Do Atheists have faith ?

1. 65

   MartinKingposted 8 years ago

   Do Atheists have faith ?
   
   If I had a nickel for every time someone told me that atheists have faith, too, I could quit my day job.  Okay, so maybe that’s an exaggeration but I probably could at least afford a pretty decent steak dinner.  It’s very frustrating to hear and it’s not for the reason the person saying it thinks it is.  This assertion doesn’t irritate me because it’s clever or insightful; it irritates me because it’s nowhere near as clever or as insightful as it sounds.  In fact, it’s a logical fallacy called equivocation.

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2. 61

   Adam Harkusposted 8 years ago

   According to google....
   
   Atheism is "a belief that there is no God" or "a lack of belief in gods"..
   
   'Faith'... "strong belief in the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual conviction rather than proof."
   
   So in answer to your question, yes, it's possible for an atheist to have faith, as long as the religion has no God.

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3. 84

   Annsaloposted 8 years ago

   "strong belief in God or in the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual apprehension rather than proof." is only one definition of the noun "Faith". The other definition though is "complete trust or confidence in someone or something".
   
   So yes an atheist can have faith. I have faith in my husband and my children. I have faith in the majority of humanity. However that faith is not blind faith like the first listed definition. My faith in my husband is based on past experience. That faith was earned. I have faith that he will not violate our marriage. My faith is based off the fact he has had opportunities and chose to do the right thing.
   
   Faith is not just for religious people. Faith can be based on proved results according to the definition because most people trust someone in their lives based on their behavior. Faith can have nothing to do with any of the believed gods. Only half of the definition has to do with religion.

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   1. 61

      Adam Harkusposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      I'm presuming the original post was regarding the religious definition of faith.........

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   2. 65

      MartinKingposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      So we can say that faith in all things leads to the faith in GOD ?

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   3. 61

      Adam Harkusposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      not really

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   4. 84

      Annsaloposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      No faith can have nothing to do with any of the believed gods. I have faith in my husband, it will NOT lead to any faith in any of the thousands of god options.

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      Adam Harkusposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      There's a difference between having faith in someone you love and trust, and having blind faith in a God nobody has ever met in the history of mankind.

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      Annsaloposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Yes there is a difference. Which is why it annoys me when religious people assume the word faith is isolated to their religions.

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      Adam Harkusposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      In fairness I think Martin was referring to the religious meaning of faith though, not to be too pedantic.

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   8. 84

      Annsaloposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Yes, probably, and if he would have asked "Do atheist have religious faith" I likely would have ignored his question and not answered.

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4. 86

   tamarawilhiteposted 8 years ago

   There are atheists who have faith in scientism, assuming science can answer everything from "what wine tastes best" to "what is our purpose in life".
   There's a great TED talk on that.
   
   I've also talked to atheists who believe in the singularity. There is no God, but they'll create an all knowing, all seeing, benevolent AI to manage everything and tell us what to do for our own good. There is no afterlife, but we'll gain the ability to upload our minds to a digital heaven and gain immortality. And none of them seem to realize the irony of the belief in the singularity as a surrogate for religion.

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      Adam Harkusposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      I see what you've done there, trying to turn the argument against religion on it's head to use against an argument against anti-religion. What's interesting is the way the religious tend to force their belief onto others. Always have, always will.

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5. 60

   Link10103posted 8 years ago

   Do atheists have faith in the religious context of the word? Clearly not...
   
   Just about anyone I see saying that atheists have faith mean the religious context, yet will use completely different scenarios/contexts and act as if it was a "gotcha" thing.
   
   Blatant dishonesty can be fun to deal with sometimes...ish.

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   1. 61

      Adam Harkusposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Agreed.....
      Am I an Atheist?.... Yes.
      Do I have 'faith' .... Of course not.   (I do have 'faith' in my wife though, but obviously that's different in this context).

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6. 79

   junksellerposted 8 years ago

   I have absolute and complete faith that your god is imaginary.

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7. 85

   gmwilliamsposted 8 years ago

   
   
   Atheists contend that there isn't a God.  They are rationalists &/or empiricists.  To atheists, there must be substantial evidence before they believe something.  Atheists are analysts & use inductive & deductive logic in their approach to life.  They refuse to believe things because of pure surmising. To surmise something is the height of illogicality to the atheist mind.
   
   Atheist find the subject of faith to be the pure conjecture of a naïve child.  They believe that intelligent people should never base anything on faith.  They assert that everything must have logical & empiric proof.  To say that something exists with no basis in empirical proof is viewed as somewhat fantastical by the atheist.  They may even view people who base things on religion & faith to be immature, even quite deluded.

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   1. 61

      Adam Harkusposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Lets not get carried away here. Athiests simply don't believe in God. That doesn't make them completely close minded. For example I've always believed there is alien life despite lack of evidemce. This 'belief' is based purely on probability.

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