Faith of an atheist.

@HiImDan Said

An atheist believes in what he cannot prove-there is no God, just like I believe in something I cannot prove-there is a God, so yes, an atheist has faith.

*edit:I just read the above post, sounds like yuh beat me to the punch

@annski729 Said

You can't prove that something *doesn't* exist. If we're operating from an evidence based approach, the burden of proof is on the side that claims the object in question exists.

The typical atheist lacks belief in god because he has searched for evidence and has found none. The typical theist believes in god because he doesn't think he needs evidence when he has strong faith.

@davii Said

From Wiki:

"Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities.[1] In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities.[2][3] Most inclusively, atheism is simply the absence of belief that any deities exist.[3][4] Atheism is contrasted with theism,[5][6] which in its most general form is the belief that at least one deity exists,[6][7] and with agnosticism, which leaves the matter of existence open.[8]"

@Glenn Said

Agreed ... Now does an atheist have faith or not?

@davii Said

Keeping the Wiki trend going:

"Faith is confidence or trust in a person or thing, or a belief that is not based on proof."

@annski729 Said

The typical atheist lacks belief in god because he has searched for evidence and has found none. The typical theist believes in god because he doesn't think he needs evidence when he has strong faith.

@Electric_Banana Said

Benefit of the doubt.

Innocent until proven guilty.

@bob_the_fisherman Said

I would say you are wrong on both counts here. It is true that some atheists have a legitimate reason for being atheist - at the lower end of science there is certainly an abundance of them. Their reasons may be poor when investigated, but, nonetheless it is a reason of some kind.

However, the average person is just living their life, whether they claim to be a theist or atheist, and put little thought into the matter of gods. For many atheists, their reason for atheism seems to be based on certain false assumptions, for example;

1. Science is the path to truth (which of course, it is not, science is a methodology).

2. Scientists are atheists, and so a belief in a God is not rational. This is, of course, false, as anyone who works with actual scientists - chemists, geneticists etc., will happily tell you.

3. Science has disproven God. Obviously, this is false, as proving the non-existence of a being is at the very least a virtual impossibility.

4. Science has explained a rational universe not requiring a god. This is the most laughably false of all assumptions. Apart from the fact that a materialistic universe magically popped into existence when nothing happened to nothing, nowhere, at no point in time, science has no part to play in stating the "why" of a fact, only the what of facts (it is quantitative, not qualitative in other words). So, science can tell us that certain laws exist, but not why.

A lot of people who turn from atheism to theism, generally do so after having put some thought into the matter, and drawing the conclusion, based on evidence and perception, that that evidence points to the existence of a god. Doubtless they still have their assumptions, and, the fact that people convert to incompatible religious beliefs shows that reason alone, is not guaranteed to lead anyone to truth. In that, theists and atheists are alike.