I was born an atheist. Then I heard about all the claims for the existence of God. I studied religion, science, and philosophy.

I am still an atheist.

Thank you.

“In short, you seem to be confusing (i) what it actually takes to count as an ‘atheist’, with (ii) your ideal image of what an atheist should be like.”

I wholeheartedly agree and think that’s exactly what’s going on.

Imagine an unthinking person brainwashed by atheist parents into being a doctrinaire atheist, and who is unable to provide an explanation for any of the things you mention. Evidently your view is that this person is not an atheist. But obviously they are.

In short, you seem to be confusing (i) what it actually takes to count as an ‘atheist’, with (ii) your ideal image of what an atheist should be like.

“Do you realize that some people are actually atheists because they are just too ignorant and/or lazy to even deal with the issue of theism?”

I prefer to call these people apathists.

My distinction between the multiple forms that non-belief can take was designed to highlight why the statement “Everyone is born an atheist” is such a poor argument from a logical perspective. It deliberately conflates two different forms of non-belief which should be kept quite distinct.

It’s not someone’s ‘atheism’ that causes them to reject a given belief claim, but rather their ability to think critically and examine evidence. Atheism is not a belief, set of beliefs, state of mind, way of thinking, etc etc etc. It is a rejection of a specific belief claim that a god exists, based either on the person’s ability to think critically, or it could even be based on the person’s outright ignorance.

Do you realize that some people are actually atheists because they are just too ignorant and/or lazy to even deal with the issue of theism? By definition, they are atheists because they do not believe in god, but these people are by no stretch of the imagination free thinkers or intellectuals in any sense of the word. I would think associating yourself with these types of people does you no more good than the people you are trying to distance yourself from with your other post.

I just think that if we must label these people you’re talking about, it would better serve you to call them free thinkers, rather than atheists. Atheists come in all ranges of intellect and philosophical interest, but we can at least say with more certainty that free thinkers are the ones that actively challenge our animist intuitions.

Your whole point of saying no one is born an atheist is because you think it does the word ‘atheist’ a disservice since you say it is our atheism that serves to challenge our natural animist instincts. I’m suggesting that it’s not our ‘atheism’ that does this but rather our ability to think critically, which only LEADS to our atheism, but it has nothing to do with our atheism to begin with.

Atheism is not what makes someone think a certain way, but rather the result of an intellectual inquiry (or, as I said, in some cases outright ignorance).

Not everyone is born a free thinker, and I think this is more to your point. I just think you’re incorrectly equating free thinker with atheist, when they are not necessarily synonyms. As I have pointed out, one can certainly be an atheist, but not a critical thinker at the same time. I think based solely on definition, we are in fact all born without the belief in god…the same way we were born without the belief in santa claus…..but we’re not all born with the ability to think critically.

Again, this is why I tend to stay away from labels because they cause this kind of confusion were everyone starts attributing their own meaning to each label. Atheism is nothing more and nothing less than non-belief in a diety.

I personally don’t think it does the word atheism a disservice to suggest that everyone is born one. I happen to think you’re ascribing your own definition to the word, which is why you’re drawing the conclusions you are, but based purely on its definition of lack of belief in god, we are in fact all born without that belief in god.