Religion Becomes Extinct in Several Countires

I think they are arguing from the position that atheism doesn't have to have an ontological basis. People that have never come into contact with the idea of God or gods or haven't given it much or any thought are also atheists.

 

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And you are trying to suggest that they can make that comment without having recourse to contextualizing the claims of others?

 

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then they have no position to state what is real or what isn't

people that have never come into contact with the subject are certainly not in the same category as persons who have thought poorly about a subject

 

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Which bit of my post did you not understand?
Or maybe you're just playing with the meaning of contextualise

"I believe in god" had much the same result on me as "I think XXX is the best footballer in the world", for many years.

 

And you can't make a claim like that without an ontological basis.

 

A lot. (Provided, of course, that you aren't one of the original Pirahas or weren't raised by wolves.)

IOW, you have plenty of reasons, and which you believe are good reasons, for "lacking belief in God".

 

which part of the post did you not understand?

Now compare "I think XXX exists" with "I don't believe you" and try and explain how the second person can make that comment without having recourse to contextualizing the statement (ie placing the other's statement in a context that radically changes its appeal to a claim about reality)

 

Wrong again.

Compare "I think (believe) XXX exists" with "I don't".

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The thing is that if you looked deeper, you would find reasons for this "I don't".

 

No. I've already explained this to you.
Why does one need to justify a lack of belief?
The belief is absent. It isn't there. There is no belief. :shrug:

 

The fact is that you barely engage in debates on who the best footballer is, right?
But you talk a lot about belief in God!

IOW, the God issue is not a neutral one for you.
There are values and beliefs underlying your involvement in these discussions.
We want to know what these values and beliefs are.

 

For the same reason I don't like the taste of oranges?
It's part of my body chemistry?

 

Oops, wrong.
In my late teens and early twenties ALL of my best friends, the crowd I went out with on weekends, were avid fans. But, unlike here on Sci, they never tried to inject football into science discussions.

Yep. I got dragged in. (See above).

Not now. But for decades it was.

Reasons for my involvement? I find it fascinating the way some theists try to justify their belief, recourse to science (and ignoring the bits that don't suit), sheer (apparently) fantasy in at least one case, and I'm learning things. About me as much as anything else.

 

Well, they don't.. :shrug:

Sure they are, they are all atheists.

 

So a feral child ... is in the same category as Richard Dawkins ...
Ah!

 

They both lack belief in God. So, in that respect, yes.

 

And you think that the way they have arrived at this lack of belief in God, and their claims that contextualize their lack of belief in God - do not matter, make no difference to their atheism?

 

It may matter but not 'to their atheism'.

 

I think you are rather secretive.

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You'll need to tell us more, either in a personalized way (ie. telling about your thoughts, feelings and experiences) or in an abstract way (ie. providing a detailed philosophical account of your stance).

 

So you're saying that they are both content in their beliefs, whatever they are, and we should respect that, and it is taboo to question people's motivations for their beliefs?