Forum Discussion: Strong vs. Weak Atheism
The catagorization of strong vs. weak atheism is destructive and should be dropped. Under it most atheists are WEAK atheists. Are YOU a WEAK atheist? Do you want to be called a WEAK atheist? Is an atheist who can logically defeat all theist arguments a WEAK atheist? The catagorization just feeds religious stereotypes and prejudices about atheists. The catagorization does not in itself convey what it describes.
Atheists should just go by the meaning of the words that are used. Gnostic means knowledge. A-gnostic means not knowledge. Theist means godist. A-theist means not godist (i.e. nonbeliever). An agnostic atheists does not know whether there is a god and does not believe that there is a god. A gnostic atheist knows that there is no god and does not believe that there is a god. It is just a matter of knowledge and belief, not strong or WEAK.
It's true that someone could try to treat "weak atheism" as saying something about an atheist's character, but that would ultimately say far more about that theist than it would about any atheist. At the same time, though, this wouldn't help much if the label is inhibiting communication — and it's also possible that the label might still be having an unconscious impact, even if no one actually tries to use it for ad hominems.
On the other hand, just how much success have others had in adopting new labels for themselves simply because the old labels have acquired negative connotations among those who already dislike the group in question? I can't think of any examples, and since so many people have so many negative feelings towards atheists, why not just change that term as well? Some do argue for dropping the "atheist" label and replace it with something else, but they can't offer any evidence that it would change or improve anything. Is there a good reason to think that dropping the "weak atheist" label would accomplish more?
I don't personally use the "weak atheist" label much anyway because I find "agnostic atheist" to be more descriptive. What do you think, though? What labels do you use? Add your thoughts to the comments here or join the ongoing discussion in the forum.
Comments
Personally instead of weak atheism, I use the term default atheism. It has the same meaning as weak atheism or agnostic atheism. Since it is a position which all god doubters (whether they think god does not exist, or there is simply no evidence for god) can agree, it is the default position.
I don’t mind weak atheist. It’s important to point out that the whole weak atheist/strong atheist/agnostic atheist thing is really just quibbling over details. When you’re asked the question “do you believe in any gods” They’re just different ways to answer “no”.
I think it’s always worth mentioning that the whole discussion would be rendered utterly irrelevant the second compelling evidence or arguments for the existence of any god or gods was presented.
We’re still waiting.
weak is not an offensive term.
but agnostic atheist is more easily discernible, especially if you are interested in etymology etc.
using the modifier weak is unintentionally confusing. in my opinion.
i prefer explicit/implicit.
And no, i don’t want to be labeled as a weak anything.
As Todd does, I prefer explicit/implicit.
On a personal note, even though I cannot “prove” the non-existence of gods, I am 99.9999999999999+ percent sure that there is no concrete evidence for the existence of such. To me, that is close enough to 100% to justify my “explicit” atheistic position.
Hi forum users and readers I hope you can solve a stupid problem with my computer
Im getting a lot of popups when Im browsing the internet, sometimes even when Im not at the computer, I leave it on for
an hour and when I get back I have 2-3 popups that have appeared from nowhere. How can I remove this? Im really not intrested
in finding adult friends or downloading a new screen saver
Please help me, Im kind of low on budget and wouldnt like to take the computer to an expert and pay a lot of cash for it, all the ideas are welcome
and I will definetly try them! Hope to hear from you soon!