I see no reason to think atheism is a choice. First, I'm a determinist so I see no reason to entertain the idea of a choice. Second, the majority of dictionary [1] and encyclopedias [2] I'm familiar with saying about choice, either as a product of genuine free-will or the product of a deterministic illusion, as being a qualifier, or requirement, for atheism.
As for the distinction between "absence of belief" and "belief in absence," the distinction is a valid one. The reason is simple. One cannot deduce from someone not accepting the truth of a proposition that the person holds the contrary proposition to be true. This is the "with us or against us," or false dilemma, logical fallacy. They might not accept the proposition as true because they are skeptical--undecided--withholding belief. The conclusion that someone holds the contrary proposition to be true doesn't necessarily follow from the premise. Another way of stating this is that "absence of belief" includes an aspect of neutrality (N) that "belief of absence" does not (Not-N). To argue that N and Not-N are the same is to argue that the law of noncontradiction is false. What would be sophomoric is arguing against the law of noncontradiction.
[1] A Biblical and Theological Dictionary (1856); Webster's International Dictionary of the English Language (1903); Everybody's Dictionary (1912); Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913); The New Century Dictionary (1927); Wester’s 20th Century Dictionary (1933); Webster's Encyclopedic Dictionary (1942); Webster's New Twentieth Century Dictionary (1943); The Winston Dictionary (1943); Funk & Wagnalls New Standard Dictionary of the English Language (1947); Webster's Unabridged Encyclopedic Dictionary (1957); Funk & Wagnalls Standard Desk Dictionary (1980); New Dictionary of Religions (1995); The HarperCollins Dictionary of Religion (1995); Canadian Oxford Dictionary (2001); Microsoft Encarta 2008 Dictionary (2007); Oxford English Dictionary (2007); Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged (2007); Yourdictionary.com (2007); Dictionary.com (2007); Dict.org (2007); M-W.com (2007).
[2] The Encyclopedia of Unbelief (1985); Encyclopedia of American Religious History (2001); Encyclopaedia of the Social Sciences (2006); Microsoft Encarta 2008 Encyclopedia (2007). |