Are Babies Atheists?

One argument that I see some atheists bring up is that all babies are atheists because they lack belief in God. and then that argument also actually contributes to atheists saying that Atheism is the default position. Is this coherent?

 

I don't think so. That's true that there are absence of belief in God. But atheists are not babies, they are not innocent like babies, they based their belief on reasons. And they have to capacity and deliberately hold what they believe in.

 

In a technical sense, yes, babies are born without any knowledge or any belief in whichever God, this is why some account that all people were born as Atheists. Parents then teach them about whatever religion and God that they have in order for them to be a believer or an adherent. One example of a child officially being part of a religion would be through Baptism which is a rite of admission by Christians.

 

The biggest problem with that argument is that atheists are conveniently leaving out the deciding factor which is the lack of a decision being made. You can't actually be considered anything unless you have made a decision one way or another. Babies are simply ignorant and have made no decision in either direction making them absolutely nothing except a human.

 

interesting! babies and atheism discussion
[video=youtube_share;ICJ9Xp07HKc]http://youtu.be/ICJ9Xp07HKc[/video]

 

The teaching of god or any religion should be considered Child Abuse, because it disrupts the child's mental development by being persuaded that fairy tales are real.

 

No, but they are nutritious food for atheists:
http://debunkingatheists.blogspot.com/2008/07/atheists-eat-babies.html

 

How can you asked some question like that, but it's really interesting question. I think babies didn't have a choice to be atheists, theists or dheists...

 

You and your shitty blog..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_libel

Get a life..

 

Atheism has nothing to do with decisions, it's SOLELY "lack of belief in any god or gods" (theism = belief in one or more gods, the "a" prefix means "without", so atheism means "without belief in any god or gods" - and not a thing more), and both babies and chairs qualify.

It's when people can't stand to lose an argument that they start redefining words in order that their viewpoint should be correct. (Another name for that is "desperation".)

So yes, babies, chairs, trees and people who don't believe in any god are all atheistic. Is it coherent? Of course. Is atheism the default position? Belief in the objective existence of something for which there's never been the slightest shred of objective evidence certainly isn't. ("I can't see how ..." isn't objective evidence of any god.)

 

Babies are not yet matured so cant be use to judge

 

Saying a baby does not believe in god does not mean you are making up its mind or disrespecting it or forcing it to a side - it is factual. "To be an atheist or a theist, means that you are able to make and have made either a conscious choice" (imho)

 

Dear Rukbat,

You are good at sounding smart, but all in all your whole argument describes you because that is not the definition of an atheist. Look it up.

atheist - a person who denies or disbelieves the existence of a supreme being or beings.

Babies are nothing but human as I said before. They don't actually disbelieve anything. That requires a decision. I am not desperate to win this argument just want the facts to be straight since this is really not an opinion and could be ended right here.

 

What does that make someone for example who has never heard of god but they aren't a baby? (Just for example) What would that make that person?

 

I think such a person would not be theist, or atheist. until he/she does answer the question if he/she believes in God.

 

They're not atheist , they simply don't have a position on the matter because they haven't developed the intellectual capacity . On a similar note you can ask :
Are babies without political affiliation ? Are babies stupid ? Are babies non-vegans ? Are babies jobless ? .... and the list can go on and on .

The correct answer to this question is simple : NO . They aren't atheist , just how they aren't stupid , without a political affiliation , vegans or jobless .

 

but they are about the same in terms of ignorance and brain functionality.

 

The answer to the question is No. An atheist is someone that firmly believes there is no god. An agnostic is someone that hasn't decided one way or another. I think the more important question is to ask whether babies are born with any unconscious connection to a higher being (as religions argue).

 

Babies are momtheists. Later on this figure typically gets replaced with the concept of God.

 

Why do you think some people always try to teach them about God as soon as possible, in some places there is a subject about God in schools. Because, being on their own, they could come up with something that priests wouldnt like to hear.