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Replying to JoeyKnothead in post #170]
Very much. So we see that a lack of belief in a god or gods might inform beliefs that go beyond the scope of that initial non belief.
I don't see a problem here.
Essentially there is no problem until such 'extensions' are questioned by theists, and the response is along the lines of "that is not what atheism is - atheism is simply lacking belief in gods."
Agreed in principle, but without a more concrete example I'm kinda speculating.
Are you suggesting you are unaware of this fairly standard response from those calling themselves atheists?
Here I'm concerned with the blanket assertion of what atheists believe. It's too clod clumpy for me.
As I too am concerned with the blanket response to such so-called blanket assertions. It is to convenient and appears to be untrue - thus the confusion which surfaces as a result.
Example:
Theist: "You don't believe that God exists and that itself, is an atheist belief."
Atheist: "I lack belief in god/gods. Lack of belief is quite clearly not a belief."
Theist: I'm confused here. You say you do not believe that God exists but you also say you merely lack belief in gods. Which one is it?
Atheist: It is the same thing.
Theist: But is it really? Lack of belief is clearly lack of belief. Lack of belief
in gods is lack of belief
in gods, not just 'lack of belief".
Therefore your statement "Lack of belief is quite clearly not a belief" while true, is not the same as stating that you "lack belief in god/gods." because you have placed an identifier as to what it is you lack belief in.
Atheist: So?
Theist: So that means that I can identify atheism as lack of belief in gods and any statement therein to do with that, can be regarded as an aspect of what atheism is, which is not 'merely' lack of belief, but
specifically to do with lack of belief in gods.
Therefore if I observe that your saying you don't believe that God exists, is a
belief, you cannot truthfully claim it is not, just because atheism is 'simply a lack of belief' or even 'simply a lack of belief in gods'.
To do so is akin to how a magician gets an audience to focus on what his right hand is doing and therefore miss what his left hand is up to.