by faithfulvisions freebagger on May 21st, 2007

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Is there a true atheist? What is the difference between an atheist and a non-believer?

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by Farino on May 31st, 2007
Not believeing isn't neccesarilly disbelieving. Just like: not bad isn't neccesarilly good. It's semantics. A non-believer has no belief but a disbeliever belives in the opposite. Yet another example: Someone that prefers beer (believer), someone that has no preference (non-believer) and someone that prefers not to have beer (disbeliever).
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- atheists dont disbelieve.
  
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  by 773491 on March 2nd, 2009
- That's the definition of 'atheism', "the belief that God does not exist."
  http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/atheism?view=uk
  
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  by Farino on March 2nd, 2009
- Well so much for the Oxford Dictionary of English. Just read the following analogy: Atheism is as much a believe as NOT collecting comics is a hobby.
  
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  by 773491 on March 3rd, 2009
- You're confusing 'belief' with 'religion'. "NOT collecting comics" is not a hobby like atheism is not a religion. Atheism is a belief not a religion.
  
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  by Farino on March 3rd, 2009
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by Mr. Meaulnes on May 21st, 2007
A true atheist is one who does not believe that God exists, whereas the term "Non-Believer" may vary depending apon which religious perspective is using it.

For example, to a Christian "Non-Believers" may include people who believe in god but do not adhere to their faith in terms of believing in Jesus and his supposed death on the cross.
A non-believer is a term that is often used slanderously to describe anyone who does not adhere to a certain faith, an can sometimes include people who do believe in god, but follow god through a different faith than the person who is using the term, whereas atheism is a more specific system of belief in and of itself.
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- Excellent answer.
  
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  by godma on May 22nd, 2007
- Thank you, I try.
  
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  by Mr. Meaulnes on May 22nd, 2007
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by lizvelrene on March 2nd, 2009
This is splitting hairs as far as I'm concerned.

There is no litmus test or set of beliefs you must adhere to, because atheism is not a religion. So no, there is no "true" atheist.

If you say you're an atheist, then you are. If you'd rather call yourself a non-believer, then that's what you are. I suppose you could come up with your own definitions of those things, but it doesn't mean someone with very different beliefs couldn't subscribe to those labels for very different reasons.

Putting strict categorizations and requirements to someone's personal beliefs is the domain of religion, which, y'know, is sort of what we're trying to avoid.
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by Aquatic Eagle on March 2nd, 2009
As Richard Dawkins would say, a true atheist is someone who knows that there is no God. Nobody knows that so...no.
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- I know there is a God.
  
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  by Buttercup on March 2nd, 2009
- Dawkins wouldn't say that. He classifies himself as a person who thinks that the chance that there is a God is so spectacularly small that it's not a possibility worth considering. As do I.
  
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  by FizzyFjord on March 2nd, 2009
- You have described his level 6.
  
  He would and did say that in his book "The God Delusion". I can't find a direct link right now but here is a link to a review of the book that discusses Dawkins' "seven levels of belief" in which he places himself on level 6; someone who has no doubt that God doesn't exist but acknowledges that he does not know for absolute sure because it's not possible to know that.
  http://www.theatheistconservative.com/pages/god-delusion-review
  
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  by Aquatic Eagle on March 2nd, 2009
- I can see that you have faith that there is a God Buttercup but how do you know for absolute sure that God exists outside of your faith?
  
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  by Aquatic Eagle on March 2nd, 2009
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by King Tom on March 2nd, 2009
There is no difference. An Atheist IS a non-believer
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- But is a non-believer always an atheist?
  
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  by Anonymous on March 2nd, 2009
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by FizzyFjord on March 2nd, 2009
If you don't believe in a god or gods, then you're a "true" atheist. That's all that the word "atheist" entails. There isn't a significant difference between an atheist and a nonbeliever except that the term nonbeliever could be applied to other things besides god.
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by Twisted Taco on March 2nd, 2009
An Atheist is an non-believer and vice versa. As for a true Atheist, suppose you give your definition of that is
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by Sympho de Proggy on March 2nd, 2009
non believers are how believers of a certain faith would describe anyone not of said faith.
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that group also include atheists, which are non believers for ALL faiths.
so i guess you could say all atheists are non believers but not all non believers are atheists.
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non belief is hypernymic to atheism
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by Friartuck on February 24th, 2009
A 'true' atheist simply does not believe any of our current gods exist. Their assumption is that there is no god until it is firmly established that there is one.
"Non-believer" is a term that can be used by a muslim to describe a hindu, or a christian to describe a taoist and so on. "You don't believe what I do? You're a non-believer...". A non-believer may have a god or gods of his own - he just doesn't believe in yours.
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by Buttercup on March 2nd, 2009
It's the same thing.
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by mac on March 2nd, 2009
They don't believe they're an atheist.
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Is there a true atheist? What is the difference between an atheist and a non-believer?

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