Originally posted by Great King Rat
Yes, I've noticed this "babies are atheists" many times here. I find it very uninteresting and it adds nothing to understanding the difference between theists and atheists, even though it is technically correct. Again, it's semantics which I don't find particularly interesting or helpful when discussing something.
As far as I'm concerned a person ...[text shortened]... to church by their parents from a very early age and who therefore have "always" been a theist.
It's not just a matter of semantics.
I agree that babies being atheists is not really interesting, but those who argue
against it are demonstrating that they either don't agree, accept, or understand
what the word atheist actually means.
And as that is relevant to quite a few discussions/arguments its a relevant issue
to discuss. [at least to my mind]
Agreeing what the words you are using mean is important in any debate because
otherwise how is anyone supposed to understand anyone else?
Anyhow, that's my perspective on it... I would dearly love to not need to discuss it
because it is a highly uninteresting topic... but there seems to be an unending need
to explain what the word means.