Posted by:
Finally Free!
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Date: December 09, 2011 12:41PM
Your question, "If I believe in Elohim, but i "assert that no [other] god or gods exist," am I an atheist?" is being seen as a trap. The simple answer "yes" is too simple, because it appears that you are trying to equate a sub-group "antitheist" to the main group "atheists". "Antitheists" are part of the larger group "atheist" by definition, as Kolobian states, "In order to assert that no gods exist you must necessarily lack a belief in those gods."
Lets break down your question:
- "If I believe in Elohim" - Then you are a theist, you believe in a "God", specifically the Mormon God "Elohim", supposedly the same god of all Christians, according to the Mormons.
- "but i 'assert that no [other] god or gods exist,'" - Then, in addition to being a theist, you are also antitheist, you "assert" something, this is active, it is "anti".
- "am I an atheist?" - Yes, for two reasons, and no for another... Yes because you don't believe in any god other than "Elohim", so you are atheistic in regards to any other "God" out there, Zeus for example. The second why is because you can not assert that no other gods exist unless you don't believe in them. No, because you do believe in a God, so you are both an atheist in regards to all other gods and a theist in regards to "Elohim".
If you changed your question to, "If I believe in Elohim, but i 'assert that no [other] god or gods exist,' am I an antitheist?" There is a cut and dry answer "Yes, anyone who asserts one or more god does not exist is an antitheist"
If you changed it another way to "If I believe in Elohim, but i "lack a belief in any [other] god or gods," am I an atheist?" You also get a cut and dry answer "Yes, anyone who lacks a belief in one or more god does is an atheist".
If you changed it yet another way to "If I believe in Elohim, am I an atheist?" You also get a cut and dry answer "No, You believe in a god".
Your question requires explanation. You can not equate a sub-group to it's parent group, which is what it appears that your question is attempting to do. Atheists, myself included, are very protective of the definition of the term "atheist" and want a clear distinction from the active, I believe no other god exists and the passive, I hold no belief that any god exists. There is a lot of misconceptions out there that we deal with constantly, theists constantly try to equate an atheists lack of belief with their belief, it's not the same thing. Hence the more detailed explanation rather than a simple yes or no, your question isn't that simple, not to someone who wants to make sure they are understood.
Edited to add clarification regarding theistic/atheistic duality.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/09/2011 12:48PM by Finally Free!.