Atheism Defined As Non-Belief

Below is a letter written by Paul Tobin, the founding president of the Humanist Society (Singapore) to Straits Times entitled "What atheism really means", published on 13th September 2013.

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IN LAST Saturday's Supper Club interview ("'I told the minister to send me to jail'"), pastor Lawrence Khong was quoted as saying "an atheist is very religious. He has a belief system. He believes there is no God".

As the founding president of the Humanist Society (Singapore), I call myself an atheist, as do many of our members, and we find Mr Khong's understanding of the term both incorrect and misleading.

The prefix "a" in front of "theism" does not mean "the opposite of" or "against". It simply refers to the absence of theism.

As atheist comedian Ricky Gervais wittily puts it: "Saying atheism is a belief system is like saying not going skiing is a hobby. I have never been skiing. It's my biggest hobby. I literally do it all the time."

Atheism is not a belief system; it merely describes the absence of belief in god(s).

Such misunderstandings of the term "atheism", of which Mr Khong's is but one example, are very common. It is partly due to the need to correct such misconceptions that the Humanist Society (Singapore) was formed.
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More quote from Ricky Gervais, serious stuff from a comedian:
QUOTE
Science doesn’t concern itself with the non-existence of something. The periodic table of imaginary things would be too big for a classroom - infinitely big in fact, and rather pointless. It’s not trying to prove the non-existence of anything supernatural. All it knows is there is no scientific proof of anything supernatural so far. When someone presents a jar of God it will test it. If it finds some evidence of "godness" it will follow the evidence till it knows everything it can.

UNQUOTE