Are infants atheists?
Well, it kind of depends on how you want to define that word. If you're saying atheist means "someone who doesn't believe in God," then, okay, you're right, babies are atheists.
But, you know what? So are dogs, and fetuses, and every corpse that's on the ground right now, because they don't believe in God either, because they don't think about these things.So, yeah, they don't believe in God. I guess you're right, but at that point, it's pretty much meaningless. So, I don't really give any credit to people who say babies are atheists for that reason.
You might as well say something like, "Babies don't like sports," because they don't. But it's because they don't know what you're talking about. My wife doesn't like sports, but it's because she thinks they're boring.
The keywords there being: "She thinks." Babies aren't doing that. So, let's not give a more credit than they deserve. It's not like the head of an atheist organization has ever said, "Oh, you just had a baby? Congratulations!"
And "It looks like we have a new member!" That's never happened because a baby's "atheism" means nothing. So, how should we define atheist, at least in this context?
In my opinion, I think we've got to call it active disbelief -- someone who's thought about the issue and come to the conclusion that God doesn't exist.
I think that's the only fair way to do it because if you haven't thought about it, your atheism means nothing. Taking credit for what someone else believes when they've never given any thought to it, isn't something atheists should be doing anyway.
Religious groups do that enough between childhood, baptisms, and indoctrination classes, and people saying you're religious because you were born to religious parents.
Let's not fall into that trap, because we criticize those people for doing those things already. Let's not make the same mistake ourselves.
So, the next time someone says babies are atheists, challenge their definition. Even if they're technically right, it's pretty meaningless to even put that label on them.
Originally published by Hemant Mehta on the Atheist Voice. Published on Fadewblogs by Dave Martin.
Disclaimer: This article is published on Fadewblogs with the permission of the author.
Support Hemant Mehta:
- Support on Patreon
- You can also make a one-time donation here: https://paypal.me/FriendlyAtheist