Absolutely. My point was simply that there is nothing inherent in atheism that either provokes or prevents conflict with any non-theistic entity, Buddhism, Santa Claus, and safety razors included. However, just because a person criticizes both theistic and non-theistic religious positions does not necessarily mean that they're agnostic -- at least not in T.H. Huxley's definition of agnosticism (which was the first definition of agnosticism) that we cannot know for sure. Most adults would claim to know for sure, for example, that Santa Claus does not exist, and all atheists make the same claim about God. Some atheists make the claim about Gautama's 4 noble truths as well, though, as we both admit, that is peripheral to atheism.
Not true. The only requirement for atheism is a lack of belief in theism. There is nothing in the definition of atheism that prevents us from objecting to Buddhism, just like there is nothing in the definition that prevents us from objecting to child pornography. Non-theistic subjects, like Buddhism and pornography, are completeley unrelated subjects.
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Perspicuity indeed. Thanks for the quotes -- first time I'd actually seen them...
Absolutely. My point was simply that there is nothing inherent in atheism that either provokes or prevents conflict with any non-theistic entity, Buddhism, Santa Claus, and safety razors included. However, just because a person criticizes both theistic and non-theistic religious positions does not necessarily mean that they're agnostic -- at least not in T.H. Huxley's definition of agnosticism (which was the first definition of agnosticism) that we cannot know for sure. Most adults would claim to know for sure, for example, that Santa Claus does not exist, and all atheists make the same claim about God. Some atheists make the claim about Gautama's 4 noble truths as well, though, as we both admit, that is peripheral to atheism.
Not true. The only requirement for atheism is a lack of belief in theism. There is nothing in the definition of atheism that prevents us from objecting to Buddhism, just like there is nothing in the definition that prevents us from objecting to child pornography. Non-theistic subjects, like Buddhism and pornography, are completeley unrelated subjects.