Freak Out Requiem IV wrote:Drawlight wrote:Atheism isn't a belief of any kind. It's a term used to describe people who have no belief in God.
Think you've confused yourself there.
a-the-ism, noun; the doctrine or belief that there is no God. ie. an active disbelief in any deity, so as much a belief itself as any deity-centric faith.
You can't be an atheist when you're born... you'd be a nontheist if anything. Can't really describe a baby as atheist, since it's too stupid to formulate any sort of relevant opinion.
Very good point, but I haven't confused myself, just used language sloppily. I don't actually like the term atheism as it implies exactly what you said, but is generally used to describe people who simply have no belief in God, for whatever reason, including an active disbelief- actually, I beilve 'anti-theist' is creeping into common use to describe those with an active disbelife or dislike. Like, I said, I don't like the term because it implies that one is defined by their non-belief.
So, yeah, sorry if I confused you- I maintain that by the broader definition, which is how I use the term, however incorrectly, everyone is an atheist at birth (like you said, a better term must be available) for exactly the reasons which you stated- kids can't form a reasonable, informed judgement and analysis of the evidence before them.