Tao, I would like to dispute your choice of the thread's title. Non-belief?
I beg your pardon? I think you mean "non-religious belief."
Belief is closely related to thought. To believe is to think, but not all thinking is believing. Believing is thinking with commitment. Some thoughts have a commitment. Beliefs are thoughts that commit to assertions that something is true or false. Every human being, every sentient, sapient being must do that in order to be sentient and/or sapient.
The age of reason? Define "reasoning."
I don't know what you have seen, but from my experience, people perform "reasoning" all the time. To think is to reason. Reasoning is thinking; thinking is reasoning. The "age of reason" is already here. It has always been here, but that is almost like saying that there was never such an age, because people have been thinking and reasoning since the beginning of the human race. There is no distinction. It's all part of the natural social and political evolution of the human race. That's the big picture. It's not perfect, but the process of change is more important than any notion of perfection.
Do you really mean that or are you just trying to make an example out of Thomas?
These people that you and Thomas listed are individuals just like you. They are not atheist unless they called themselves atheist. They have to wear the label of "atheist" otherwise they are not atheist because that isn't how they saw themselves. They have to have made the claim during their lifetimes. The label can't be acquired posthumously. That's just as bad as burying Darwin in a church. You're now writing "atheist" on their tombstones. That just isn't fair.
I think you're missing the point here. Tao is an individual, and his views are individualistic, not connected to any social or political structure. It is not necessary for a person to belong to a social or political structure to contribute ideas that are of value. Tao doesn't represent an organisation, just himself.
My question to you would be this. Do you, as a Roman Catholic, represent yourself or the Roman Catholic Church? Are you an individual or the organisation? Are you an embodiment of the RCC, an incarnate of the RCC? Do you speak the will of the RCC, or do you, like Tao, speak for yourself?
