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Quote by: Jack  How so? Atheism is a statement of disbelief, specifically in the existence of gods. It does not state or infer what an atheist does believe. An atheist can be a "new-ager", think crystals have a life force, that we're the spawn of aliens... There's no dogma for atheists to follow that dictates what they will believe. |
Excuse me, but I was talking specifically about people who self-identify as atheists. I'm rather skeptical there could be very many such people who also believe in a "spirit or life force." And if there truly is no "dogma," idea or doctrine commonly held among atheists, then there is little point in speaking of a category of people called atheists.
It simply isn't reasonable to speak of someone who believes in a "spirit or life force" as an atheist. When someone does, the nasty suspicion arises that he is trying to "win by definition," i.e. arbitrarily redefining terms to suit himself.
Do you really find this sort of endless nitpicking and quibbling interesting? I find it a waste of time.