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Originally Posted by to_hobbes  Yeah, some atheists are like that. Some are not like that of course. I think the biggest problem with contemporary atheism is that it is considered by both religious people and self-proclaimed atheists to be "Anti-God". |
Hopefully the brights movement will take care of this issue and convince the atheists within their ranks to live and let live and to foster mutual respect. Thats what they state in their charter which is a good thing.
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I think of atheism not as anti-god, but as a philosophy that rationally explains away God. Atheism lacks belief, just like agnosticism. But many atheists don't even see it this way and they just throw themselves into the political muddle. They hate religion, confuse religion with a belief in God, and then pick the side that they perceive as anti-god and start fighting for their side. As a result, many political Christians make the claim that Atheism is a belief system. Technically it is not, but in reality atheism is something in which people believe.
I think thats a very good reason to call myself agnostic, so I can avoid fighting with people. I can only hope agnostics don't start behaving like those bad atheists, thinking of agnosticism as a belief system and all, but its bound to happen some day,  and then I'll have to find a new word to describe lack of belief.
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I disagree with you here somewhat. I see atheism as a belief system in a certain regard albeit slight. To categorically and completely dismiss the existence of God, universal conscious force or whatever you wish to call it is a belief in my book. There are too many unexplainable events out there to do this.
Agnosticism on the other hand can be described as a philosophy because it leaves the existence of such a force possible upon presentation of evidence.