Quote:
Originally Posted by TGS
Mmmm, not sure that atheists can get away quite so easily. By the Principle of the Excluded Middle every proposition is true, or its negation is. Thus, it is either true that there is* a god or it is true that there is not a god. So, isn't not believing there is a god equivalent to believing there isn't a god?
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I don't believe it is equivalent, no.
Believing that there isn't a god is a positive act - it is a matter of faith, in fact.
Not believing that there is a god is simply a matter of saying "nobody has presenting me with any evidence to support the view that there is a god, so I have no reason to believe in god". There's no faith involved, but simply a lack of a reason to have faith (which is a different thing entirely).
So I would say that they are different.