"if you're a conservative in Hollywood, you won't get work"? FALSE

Atheism is the absence of a believe in a deity, it's theism with an a in front of it. As such, it is impossible to discern any political or philosophical position from simply knowing someone does not possess a belief in God. I personally believe in the minimization of human suffering, and the maximization of human pleasure. Amongst other things.

90% of the populatio are atheist, eh? I take it you live in London and have no friends of colour.

Mr. Divine,

It is impossible to ascertain what an atheist believes in, by simply known them to be an atheist. Atheism is the absence of a believe in a deity, it's theism with an a in front of it. As such, it is impossible to discern any political or philosophical position from simply knowing someone does not possess a belief in God.

I personally believe in the minimisation of human suffering, and the maximisation of human pleasure. Amongst other things. ;)

Also, everybody should see that fool Ken Blackwell debate Christopher Hitchens, on whether the US is a Christian country. It's like Mike Tyson fighting a toddler.

Actually, a lot of mistakes are being made on the atheism issue. It is nice to know that nowadays atheists have caught on that they should not say, "I believe there is no god or deity." But it is also interesting that they have forgotten historically the term is broader. For instance, it can mean "Believing in a god not believed in by others" or "believing in a god other than the one commonly dominant in a locale." Thus, Thomas Hobbes and David Hume were both referred to as atheists even though there is plenty of information that they did believe in some kind of higher authority.

I like the point that there are not specific words for a lack of belief in other notions.

Isn't that agnostic rather than an atheist state of mind?

How recent is this? Fox, brought to you with the letters B and S.

Yet more quality from Fox "just right of Hitler" News!

Did anyone else notice how Ben Shapiro justified his argument with numerous quotes from people who were neither present, nor named, nor speaking 'on record'?

Atheism: 'When someone doesn't possess a belief in God.' So they are not believing in God. They possess a belief that there is no God.

Where am I going wrong?

What are the episodes of Friends that are a rejection of bourgeois values? What a douche.

these people actually think they know what I think?!?!!?

With such eridite social commentators as Miss America 2008, it should be obvious that this panel is not one to take too seriously. Damn you Sesame Street, with all those left wing ideas like "sharing" and "friendship" corrupting the leaders of tomorrow!

Looks like someone has finally rumbled Bert and Ernie...

You're going wrong at an embarrassingly elementary level. First of all, you would be hard pressed to find an atheist that would say, outright, that 'there is no God'. Rather, the atheist takes an intellectual position, based upon the information and knowledge we have about the universe, that the probability of God's existence is less than the probability that it's non-existence.

The word atheism is quite a dangerous one, as it obviously confuses people such as yourself. I don't consciously hold a belief that there isn't an invisible pink elephant in the corner of my room, I know the concept to be ridiculous and thus don't bother contemplating it. I don't 'believe' that it isn't there, I just don't hold a belief that it is. Quite easy to understand, really.

Theism is this bubble: O
Atheism is the absence of it:

Atheism is nothing, it is simply a word to describe a position that includes the absence of belief in God. It's dangerous because of the reason I gave above. There's no word to describe me as a non-astrologer, or as a non-ceationist.

So what does an atheist believe in?

One of the posters seems to have put it a little better: take the steam out of the argument by talking about "agnosticism" instead. This can be variously explained (depending on your audience) anywhere along the spectrum from "I don't have a stance on the existence of the particular deity you are referring to" all the way to "I don't spend any time thinking about Jesus, Buddha or the Wizard of Oz because gods, spirits and tooth fairies don't make any sense to me".

real Americans dont watch Fox news. and we dont hate sesame street. and we dont advocate putting a cap in the head of cartoon characters or anyone else. it should be obvious to our overseas friends that the Fox network is NOT real America. i am proud to live in California, where this does not pass for journalism or real news. God bless Sesame street.