Faithless Atheism

[naomi24]

Twice in recent days there have been posts relating to the erroneous concept that Atheism is a faith. Can someone please tell me what atheists are presumed to have faith in?

[DTCwordfan]

And I too will say Goodnight to All - Faithful or Unfaithful!

[naomi24]

Teddio, I think you're probably right in that some people of religion consider atheists to be heathen. Strictly speaking they'd be wrong though because whilst heathens do not believe in the God of Abraham, they often believe in other gods or practices. Atheists on the other hand, have no faith whatsoever.

DT, I think your angle on this is detracting from the question, so we'll have to agree to disagree. Faith in oneself can hardly be described as a religion - and religion is what we're talking about. The point is I haven't asked for opinions on the various definitions of the word 'faith', but on what people who consider atheism to be a faith, the God Delusion to be a bible, and Richard Dawkins to be a priest, imagine atheists have faith in. Nevertheless, I thank you very much for your input.

[sandyRoe]

"The longer he talked of his honour, the harder we counted the spoons."
Something to ponder.
I'm off to Mass.

[jd_1984]

Depends in what context you are defining faith?

•religion: a strong belief in a supernatural power or powers that control human destiny
•religion: an institution to express belief in a divine power
•complete confidence in a person or plan etc
•loyalty or allegiance to a cause or a person

[jd_1984]

Sorry, DTcrosswordfan posted similar earlier in thread.....

[naomi24]

Sandy, yes indeed. Bless you my son. :o)

jd, thanks, but I think the context in which we are discussing the word 'faith' has now been established - well, I hope so. :o)

[jd_1984]

Yes, upon further reading and seeing how the post progressed, my post was a little irrelevant! If you type "Is atheism a faith?" in to Google, there is quite a lot of literature that you can browse which may help you draw some conclusions.

[naomi24]

Thanks jd, but I would really like the people here who have actually declared that atheism is a faith to answer the question. Unfortunately they are conspicous by their absence. No surprise there then. :o)

[123everton]

To be fair, I think the individual concerned has English as a second language, I imagine that the word he was looking for was 'belief'.
Cue a long and tedious argument on definition....

[naomi24]

Despite giving no answer to the question, the wooden spoon tonight goes yet again to............drum roll............ Everton!! And well deserved it is too! Congratulations Everton!!

[jomifl]

As an atheist I have faith in the notion that it is pointless to discuss religion using logic. Far better to have faith in the fact that believers will believe almost anything that they are told to believe as long as it isn't an atheist that tells them.

[Nadis]

Is belief considered to be faith or vice versa?
Take away the religious connection and to believe in one thing doesn't really make that much difference to not believing because the non-belief then becomes a belief.
Add religion and that's a different story altogether.
Is atheism a religion? Not in a go to church fashion but a strong base for debate with the religious.