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Letter: Belief or not

Published 31 January 2007

From David McMahon

Roy Sablosky writes to claim that atheism is not itself a belief (13 January, p 19).

But, to quote the Oxford English Dictionary, an atheist is “one who denies or disbelieves the existence of a God”.

The correct term for someone who does not believe in the existence of a god, but does not assert the non-existence of a god, is “agnostic”.

From Dave Minter

Roy Sablosky’s letter reminds me of a signature line that I saw on a contribution to an online bulletin board.

It read: “If atheism is a faith, then not playing chess is a hobby.”

London, UK

Mosman, New South Wales, Australia

Issue no. 2589 published 3 February 2007

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