What is an athiest?

A theist is a person who does believe that 'God exists' is true.
An atheist is a person who does believe that 'God exists' is false.
A non-theist is a person who does not believe that 'God exists' is true.
A non-atheist is a person who does not believe that 'God exists' is false.

Atheists are included in non-theists, but not all non-theists are atheists.

For example: a new born baby is a non-theist (and a non-atheist), but a baby cannot be an atheist.. nor can a baby be a theist.

I, a devout athiest, consider myself someone who rejects the belief of divinity based not on any certain beliefs or principals, but rather by considering basic logical thought and philosophy. I consider "god" an entity that is related to divinity. I consider "God" a Abrahamic school of thought that focuses on a singlar being that is coherant with the Trinity.

Your last line is something that most theists neglect to realize.

I would also like to add there are many things that theists do not believe in so in those cases they are atheists. For example if you are a christian, and you were asked, "Do you believe in the existence of Zeus?" If your answer is no, then you are atheist to the belief in Zeus.

So in a sense everyone is atheist or non-theists. You can go down the line of gods. This is something that most Christians also neglect to realize. They always assume when you talk about a god that you are referring directly to their god. But as as soon as you start to talk about other gods their eyes gloss over as if you are talking about something totally unrelated.

Most christians are atheists towards all other gods.

A theist is a person who does believe that 'God exists' is true.
An atheist is a person who does believe that 'God exists' is false.
A non-theist is a person who does not believe that 'God exists' is true.
A non-atheist is a person who does not believe that 'God exists' is false.

Atheists are included in non-theists, but not all non-theists are atheists.

For example: a new born baby is a non-theist (and a non-atheist), but a baby cannot be an atheist.. nor can a baby be a theist.

A new born baby is just as much a theist as a non-theist.
A baby does not yet know what to believe, does not enduce the baby does not believe.
Just as what a baby knows what to believe enduces belief.
How do you know what keeps a baby still and quite and contented is not a total trust and belief in something that they may as well call God for it is their universe and what not just controls them but that which allows them to live at all? Sorry, allows them to trust at all? Not to mention growth.
They dont know what they trust, they may know mother and they may know father, they dont know that their mother and father are not God.
Infact if you want to take it that step more, to believe in God no matter what age you are is total infanthood, is totally childhood, is totally contented, totally controled and totally controlable, and the better off for it.
Christ was a child, Christ is a child. (for instance)
This just means i can be a child also.
I never need to grow up.
I am even the better for being ungrown.
I can always trust everything.
I can be happy.
I can just know i am not alone.
How is any of this different to what a child holds?
The difference is we forget to believe,
we remember to forget to trust.
we forget to remember to believe.
We just are and we just live without fear.
We are innocent again always, we can breath and take milk.
We know why the fountains flow.
We can know our crying will be ceased,
else why cry in the first place? (crying is not just for last place)
Unless we believe we know we will be solved, soothed and sanctuaried.?
Unless we have faith we will be saved,
we are not chilren anymore.

So in a sense everyone is atheist or non-theists.

Part of my questioning is (and you illustrate it beautifully) can one be an athiest and hold any faith?
Is athiest the ultimate faithless?

"A new born baby is just as much a theist as a non-theist."

Nonsense, nobody can be theist and atheist about a particular god.

My question from that: how can one sustain faith in something one can't reliably test?

I thought we concluded that to be a thesit or athiest is non God specific.
It is the nature of thieism atheism to have faith and belief something does or does not exist, not what exists, not what does not exist, what is, what is not, what you live and what you live not. What you exist, what you exist not. All existance is belief, the practicing and the ignoring.

