I’ll chime in and just say that its important to clarify what the labels imply. An Atheist claims proof that there is no God. An Agnostic claims proof that the existence of a God cannot be sufficiently proven or disproved. A Believer claims proof that there is a God.
C.S. Lewis was an Atheist until he focused his brilliant mind to prove his position. Instead he proved to himself that God clearly must exist. Read his book Mere Christianity at least through the part where he discusses Human Law and you will see as well that there is no valid argument against Gods existence and that God must exist.
I’ll also say that it takes an uncommonly driven Atheist to read any book concerning Christianity. Almost all Atheists are too prideful and egotistical to pick up a book like Mere Christianity lest they prove to themselves that they’ve been wrong the whole time.
No. You are making up a definition just like a Leftist would. An atheist is simply someone who does not believe in any gods. Just as you do not believe in Greek gods, Roman gods, Native American gods, or any gods of any other culture other than the Hebrew god, neither do atheists. They simply add the Hebrew god to the same list you don't believe in.
I agree. To me, most people who claim to be “atheist” are just using the label as a way to keep others away. Implied in the term “atheist” is the idea that this person has done significant personal study to come to the conclusion that there is no God. Most “atheists” have done no such thing. They instead use the label as a convenient wedge to prevent further discussion.
There’s a lot of confusion with the terms “atheist” and “agnostic” here. The thinking is typically that there’s a spectrum of theist — agnostic — atheist, but that’s not true. Theism and Gnosticism are independent traits. Theism is the belief in a god or gods. Atheism is the opposite. Gnosticism is the belief that we can (and do) know whether or not god exists. Agnosticism is the opposite, namely that we cannot know that god exists.
Given that, there are actually FOUR different positions one can take. There are gnostic theists, who believe in god and believe that we can know and or prove god exists. There are agnostic theists, who believe god exists, but also believe that we cannot know/prove that existence.
Similarly among atheists, there are agnostic atheists who don’t believe that god exists, but also don’t claim to be able to prove that position or have knowledge of it. Then there are gnostic atheists, who claim to know and/or be able to prove god doesn’t exist.
Those are the definitions of the terms, Atheism is a lack of belief in any deity. Agnosticism is lack of knowledge. You don’t get to claim that someone who disbelieves in god without proof isn’t an atheist. That person clearly meets the definition.