atheism is a theism, belief to the contrary

--"the opposite position of belief is disbelief, the opposite of belief is knowledge" No, this is not true. "Knowledge" is in every dictionary. "Belief" is any concept we hold to be true. "Knowledge" is holding any belief to be true. Compare and contrast. The opposite of "belief" is "not belief". The only synonym with "not belief" is "nonbelief" (i.e. "not belief"). The opposite of "knowledge" is "not knowledge". Terms synonymous with "not knowledge" could be "opinion" OR "ignorance". Opinion and ignorance are NOT synonyms. An opinion is a belief, but is not knowledge. Ignorance is neither a belief nor knowledge - it is a lack of both. Knowledge addresses gnosticism. It is possible to be both a gnostic or agnostic theist. It is possible to be a gnostic or agnostic atheist. A gnostic thiest is someone who holds certainty their belief in a god is true. An agnostic theist is someone who holds uncertainty their belief in a god is true. A gnostic athiest is somone who holds certainty in their belief no god is true. An agnostic athiest is someone who lacks any certainty that any god is true. "Belief" becomes irrelevant for an"agnostic atheist". An atheist can maintain a belief that no gods exist, or they can fail to maintain any belief that any god exist. --"belief=belief=i dont accept i dont know" Sure, why not. --"disbelief=belief=i dont accept i dont know" Inserting "belief" in there is begging the question. disbelief=I do NOT accept I DO know (and only *sometimes* "I accept I do NOT know"). "I do not accept I do not know" is functionally the same as "I accept I do know", which is not disbelief. More to the point, you are ignoring the excluded middle. A lack of belief is not the assertion of a belief. --"non belief=i accept i dont know" non belief = I don't accept I DO know. Not only still begging the question, but also a contradiction of your prior statement. "I don't accept I do know" does NOT equal "I do accept I do know" --"is it true that the chair in the room is red?" I have no opinion regarding the hypothetical color of the hypothetical chair. If you want to make up a NEW word for my lack of opinion about the chiar, acolored-chairist seems appropriate. Colored-chairist is not, since I have no opinion. Theism addresses a belief IN A GOD. What I hypothetically may or may not think about the hypothetical chair has nothing to do with it. Theism is not just any belief, or any belief regarding a god, but specifically the belief in *the existence in of* a god. Let's change your analogy from a chair to a god. There's a room. It might contain a god. The god might be colored. That color might be red or green. If you think that IF there is a god in the room, it's red, that doesn't make you theist. If you think there actually is no god in the room, but if there had been it's be red - atheist. If you think there is a god in the room (regardless of color) - theist. Doesn't matter what color you think a god *would* be IF IT EXISTED. It only matters if you think it DOES EXIST. In conclusion, theism is the acceptance of the existence of a god. Atheism is the lack of acceptance of the existence of any god. There is no third word. There is no third option. There are no other alternatives. Every person is *either* a theist or an athiest. There is no one that is neither. Thanks for the debate. Enjoyed it. May the lack of gods smile upon you, and you receive all of their many non-existent blessings.