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Originally Posted by Dotoar
I'd go even further and claim that the term 'supernatural' is self-contradictory simply because it refers to a phenomenom that exceeds the natural laws, i.e. the laws of existence, i.e. existence itself, and thus something that simply cannot be, by definition. That is not to say, though, that there are things we as humans yet cannot explain and even seemingly contradict our current understanding of the laws of nature. But they are not supernatural, because obviously they occured and there is a nature-bound explanation to them as well.
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Very well said, and I agree completely.
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Originally Posted by Dotoar
Furthermore, and this is by no means directed particularly to you but rather a general statement, I as an atheist can't help but feel ever so slightly offended by the quite common notion of both theists and agnostics, that 'atheism is a belief as well'. Atheism is by definition the absence of belief in a higher divinity and thus calling it a belief (or even worse, a religion, which happens) is nothing but a cheap trick to try to discredit the 'opponent' (in lack of a better word for the moment) by dragging the discussion onto a field on which the atheist simply cannot win, i.e. where the possibility of a prevalent divinity is assumed. For an atheist no such assumption can be made, by definition. Of course, the reasons for why one is claiming to be an atheist may vary, and some may be less thought over than others and some may even by close examination contradict the definition of atheism. That's a whole different story though, and subject to argumentation on basis of the assumptions behind those reasons.
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There's really no way around it. The lack of belief in God is the belief that God does not exist. That's atheism, pure and simple. It's not so much the point that you're believing in something, but that every human being has a mythology with which they orient themselves to existence, and simply because your mythology is grounded strictly in what can be empirically proven, does not mean you do not have a belief system regarding absolute reality. I would not go so far as to call atheism a religion. Religion is a sociological construct, but science, and subsequently atheism, is not the antithesis of spirituality, it's simply a more physical, materialistic way of explaining and orienting oneself toward the phenomenon of existence.