - I have seen no evidence that any exist and I don't waste my time wondering about them.

[Exultant Democracy]

33. I agree. God, Santa Clause, Superman, James Bond, and Bambi

It doesn't require an act of faith in my part to divide the make believe world of fiction from the real world.

[Act_of_Reparation]

34. I really don't have a problem with gnostic atheism.

In a universe where absolute certainty is -- at least for the time being -- impossible to attain, we are nevertheless prone to speak in absolutes in regard to near-certain phenomena. No one gets their knickers in a twist if you say, without qualification, that every action produces an equal and opposite reaction. No one is going get pedantic on you if you say, without admission of uncertainty, that microbes cause infection. But say "there is no god" off-the-cuff and watch the shit you catch from indignant nabobs of antiquated superstition.

For the sake of accuracy, I define myself as an agnostic atheist. I don't know there's no god, but all being equal I'm pretty sure there's no god. What's more baffling to me is where theists, with a position so completely uncontaminated by evidence, get off pointing their fingers at the uncertainty of atheists.

[Iggo]

35. The default position: There are no gods.

I see no compelling evidence that there are any gods.

Until I do, I remain at the default position.

[beam me up scottie]

39. That's what I like to call it as well.

We all start out in the default position, some are taught that gods exist and go on to believe, others are taught that gods exist and never quite fall for it, and a few of us are never indoctrinated at all. I'm one of the latter - which is why I bristle when my lack of belief in deities is referred to as a 'belief'.

If a tribe of natives lives deep in the rain forest and none of them have ever heard of the Christian God - is their lack of belief a belief?

If someone asked me if I believed in a polka dotted snerffletrillogidgetvelociraptor that's 20 feet tall, lives in my closet and preys on small children I would say 'of course not. I've seen no evidence of such a creature'. Is that a belief? If not why should lack of belief in gods be treated any differently?

[mountain grammy]

38. This is so hard, can't make up my mind.

I say Oh god all the fucking time, and sometimes I even say thank god. But I'm absolutely sure no god or gods exist. But I do love pie.

Alas, I will choose pie.. No, the first one, no the second.. oh shit, I can't decide..

I, too, am so glad you're back BMUS... I'm seeing you everywhere!

[beam me up scottie]

40. Pie is never the wrong answer - that's why I always include it in my polls.

I'm happy to see you're still kicking around here too, mountain grammy!

[edhopper]

41. I don't like using the word belief

or even the term 'lack of belief'.
I say I do not accept the existence of any god, based on the lack of any evidence.

[beam me up scottie]

42. That's a good way to put it.

I was trying to go with the two most common definitions but yours is a better explanation.