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Nobody is born as religious or as an atheist. Traditional influences make a person a religious person. Non-tradional thinking makes one an atheist. That what I mean to say.

No, atheism is the default position since it is a lack of belief in a deity. A positive belief such as naturalism or theism is something that can be acquired, but it is not something intrinsic in humans. 

Children have a tendency to see purpose in objects that you and I perhaps would not, a rock is for a cow to rub against, a tree is for protection from the rain. If anything children seem to be animistic in nature, perhaps one of the many reasons why children are not considered to be mature and capable of making informed decisions is because they are basically insane.

They just cannot grasp reality until a certain age, they can be incredibly naive as well. That's why they need supervision and protection.

Anyway, there are many ways to become a theist or atheist, but they are different things all together and they do not compare well. Atheism does not hold any positive statement or affirmation of a belief, it is simply a lack of belief in a deity, religion on the other hand is a positive statement that contains statements about reality.

Although a lot of people think that atheism is a belief, it is not. If you're an atheist it means that you have other, positive beliefs such as my belief in scientific materialism (FTW!). From that positive belief flows that I am not convinced of theism's statement that there is a god. 

Not trying to only argue semantics here, but I do believe that a distinction is in order.

Yes, you said it better than I did Rob. "Atheism is the default position...".  Exactly.  Atheism is NOT a belief.  It's a lack of belief, and kids aren't born believing in any deity.


Rob van Senten

I beg to differ with you. Belief in god and religion  can be accepted withot knowledge but that is not the case with atheism. Athiesm can not be ignorance, atheism means that we know why there is no god. I do not accept that an ignorent child is an atheist. If we accept this, then the difinition of atheism has to be altered.

John D






Rob van Senten








Rob van Senten

There appear to be two different interpretations here.  










Physics and its laws are only thins that exist



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