Pondering Puffin

Yes, yes we do. They are similar to yours.

No, sorry. They are not similar at all.

Atheism is lack of belief in a god/gods.
A lack of belief is not a belief, it is the absence of belief.

I don't believe in a god/gods because there is no evidence that supports the existence of such a being.

I don't claim that "there is no god". I say, "I see no compelling evidence to make me believe there is a god."

If someone could produce such evidence, millions of atheists might start believing.

Spare me the lecture. I've been there myself.

You believe those characters don't exist or, if they existed, weren't divine. So do I. If you don't like the answer, try a different question.

You've been where yourself, exactly?

Excuse me for being a stickler for word definitions. I've been debating far to many creationists, who tend to twist or redefine words.

You are quite right that I believe that they don't exist. I'm a gnostic atheist as far as the biblical god and most others are concerned, convinced of their non-existance. They are far to silly and contradictory to be believable. A deistic god is another matter.

The word 'atheism' means lack of belief, but you are right in pointing out that the meme is flawed.

I was a materialist for ten years. Now I'm not, but the details aren't germane here.

Atheism does not mean lack of belief, only belief in gods. But that often manifests in an active denial that gods exist, even if still open to some hypothetical evidence in the future. And of course what you believe to be true and false also appears in the way you live your life. In fact, I'm guessing you believe that the natural world will continue to behave the way it has been observed to behave. Strictly speaking, there is no reason to believe this other than the fact that it has mostly worked out so far - but that reasoning requires you to believe that past performance is evidence of future results.

You can't operate without taking something on faith. This faith need not be blind - mine is not - but at some point we have to trust something or someone.