Quote:
Originally Posted by photon
I think your first sentence is spot on.. atheist means someone someone does not believe in God full stop.
Saying atheism is a belief system is like saying not believing in unicorns is a belief system.
Now a lot of atheists MAY share a belief system, but it is not necessarily so.
It's amusing that atheists are accused of generalizations, then they are all generalized to share a belief system when there's nothing about a belief system in atheism (Christianity claims to be one therefore it can be discussed as one).
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Atheist thought does not simply exist in a vacuum free of framework or philosophy. There are certain philosophical milestones that make up an atheist's cognitive structure. I call that a belief. Now I accept that there is a wide variation among atheists, but in someway, atheists themselves are responsible for their own generalization. It'd be interesting to hear a more detailed description from atheists as to why they are atheists and how this fits into society. Darwin and astrophysics don't count for everything.
Actually, one of the things that I find most interesting among some atheists on this board is the way they capitalize "S"cience or the way they speak about science as if it is a stand-alone institution instead of a tool for discovery. Reminds me of positivism and Auguste Comte.