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Permalink Reply by Nelson on March 1, 2010 at 3:18pm

it's simple. if you don't believe in any gods then you're an atheist. it's less a commitment than it is a realization that there's just no evidence justifying a belief in the existence of gods. neither is it a commitment in the sense of committing to an ideology. atheism isn't an ideology. in saying "i'm an atheist" i am telling you nothing about what i believe. i'm merely giving you information about what i do not believe. finally, "commitment" might indicate an element of dogmatism, a refusal to change your mind; neither is atheism a commitment in this sense as if evidence turns up that justifies a belief in the god hypothesis an atheist, having no commitment in this last sense, would change their mind.

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Permalink Reply by Mario Rodgers on March 1, 2010 at 3:38pm

He could be an agnostic atheist.

When you(the original poster) reach this stage, it's time to do several litmus tests. You'll have to discover what the criteria for these tests are yourself. Being young, you're at an advantage because the spell of religion isn't as strong. My litmus test during my deconversion to atheism was testing the nature of prayer, like why it is so unreliable and erratic, and the nature of many of religion's followers.

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Permalink Reply by Nelson on March 1, 2010 at 3:43pm

my post describes an agnostic atheist. i chose to focus on the content rather than the terminology.
notice in my post i never described an atheist who claims to Know that gods absolutely do not exist, but only a person who lacks belief in gods.

i'm almost certain that if he is an atheist he's an agnostic atheist simply by virtue of my experience in meeting and talking to other atheists who are almost all agnostic atheists.

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Permalink Reply by wisp on March 1, 2010 at 3:41pm

As Nelson's said, being an atheist on its own isn't really a commitment to anything. There's no dogma to adhere to, no confirmation rites, or creeds that you must believe. It's simply a lack of belief in any gods, and you are free to change your mind if you discover some sort of evidence that convinces you that there really IS a god. Personally, I identify as an agnostic atheist; I think it's highly unlikely that any gods exist, but I don't have an absolute belief that gods are all false and I would reconsider if convincing evidence were to be produced.

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Permalink Reply by Mario Rodgers on March 1, 2010 at 3:51pm

Of course if evidence that gods exist really does pop up, you can still be an anti-theist.

Like "Why do I have to worship this jerk?" XD

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Permalink Reply by wisp on March 1, 2010 at 4:07pm

LOL. And if such a situation were to arise, it might or might not (but probably would) end with that very thought. XD

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Permalink Reply by Dave G on March 1, 2010 at 4:10pm

I once had a Christian ask me what would I need to believe that his God existed, and when I replied he then followed up with "So then you'd become a Christian?"

I replied with "No, I'd consider it my moral duty to oppose him, but I would at least believe he existed."

He looked rather stunned.

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Permalink Reply by Reggie on March 1, 2010 at 9:23pm

I'm with you on that one, Dave. I just wish I could have seen the look on that Christian's face. Not many ever consider that one might believe in God and think him evil.

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Permalink Reply by Doug Reardon on March 1, 2010 at 10:18pm

Some Gnostics believed that God was crazy.

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Permalink Reply by Dave G on March 1, 2010 at 4:02pm

Personally, I identify as an agnostic atheist; I think it's highly unlikely that any gods exist, but I don't have an absolute belief that gods are all false and I would reconsider if convincing evidence were to be produced.

Yeah, this. Very nicely stated, wisp.

George,

By stating that you are an atheist, all you are really 'committing' yourself to is that you don't have any belief in a deity. That's it. Whether or not you also subscribe to other things, such as skepticism, critical thinking, secular humanism, rationalism, philosophical materialism, and so forth is up to you and is separate from being an atheist, although they are often found together and in many cases being one (a skeptic or a critical thinker, for example) can lead one to the realization that there's no evidence for a deity.

As for what you'd be letting yourself in for, well, we do tend to get called names a lot by people who don't like the fact that we don't believe in their god of choice.

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Permalink Reply by wisp on March 1, 2010 at 4:09pm

Sadly I've found that in many cases, some of the most common misconceptions of atheists and what we "must" believe or disbelieve are propagated by other atheists. I haven't seen any of that round this community yet, and I hope it stays that way!

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Permalink Reply by Reggie on March 1, 2010 at 9:28pm

Yeah, we are pretty laid back for the most part. Of course, whenever the term "agnostic atheist" is being used, there is one guy here who always objects and argues ad nauseam that saying "agnostic atheist" is redundant.

I'm not going to name names or even describe the cute, puppy dog avatar of this person. I'm just saying, be on the look out. ;-)

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