I think what may be confusing to theists is that an individual can be a different kind of atheist in different contexts. Like, for me:
I'm, in a general sense, an agnostic atheist. I'm open to the possibility of something existing that could check off most of the boxes required for godhood, but since I haven't encountered any proof of its existence, I don't believe such a thing exists.
Regarding the religions I've been exposed to in my life, I'm a strong/gnostic atheist. I find religions to be inherently absurd. I can see the historical value in them, as myths, but beyond that? Nope.
Above all else, I'm an apatheist. The idea of god or gods plays absolutely 0 role in my day-to-day life. I'm certainly not going to change who I am for one. The god question holds no interest for me. I don't care.*
So, with atheists, it's not necessarily a matter of the definitions shifting, but rather the context in which an atheist is explaining themselves.
*I visit here only because it's tiring to be embedded in a culture where the notion of god is accepted as the default. This is the only atheist forum I visit, and I don't visit or even discuss my lack of faith elsewhere online or IRL.
I'm, in a general sense, an agnostic atheist. I'm open to the possibility of something existing that could check off most of the boxes required for godhood, but since I haven't encountered any proof of its existence, I don't believe such a thing exists.
Regarding the religions I've been exposed to in my life, I'm a strong/gnostic atheist. I find religions to be inherently absurd. I can see the historical value in them, as myths, but beyond that? Nope.
Above all else, I'm an apatheist. The idea of god or gods plays absolutely 0 role in my day-to-day life. I'm certainly not going to change who I am for one. The god question holds no interest for me. I don't care.*
So, with atheists, it's not necessarily a matter of the definitions shifting, but rather the context in which an atheist is explaining themselves.
*I visit here only because it's tiring to be embedded in a culture where the notion of god is accepted as the default. This is the only atheist forum I visit, and I don't visit or even discuss my lack of faith elsewhere online or IRL.