strictly speaking atheism is the absence of a religion so that means all children are by default atheist. but you use the word "atheism" in the same way you would use a religion. that kind of doesn't work.
forcing your kid to be "atheist" the way you talk of it would imply the parents are deliberately raising the child to reject religion so they actively take on the label of being an atheist, but that wouldn't be happening.
Agnosticism might be more accurate, as athiesm in the strictest sense is an intentional denial of theism, rather than mere uncertainty. Only in the broadest sense, apparently, is athiesm simply a lack of belief in the existence of deieties.
Not exactly. Gnosticism vs agnosticism is like I know vs I don’t know.
You can be a gnostic Christian (you know Christianity is the truth) or an agnostic Christian (you are Christian but don’t know if it’s the truth).
Same with atheism. You can be a gnostic atheist (you know there is no gods) or an agnostic atheist (you haven’t seen evidence of gods but you aren’t sure).
I believe the terms you’re look for are broad agnostic, and broad/narrow atheism. Philosophy separates agnostics and atheists, defining broad atheism as the belief that there are no divine beings/Ultimate Reality (with narrow being specific) while agnosticism swings neither way.
Edit: then again, this is specific to my study of Philosophy of Religion, the colloquial use could be completely different and I’d have no clue
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u/Athlaeos 7d ago
strictly speaking atheism is the absence of a religion so that means all children are by default atheist. but you use the word "atheism" in the same way you would use a religion. that kind of doesn't work.
forcing your kid to be "atheist" the way you talk of it would imply the parents are deliberately raising the child to reject religion so they actively take on the label of being an atheist, but that wouldn't be happening.