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[Egapal]

Okay I understand what you are getting at, but the way that you have worded it has completely confused me.

An Atheist does not believe there is not a higher power.

An Atheist does not believe there is a higher power.

The first is a double negative, which translates to: An Atheist does believe there is a higher power. Which is completely contradictory.

"An Atheist does not believe there is not a higher power" is not a double negative. Its basic logic that I can't really break down further.

So should I instead say:

Christians believe a higher power exists.

Atheists believe no higher power exists.

You should say "Christians believe a higher power exists.

Atheists do not believe a higher power exists."

Also, you can't say something like this:

And expect me to understand what you mean.

That was a type I ment to say "I don't believe either until you present evidence."

I am really trying to understand your point, but I'm just not getting it. I didn't mean to misrepresent atheism, as I am one myself. It seems like we are just getting down to semantics now.

I was breaking it down into two parts, Those who believe in the existence of god and those who do not, for the sake of simplicity. Why are these not opposites?

Those are opposites. You are mixing up a single position on one claim with, a positions on two claims. "There is a god," is a claim that I don't believe. That makes me an atheist. A person who does believe is a theist. "There is no god," is another claim. I don't believe that either. There is no word for that because its an impossible claim to prove. You can't prove there are no gods in the universe. You haven't looked everywhere in the universe. Theists can't even agree on a definition for what a god would be.