Hi folks, just popping in and breezed through this thread and just wanted to make a comment.

As an atheist I've always disagreed with those who attemt to define atheism with the term disbelief. On many levels of definition, including synonyms, the term is associated with both, "skepticism" and "doubt."

Certainly, in this vast cyberspace of information, there will be some confliting information available.

However, my reasoning in not accepting the term 'disbelief' is rather simple. I approach matters of religious 'faith' in the same manner with which I would approach reading comic books. Young children with little knowledge or understanding of our human limitations might read the X-Men and wonder about what powers lay hidden in their own bodies. I suppose when those kids grow and no longer habor such childish beliefs that one could say they now disbelieve, but I do not, because those children were working with limited expereience, knowledge and informatin in the first place.

HOWEVER, when an adult immerses himself in a science fiction book or movie they do so by suspending 'belief' (example: imagining our world in the company of vampires or being invaded by Martians). But such behavior is not akin to DISBELIEF.

Now, let's look at religious belief. In most cases in which religious doctrine guides the belief system, the individual is required to suspend and/or modify current scientifically accepted views to accommodate their religious beliefs.

In that case I would consider that faith in religious dogmas causes the faithful to DISBELIEVE rather than a suspension of belief because accepting religious dogma over other more objective inforamtin would be to disbelieve.

On the other hand, I do not accepted religious dogma at any level higher than a science fiction comic book. I may consciously suspend knowledge or current understanding of the universe in order to enjoy the science fiction of the comic book or, in some cases, as an attempt to understand what others believe, but I cannot disbelieve something I did not believe in the first place. There is no more doubt, for me, about religious dogma than there is doubt that "The Avengers" are real. I have not changed in any significant way in response to what others believe but believers often tend to trade in one belief for another, thereby causing disbelief for themselves, not for me.

Understand?

not so. the question is definately relevant. we just have no evidence to suggest what was before the big bang.

were did hawking state that?