Is Atheism a Belief?

The other day, I participated in a brief online discussion about whether atheism constitutes a belief.

I think that’s a worthwhile question, because we can use it to look under the hood of human cognition and gain some clarity about otherwise murky areas within the epistemology of belief.

I’m a philosophy instructor, and on top of that I have a graduate degree in theology, so this discussion was right up my alley.

Here’s the thesis that sparked the discussion:

Atheism is not a belief. Atheists may hold beliefs, and might be a part of secular communities that behave dogmatically, but that’s not the same thing.

There are two notions of belief that are potentially in play here.