Language compared to belief

[04kL4nD]

Beliefs can be willfully dispelled, but you can't willfully unacquire your native tongue.

While you're correct that languages are inherently ideological in nature, they're still a vastly different social construct than a belief system.

Are atheists genetically predisposed to atheism? I certainly don't think so.

I think you're confusing acquisition and teaching/active learning- two different processes. If you're interested, James Paul Gee has some interesting theories you might want to read.

[RisingSun361]

Originally Posted by 04kL4nD

Beliefs can be willfully dispelled, ...

From a psychoanalytic perspective, perhaps not. Paranoid schizophrenics believe all sorts of nonsense; their beliefs are not easily dispelled.

Originally Posted by 04kL4nD

Are atheists genetically predisposed to atheism?

No, and neither am I genetically predisposed to speak English. My original claim was that there must be something in childhood that produces both.

[04kL4nD]

Why arbitrarily stop at 'belief acquisition'? Why not include opinions, thoughts, attitudes, preferences, etc?

Language is much more complicated than you might think...

[Chava61]

Language is directly connected to culture and culture is connected to one's belief system.