WJ

...and as such, does not prove that which it is intended to prove, by asserting/conferring this belief system onto others.

(* This is what has been said by some atheist's on this board.)

true or false?

Walrus

BibleBelted

Whatever

Indifference

Well, if it is a default position, it's not trying to prove anything anyway.

free12thinker

Atheism is a default system? By default do you mean that if we don't believe in a deity, than we are Atheists by default? Well...let's look into this for just a sec.

If I am horrified of closed spaces, I am claustrophobic by default. (No: I am claustrophobic by definition)
If I have an income of 5 million dollars a year than I am a millionairre by default. (No: I am a millionairre by definition)
If I believe in a deity, than I am a theist by default. (No: I am a theist by definition)
If I don't believe in a deity, than I am atheist by default. (No: I am an atheist by definition)

Have I helped you understand better? A default position is a position taken when there is more than one viable option and the decision is tough to make.

We don't find it tough. There isn't doubt. If there was, we'd be agnostic. And actually, we're not intending or trying to prove anything. What is there to prove, which was never there to verify? I wouldn't try and prove to someone that Michael Jordan was my daughter because there's no logic to draw a single parallel.

You've hopped from post to post, and everyone has given up on you. You offer no reasonable justification for anything you've argued.

Chrestomathy

WJ-style posting:

...humba Wittgenstein Buber exists/not as gardener?

(Walrus channeling Fungi of Yuggoth?)

Hans

WJ

Atheism is purely a default position and as such does not attempt to prove anything when conferring this lack of belief to others.

Lack of belief is not an assertion.

Satan Oscillate My Metallic Sonatas

...as is a-math-ism and a-logic-ism.


Yet this does not imply that math and logic are A-false or B-unuseful.

Satan Oscillate My Metallic Sonatas

MadMordigan

Yet this does not imply that math and logic are A-false or B-unuseful.

True enough. But both of these concepts make predictable claims about the emperical world. This is how we tell the bullshit from the buckwheat in our lives.

Foxhole Atheist

A default position is that position taken as an initial position prior to any other options being available or presented.

When we are born, we have no belief system whatsoever. The only form of a system may be the comfort attained by a newborn with the continued, rhythmic beating of the mother’s heart. In the absence of all other sensory input, the heartbeat is a known condition upon which all the experience of the newborn has shown to be free from discomfort. Of course, there are exceptions. But, we’re considering the norm here.

When we are born, we have no understanding of religion or gods. These concepts are instilled in our minds by others during the maturation process. Some of us accept these concepts completely while others do not. To get into how this conditioning occurs in the young mind is a whole ‘nother topic. I’m sure someone may be willing to pick that topic up in another thread.

Atheism is not a proof to be offered vis a vis, the existence of a god. It is simply a non-belief in a deity; any deity. In this sense, I believe it is the “default” position that we all come into the world with.

BibleBelted, you seem bored. Or, perhaps you’ve heard it all before. In any event, your comment is well taken.

The Dark Lord

I think what is meant by atheism is a default position is that someone will be atheist until religion is forced into his/her mind.

[ June 05, 2002: Message edited by: The Dark Lord ]</p>