(August 9, 2015 at 9:44 am)vixene Wrote:(August 9, 2015 at 9:25 am)Homeless Nutter Wrote: You shouldn't worry too much about labels.In the real world, I don't really care for labels because I tend not to get into heated discussions with people regarding religious topics. But online, it seems unless you have an established label to fall back on, you're instantly dismissed or your contribution isn't seen as valid. But meh.
The rule of thumb I use is - when I'm in a mood to argue with theists, I tell them I'm an atheist, preferably "strong" - because that p*sses them off the most.
When I don't feel like arguing, or there are too many theists around to risk a fist-fight - I present myself as an agnostic, because religious people see that as a sort of capitulation ("Oh, so you don't know if god exists - that means I'm right no matter what.") and leave me be.
And calling yourself a deist almost guarantees they'll consider you as being on "their side", in a similar way they see members of competing theistic religions, as somehow confirming their own faith, through belief in any god at all (however flawed that line of reasoning is) - and being in opposition to atheism.
Labels are useful when regarding these religious topics, because it allows the debates to progress much easier. For example, if you described yourself as a Christian and I used Jesus in many references regarding your stance on a topic and then you said "well I really don't believe in Jesus", then we have to start over from square one and spend a good deal of time figuring out what you believe.
