Quote:
Originally Posted by Chill Cosby
Agreed. A belief system does not concern itself with faith, it CAN be religious in nature, but it can also be philosophical, or concerned simply with ideas. It's a set of beliefs followed by a community. Denying that Atheism is a belief system just sounds like "Belief? That's icky!" To me.
I think the same can be said of both. If God came down and proved his existence, wouldn't most people, regardless of Atheism or Agonisticism or religions where God wasn't a factor, believe then in God? In much the same, if Science ultimately showed that God was an impossibility by giving un-refutable proof, don't you think those who believe in him who cease?
Both are likely impossible, and certainly won't happen in out lifetime, but things change. Only once God himself appears in an undeniable way, or all that is unknown to us becomes known, will one side cease to have reason for being.
I don't know if I care for the idea that Atheists would believe in God if there was proof of God, because I think the same could be said about Christians if there was proof of no-God.
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I disagree with your assertion that Atheism is a "belief system". I agree that atheists "believe" there is no god, but that doesn't make it a "belief system" any more than believing that "blue is a cool color" is a belief system.
Religions are belief systems because they are a set of core beliefs that influence further beliefs. For example, many people think homosexuality is a sin because of their religious belief system. While this view about homosexuality is a belief, I don't think you could call it a "belief system".
Not believing in a god is a "belief" that comes from a "belief system" that holds the core belief that you shouldn't take things on faith without some imperical evidence to back it up. Not believing in a god does not have an overriding influence on your life in anyway near the same way that believing in a god seems to have. I contend that very few (if any) atheists let the writings of Russell, Higgins, Dawkins, etc. influence their lives in the same way that a great number of religios people do with the bible.