Atheists have to make assumptions, yes, but there’s that old joke about how people have thought up thousands of gods, and atheists are almost the same as monotheists—they just believe in only one god fewer. So, do Jews, Christians, and Muslims center their thoughts and religious practices around explicitly, actively disbelieving in, by name, say, Ahura Mazda, Xolotl, or the rainbow serpent? Or are these gods just part of the background noise of believing that there is no god but YHWY/Allah? As far as I can tell, it’s the latter.
Well, for me, anyway, YHWY/Allah is part of that same background noise. An assumption that it doesn’t exist, yes, but not a consequential assumption. It’s as much a religion as not going to Tsogt-Oovo today is a travel plan.
Atheists have to make assumptions, yes, but there’s that old joke about how people have thought up thousands of gods, and atheists are almost the same as monotheists—they just believe in only one god fewer. So, do Jews, Christians, and Muslims center their thoughts and religious practices around explicitly, actively disbelieving in, by name, say, Ahura Mazda, Xolotl, or the rainbow serpent? Or are these gods just part of the background noise of believing that there is no god but YHWY/Allah? As far as I can tell, it’s the latter.
Well, for me, anyway, YHWY/Allah is part of that same background noise. An assumption that it doesn’t exist, yes, but not a consequential assumption. It’s as much a religion as not going to Tsogt-Oovo today is a travel plan.