---------- Post added 03-14-2010 at 01:16 PM ----------


Your question has earned some time, it is a good question, i just dont have the time right now or its my patience acting up.
But will just quickly say you describe faith as an exersise, exorcise an exclusion.
What i am prposing is that faith is actually a natural reflex, we naturally believe, we naturally trust, we naturally concieve, but the world as we grow 'old' beats this sense out of us. Beats the very truth and sense we are all born with.
We cry to let it be known we need to be saved.
Why would we cry at all if we did not believe this bleeting will solve our comfort safety?
Why would we cry if we did not think someone might answer? someone might care for us?
We dont know what our parents are as much as what we do not know God is when we scream to heaven, but we will always expect an answer from God heaven or earth.
We naturally trust, we naturally are theists.
If Christ taught us nothing it is that any man can be God and any God a man.
Born to cry, born to answer the call.

So in a sense everyone is thiest or theist-non.

Why are you taking out of context what I was saying? You are not even backing what makes everyone a theist? Just because you say something it doesn't make it a factual statement. I proved my statement but where is yours? Otherwise you just sound silly.

A new born baby is just as much a theist as a non-theist.
A baby does not yet know what to believe, does not enduce the baby does not believe.
Just as what a baby knows what to believe enduces belief.
How do you know what keeps a baby still and quite and contented is not a total trust and belief in something that they may as well call God for it is their universe and what not just controls them but that which allows them to live at all? Sorry, allows them to trust at all? Not to mention growth.
They dont know what they trust, they may know mother and they may know father, they dont know that their mother and father are not God.
Infact if you want to take it that step more, to believe in God no matter what age you are is total infanthood, is totally childhood, is totally contented, totally controled and totally controlable, and the better off for it.
Christ was a child, Christ is a child. (for instance)
This just means i can be a child also.
I never need to grow up.
I am even the better for being ungrown.
I can always trust everything.
I can be happy.
I can just know i am not alone.
How is any of this different to what a child holds?
The difference is we forget to believe,
we remember to forget to trust.
we forget to remember to believe.
We just are and we just live without fear.
We are innocent again always, we can breath and take milk.
We know why the fountains flow.
We can know our crying will be ceased,
else why cry in the first place? (crying is not just for last place)
Unless we believe we know we will be solved, soothed and sanctuaried.?
Unless we have faith we will be saved,
we are not chilren anymore.

Think about that, a baby can be a thiest but certainly not athiest.

A theist is a person who does believe that 'God exists' is true.
An atheist is a person who does believe that 'God exists' is false.
A non-theist is a person who does not believe that 'God exists' is true.
A non-atheist is a person who does not believe that 'God exists' is false.

Atheists are included in non-theists, but not all non-theists are atheists.

For example: a new born baby is a non-theist (and a non-atheist), but a baby cannot be an atheist.. nor can a baby be a theist.

Part of my questioning is (and you illustrate it beautifully) can one be an athiest and hold any faith?
Is athiest the ultimate faithless?
You are a 'devout' athiest?
Please, please, please describe your devoutness?

Krumple i will respectfully disagree, because to me you have not proved a baby is non-theistic at least no more or less than theistic.

It is all about trust, trust is faith,

a baby does not know it is not God that answers just as it does not know it is God unanswering.

It sure is part of my belief, bu ti would say the same of you.
Both sides cannot be totaly discounted just as both cant be totaly reasoned.

We cant know what a baby does or does not hold faith in, what faith is even, but we can know that a baby is not conflicted, a baby doe snot have faith issues, it either has faith, which my point being is that to have faith in anything invisible is to have faith in the devine, God only come sinto it so much as to describe the blind faith one experiences when to doubt is only when doubt has been learned.

They have no way of distinguishing their parents are not God, but the trust and faith they hold is in my mind theistic.

Can you believe in something and not know what you are believing in?

Of course you can, all faith is unbelievable, it is the unbelievable believed.

Just because soemthing such as a parent is present and accountable doe snot mean what they are concieved as is any more or any the less thiestic and faithful.

It is about the invisible trust involved, God is not a requesite of theism, just as i would say Godless is not a requesite of atheism.

I see my flaw, but it is a mirrored flaw, if a theist has this then so does atheist, one will be the negative one the positive.

Thanks for your time, and i only mind if i am silly if you cant see the funny, which means i probably should be mindful, shouldn't i?
Shame i dont really want to care about this, but if it matters to you, it ought matter to me.